Some aspects of demographic and social history in the second half of the 17th century with special reference to the Parish of Porto Salvo, Valletta 1651-1700

Abstract

Some ten years or so ago the students of History at the University of Malta, as part of their dissertation, were asked to copy on printed forms the entries of births, baptisms and deaths kept in the registers at their local parish, covering periods of 100 years. The idea behind this was mainly to help preserve records which were deteriorating year by year and which could soon be completely lost to posterity. For those of us who worked on the records of the parish of Porto Salvo this proved to be a Herculean task. The hundred year period was reduced to fourteen because of the large number of entries. However, as the work of copying proceeded it was noticed that many questions could not be answered and many theories could not be proved simply because the period was too short. Some of us decided to persist. That, I suppose, was the birth of historical demography in Malta. I am in no way claiming that this thesis is solely a demographic study - in fact I have tried to keep numbers to a minimum - but it is also a study of the social conditions of the Maltese people during the second half of the 17th Century. I feel that this and other similar undertakings are vary necessary. It is about time that the main characters in a historical study an: the common every-day people and not Grand Masters, bishops and inquisitors.