Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE HST1053

 
TITLE The Maltese Middle Ages

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT History

 
DESCRIPTION This unit is based on some of the main sources available to the historian of Malta and Gozo in the Middle Ages. The chronological frame of the unit, namely the medieval period, provides the basic structure across which the main themes are discussed, notably political, economic and social aspects.

The themes covered include:
• post-Roman Malta;
• Byzantine Malta (535 to 870);
• the Arab conquest, colonization and Muslim rule (870-1090/1);
• the Normans (1091- 1194);
• Hohenstaufen rule (1194-1266);
• King Charles I of Anjou (1266-82);
• Catalan-Aragonese Malta (fourteenth and fifteenth centuries);
• the island of Gozo in the Middle Ages;
• Malta in 1530.

Each theme will be discussed in relation to the relevant sources and historiography.

Study-Unit Aims:

• To provide students with factual knowledge on the medieval period of Maltese history;
• To offer insights into the main characteristics of the different periods of medieval Maltese history;
• To highlight developments in the history and historiography of the Maltese Middle Ages;
• To underline the interconnection between different factors shaping the history of the Maltese islands in the Middle Ages.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

• illustrate the key concepts and thematic debates in medieval Maltese history;
• recognise critically how this subject is related to the wider field of medieval history;
• describe developments in the different periods of medieval Maltese history;
• analyze the factual knowledge of the subject in relation to the historiography;
• make a knowledgeable appraisal of historical interpretations.

2. Skills
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

• review critically and selectively on the historiography on medieval Malta and Gozo;
• identify and make sense of a range of sources pertaining to the Maltese Middle Ages;
• describe and critically analyze texts as historical sources and understand how to distinguish between sources;
• demonstrate a critical awareness of different approaches and interpretations.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Main Texts:

• C. Dalli, Malta: the Medieval Millennium, (Malta, 2006).
• A.T. Luttrell (ed), Medieval Malta. Studies on Malta before the Knights, (London, 1975).
• G. Wettinger, The Jews of Malta in the late Middle Ages (Malta, 1985).

Supplementary Readings:

A selection of readings will be provided via the UoM OAR.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES This study-unit is solely offered to Undergraduate Diploma in Maltese History in Context students.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Assignment SEM2 Yes 50%
Assignment SEM2 Yes 50%

 
LECTURER/S Charles Dalli

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit