MALTA

CULTURE AND IDENTITY

 Edited by

HENRY FRENDO

OLIVER FRIGGIERI

Ministry of Youth and the Arts

1994

211330
Published by the Ministry of Youth and the Arts

<9 Copyright: The Editors, on behalf of the Authors, 1994

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored

in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the authors.

Phototypeset and printed by Grima Printing & Publishing Industries

A58 Marsa Industrial Estate, Malta.
 Contents

Foreword vii

~\
Editors' Preface
National Identity Henry Frendo

~
Language Alexander Borg
Literature Oliver Friggieri I
Archaeology Anthony Bonanno 81
Natural Heritage Patrick J. Schembri 105
Architecture Leonard Mahoney 125
Art . Antonio Espinosa Rodriguez 143
Music Joseph Vel/a 159
Folklore Guie Cassar Pullicino @1
Law Hugh W. Harding 205
Medicine Paul Cassar '219
-....Economy
- Emigration
Lino Briguglio
Lawrence E. Attard @ 3
Notes on Contributors 271

V
~.
i:eeeuti

GHAWDEX XAGHRA
THE MALTESE ISLANDS
GOZO MAIN LOCALITIES
RABAT
OALA

~EM M UNA
~~ COMINO

N ST PAULS BAY
BUAMARRAO
I
MOSTA
MGARR
SANGW.li..NN
LIJA

BALZAN
BIRKIRKARA GZIR~A
~~ VA~'E·.JA-
MDINA MSIDA:
ATTAAD ~ KALKARA
AA BAT FLOR!AN
VlTTORIOSA
OORMI HAMAUN NGLEA
SPICUA

MALTA ZEBBU(;
MARS
PAOLA FGUAA
ZABBAA

TARXIEN
DlNGLI LUOA
STA LUCIJA ZEJTUN

GUDJA
MO AB BA
GHAXAO
K!AKOP

SAFI

0
l- 1--------.. . 10

KM
ZURR!EO
 Foreword
I am indeed privileged and honoured to have this most welcome opportunity to
join some of the foremost personalities and experts in contemporary Malta in presenting
to the reader this compact but highly informative profile of Malta and the Maltese.
In a climate where sentiments flashpoint quickly and unexpectedly,
commissioning contributions in a language other than Maltese was not the easiest of
decisions to take. The debate called for much heart searching, spectre chasing, the
playing down of emotions and above all a rational realisation that an objective had to be
achieved. It was not a question of preferring one language for another - of considering
to trade in the Maltese language - so signal and determining an insignia of our cultural
and national diversity - but an exercise in pragmatism, designed to attract the widest
possible audience.
I make no apology as we consider ourselves fortunate that the course of history
was such that we now benefit from the undoubted advantage of so many generations of
knowledge of written and spoken English. We have chosen the medium which affords us
the best opportunity to reach out. To dress up for the occasion and tell our story.
This publication is our 'billet-doux'. It covers the dry bones of a simple cryptic
means of identification with that florid southern European flesh which gives us a distinct
personality and highlights our true identity. It is also a labour of love. For however
clinically precise and dispassionate one tries to be there is always that strain of deep
patriotic bias lurking in the subconscious which sometimes emerges spontaneously with
an intense Mediterranean humanity to breathe life and soul into the body. This is us, as
we know ourselves to be. Maybe as we wish to be known and want others to see and to
know us. A broad brush overview, with no claim to be a complete historical and social
record of a country and its people. A dozen out of a myriad aspects which shoot like
stars from a vaster hazier backdrop to the prominence of centre stage.
Our culture, our identity is not just this 'melange' of what we believe to be
good, beautiful, epic and praiseworthy, a choice dictated by a burning nationalistic love
of country and people. We do not portray the 'chiaroscuro' let alone contrast the darker
hues which sometimes hide undeniable truths and unacceptable realities amidst the gamut
of social mores and moods of a society which evolved and developed over thousands of
years. For even these unpalatable and possibly shaming nuances are part and parcel of
our chequered patchwork past.
Three decades of independence, a mere fraction of the aeons of a people's
march since the archipelago rose Venus-like at the dawn of some jar off day in a long
forgotten millennium, have quickened the pace. A new spirit of adventure, primed by this
new found freedom, became a motive force exploding pent up energies of thought and
talent to cascade bright lights from the skies and form a colourful mosaic of Malta and
the Maltese. A kaleidoscope of pluses and minuses, the conventional, the odd, the
enchanting, the ugly, the profane and the sacred that is us. Whether in motley plumes or
tattered rags we wear our young nationhood with justified pride.

