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Reuben Pace

Balbi di Corregio's Diary - 5th July

Thursday, 5 July

The Turks had already added twelve guns to their batteries, and they bombarded us without interruption by day and night; but the hottest fire was against the houses killing and wounding women and children who were in the streets or working at the defences.

Seeing this, the Grand Master did not allow the Christians to be exposed to danger, and ordered that the slaves should be made to work in exposed positions; they were sent in pairs chained together… more than 500 slaves were killed while at work during the siege. Moreover, these poor creatures became so exhausted by the sheer fatigue from the continual toil that they could hardly stand. They cut off their own ears and even preferred getting killed to working any longer.


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