A study of Maltese society based on the acts of notary Matteo De Brincat : late 1564

Abstract

This thesis is split into three main chapters. The first one gives an informative general historiography of the sixteenth century, a time which witnessed a number of revolutionary events, such as the great discoveries of new lands far beyond Afro- Eurasia, the Reformation, the significant technological advancements and the Counter Reformation which begun a process of revolution within the Catholic Church. It also includes the Maltese society in the period concerned and the Order’s establishment on the Islands. This chapter also introduces the notarial work, and gives information about the studied acts. The second and third chapters are mainly based on the acts themselves as the primary source for this study. The analysed acts were exploited as much as possible in order to rebuild the situation and emerge the true significance and notable relevance of these acts. While the second chapter focuses on contracts which deal with territories, animals and other goods, the third one focuses more on the social aspects which emerged. The use of examples of different acts was essential, because they are maybe the purest form of reference one could use. The numerous acts mentioned in this thesis give the reader knowledge about the diversifying nature of relations, giving an insight of the mentality and culture of the mid-sixteenth century. The references to these acts were written in this manner: Firstly the location of the source, therefore the Notarial Archives of Valletta, then the register and volume numbers which are 214 and 7 respectively, followed by the referred pages and date. In short it is therefore written as NAV, R214/7, f.13-15v., (06.ix.1564), with the pages indicated in this case being from 13 to 15 verso, meaning 15.5. An interesting point to note is that the dates in the original acts were written in ab incarnatione, meaning that the year was not calculated from the 1st of January but from the 25th of March. In other words this volume covered from September 1564 to January 1565 but was written as covering from September to January 1564, because the first day of the year 1565 was 25th March and not the 1st of January. Nonetheless, January was not examined in this study, and all the inspected acts are from September 1564.