Hon. MICHAEL REFALO

Minister of Youth and the Arts

vii
 Editors' Preface
When first asked to prepare a book of this kind by the Ministry of Youth and
the Arts, our objective was to present a serious and readable kaleidoscope of Maltp's
culture pnd identity. We sought to cover the main constituent elements of this uniqueness
as it was moulded and as it evolved, to indicate what was changing and where these
islands and their people wel."e heading.
It was impossible to cover every aspect of life in Malta or to go into much
detail: more attention could have been given to certain periods, localities and artistic
genres. To make good for this inevitable deficiency in a general work such as this, we
encouraged contributors to refer in their texts to authors, patterns, trends and schools of
thought that have characterised their respective areas, and we also included key
bibliographical data at the. end of each section to permit the reader to delve further into
any particular aspect. While we sought to give some order to the entries so that these
would complement and supplement one another, each section is sufficiently self-contained
and may stand on its own as a valid contribution to at least an aspect, a dimension of the
Malta prism. We have tried to keep to our original overall brief in the knowledge that
such a book would travel far and wide and make Malta known somewhat more
intimately to many.
Several of the illustrations had to be specially photographed for this production
by Mr Tony Mangion, whose work speaks for itself; others were available from libraries,
archives, books and private collections. We are grateful to the directors, curators,
librarians and staffs of, among others, the Fine Arts Museum, the Museum of
Archaeology, the Maritime Museum, the National Archives, the National Tourism
Organisation, the Department of Information, the national and university libraries and
other sources. We thank the geographers J.A. Schembri and N. Vel/a who prepared an
updated map of the Maltese Islands for this book, as well as history students Simon
Mercieca and /van Grech and secretary Yvette Attard who assisted in the collation or
xeroxing of materials. Last but not least we wish to express our gratitude and
appreciation to the Minister for Youth and the Arts, the Hon. Dr. Michael Refalo, and
to his predecessor, the Hon. Dr. Michael Frendo, for their unwavering support in the
preparation of a work for which the need had long been felt.

HENRY FRENDO OLIVER FRIGGIERI

Department of History Department of Maltese
University of Malta University of Malta

ix
 ati nal Identity
Henry Frendo
t has been said that the smaller a nation come to life as one nation and state. The
I is, the more its territory has the ancient Greek regard for the 'democratic'
city state or polis was justly related to the
character of 'the natal soil'. Smallness
retains integrity, facilities human contact, sense of belonging and administrative
and is more likely to have natural manageability offered by a moderate
~. boundaries. In the case of the closely- spatial perimiter.
connected Maltese Islands in the central The land area of the Maltese Islands was
Mediterranean, the feeling of 'home' (is) 122 square miles (246 square km),
(heimat in German) could overlap with and alongside which were several bays, creeks
evolve into the feeling of 'nation' (patria) and inlets; hills and valleys but no
with relative ease. mountains; few fresh water streams, no
The Upper Barracca garden in Valletta lakes or rivers; and in modern times, at
on the former Sceberras peninsula has long least, not much vegetation or greenery.
provided a grand-stand view not only of Windy but temperate, the climate was
the magnificent harbours busy with naval, serene, the sea inviting, with rainfall
maritime and passenger activity, nor simply mainly in winter-time, the soil sparse but
of the defensive and aesthetically intensely cultivated and protected in
impressive n~twork of massive rubble-walled terraced fields.
fortifications surrounding it, but also an The identification of people with a
instant sense ofMalta's people: of the specific territory, with its habitat and
whereabouts of a good part of the entire :attributes, has invariably played a
population of the country. On either side ·dominant role in the history of nationality;
of Valletta, the old Three Cities in Grand even the dispersed Jews longed to go back
Harbour and the relatively new Sliema 'home'. Malta certainly was no exception.
district across from the almost parallel In this long process of internalizing
Marsamxett Harbour, are clearly visible . common traits, boundaries cease to be
from the capital. Here, and in the 'new' simply physical or visual: they become
(sixteenth century) capital city itself, most attitudinal: self-perceived and prescriptive
of the native· inhabitants increasingly lived in relation to 'others'. According to the
or worked. Jy1ore than any other single Acts of the Apostles, when St Paul landed
location or artery, Valletta's deep-water, in Malta in the first century, the kind
well-sheltered and strategically-located natives speaking their vernacular were
harbours have been analogous to the 'barbarians' (barbarot). But such
picture-postcard: showing, in one view, a incompleteness as these then inhabitants of
people in the making. These harbours have Malta were perceived to have was merely a
been the scene of fighting and of festivity, reflection of what the newcomers saw and
welcoming or chasing away visitors, for defined by their own standards, just as the
thousands of years. From that one historic welcoming inhabitants themselves no doubt
geographical vantage point on the hill, we would have sized up and defined the
can already surmise a ready means whereby strangers by theirs. Self-definition by
size, population, territoriality, hearth and reference and contrast to neighbours,
home could be 'seen' to fuse and gradually visitors and strangers, has always been
 ran important measure of identity: a two- These have been defined by leading world
sided mirror or prism for individuals and 1 authorities, such as Renfrew, as the first
\groups. ·free-standing monuments in stone: the first
Malta was at one time remote and such temples Imown to man. One
central, depending on what role the hypothesis is that Malta was "l'ile sacree
Mediterranean, Europe or Empire played de la Mediterranee"; but another would
during one epoch or another. Malteseness affirm the Malta prehistoric temple culture
. was chisselled out in time by the over-lap to be purely indigenous. What is beyond
of precisely these three supra-national J dispute is the importance of religion, of
dimensions. Geographically the 1ritual and rite, and the artistic and
southernmost tip of the Italian peninsula I architec~ural skills of the megalithic
frotn which it was separated by a stretch of ; temple-builders themselves. A number of
sea, for southbound travellers Malta these extraordinary and mysterious
usually interrupted the route to northern -excava(ed sites still stand to inspire awe
Africa, just as it frequently gave haven to ,
and.. wonder.
~·

