112 years after the Ottoman Empire did the impossible and captured Constantinople which was the geographic centre of the Eurasian world, the small Mediterranean island of Malta was next on the Ottoman Empire's list of places to conquer. Little did the Ottomans know that the Maltese were not going down without a fight. The failed siege lasted from 18 May 1565 to 11 Sept 1565 which saw a Maltese victory. Up until that point, Europe felt that the Ottoman Empire was invincible, in fact the Ottoman Empire only got up as far as the gates of Vienna, Austria after their battle against Malta.