Hospitaller Malta and the Mediterranean economy in the sixteenth century [Book review]

Abstract

Joan Abela, Hospitaller Malta and the Mediterranean Economy in the Sixteenth Century is a milestone in historical research on Malta for two reasons. First, because of the "recent opening" of Malta's notarial archives (a date would have been appreciated) and, second, because the author, Joan Abela, is a Founding Member of the Notarial Archives Foundation. It is hard to imagine a historian who would be better placed to exploit the rich documentation of early modern Malta, and Abela's meticulous work does indeed rest on a wealth of archival material, drawn from a wide array of sources, including but not limited to notarial material.