• From the Middle Ages too, by which

travellers journeying from west to east or
in the opposite direction. tihie Malta had been fully christianized and
The ej~!liest known inhabitants in probably (at least partly) re-christianized, it
prehistory came from Sicily. The is the legacy of religio!l and worship that
Ph~!licians knew and used Malta well survives above all else.;According to one
before the R~I!!ans arrived in the third source there were 430 R6man Catholic
century B.C. and made it a municipium. churches and chapels in Malta by the
Very few remains have been found of the sixteenth century. According to another,
subsequent By~@tine and J\La,b periods by who included privately-owned chapels, by
archaeologists and medievalists. From the the end of the fifteenth century there were
coming of the Normans in the eleventh over one thousand such places oJ worship.
century to Aragonese rule from Sicily in Scattered all over the Islands in villages
the fifteenth, Malta's feudal history largely and fields, several of these churches and
reflected that of southern Europe, · chapels have survived. The most notable
especially of Sicily. The population was surviving exponent is a fifteenth century
small, not more than 10,000 when the church, with its frescoes, at Mal Millieri.
~-·~ ...
,

Normans arrived, and less before that. A The overriding significance of Roman
document attributed to AI Himyari would Catholic religious practices among the
question how far Malta wasperm~ently Maltese in medieval and early modern
settled during part of the period of Arab times emerges clearly from early
rule (870-1091). Although Malta has ,descriptions of the islands and their people
nothing at all like the Islamic treasures of by Quintin in 1533, Dusina in 1575 and
Sicily or Spain, the ArJtbi~~b<l!>ed l@guage o!J:u4s. I fl\1
apparently inherited by the Maltese from !ReligiQil !J.as been of the utmost ·
those times, and some other fun~rary importance everywhere in etching and
remains until the twelfth century, would marking out character and identity' both
definitely suggest an Arab presence. This is l)opular and national. Religion imparted
also recorded elsewhere. Maliese poeis of solidarity to peopie: it becarne a symbol
Arabic inspiration were accredited to the ·an.~ ~ caus7.jA secular scholar once wro!!:J
Norman royal court in Sicily. For this that the spmt of Christ was 'the most
whole time span until the fifteenth century powerful leaven in the development of
A.D., however, far the most important and ideals' and the church 'the greatest
spectacular remains date back to the· organizing factor in history.' Using
prehistoric temple:! cultures which ante-date vernaculars for communication and Latin
Karnak in Egypt and Mycenae· in Greece. for written record, monks were at the

2
 forefront of knowledge, of its preservation reached Malta in the fourteenth century,
and transmission. The monotheistic faith, Carmelites, Dominicans and Benedictines in
predicated on redemption of the individual the fifteenth. By the following century the
soul, male and female alike, was also Jesuits had established a college for higher
indirectly an inducement to concentrate on learning which developed into Malta's
higher ideals and to bring about change. university of studies.f(fntil1492 when they
[.After the crusades and the holding operation were expelled, Jews had been relatively
against Islam, in the Christian European numerous and some, like doctors, well
world the association of religion with established in Maltese society.}A
___ J convent
nationality, and sometimes with statehood, r~J?lllced their synagogue.
became pronounced with the Reformation: ! Neither Muslims nor Jews, neither Sicilians
Luther, Calvin, Henry VIII. Nestled rather ~or Arabs, the Arabic-speakers and fervent
cosily in the shadow of the Rome-centred Roman Catholics of Hispanic-Sicilian Malta
Latin church, to whom state patrons from slowly took shape during the Middle Ages.
the Normans on always professed allegiance, With the passing of time and the curtailment
Malta had no Reformation. The Inquisitors of direct contact with Arabs in Malta,
kept themselves occupied but were never too Maltese began to evolve into a separate
busy. The influence of Catholicism was all language, with an often fossilized classical
the more redoubtable in the moulding of a 1Arabic increasingly influenced by Romance
Maltese identity. These people, noted !words, expressions and concepts. An incident
Quentin, kept their Semitic language, yet lwhich deserves more attention occur~cti~~"
their Christian sentiment was so intense. 1481: a protest by Maltese jurats asking the
Although the ruling class - officials, bishop to dismiss a foreigner, 'who did not
garrison and clergy - were often Sicilians, know Maltese', from the post of Chaplain of
probably by reason of that, certain the Cathedral at Mdina (Citta Notabile). It
inhabitants were conscious of being Maltese. would seem that already by that time Maltese
Our 'being unlike the others' may already be had assumed the character of an in-group
seen by 1500 to have been sustained and language and was in some way a £Qre v:ahte '
pushed forward by three seminal complexes: of nationality, or at least of marked
in cuJture, language-religion; in nationality, , difference: a measure by which to distinguish
for~tgner-native; and in P<?litics, niier~niled) the native from the foreign with a certain
For much of the me~~~eriod, Maita pride of feeling. Nor was such an attachment
and Gozo enjoyed a degree ofjnternal to the vernacular limited to commoners or
autonomy personified in their commune or peasants, because the prote~§:ejuml:$;
Ufiiyersitas: the old city of Mdina served as The 1481 Maltese language incident about 'if
the islands' capital, with aristocrats, jurats Parroco de/la Cattedrale che non sapeva if
and other notables assembling there. In the Maltese' was documented by the historian
first known open manifestation of A~ft~d_g_Mifsud in l218.It happened
determined Maltese opposition to feudal probably some years after the first known
'exploitation at the hands of Don Gonsalvo poem in medieval Maltese was written by
,Monroy in 1427-1428, it was two Mdina Pietro Caxaro, another learned resident of
ecclesiastical dignitaries, don Cathaldu ~e Citta Nota~i~e .. Ag~i~ i~dic~tively, _ 1
Cusburella and don Gregoriu di Buneliu, caxaro wrote ·Maltese· m tne Koman scnpt.l
whom the «universita" delegated to plead In a work published in Naples in 1582, a ·
Malta's case in Palermo. resident of Malta's sister island Gozo,
Another important development was the Antonio Saliba, in identifying himself
arrival of var~gm;_orders, who laid described Malta as 'nostra patria'. In 1590 a,.
the foundations for their missions, Maltese geographer, Giovanni Myriti, ·
monasteries, convents, charitable institutions, described Malta as 'patria mea du/cissima'.
schools. Augustinians and Franciscans Modern Maltese history really begins in the

