Academic literature on the topic 'Malte – 1530-1798'

During the early modern age the appointment of Maltese bishops involved conflicts in the management of ecclesiastical patronage, jurisdictional issues and international diplomacy. The procedure for appointment, established by Charles v in 1530 when he granted Malta to the Order of St John, was the result of a compromise: safeguarding rights of royal patronage without undermining the independence of an international military order. It is important, however, to underline the reforming activity conducted by bishops appointed in such political ways, especially through the application of some institutions provided by the Council of Trent, such as diocesan synods.

Abstract The Order of Malta is an entity which established its own states on Rhodes (1310–1522) and Malta (1530–1798). Since 1834, it has been located in Rome. Today, the Order is universally regarded as a subject of international law. The Order exercises right of legation and ius contrahendi. It still is not a primary, i.e., sovereign, subject of international law. Paradoxically, it is its distinguishing feature, i.e., being a religious order that prevents it from being genuinely sovereign. Sovereignty means independence from any external power. In the case of any order of the Roman Catholic Church, this is absolutely impossible. The Order’s Grand Master can be elected only from among religious in terms of canon law who have made vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and is fully subordinate to the Pope. Yet the Order undoubtedly is a secondary subject of international law whose status is determined by its recognition by primary subjects.

AbstractBetween 1530 and 1798, Malta, the southernmost tip of Catholic Europe, was home to the military-religious Order of St John (of Malta). This organization traced its origins to the years just before the beginning of the crusades in late eleventh-century Palestine. From Malta, the Order sought to keep up its dual mission of hospitality (hence the appellative of hospitallers) and fighting the infidel Muslim at sea. From 1592 to 1768 the Society of Jesus was present in this Catholic outpost from where it supported the mission of the Order and sought to remould hospitaller piety. The relationship between these two organizations had ramifications that spread beyond tiny Malta, both because of the issues that arose between them, as well as because of the international composition of the Order and the Society. The Carnival of 1639 proved to be a defining moment in this relationship; though generally passed over as a ‘temporary disturbance’ this article emphasizes that it was more than this by looking at the dynamics of the links between hospitallers, Jesuits, the Inquisition, and Carnival. This article is based on a wider range of sources than previous studies, which will help to bring out the nuances of the subject under investigation.

