The possessions of titles and ways of address in early modern Malta

Abstract

This work seeks to explore the usage of titles and protocol that existed in 'Malta in early modern times. References found in the parish registers to titles, though sparse, have' yielded the source material for this paper's study and permitted an analysis of the social classes in the epoch of the Knights. In studying families over generations, it became possible to provide a panorama of the evolutionary process behind the changes in the social tiers. The society of the old regime was definitely less rigid than it is often portrayed. More importantly, the paper will analyse the political implications behind the usage of titles. The employment of flamboyant titles reflected similar fashions abroad. Yet, behind the formality and exhibitionism of certain forms of address, there lay a covert political message, in the form of a passive resistance against the foreign aristocratic rulers of Malta.