3
 six~ntu_ry. To that time ~e can trace As Malta is an epitome of all Europe, and an
the origins of modern Malta. Wtth the assemblage of the you;g;;broiile;~, who are commonly
the best of its first families, it is probably one of the
coming ofthe~chlvalrous European best academies for p~J.l~l!l!SS in this part of the globe;
Christian order of the Knights Hospitallers besides, where every one is entitled by law as well as
in 1530, we can lay our historical anchor custom, to deman~Lsa~isfaction for the least breach of
deep in the rocks. The state came first. The it, people are under a necessity of being very exact and
nation followed closely on its heels. circumspect, both with regard to their words and
actions. All the knights and commanders have much
Tll~ Knights 'of Malta' progressively the appeara~ge~ntlel,lll!.n, and men of the world.
changed the islands and their people in ~t We met with no character in extreme.
important wa~ . What most struck Brydone, however, was
Politically, the Knights made Malta into a the composite and (it appears) rather
small European state. Although in 1530 the harmonious effect of ongoing inter-personal
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V gave relation;hip~ i~ the one government anc~
Malta and Tripoli to the Order of St John, country among the diverse nationalities
of Jerusalem and Rhodes, in feudal tenure, living there. This e~I:le
d(!jacto Malta came to have most of the national stereotypes in his own English
attributes of statehood; one that never mind(he.also.described Henry VIII as 'that
reverted to its orlginal owner. The yearly capricious tyrant'):
~'\gift of a falcon to the Emperor was largely
The ridicules and prejudices of every particular nation
c ··symbolic, even if the deed of cession, in
are by degrees softened and worn off, by the familiar
seeking to maintain a rightful balance intercourse and collusion with each other. It is curious
between the nationalities, sought to regulate to observe the effect it produces upon the various
certain important appointments, such as the people who compose this little medle)':. The French
episcopacy and the admiralty. After the skip, the German strut, and the Spariish stalk, are all
mingled together in such small proportions, that none
English Reformation, the Order in Malta
of them are striking ... It is still easy to distinguish the
was represented by seven European inhabitants of the north and south side of the Pyrenees,
Langues, or nationalities, each of which as well as those of the east and west side of the Rhine;
erected its Auberge in the new capital, for though the Parisian has, in a great measure, lost his
Valletta1• By the eighteenth century the assuming air, the Spaniard his taciturnity and
solemnity, the German. his formality and his pride; yet
:Brand Master behaved like a European
still you see the German, the Frenchman, and the
monarch, and was more or less regarded as Spaniard: it is only the caricature, that formerly made
mie: A distinguished English visitor and them ridiculous, that has disappeared.
Fellow of the Royal Society, J!ry~L()p.e, noted (Such, at their best, were the ruling class
the multi-cultural Europeanity ofMalta as a ~f Malta for 268 years: an aris!<>_~ratic well-
result of the~o~der's pres~nce:· •on~ getting to-do elite, Catholic, chiValrous an(
on shore, we found ourselves in a new cem:>~ate, ~E()ffiffiitted to principles and
world indeed', he wrote in 1792; 'the streets pra£ii~~s so clevated and noble that it
crowded with well-dressed people, who have would be less~ than fair to expect that they
all the appearance of health and affluence; all or always observed them in their daily
whereas at Syracuse, there was scarce a lives. These contingents of Knights,
creature to be seen; and even those few had sometimes numbering up to six hundred or
the appearance of disease and so, with their retinues, their inns, houses ..
wretchedness,' After describing the popular and haunts, regarded r-v1alta as their home,~­
events of mule and donkey races held 'four or at least as a permanent base, for ten r
times every year' by the inhabitants, he generations. They were only expelled by
continued thus about the Knights Bonaparte in 1798. In the meantime,
themselves: however, they had largely made Malta into

