An index of the inquisition : 1546-1575

The Bull Licet ab initio, issued on 21 July 1542 by Pope Paul Ill, created a totally reformed Inquisition. It was clearly Inspired by the recent success of the Spanish Inquisition, which in turn had been set up to suit the particular needs of the new and growing nation-empire that was Spain. This new Tribunal, more commonly known as the Holy Office, was mainly intended to oppose the doctrines of Luther and the other flourishing Protestant sects. The Holy Supreme Congregation, under Cardinal Giovanni Pietro Caraffa (later Pope Paul IV), gained among its many privileges that of creating Inquisitors who were to be given the appropriate number of staff to help them in any town, province, or place. The first attempt was also made to compile an Index of prohibited books deemed likely to propagate false teachings.peer-reviewe

L-gheruq kulturali ta identita Maltija : miti Nsara u memorja socjali f' socjeta Mediterranja limitata

L-gheruq tal-Kristjanezmu kienu ilhol11 ifanndu qaIb il-MaHin minn hafna qabel il-migja tal-Ordni ta' San Gwann fi-1530. Sal-ahhartal-Medjuevu~ Malta kienet saret djocesi, immexxija l11inn isqof Ii ma kienx ikun prezenti fiha u minn tribunal tal-Inkwizizzjoni Ii kien ippresedut minn Vigarju Generali Ii kien jiehu tlsieb il-bzonnijiet spiritwali tal-gzira.2 Minkejja I~migja tal-Ordni elitista, aristokratika u setgtlana tal-Kavallieri~ id-djocesi ta' Malta kien gl1ad kellha rwol importanti f' Malta 11 kienet tagixxi bhala entita separata~jekk mhux indipendentL Kien rwol Ii l-Knisja Kattolika setgtlet taqdi I-iktar bis-sanna tar-rabta qawwija Ii I-komunita Maltija kellha mar-reJigjon. I1-poiizzjoni taddjocesi ta'Malta timxi fil-qribmat-teorija propostamis-socjoioguA. D. Smith Ii osserva Ii tul il-millennji. ir-religjonijietorganizzati servew ta' kodiCi simbolika ta' komunikazzjoni u btlala centru ghal1-organizzazzjoni socjali.3 L-ghaqda tallivelli differenti tal-popolazzjoni ta' Malta kienet possibbli permezz tar-rabtiet profondi bejn dawk Ii jgtlammru fil-giira - minbarra l-ilsiera Musulmani - u I-Knisja Kattolika Rumana. Malta kienet qisha teokrazija minhabba Ii t-tliet gurisdizzjonijiet separati - dik tal-Gran Mastru, tal-Isqof, II tal-Inkwizitur - kollha kienu jqisu lill-Papa bhaia l-aqwa mexxej tagnhom f'din id-dinja. 11'rizultat nett ta' dan kien il-penetrazzjoni fil-fond tar-religjon fis-setturi kollha tas-socjeta bis-sacerdozju jservi bhala centru tal-organizzazzjoni socjali.peer-reviewe

Malta : roots of a nation. The development of Malta from an island people to an island nation

Until the advent of the Order of St John in 1530, Malta was considered as one of the many communes of Sicily, a state of affairs that was not altered in the first part of the sixteenth century. This explains why in 1536, Jean Quintin d'Autun, a priest and a French member of the Order of St John, described Malta as, “... pare of Sicily and has its same customs, Malta became Roman along with Sicily, and since that time it has always had the same rights and the same government.” In what ways can we say that the drastic changes brought about by the Knights effected the everyday life of the inhabitants? Anyone who browses through the rich archival records of the time cannot help noticing that continual transformations were taking place in the lives of the Maltese throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. By the time the Knights left in 1798 Malta was unrecognizable from the island that they came to 200 odd year before.peer-reviewe

The British colonial experience 1800-1964 : the impact on Maltese society

While describing the Maltese character, Frederick M. Lacroix observed that 'the Maltese are intelligent, hardworking, clever and can surely succeed in all fields of work ... but the English Government looks at the occupation of Malta solely and entirely as an important fortress colony and is indifferent towards the interests of its inhabitants.' Lacroix was writing in 1848, at a time when the French and the British were not exactly on friendly terms but his account seems fairly reasonable if compared to that of Senior Nassau who, in 1882, wrote that 'Maltese incomes are so small that the attempt to keep the appearance which the English think only decent, becomes a ruinous expense.' The Maltese maintained a cool relationship with the British, mixing very little at least until the 1930s. The Sliema area was the first part of the island to adapt an Anglicized style and sub-culture. The Church maintained its dominant position in Maltese society. However, as a large part of the population moved to the suburbs of Valletta and the three cities, the rural population shrank and more people became economically dependent on British wages and harbor activities.peer-reviewe

Clothes, status and class in Malta under the Order of St John

Between the early sixteenth and the end of the eighteenth centuries the Maltese islands were administered by the Military and Hospitaller Order of St John. The Order's rule brought to the Maltese population law, order, security, and prosperity. It also brought about a new boost of activities and great demographic growth which continued to rise throughout the period of that rule. The shift from a peasant and domestic mode of production to one based on commerce, and the rapid expansion of trade, together with the growth of market opportunities, economic dislocations by market forces, and a new form of dependent labour, such as employment with the Order of St John, must have left their indelible mark on traditional peasant society. Nonetheless crude homespun appears to have been the everyday working garb for the majority of Maltese inhabitants, and was normally produced from the least expensive of local resources namely wool, and more importantly, cotton. Few people today realize that irrespective of whether they were rich or poor, most people owned only a few garments and thus tended to wear the same clothing items all the time to the extent that it was normal for witnesses in criminal investigations to describe culprits by their clothing. It was thought that identification would hold because most had few garments to spare and these were hardly ever changed.peer-reviewe

