The archival and institutional history of the ‘Consolato del Mare’ of Malta

Abstract

Although the Consolato del Mare of Malta and its archive have been studied in the last decades through a thematic approach, its institutional workings, administrative, and archival procedures were never explored. To fill in this gap, this dissertation aims to investigate the institutional dynamics of the Consolato through the analysis of archival procedures and typologies of records, and to reconstruct the archival custodial history of the archive. At the same time, the goal is to provide a better understanding of the legal nature of this institution and the main changes occurring in the administrative procedures and related records between the late Hospitaller administration and the early British period. A comparative approach with the international scenario is also adopted.