1. Provence; Auvergne; France; Italy; Aragon, Catalonia, Navarre; Germany; Castille, Leon, Portugal.

4
 a modern state, with a splendid more reliable water-supply system was
R~ city which Sir Waiter Scott devised, supplementing cisterns and wells.
compared to a dream. They laid the Were the Order less absolutist, Malta
infrastructure of a state. By the time they -1 would also have kept her printing press,
-">left, Malta was more organized and better which was started in the seventee1;th
catered for. New towns, suburbs and century but later stopped. Malta, or at any
villages were established, some carrying the rate the Order of Malta, was diplomatically
name of the Grand Master originally represented in some of the more important
founding them, such as De Rohan courts of European capitals. Soon enough,
(.'Zebbug) or Pinto (Qormi). Famous Italian too, Malta had a University of Studies, a ·
engineers, assisted and succeeded by national theatre, a national library, gardens
Maltese architects of genius such as and fountains. The law courts, previously
Girolamo Cassar, planned a comprehensive -'cat Mdina, moved to Valletta, where town
system of fortifications at least as elaborate and gown mixed in a growing hustle and
· and impressive as that in Rhodes. The bustle of urban activity, with the ports
Conventual Church dedicated to the ' nearby.
- '.cOrder's patron saint, St John the Baptist, -~..,While Malta-born noblemen could not
was constructed in the heart of Valletta, become knights, on the pretext that at law
superbly adorned inside with the finest art they would have been vassals, some
and skill, making it one of the more managed to circumvent this restrictive
magnificent churches in Europe; and so it practice by having their children born in
remains in spite of the looting by the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Others
Bonaparte's troops. The ceremony and however entered the service of the Order._
,-"/pageantry which such a centre of religious and a few managed to climb more than
and semi-religious activity permitted were one rlmg of the ladder. Like any
necessarily unprecedented, and became government, the Order could not rule
intertwined with the social and cultural without the support of the ruled: hence it
history of Valletta. The Grand Master's was inevitable that the native inhabitants
Palace, further down the Strada Reale, was themselves get involved in almost every
another gem; as was, too, the Sacra aspect of the Order's - and Malta's -
Infermeria, so much larger and more life. Unlike their often non-resident and
imposing than the previous hospital in cynical feudal predecessors whose task was
Rhodes. These knights were doctors as well solely to collect taxes from the people, and
as sailors, bureaucrats as well as literati; unlike their successors, who robbed
Dolomieu was a great scientist. The churches or measured needs on a utilitarian
'·hospital gave rise to a Medical School, just calculus, the Knights 'of Malta' had estates
as the concentration of edifices in Valletta, on the continent and various revenues,
religious and secular, made the city a individual and collective, with ready access.
thriving administrative centre. It became a They were also aristocrats, and Europeans,
market city and a place for commercial with taste, style and verve.
'~/and financial affairs. Malta had a mint: its Psychologically, in their view of the
own 'national' currency. Malta had a navy: surrounding world, the Maltese could look
its on,.n. As I"v1alta was never self-sufficient ahead with greater confidence, in a more
in wheat, elaborate grain storage facilities outgoing way, secure on their own ground
were built underground. Malta's dockyard, in the knowledge that for the first time
the arsenate (from which the Maltese word they had effective protection from
'tarzna' is derived), became a centre-piece adversaries on land and sea. The very
of the maritime-based economy. By means move from hinterland to harbour, from the
of an aqueduct all the way down from the old-time fortified city on the highest
high ground around Mdina to Valletta, a ground in the countryside, Mdina, to the

5
 new Renaisance peninsular city right on tht:; managing internal matters. At the same
water's edge, flanked by ports or open sea time, it necessarily invited to its side and
on three sides, was at one time real and trained a novel, accommodating city-
symbo,!~ After the foundation stone was dwelling bureaucracy. Whereas earlier th~
laid by Grand Master Jean de La Valette in emperor had been far away, only
1566, building the city became priority represented by frequently non-resident
number one, so that the Knights could agents or sub-agents, now the Grand
move their quarters from Borgo Master was on the spot, watching, with
(Vittoriosa) to the new site on higher lieutenants at his beck and call, ordering
ground on the other side of the harbour. people around. There was little room for
Until the arrival of the Knights, the Borgo dissent. The Hospitallers were after all also
('Birgu' in contemporary Maltese) had a military order. When an Mdina doctor,
been a little fishing village which also >Giuseppe ('Mattew') Callus had a protest-
absorbed such harbour activity as took letter to Barcelona intercepted by the
place. The villagers would hardly have Grand Master's spies, he was beheaded and
resisted any incursion from Barbary his head exhibited in the main square for
corsairs or other unwelcome visitors; in an all to see and ruminate upon. Callus was
emergency they would flee and hide as best protesting at the despotic behaviour of
:c they could. F~rLS~inL,A.ngelo, which
7 Grand Master La Valette, who was
preceeded the arrival of the Knights, was suppressing liberties tradit~ally enjoyed
by the Maltese commune. 1The new
the only defensive position in the harbour
and not well kept or manned. The Knights government was also cant ous with regard 1
did it up when they began preparing for all to traditional powers of the Catholic
eventualities as soon as they arrived in Church in Malta: militia captains now
Malta and set up house in the Borgo in competed with parish priests for clients and
1530. Fort St Michael and Fort St Elmo favours. Malta became a centralized city
were built and other fortifications restored, state, ruled by foreigners from within, and
strengthened or constructed. Defence rather exclusively too. In their gift, these
pgJ!S:Y resumed with a vengean?eafier 'kavallieri' had p~t_rorage, power, prestige,
Malta's victory over the Turks in 1565, privilege and weal.£:1Some individual
until Malta's bastions and fortifications, in knights were erudite and philanthropic.
Valletta and the Three Cities around the Throughout the seventeenth century there
Grand Harbour, became a marvel. A were power struggles for status, patronage,
deterrent in itself, Malta's defence network sanctuary and jurisdiction, between the
. created an altogether novel atmosphere of Bishop and the Grand Master and also the
stealth, a feeling of inner security which resident Inquisitor. In all this several took
earlier generations of Maltese could not sides, but for the most part it appears that
have experienced in their wildest dreams. the population went on with their own
No longer would helpless and hapless prayer-and-work, family-centred lives,
islanders go to sleep fearing plunder, rape making ends meet and the best of an
and slavery. Mdina was to Valletta what oppor~unity to shine, occasionally
the medieval was to the modern. grumbling and resenting injustice or
A .....J_.,.!-!n+ .. .,..+! .. r..,.1.,. +1-....., --.-. .....+!..-..-....., -+' 1.-..,..,..A ... k!- .......... -A.o .. r'!..... ._,.l Tt..Ano:"'+o• V!9YI.o...,.o ....
.C"'1UJ11UJ.l.:)L1 Gi.U V\,;..l]' Lll\.. p1 Q.\,..Ll\,..\,...3 VJ. l.lCU. U!3J.JJ.}J a.:> U.llU'-'1 '-JI CUJU IV.lGi:)L\,;.l .t""-J.Ul .... l.l\,..i:)•

