Heresy, the Hospitallers and the Roman Inquisition in 17th and 18th century Malta

Abstract

Heresy, in its formal sense in Roman Catholic Canon Law and moral theology, refers to 'a sin of one who, having been baptized and retaining the name of Christian, pertinaciously denies or doubts any of the truths that one is under obligation of divine and Catholic faith to believe'. The analysis that follows focuses exclusively on the Hospitallers' deviation from their religious obligations as part of their daily life in seventeenth and eighteenth century Malta. Due to restriction in length, only one rich source of primary information was used - the criminal proceedings of the Archives of the Inquisition of Malta. This study will primarily explore five major heretical offences for which several members of the Order of St John were charged at the Holy Tribunal: verbal utterances, infringement of abstinence, witchcraft practices, Freemasomy, and prohibited literature. Each offence will be explained in full detail, with an in-depth analysis of the data, linked if and where possible to the current trends in Europe. The greatest obstacle I encountered during my research was the massive volumes of criminal proceedings which unavoidably had to be skimmed thoroughly. In part this was so because the repertories did not tum out to be as 'immensely valuable to trace recidivists' to myself as to Frans Ciappara. Little information concerning Hospitallers was collected, to an extent that it was not sufficient to carry out the present study. It was then that I realized I had to go through almost all the 171 volumes of criminal proceedings and the thousands of cases which they contain. With this considerably long process, it was possible to trace almost all the members of the Order who were denounced, or else appeared before the Inquisitor to denounce themselves or others. Although there have been various studies on the Inquisition, this is the first time when the Hospitallers are treated as a case-study for themselves.