/library/oar/handle/123456789/91698 2025-11-15T07:46:19Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/95846 Title: Identifying people by nicknames : the case of Rabat, Malta Abstract: This study aims to demonsrate the origin and use of nicknames in general, focusing on the Maltese Islands, with a specific reference to the Rabat area. The author researched different documents in order to compile a list of family nicknames used in Rabat during the 20th century. In order to attain this objective, the researcher carried out interviews with people in relation to their family nicknames enquiring about their origins in order to draw up a number of family trees. A study of the origin (birth) of particular nicknames from Rabat was also carried out. Nicknames were placed under different headings according to the type of nickname (e.g. Nicknames originating from Personal Names, Surnames, Locations, and Physical defects). The main research tools were of a qualitative nature, through interviews that brought out the feelings and reflections of persons involved, as well as through documents, namely contracts from the notarial archives, school registers, and church records. Nicknaming is not a popular subject which is researched and studied by many historians. This research used published information to compare the foreign scene with the local scenario regarding nicknaming and nicknaming practices, focusing mainly on relevant examples from the Rabat area. The Rabat area was selected, since the author believes that the nicknames in this locality are still frequently used to this very day. A limitation to the study may be associated with the restricted availability of local articles available on this subject. This limitation was addressed through a more consistant emphasis on one-to-one conversations with locals whose nicknames are of high relevance to them. In this regard answers to questions such as, “Why did the Maltese feel the need to use nicknames?”, “Why do the Maltese feel that a nickname gives them identity?” and “Why do nicknames stick to a particular family for decades, and in some cases for centuries?” were tentatively addressed. A further aspect which was studied for the purpose of this dissertation was the use of nicknames in literature. It is a feature which is characteristic to novels and short stories dealing with the social environment of Maltese villages. Another source of study with regards to the use of nicknames as identification of persons was the news bulletins reporting incidents concerning certain individuals. Description: M.MALTESE STUD. 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/95684 Title: Tal-Ghadajjar/Tal-Wej : a landscape rich in biodiversity and culture Abstract: The Maltese landscape is an ancient one, much of it permeated with a long history of human intervention. The resources created by nature have been taken over by human beings along the span of time to become the cultural landscape we know today. Settlers in the area encroached on vast stretches of virgin land and transmuted them through uses and reuses. It is intriguing to look deeper and wider into such transformations so as to study the impacts of this takeover and to identify the various layers of these activities and usages – from prehistory to the contemporary age. It is therefore the aim of this study to investigate the historical, cultural and environmental evolution of one particular area situated in the north of Malta. This dissertation will focus on a site that lies in an area on the boundary between the localities of Naxxar and Mosta. It is known as Tal-Għadajjar / Tal-Wej and extends to the Santa Margerita plateau. This dissertation will look closely at the historical and cultural importance of features existing at this site which include cart-ruts, rock-cut tombs, old quarries, dry rubble walls and ancient pathways, a rural sixteenth-century chapel and a plague cemetery, along with other cultural heritage. The research will, furthermore, focus on the ecological significance of the site, raising awareness of the Special Protected Areas of which this is one. It is, in fact, hoped that this study will serve to increase the public’s interest in, and alertness to, this area so that more protection is allocated by the authorities to its natural and cultural wealth, helping to spare it from more building encroachments, an activity which has arguably plagued this country. Even though predominantly rocky with sparse soil cover, Tal-Wej has been adapted for some agricultural activity extant to this day. It has been used by hunters and trappers in the past, an activity which to some extent continues today. Quarrying on a small scale has now been discontinued but it has served towards the livelihood of some while it lasted. Interviews with persons who frequented the area and knew it well have revealed many anecdotal and factual details about people and practices that stretch from childhood to adulthood. A last but very important ecological feature which goes beyond the flora and fauna are the seasonal freshwater ponds which have given the area its Maltese name – Tal-Għadajjar (the place of the ponds). Besides a home for miniscule creatures, the ponds have created many occasions for children to play ‘water’ games, for sheep and goats to find some fresh water to drink as they are taken to graze in the area, and for hunters to wait for their prey as these come down for a moment of respite and to restore their energy while migrating. The present author is hopeful that this study will also help to enrich the public recollection about a site whose story and importance may have been overlooked by the majority, causing its memory to be extinguished with the passing of time. Description: M.MALTESE STUD. 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/95620 Title: The development of late medieval churches on the Maltese Islands Abstract: The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the origins and development of Christian churches on the Maltese islands from the re-Christianisation of Malta in the Norman period through to the arrival of the Knights of St John in 1530. It is important to appreciate the very large number of such churches. In 1575 the papal legate enumerated some 430, a remarkable number for such a small area and population. I have to ask why so many churches? One significant reason must have been the difficulty of travel. The main characteristic is that the vast majority of these churches are very limited in size. Most of them were intended to be used and indeed were used by a very small number of people who lived within easy reach of the church, though there are a few exceptions in the case of churches that travellers found convenient, which I will details in the course of this dissertation. Another remarkable feature is the variety of styles evident even in the comparatively few examples which have survived intact in whole or in part. Most were small and simple but they did include the sizeable Santa Marija ta' Bir Miftuħ, near Gudja, larger than what has survived, and the sophisticated Santa Caterina on the outskirts of Zejtun. Often the site determines characteristics. Despite the simplicity of these churches, there were still a variety of styles. Some had subsidiary buildings or annexes acting as sacristies. Others had subsidiary chapels attached. Many churches abutted each other. In a few cases three or even four churches existed side by side. Irrespective of their size they all had to be inspected by the Bishop. However slowly they had to travel yet they were much travelled men. They have left, usually detailed, records of their findings, still available today in the Archbishops' curial records in Floriana, though some are no longer easy to read. This is why they are, by and large, so fully documented. Not surprisingly Mdina and Rabat was full of small churches which were easier for the bishop to inspect and consequently were inspected more often. Likewise, to a lesser extent in a smaller community, Rabat and the Citadel in Gozo had several churches in the centre. Bishops in general usually spent a fair amount of time visiting Gozo, often including the one church on Comino as well. Some served as parish churches and were used at least weekly. The larger villages would give rise to several churches. It would seem however that the vast majority were those erected by a patron to provide a resting place for his bones and those of his family. Many of these are to be found dotted around the countryside, outside villages, where the patrons owned land. These could well be open only once a year, in the feast day of the saint who gave his name to the church. The two churches in the Castrum Maris, as was appropriate for the King's representative, followed the Latin, or Roman, rite, but it would seem from their names that the vast majority of the other churches reflected a connection with eastern Christianity. This is in some places evidenced by the freestanding altar in the Byzantine tradition, as at tal-Virtu on the limits of Rabat. It would seem that eastern monks were active in Malta in the course of its reconversion to Christianity. Description: M.MALTESE STUD. 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z