goven1me"nfchanged through more \The most important Maltese attempt at a

centralization from the urban metropolis ' rising against the Order's degenerating rule
and under the direct surveillance of the was that led by Don Gaetano Mannarino
Order. This lessened or demolished the in _1775 who briefly planted a Maltese
earlier communal autonomy centred in banner on St James Cavalier at the
Mdina, and the role of the Maltese nobility entrance to Valle!~~ \l
and of the jurats, in supervising and Economically, the arrival of the Knights

.6
immediately provided new~"VV..2II<: ,;:i Religiously, Malta became a fief of the
opportunities for the inhabitants, who iord;,pressed on all sides by authorities
alonehad much inside knowledge of their more Catholic than the Pope.fUllder the
islands as well as the savoir faire to service Order, in fact, Malta was almost a
certain technical and social needs, to the~,cy; the frontier European
market and to tailor their produce and Mediterranean power most opposed to the
wares, and to adapt to new possibilities on Arab advance was itself practically
offer, such as serving on the galleys .or theocratic. Although the religious and the
assisting in a variety of other ways in the civil law were not one, there were the
administration of the islands. The K.iiights ecclesiastical and inquisitorial courts. The
could import wealth rather than export it, spiritual head of the Order, which
distribute rather than scavange for it. governed the country, was the Pope; but to
Financially, they could be largely make doubly sure of goings-on after the
independent of local resources; they were Reform~tin the Pope also dispatched
patrons. They knew it, and they behaved inquisitors. After their Malta posting,
accordingly. Noblesse oblige. This meant many of t ese became cardinals, two
that n~~J~!:Qj~fts of unprecedented became popes. In addition, there was the
magnitude could be initiated, for which Catholic bishop, in a long tradition,
Maltese labour, know-how and expertise possibly uninterrupted since the time of St
would be required; and which, in the Publius, whom St Paul is held to have met
process, provided apprenticeship and other and converted to Christianity in 60 A.D.
learning experiences to those involved. This Throughout the Order's period, the
meant, too, that there was !JesJ~<!~I!! Bishops continued to be foreign, with
con~M!c~~t for such production and possibly one exception, mostly Spaniards
manufacture as native skills and resources or Italians; these were frequently non-
at one time or another could muster: olives, resident except when duty called. The
vegetables, cumin, sails, lace, filigree, blood hundreds of churches and chaples spread
oranges. A service industry became possible, over such a relatively small space were
indeed inevitable, meeting the daily needs indicative enough of the religious cults and
and fancies of these wealthy and resident devotions in practice at the timethat the
newcomers, swaggering and swashbuckling Knights arrived. New parishes came to
in their flowing cloaks. For many a Maltese, have new, often bigger churches, as the
the Malta-based Knights provided 'a captive population increased. Religious feasts and
market'. Whether or not such reciprocities celebrations became more important and
as ensued could be simply regulated by a conspicuous: the count~y) ~a!ron saints
vassal-lord philosophy, usually there was were St Paul, St Publius and St Agatha.
work, occasionally in abundance: in As in other Catholic countries, there was a
cons!!uction, using the Maltese quarries and great devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and
stonemasons; on the galleys, using the saints such as St James or St Barbara. All
Maltese sea-farers and seasoned hands; in told, not only did Malta not have wars of
pal!~es and knightly homes, the services and religion, it never had as much as a public
graces of painters and sculptors, attendants, airing of internal criticism or of
"'"'":~+.,...,.+~ ,..,..,.-1,6"1 .,f-.,1-..1.,. 1...-oo._.eu•,-. n...,.A
Q.i:J,:u,;JL.Q.U.L.:J' '""vv.n..;,, J:JL.a.v.u.... -n.'-''-'!-'"'.1" a.l.l\.1.

coachmen, suppliers, middle-men, proteges, Maltese society under 'the Religion' - that
servants. The Order's fortunes took a first is, the Order - Roman 'Catholicism was a
blow with the Reformation but a second monolith, an oath of loyalty, a state
more serious one With the French monopoly: a reinforced situation of what
Revolution: estates and revenues were soon the islanders had inherited from their
lost, without which it became difficult to forefathers and readily accepted for their
cope. own purposes. Thus Catholicism continued

