Aspects of social life in late 18th-century Malta as seen through the records of the ‘Magna Curia Castellaniae’

Abstract

This dissertation will seek to illustrate how daily life in late eighteenth-century Malta unfolded within a dynamic social environment where a variety of players were to be found: men and women, young and old, locals and foreigners, and many more. While the debate about the decline or not of Hospitaller Malta in the eighteenth century is an important one, this dissertation seeks to be a reminder that there are other important themes awaiting investigation and that these, in turn, help to create a more holistic picture of late eighteenth-century Hospitaller Malta. This study of the records of the Magna Curia Castellaniae surely contribute to this aspect. The first chapter, ‘A Framework’, will set the scene by discussing the period both from an international and a local perspective; it will also discuss the main courts present in Malta. The second chapter, ‘Challenges to Communal Harmony’, will discuss some activities prosecuted in the courts such as prostitution, theft, vagabondage and gambling. Chapter three, ‘Aspects of Family Breakdown in the Late Eighteenth Century’, will illustrate the aspect of the family by looking at themes such as adultery, familial violence and children. The final chapter, ‘Aspects of Social Life’, will focus on practices such as food consumption and leisure activities.