/library/oar/handle/123456789/3335 Mon, 22 Dec 2025 01:01:13 GMT 2025-12-22T01:01:13Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/140788 Title: Malta : political developments and data in 2023 : stirred, not shaken Authors: Fenech, Dominic Abstract: The year in politics was marked by the exposure of a number of scandals, chief among which concerned the privatisation of three public hospitals. Polls still continued to give the governing Labour Party a strong lead over the opposition Nationalist Party, which showed little sign of recovery. The economy performed well, but inflation hit people's spending power, and sustained growth continued to be reflected in overcrowding and congestion. The abortion debate closed in an anti-climax. A brighter picture emerged in foreign relations as Malta took its place in the UN Security Council and was chosen to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/140788 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/140144 Title: 'For once the banner of St John flutters from atop a vessel, that vessel cannot pass to any other sovereign' : the sovereignty, war and diplomacy of the Hospitaller Island Order State on Malta Authors: Buttigieg, Emanuel Abstract: '...he erupted with devout joy speaking the words of Holy Simeon[:] "Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine"', that is, 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace' (St Luke ii, 29-32) (NLM AOM259 f. 175v-176r, 17 July 1656). These words were uttered by Grand Master Fra Jean-Paul de Lascaris-Castellar (r.1636-1657). He was lying in bed, sick, unable in fact to carry out many of his duties as Grand Master, so much so that a lieutenant had been appointed to see to the day-to-day business of the Order and Malta. On 17 July 1656, the lieutenant brought the news to the sick Lascaris that a few days earlier, on 26 June, a joint Venetian-Maltese squadron had inflicted a significant defeat upon the Ottomans right at the mouth of the Dardanelles. It was this happy news that inspired Lascaris to proclaim - in imitation of Simeon at the Temple when he beheld the infant Christ - that having witnessed the greatness of God, his soul could now depart this world in peace. It would be another year before Lascaris actually passed away, on 14 August 1657, but at least for those few days during the summer of '56, Lascaris basked in the glory of the success of his navy, confident in the knowledge that this was a clear sign of God's blessing as his reign drew to a close. This battle was one episode in the 24-year-long Venetian-Ottoman conflict known as the War of Candia ( 1645-1669), a struggle that arguably began as a result of the daredevil actions of the Maltese galleys in the Eastern Mediterranean (Freller & Campoy, 2006). Whereas the galleys of the Order of Malta were Venice's most constant ally in this war against the Ottoman Empire, it did not mean that relations between the two were always harmonious (Mallia-Milanes, 1992). The account of the battle of 26 June 1656 will serve here as a case study to focus on the themes of sovereignty, war and diplomacy of the Hospitaller 'Island Order State' on Malta. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/140144 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/140143 Title: Introduction : the religion and the land Authors: Buttigieg, Emanuel; Fiott, Rakele Abstract: In Figure 1.1, a knight hospitaller of the Order of St John genuflects in front of his grand master, his arms crossed upon his chest indicating his reverent submission as he receives the administrative responsibility for a commandery. This was the nomenclature for a unit of property pertaining to the Order as a military- religious institution within the framework of the Roman Catholic Church. The grand master was the source from which all the authority in the Order flowed. He was the guardian of its assets. An individual knight hospitaller did not own a commandery but was its administrator. This attitude was encapsulated in the Latin motto above the image, an adaptation from Corinthians 6:10: ‘as if they possessed everything, and had nothing’. Yet, the brethren had to be repeatedly reminded of their status as administrators and not proprietors. Like the rest of pre-industrial society, land constituted the Order’s financial backbone; hence, the careful management of these assets, which varied from small dispersed plots of land to large contiguous landed estates, and buildings in cities, was crucial for the successful operation of its Common Treasury.; between the Hospitallers and the communities inhabiting these lands. While as a religious organisation, the Order administered the commanderies across Catholic Europe, in Malta, it managed lands as the government of these islands, the grand master being the lay prince of an evolving Island Order State. The many dimensions of the Order (landowner, aristocratic, military, religious, and sovereign) embedded it within the dynamic political framework of early modern Europe. In 1655, Cardinal Mazarin told Louis XIV of France that the Order was ‘an army whose function was to fight the enemies of Christendom and to work for the uni cation of Christian princes’. In 1682, the Order’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Fra Marcello Sacchetti (1644–1720), had to reiterate to Pope Innocent XI the importance of ensuring that the Order’s properties remained exempt from taxation by the European crowns since these sustained the defence of the Christian Republic against the Ottomans. Approximately a century later, Fra Louis-Marie-Auguste d’Estourmel, Receiver of the Order in Paris, is thought to have used Hospitaller funds to aid the Royal Family in its attempt to escape Paris. The royal flight failed, and soon the collapse of the French monarchy, the confiscation of the French commanderies by the Revolutionaries, and the Order’s expulsion from Malta by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798 brought about a major crisis in its history. This chapter seeks to draw some general contours around this multilayered tapestry as a means to approach the subject of The Religion and the Land. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/140143 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/140141 Title: Of battles and escorts : the Hospitallers in the wider tapestry of the 17th century Authors: Buttigieg, Emanuel Abstract: Various descriptions, both written and visual, survive from the 17th century that show the Hospitaller-Maltese galley fleet engaged in battles against Muslim vessels across the Mediterranean. These events and the narratives that stemmed from them were about war, but they were also about faith, politics, adventure, ritual, protocol, and at times also fun and pleasure, with the line between these aspects being porous. The crowned heads of Europe regularly called upon the Religion (the Order of St John/Malta) to assist them in their naval engagements. A somewhat lesser-known aspect of the activities of the Hospitallers was when they were summoned to provide an escort service to princesses and other royal figures. The presence of the Hospitaller-Maltese fleet provided tangible security and intangible but palpable prestige. Through the letters and reports of the Hospitaller captains general, this chapter will present two case studies from the 1660s that will serve as illustrative examples of how battles and escorts functioned to keep the Order of Malta anchored within the tapestry of 17th-century European and Mediterranean affairs in a manner that sustained the relevance of the Religion on the stage of a wider world. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/140141 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z