The writings of classic Maltese historian, Gian. Francesco Abela recount the conversion to Christianity of the Maltese population at the hand of St. Paul. It is suggested that Abela's writings were used by Knights of Malta to demonstrate that Malta had been ordained by God as a "bulwark of Christian, European civilization against the spread of Mediterranean Islam." The native Christian community that welcomed Roger I of Sicily was further bolstered by immigration to Malta from Italy, in the 12th and 13th centuries.