Petitions to the magistracy in seventeenth and eighteenth century Malta

Abstract

Much of our history has been studied and interpreted through a political lens. Political affairs have been explored to saturation. Unfortunately, not enough studies have been carried out that deal with the economic and social aspects of Malta‟s past. This is a great loss not only to us historians but even to the whole of the Maltese people, for we are missing an integral part of our national heritage. We have very limited social and economic historiography to evaluate. Many of the surviving documents we have from the past were written from the upper estates- the nobility and the professional classes of Maltese society. The upper classes had the financial means to afford a good education, consequently they left behind a good deal of documents, letters, and wills for us to study. On the other hand, very few sources belonging to the lower classes have been unveiled. This is because a very small percentage of the commoners would have written down any type of literature. Everyone was allowed to petition the Grand Master, regardless of their place and role in society. Indeed, petitioning was a common practice; even the elite made use of this faculty. The suppliche are among the few sources that give voice to the silent masses. Consequently, these petitions prove to be an extremely vital resource in social history for they throw abundant light on these areas. The suppliche were petitions submitted by the Maltese people to the magistracy. Even though the suppliche only occasionally do refer to matters of great historical connotation, still they prove to be a very important tool in producing an analysis on a macro-level by surveying society at large. These petitions provide ample insight into the addressee; they also help us identify the kind of ruler the Grand Master must have been; how responsible and sensible he was to his subjects and their needs. They are a great resource to assess the government‟s efficiency. But, certainly these petitions are even more useful for they help us delve deeper into a micro-level; to understand how the ordinary people perceived the government of the Order. The suppliche give us an insight into Maltese life on a daily basis, and into the type of existence petitioners conducted. These manuscripts also give us a sneak peek into the petitioners‟ private lives. The suppliche give us the names of those writing the petitions and the dates. Moreover, the request itself and the motivation behind it tell us a great deal about the petitioner‟s social, economic and political position. These petitions reveal the interests, attitudes and hopes of the islanders so that we can also understand the mentality of seventeenth -and eighteenth- century Maltese people. The letter of petition as a means for the individual to express personal interest to authorities extends back to the classical world and was a regular instrument for the expression of discontent and protest in the Middle Ages and after. The Order of St. John ruled the Maltese dominions between 1530 and 1798 by an absolutist, and paternalistic government. And petitions were among the few effective means by which the Maltese people could make their voices heard. Thus any grievances and complaints the Maltese people might have had, they would have expressed in a petition. Indeed, the act of supplicating denotes in itself that the petitioner „has no control over the act being requested and that its performance is completely at the whim of the reader of the letter‟.