Scientia et Religio. Studies in memory of Fr George Aquilina OFM (1939-2012)

In 1530 the Hospitaller Order of St John accepted Malta and its dependencies as a fief of the Kingdom of Sicily thus freeing Emperor Charles V from direct responsibility of these two southern-most and more exposed of his vast possessions. At first the Grand Master exercised very limited authority and ruled Malta very much as a feudal lord. However within a few decades his power over the Maltese grew so much that the area which remained free of his control was indeed very narrow. Infact, the more intensively the Grand Master dominated the local administration, the more energetically he exercised his power, the more he seemed to rule like a sovereign. This authority was enforced and fully exercised by later Grand Masters who found themselves free to dictate matters on their authority as princes of Malta.peer-reviewe

The Order of St John and corsairing activities in the Mediterranean in the 16th and 17th centuries

The Order of the Knights of St John was officially founded in Jerusalem in 1113 as a Hospitaller Order for the care of pilgrims in the Holy Land. However, as these places were a source of constant friction between Moslems and Christians, the Order soon acquired a military role and began to share fully in the crusading activities of the twelfth century. But in later centuries the chief instrument of action soon became the Order's fleet of galleys which perpetuated the crusading tradition established in the Holy Land through its annual carvane - the famous yearly cruises through the East Mediterranean, or along the coast of North Africa - usually planned to take place from May to September, in search of Muslim shipping. The sea-faring carvane replaced the old military campaigns of the crusaders in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, a change forced on the Knights after their expulsion from St John of Acre in 1291.peer-reviewe

Yesterday’s schools : reading in Maltese educational history

The educational achievements of early modern Malta must be set against a background of the widespread illiteracy in Europe at the time. It is probable that half the men and a much higher percentage of women were illiterate, even in the more advanced states of Europe. Nonetheless, there is evidence that literacy was far more widespread than is often thought, especially if one takes into account the number of persons accused of owning or perusing prohibited books in various parts of Catholic Europe. By the middle of the 16th century, the printed book had been produced in sufficient quantities that made it accessible to anyone who could read. Why could such a situation develop? It was perhaps thanks to the better opportunities for instruction that had, by the 16th century, become more extensive than before. Yet popular education hardly ever included Latin-the language of instruction par excellence-which was usually taught at grammar schools and universities for specialised learning. It seems though that non-Latinists made some progress in their studies through private reading in the vernacular. This may point out to a greater accessibility of elementary education to a larger number of people than had been possible in the late Middle Ages. Such teaching mainly consisted of reading, writing, simple arithmetic and the learning of catechism. It was at that time that Latin began to lose ground in Europe. The reading public was becoming increasingly a lay public comprising women, tradesmen, and others with hardly any knowledge of the language. This was the main reason why the leaders of the Reformation had chosen to write in the vernacular, while Latin survived only because it continued to serve as the official language of the Catholic Church. This process also took place in Hospitaller Malta.peer-reviewe

Homosexuality : challenging the stigma

Homosexual activity was one of the many strands that composed the fabric of male experience, one that not only grew out of established social bonds and patterns of collective life but it even contributed in creative ways to fashioning and reinforcing them. However it was only in the last few decades that historians have· begun to study homosexuality. In past cultures the term was normally associated with sex between males which was not only a common and integral feature of daily life but it also formed part of a universe of experience and values that differed substantially from our own. Past cultures did not clearly separate persons into the categories of 'homosexuals' and 'heterosexuals'. The terms 'sodomy' and 'sodomite' were standard in the juridical and religious language of Malta, as in the rest of pre-modem Europe, for conveying same-sex relations. The terms might however seem to work as substitutes to each other, for in some contexts they appear to have much the same meanings. Sexual interactions were usually structured by age where the passive partner in same-sex sodomy was usually relatively young.peer-reviewe

Hopes and disappointments in the history. Collected works in memory of Professor Milchio Lalkov

Christianity was deeply rooted among the Maltese well before the advent of the Order of St John in 1530. By the late Middle Ages Malta had developed into a diocese run by an absentee Bishop and an Inquisition tribunal that was usually presided over by the Vicar-General who was generally responsible for the island's spiritual needs. Despite the advent of the elitist, aristocratic and powerful Order of knights, the diocese of Malta continued to play a dominant part in Malta and acted largely as a separate, if not an independent entity - a role, which the Catholic Church could play largely thanks to the strong attachment of the Maltese community towards religion. The position of the diocese of Malta follows rather closely the theory proposed by the sociologist A.D. Smith who noted that over the millennia organized religions have served as a symbolic code of communication and a focus for social organization). The unity of the various strata of the population of Malta was possible through the profound ties of all the inhabitants – except the Muslim slaves - to the Roman Catholic Church. Malta was close to a theocracy as the three separate jurisdictions on the island - the Grand Master's, the Bishop's, and the Inquisitor's - all considered the Pope as their ultimate earthly head. The net result was that religion seeped deeply into all sectors of society with the priesthood serving as the focus of social organization.peer-reviewe