7
 to play a central and unchallenged role in about or which emerged during their stay
Malta's life right through and for long - the theatre, the library, the university,
after Reformation and Revolution on the the salon, art and music, just as the l9'!Yer
continent, evolving into a national ethos. cl~$es engaged their skills in the navy or
While religious events could be pOi)Ul~ized on construction sites, the wharves and
and paganized, the social calendar was docks, in metiers, crafts and services. New
almost entirely a liturgicalOne; contact classes were groomed who were neither
between clergy and people was close and n'Ol:lles nor peasants, neither wealthy nor
often had a,social character as much as a labour hands; intermediate between the
religious one. The place of the large new and the old landed aristocratic
dornejj~@d-steepled church at the centre of hierarchies, these were clerks, artisans,
the town or village was similar to that it supervisors, master-craftsmen, skilled
occupied in the daily lives of those huddled labourers. Fashions and festivals, customs
around the square and the adjoining alleys. and manners, cuisine and leisure, education
For a son to take up the priesthood was and and public service were all touched, if not.
long remained a dear aspiration of the moulded, by the Order's long presence.
average Maltese family, not unlike that Some customs,
~
such as the pre-Lenten
which sons of the aristocracy, or their carnival, pre-dated the arrival of the
parents, had to the membership of a Knights, and owe their origins to the
~hivalric order. Catholic tradition. Others started in or
. ) (SOcially and culturally, ten generations . after the sixteenth century, or were
of a manifest -knightly presence in such popularised and extended. The feast of
restricted confines - of Bavarians and Ot!Q.§ettembre, known to Maltese as 'il-
Frenchmen, Spaniards and Italians - Vitorja', celebrated the Great Siege victory
necessarily rubbed off on the Maltese} of 1565. The feast of St Peter and St Paul,
Everywhere people are influenced by--what known as Luf11LfJJJ.t:ia (L-Imnarja), goes
they see, hear, taste and touch. To be more back as a popular festival to the period of
mobile or useful socially, it is generally the the Knights. For example, the Knights
subordinates who tend to be impressed by played b..Q_wls, still a Maltese past-time
or to seek to conform themselves to roles today known as 'bocei'. In the annals of
and models practised or put forward by history, boat and donkey races - even
superiors and. men of influence.\)Vhile the fire~orks - similarly go back to that time,
Maltese generally kept apart from the and may well precede it. Country-folk
rulers - they had their own vernacular would have been less influenced tha~ city-
and value system which no doubt differed dwellers by the Order; here it seems that
markedly from that of the average Knight traditional dress rather continued as
- nevertheless they could not have been before, whereas in the cities there would
and were not oblivious to what went on have been more assimilation, as was to be
around them, sometimes inside their very expected. The common Maltese gre~ipgs
ho..!!!_es or towns. In battle, .Maltese and 'bongu' (from 'bon jour') and 'bonswa'
knights fought on the same front, in the (from 'bon soir') would date back to that
same galley, risking life and limb together. time; the largest Langue, in number, was
On another social level, we know that a the French one. A word like 'missier'
section of the moreliterate and better (Maltese for 'father') has been dated
endowed islanders kept contact, heads further back, to Norman times. For most
lllgh, with the ruling class. In general, practical and routine purposes of record,
therefore, Maltese were increasingly however, I!!!!ian, which already existed in
~introduced to and made use of venues for · Malta as the medium of formal education
instruction, entertainment and and communication, continued to be
accomplishment which the Knights brought predominant throughout the Knights' stay,

8
 and thereby became a still more established attitudes, aspirations, relations and
'Maltese' official language. standards were influenced by military or
Ide~ally, Maltese looked to Catholic religious rigour, by social inter-action and
Europe more steadfastly and consciously by the facilities offered by tl'\e Order, such
than ever before. Those who moved in as the hospital and charities.Jrhe Normans
government circles realised that Europe already had brought personnel to service
was more than just Rome, even if the administrative needs, and during the ,
Rome of popes and caesars, the closest succession of mainly Spanish feudal lords
major European mainland capital, and emissaries, other mostly Southern
continued to be the main focus. In the European individuals and families came to
mainstream European effort to stem the stay. Nor was the conduct of many
Ottoman advance the Malta siege of 1565 individual Knights always as virgin in
was not as important as the Battle of practice as it was pro forma presumed and
Lepanto of 1571, in which Malta upheld to be. The Knights brought with
participated with her fleet; but for Malta them from Rhodes a large entourage,
the Siege was supremely important: it mostly Rhodians, who woul.d have mingled
remained indelible in the memory and and mixed with the then existing
became legendary. The sociology of the population of some 20,000. By the time
Turkish siege of Malta is that it mobilized the Knights of Malta left in 1798,
one and all, like never before, in a the more europeanized Maltese population
desperate fight to the finish between Cross had multiplied five-fold. Maltese raised
and Crescent. Survival depended on the large families and the conditions for a
victory of the Christians against the stable demographic growth were in
Infidels, of the European against the Turk. place.
Until quite recently in Malta many \In the evolution of a Maltese mitionality
common people made little difference, if and identity, the 'Western' layer (the
any, between 'Arabs' and 'Turks': those Knights of Malta) had settled on and
were the non-European Muslims. A chief permeated into the former 'Southern' layer
standard-bearer of the European religion (the Sicilian Normans and later feudal
was Malta herself, raising high the eight lords), which itself had bitten into and
beatitudes of 'The Religion' in the Malta camouflaged the earlier 'Arabic' layer,
Cross. As a consequence of this period, which in turn had superseded the Graeco-
Moors were all too often slaves of the Roman_legacy after the Phoenician one.
Christians; Malta sometimes had thousands The 'Western' layer, carrying over in a
of them. Several well-to-do Maltese kept continuum from the 'Southern' one -
slaves in their households. Christians, over a time span of .six centuries - was the
including Maltese and Knights, were most significant, for during its tenure
enslaved by the Moors. The idea of Europe modern Malta came into being as a small
in Malta has its genesis as much in Roman European state.}
Catholicism as in the centuries of fighting, In state-miling, the Maltese nation too
fearing, enslaving and being enslaved by was being formed. No soon~had the
the Muslim 'Turks' or 'Moors'. These Knights been forced out by 'Napoleon that
notions, sentiment" and allegiances were the Maltese were forced to stand up for
crystallized under the Grand Masters. what they held to be their rights, values,
Finally, the population also changed. interests and customs as a people} The test
Ideas about ethnicity and nationality are came upon them with an unexpected
often like kith and kin. Some visiting suddenness, barely three months after
travellers found the Maltese 'fairer in Grand Master Hompesch had surrendered
colour' than their immediate northern the islands without putting up a fight. In
neighbours. Dress, hygiene, manners, their own insurrection against Bonapartism

9
 Sixteenth century Maltese and Turkish ships, from a painting in the Sant Manduca
collection.

Queen Victoria's statue outside the eighteenth century Bibliotecha in the "Piazza Regina".

