/library/oar/handle/123456789/34654 2025-11-14T10:33:21Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/101200 Title: France in the Maltese collective memory : an analysis of the perceptions and interpretations of the uprising against the French (1798) and their place in the national memory as perpetuated by the media to modern times Abstract: This study attempts to investigate a crucial period of Maltese history at the end of the eighteenth century and analyze its possible effects on the national collective memory and subsequent identity formation of the Maltese. In the belief that after an uprising by the majority of the inhabitants against Bonaparte's newly-installed republic in 1798, the place of France in the Maltese collective memory has been shaped by various media through a series of perceptions and interpretations, this researcher examines passive and active collective remembering and invented traditions as introduced by dominant institutions, namely the British colonial rulers and the Catholic Church, over the past two centuries. Through literature relevant to collective memory theories, particularly those of a presentist perspective, this study proceeds to determine the significance these mnemonic products and practices must have had on the formation of Malta's present perceived identity. After scrutinizing the veracity of textual data surrounding the insurrection and subsequent two-year blockade as related by foreign and Maltese eyewitnesses and narrators, all suffering from apparent partiality, the researcher analyzes their relationship with the media and public space mnemonics vis-a-vis their generational influence on the community. In this investigation the author attempts to find out if contemporary Maltese citizens are suffering from a 'historical malady', victims of a 'forgetful' blocked memory which could possibly prevent the necessary development of vigorous links between past experience and future expectation. Analyzing its final conclusions this study enables the researcher to make suggestions and recommendations regarding the way forward towards the construction of a Maltese identity that rightly represents all. Description: PH.D.HISTORY 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/34867 Title: Interactions between Malta, Rome and France in the second half of the eighteenth century : a study of the last four years of ambassador De Breteuil in Rome, 1773-1777 Abstract: The aim of this dissertation is to analyse certain elements of the Enlightenment in relation to the political and diplomatic spheres as well as in the social and cultural milieu of the second half of the 18th century. This dissertation will attempt to emphasise how the Enlightenment was more than just an intellectual movement conceived by the well-known philosophes, but that it was also a far-reaching phenomenon which effected several countries and different social classes, like those of Paris, Rome and Hospitaller Malta. They both experienced and contributed to the changing and challenging, international framework in various ways and forms. The dissertation focuses on the last four years of Ambassador Jacques-Laure le Tonnelier De Breteuil (1723-1785) as an Ambassador of the Order to the Holy See in Rome, 1773-1777. This study looks at the correspondence between Papal Rome and Hospitaller Malta at a time of Church-State struggles and pretensions, whilst also considering the influences of this new ‘Age of Reason’ emanating from the Ambassador’s native country, France. The dissertation seeks to show the importance of welcoming new innovations and implementing reforms. It also attempts to identify the emerging elements of secular influence against the backdrop of Absolutism, along the traditional feudal system, founded on the principle of privilege, which still held importance in 18th-century Europe. Ambassador Jacques-Laure le Tonnelier De Breteuil hailed from a renowned, highly-educated and traditional French noble family, and was one of those who experienced the intellectual and secular movements of the time at first-hand, whilst keeping abreast with the circulated philosophical debates coming from his native country. Through his correspondence De Breteuil opens a window onto the late 18th century and the pretensions coming from various secular states which contested the supremacy of the Catholic Church centred on Papal Rome. Whilst safeguarding the religiosity and sovereignty of the Order he formed part of, De Breteuil used his patronage and status in altering traditional assumptions, albeit with caution. He questioned what he saw as the opulence and abuses of the clerical estate. The Enlightenment, unlike possible general impressions, was not an intellectual development that belonged only to a small circle of renowned 18th-century philosophes, but its ideas spread amongst those whose interests were the Arts, the Sciences and education, to improve the politic socio-economic milieu. The flourishing cosmopolitanism of the Grand Tour and the importance of cultural exchange amongst different states further contributed to the Age of Reason. Description: B.A.(HONS)HISTORY 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/34862 Title: Party politics and social legislation in Malta, 1921-1933 Abstract: This study will, at first, examine the inter-war period and the period preceding it from a socio-economic standpoint, while also providing the foundational information needed to establish the present members of parliament at the time of enactment of legislation. The socio-economic examination will take the form of a cross-check between the speech presented by Governor Plumer on the inauguration of Parliament on 1st November, 1921 regarding the main challenges which were to be faced by the Members of Parliament, with a snapshot of Malta during the early years of the 20th century, and the real challenges faced at the social level. It will then move on to present vignettes of debates which occurred in the Legislative Assembly and the Senate regarding socio-economic legislation, in an effort to identify the main strategic methods and objectives which the various political parties employed when passing legislation. Description: B.A.(HONS)HISTORY 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/34859 Title: Religious confraternities in Gozo between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries Abstract: This study mainly focuses on the establishment of confraternities in the Maltese Islands, particularly in Gozo, throughout the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. It analyses the similarity in the process by which each confraternity was set up, and how they eventually evolved into effective parish organisations. Description: B.A.(HONS)HISTORY 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z