Seventeenth century Malta : a historico - cartographic study

Abstract

The subject of this essay was inspired by the use of several maps used during the lectures in Baroque Studies at the University of Malta. The lectures treated diverse humanistic subjects, proposed within the historical context of the late sixteenth century up to the early eighteenth century and in various cases maps were used as illustrations for example in architecture lectures to show the layout of the towns that were being erected during the baroque era; plans were used to show the extensive fortification building that took place in the century, maps were an indispensable source to aid in the explanation of the history of the period. The first part of this essay introduces the history of Maltese maps within a European context. In order to discuss the subject in depth it was necessary to discuss in detail the history of European map production. This was necessary because the largest number of maps of Malta, produced during the period in question, were made in continental Europe by renowned cartographers who were also working on maps of other places.