La recherche qui fait l'objet de cette thèse a pour but de combler une lacune sur la connaissance des choix patrimoniaux en époque moderne d’un grand acteur territorial, l’Ordre souverain militaire hospitalier de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem, de Rhodes et de Malte. L’historiographie relative au cheminement de cet Ordre en époque médiévale est considérable et des historiens de grande envergure se sont occupés d’en reconstruire les caractéristiques et les mécanismes administratifs dès son commencement, de Jérusalem à Rhodes. Au contraire, l’étude de l’histoire des chevaliers à l’époque moderne souffre de lacunes: d’une part à cause du fait que de nombreux documents se sont perdus avant l’arrivée de l’Ordre à Malte en 1530, d’autre part, parce qu’il y a de considérables difficultés à repérer les sources parsemées dans les Archives d’État de toute l'Europe. À cette époque historique, quasiment chaque État se précautionnait d’ordres laïcs chevaleresques ou religieux-militaires, mais ceux qui maintinrent une adhérence au modèle original sont en prévalence ceux d’origine médiévale. Certains d’entre eux ont survécu jusqu’à nos jours, en renonçant au versant militaire et en trouvant une nouvelle substance dans l’action charitable : l’Ordre des Chevaliers de Malte est l'un des rares Ordres, sinon le seul, qui a su se reconstruire entièrement. Par apport aux autres ordres religieux-militaires, l’Ordre de Malte se caractérise autant pour sa solide structure hiérarchique administrative, qui se maintient inaltérée pendant des siècles, que pour sa nature patrimoniale et territoriale, qui lui consent d’accroître incessamment sa domination à niveau international, de Jérusalem à Rhodes et Malte, jusqu’à atteindre toute l’Europe de cette époque. Appréhender la hiérarchie administrative de l’Ordre est très important pour reconstruire les retombées directes sur les biens à niveau territorial, notamment à travers le système des commanderies. La consolidation de ce dernier, à partir de l’époque moderne, est pour les chevaliers de Malte un aspect fondamental à fin d’obtenir les ressources économiques nécessaires pour mener à terme la construction de «la ville de l’Ordre», La Valette, à partir de 1565. Les relations établies entre les Grands Maîtres, les papes et les princes italiens et étrangers à la fin du XVIe siècle trouvent une démonstration directe même sous le plan de l’architecture : les échanges épistolaires entre l’Empereur Charles Quint et l’Ordre religieux-militaire suite à la donation de Malte en 1530, et celui entre le Grand Maître Jean de La Valette et Cosme Ier de Toscane concourent à l’idéation d’une ville qui réfléchisse, même sous l’angle architectural, la puissance chrétienne dans la Méditerranée, tels qu’était le cas pour l’Ordre de Malte. À la fin du XVIe siècle, il y a un foisonnement d’idées autour du thème de la ville idéale: il suffit de penser à Vitry-le-François (1545), Carlentini (1551) e Palmanova (1593). Les plus grands ingénieurs militaires de l’époque furent appelés dans les plus importants États italiens et étrangers afin de réaliser les ambitions des papes, ducs, princes et empereurs, en facilitant en Europe la migration de style du langage architectural de la Renaissance tardive ainsi que du Maniérisme. Les voyages d’une ville à l’autre de ces célèbres ingénieurs militaires comportent une retombée directe autant sur les choix du langage architectural, que pour ce qui concerne l’échange constant de main-d’œuvre locale, comme c’est le cas pour la capitale de l’ordre à La Valette. De plus, il y a un rapport symbiotique entre les ingénieurs choisis par l’ordre qui portent de nouveaux modèles architecturaux et urbanistiques et la main-d’œuvre maltaise, formée dans la tradition, qui transmettent le style de la Renaissance tardive même aux plus petites agglomérations
This dissertation aims to fill the knowledge gap about the property choices – during the Modern Age – of a great territorial mover, the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta. The historiography about the events of this Order during the Middle Ages is considerable and very prominent historians have worked to reconstruct its features and administrative machinery from its dawning, from Jerusalem to Rhodes. On the contrary, the research of Knights’ history during the Modern Age is full of lacunae: partly because a lot of documents are lost before the Order arrival in Malta on 1530 and partly because finding the sources – lost in the State Archives of all Europe – is more difficult. During this historical period almost each State has secular orders of knighthood or military-religious orders, but the ones who kept their own adherence to the original model have principally a medieval origin. Some of them survive up to the present day, renouncing the military aspect and finding new life in the charitable spirit: among them, the Order of Malta is one of the few, maybe the only one, that was been able to be completely reconverted. Compared to the other military-religious orders, the Order of Malta is characteristic of both the solid hierarchical administrative structure, all but intact during the centuries, and its property and territorial nature allowing to widen continuously its international rule, from Jerusalem to Rhodes and Malta, and the then known Europe. It is very important to understand the order administrative hierarchy to reconstruct the direct repercussions on the international goods through the system basically of recommendation, which consolidation is – from the Modern Age – an essential aspect for the Knights of Malta to get the economical resources needed to achieve the construction of the so-called “City of the Order”, Valletta, from 1565. The relations existing between the Grand Masters, the popes and the Italian princes to the end of Cinquecento find a direct confirmation in the architectural feature too: the epistolary correspondence between the Emperor Charles V and the military-religious order following the deed of donation of the Maltese Island in 1530, and the one between the Grand Master Jean de Valette and Cosimo I de’ Medici concur to the invention of a city mirroring, also from an architectural point of view, the Christian power in the Mediterranean Sea, as the Order of Malta was. At the end of Cinquecento the ideas about ideal cities topic proliferate: only think about Vitry-le François (1545), Carlentini and Palmanova (1593). The greatest military engineers of the period are called into the more important Italian and foreign States to achieve the ambitions of popes, dukes, princes and emperors, simplifying the style migration of the late Renaissance and Mannerism architectural language in all Europe. The journeys of these famous military engineers from a city to another involve a direct repercussion on the architectural language choices, both in the measure of a constant exchange with the local workers, and as it happens in Valletta, the capital of the order. Moreover, there is a symbiotic relationship between the engineers the order chose, bringing new urban architectural models, and the Maltese workers, grown up in their tradition, handing on the late Renaissance style also to the most minute settlements

Aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles, l'île de Malte, propriété de l'Espagne et confiée à l'Ordre de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem, devient un lieu privilégié d'affrontements entre les rives chrétiennes et musulmanes. Après des épisodes militaires marquants (razzia de 1551, siège de 1565) et des fortifications intensives (construction de La Valette), Malte incarne à la fin du XVIe siècle la frontière par excellence de la chrétienté face à l'Islam. Au siècle suivant, son épanouissement en tant qu'île-frontière est symbolisé par l'essor de la guerre de course qui maintient l'affrontement avec les "Infidèles" tout en favorisant l'émergence, puis le développement, de contacts commerciaux avec la rive ennemie. Dans le même temps, les échanges marchands et humains sont en permanence contrebalancés par une surveillance sévère de la société par l'Inquisition romaine. Et cet équilibre contribue à modeler une société originale, à la fois cosmopolite et profondément hostile à toute différence religieuse
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the island of Malta, which was property of Spain entrusted to the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, became the privileged site of confrontations between the Christian and the Moslem shores. After striking military events (raid of 1551, siege of 1565) and intensive fortifications (the building of La Valette), Malta became at the end of the 16th century the embodiment of the borderline between Christianity and Islam. During the following century, Malta came out as a border island where increased privateer warfare kept up conflicts against the "infidels" and helped the emergence then the development of trade contacts with the enemy on the other shore. At the same time, trade and human exchanges were constantly counterbalanced by the Roman Inquisition keeping a close watch on the society in the island. This balance has contributed to the shaping of an original society that was cosmopolitan and at the same time strongly hostile to any religious difference