Social relations in Valletta : preliminary studies of property disputes recorded in the Officium Commissariorum Domorum

Abstract

An affluent society occupied the Grand Harbour region during the time of the Order of St. John! By the early seventeenth century, economic progress and a demographic increase in the harbour area brought considerable social change. The expanding urban community and population pressure increased negative attitudes leading to social discontent. Daily life in the city is explained by an interaction of social attitudes. Often disputes were related to dwellings and commercial buildings, both highly frequented spaces in daily life. The regulation of the built property was a crucial governing practice that the Order took in hand straight away upon its arrival by setting up the Officium Commissariorum Domorum (transl. Officio delle case - Housing Office).