On Wednesday 20 March 2024, Prof. Horatio Caesar Roger Vella from the University's Department of Classics and Archaeology within the Faculty of Arts, presented his latest publications to the University of Malta Rector, Prof. Alfred J. Vella.
The four volumes are a transcription of the first four volume-manuscripts found at the Archives of the Custody of the Holy Land, a territory which covers Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus and Rhodes.
The Holy Land has connections with the rest of the world through Commissioners of the Holy Land, including the one in Malta, as well as property which belongs to it in various parts of Europe. The Holy Land was entrusted by the Holy See to the care of the Franciscans Minor since the times of St Francis of Assisi, eight centuries ago, and to this day they still look after these Holy Places with great care and devotion.
The Custodians of the Holy Land, at least from the seventeenth century, left us records of their administration which they called Ordinazioni. These consist of circular letters they wrote from time to time to their Friars, advising them on their behaviour and obligations towards their own communities and pilgrims. They also include reports of the installations of new Custodians, their precarious journeys made to reach the Holy Land, their visits made to the various communities in all the places mentioned above, the quarrels which kept on arising with the officials of the Turkish domination, and with the other two religions, the Orthodox and the Armenian. References are also made to outbreaks of plague and violence.
Every year, Prof. Vella visits the Holy Land to transcribe manuscripts.
"My first transcription was carried out about eight years ago when I was on sabbatical leave there. Since then, I kept on going there every year to transcribe these volumes, which sometimes are not easy to read, full of abbreviations and in different handwritings, in Latin, Italian or Spanish. With experience already gained in this field of palaeography, I have been welcomed into the Franciscan community to share their special moments of prayer and fraternity, and to work for the preservation of their records", said Prof. Vella.
The presentation of the four volumes (the fifth is still in process of being corrected) is in Italian, which language is officially spoken in the Holy Land.
Each volume has a transcription, as well as a general and detailed index, a geographical index, and a number of appendices being lists of officials, important dates and other information.
The Assistant Commissioner for the Holy Land in Malta, Rev. Noel Muscat, the Director of Library ¸£ÀûÔÚÏßÃâ·Ñ, Mr Kevin Ellul, and the Senior Manager of Library Reader ¸£ÀûÔÚÏßÃâ·Ñ, Mr Silvio Cortis, were also present at the meeting.
