Hospitaller Malta : the Sacra Infermeria last wills and their insights into late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century society

Abstract

The main purpose of the present study is to offer insights into the society on Malta in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a time when the Maltese Islands were under the rule of the Hospitaller Order of St. John. The main archival sources that have been consulted for this dissertation are the collections of last wills or testaments of patients at the Sacra Infermeria that are kept at the National Library in Valletta.

Most of these documentary records are in a very good condition; others are difficult to read or have been damaged. I have consulted and analysed a substantial number of these records and I endeavoured to reconstruct a few social aspects of the Maltese society on Hospitaller Malta and discuss what I considered the main social groups. The first chapter provides an introduction that includes an overview of the Maltese Islands during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that serves as the contextual framework for the subsequent chapters. It discusses the history and administration of the Sacra Infermeria to provide a background for the primary sources. This chapter delves into the historiography on the Maltese society during Hospitaller rule.

The last wills of patients admitted to the Holy Infirmary had a material and spiritual aspect. Chapter 2 focuses on the former aspect and the attitude of the Maltese towards death and the afterlife. Testators tried to determine their destiny in the hereafter by adopting different strategies that they believed guaranteed salvation. This chapter delves into the different legacies that were identified in last wills of the patients admitted to the Holy Infirmary such as legacies for masses, prayers, charity, bell-pealing, fasting and so on. This chapter discusses the devotions on the Maltese Islands during the Hospitaller era, and the key role confraternities had in spreading these devotions.

Chapter 3 deals with the social institutions of family and marriage. It analyses the testamentary practises of the Maltese patients admitted to Holy Infirmary that prove that family and kin were important to early modern Maltese society. The testamentary practises reveal the positive and negative experiences family offered to the early modern Maltese. This chapter discusses the Tridentine reforms of marriage and the institution of marriage on Hospitaller Malta. It delves into the institution of dowry and dower, marriage patterns, age of marriage and remarriage. This chapter discusses the role of women in the Maltese society and family during the rule of the Hospitallers.

Chapter 4 relates to the diocesan clergy and the members of the order. These two social groups had a key role in seventeenth- and eighteenth- century Maltese society. Members of these two social groups belonged to powerful institutions on the Islands that influenced the lives of the inhabitants of the Islands. During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the lives of the people depended on the government and the diocesan clergy. They belonged to the upper echelons of early modern Maltese society. This chapter analyses the last wills of the diocesan clergy and Hospitallers admitted to the Holy Infirmary. The dispropriamenti of the Hospitallers are discussed as well.

The fifth and final chapter focuses on the foreigners and slaves on Hospitaller Malta. It discusses the features of Hospitaller Malta that enticed foreigners. Foreigners migrated to Malta mainly because it offered them better prospects of employment, a better lifestyle, and a securer future. This chapter discusses the employment of foreigners, and their origins. It takes into consideration the Order’s contribution towards the presence of foreigners and slaves. It provides aspects of the lives of slaves including their struggles, employment, and freedom.