The ministers of the Inquisition tribunal in Malta

Abstract

The first one hundred years of the medieval Inquisition in Malta (1462 -,1561) is considered to be the prehistory of this tribunal which had jurisdiction dealing with the detection and punishment of heretics and of all persons guilty of any offence against. Catholic Orthodoxy. On 21 October 1561, a new type of Tribunal, known in history as the Roman Inquisition, was established in Malta. Mgr. Domenico Cubelles, Bishop of Malta, and Mgr. Martin Royas, his successor, were the first two Inquisitors of Malta. But the Roman Inquisition was re-established in 1574. From then on, the Bishop of Malta was never again an Inquisitor. An independent tribunal, with its own palace at Birgu, became known as the Holy Inquisition or the Holy Office. But it was still the Roman Inquisition. It was a Tribunal that lasted up to the time of Napoleon's occupation of Malta in 1798. There was a series of 62 Inquisitors, from Pietro Dusina to Giulio Carpegna. Besides being Inquisitors, they were Apostolic Delegates; but, as Apostolic Delegates, these Prelates had a more limited authority. The present study is built on original and unprinted manuscripts most of which are jealously preserved in the Vatican Secret Archives. Few other documents of equal importance are found in the Archives of the Inquisition in Malta. Grand Masters and Inquisitors tried to oust each other. In most cases, they quarrelled about their jurisdiction over the inhabitants of Malta. The present research refers to ecclesiastics and laymen that depended on the Inquisitor; but each Grand Master would have preferred to have them subdued to him; hence conflicts resulted. Maltese History books often present the Grand Masters' views. This paper intends to put forward the Inquisitors' point of view.