Absolutism and the power of social control in Malta : 1775-1825

Abstract

In ancien regime Europe the manifestation of sovereign power was identified with the ability to inflict physical suffering on a condemned criminal. But this approach to the punishment of crime was criticized by Enlightenment thinkers. Changing notions of punishment and social control influenced legal reforms carried out in Malta in the 1780s. However, because of circumstances specific to the Maltese archipelago, such reforms could not be entirely affected in the late eighteenth century. Despite the political changes undergone by Malta in the early nineteenth century an element of continuity in government, especially in policies tending towards social control, existed between the ancien regime absolutist Prince Grand Masters and the British administration headed by the Civil Commissioners. Changes were introduced gradually and until the 1820s the principal factors comprising, and obstructing, ancien regime absolutism reigned supreme in the Maltese achipelago.