10
 starting in September 1798 the Maltese combined, and shar;pened the edges of the
patria - not merely their heimat - was three residual or latent factors of the
at stake. Against the marauding and Maltese identit:y: culture, nationality and
looting French troops, grieved by broken politics. The sihgle most important cause
promises and newly-imposed burdens, of the insurrection - but by no means the
leaders and led rose to the challenge with only one - was probably religious. The
courage and determination. This time, course of events taken by it, incorporating
there were no kni h s in shining armour to Maltese from all walks of life, broadened .
hold their hands Leadership came mainly into a bloody national re~istance to a
from the professional, clerical and foreign despotism, with a premium set on
merchant classes: Emmanuele Vitale was a ·liberty, patriotis and survival: 'us'
notary; Vincenzo Bugeja, a cotton against 'them'.
merchant; Francesco Saverio Caruana an With the Neapolitan king's permission,
ecclesiastic. But the mass of peasants and the insurgents summoned Nelson's fleet to
labourers, fed up with repressive, arbitrary help them. The ensuing blockade forced the
rule, joined in the fr1y in defence of French out, but the Maltese felt badly
religion and coun!!:_YJ Decorously enough, slighted by their exclusion from the
the rebellion starteain Mdina, where capitulation. The French left with full
French officers were robbing the Carmelite military honours; the Maltese licked their
church. To Mdina, to the pealing of wounds; not a single Englishman had lost
church bells, the farmers hurried, armed his life. But in 1800 the British had come to
with their tools and implements, on 2 stay: they stayed in charge until1964, when
September 1798. After taking the citadel, Malta finally gained her independence.
lieutenants and batallions were formed, At the time of the Peace of Amiens in
cannon and shot and rations organized; the 1802 there was a prospect that Malta
citadel at Gozo, and all the Malta villages would revert to the Order with a Maltese
and countryside, were soon in rebel hands. Langue included: it would be made
In her first siege since it was built and 'independent' and 'neutral'; with
fortified, Valletta gave protection to the guarantees from the Great Powers; but the
revolutionary, abusive 'infidels' from British thought better of it and the Third
France. In Valletta and the Three Cities, Coalition against Napoleon was formed.
besieged by the Maltese, the French This was a time of uncertainty, when
garrison hid, sometimes retaliated, and Malta's strategic importance and the
slowly starved. Most M~ltese city-dwellers Anglo-French rivalry over it were
they threw out. As was typical of the frequently the subject of debate, of
Napoleonic era throughout Europe and the comment and_j;.aricature in the French and
Mediterranean, the announced British press.\Not wanting to return to the
revolutionary ideals were not very well put Order, nor willing to accept that other
into practice sur place; as a result subject powers dispense of Malta's dearly-earned
peoples thanklessly rebelled. After all, the 'sovereignty', Maltese drew up an eloquent
principle of popular sovereignty had been a and up-to-date 'Dichiarazione' of the rights
corner-stone of the Revolution, enshrined of the islanders, founded on historical,
in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of juridical and prriiosophical argumentation.
Man and of the Citizen. The 1798 They saw allegiance to the British monarch
insurrection of Malta was (and remains to as a compact in return for protection, but
. this day) the first and only popular armed challenged his or any other power's right
insurrection in the country's entire history. to dispose of the islands' desti!Dj A
ThousanckJl.ied during the two years that number of petitions dating to the first two
it lasted.(In full alert, by general decades of the nineteenth century
mobilisation, it brought to the fore, contained a thinly-veiled presumption of

11
1

These photographs taken in Val/etta in 1870 show Putirjal ("Porta Reale"), the entrance
to the capital city (1); the Grand Master's Palace which became the Governor's Palace (2);
the Auberge de Castille (now the Office of the Prime Minister) (3) and the Royal Opera
House (4), destroyed during the Second World War.

12
3

13
 'indipendenza'. size of territory, or by the naval and
Such, then, was the genesis of Britain's commercial utility of harbours, they under-
occupation of Malta in 1800, until Malta estimated the distinctive resilience
was given to her as a possession by treaty embedded in historical and patriotic
(not with Malta) in 1815 .. With the tradition and consequently the potential
exception of Gibraltar, Britain held on to strength of national feeling. Anglicization
Malta for longer than she did anywhere was indeed largely brought about by the
1930s, by imperialjiat, and was more or

~
!se in the Mediterranean: six generations.
The 'British' layer was the last and in less sealed by the joint war effort and its
certain respects, the most decisively aftermath, in the following decade.
formative one in the history of Maltese Throughout this fermentation, !vfaltese
1 ~ulture and national identity, prior to colonial nationalism emerg<!d.
~-~ '~ ------~-~----- ----~-~~---------- -~--
In
U,ndependencel Like the Order of St John, opposition to 'English, and English only',
Britain was f naval and a military power, t_he middle class cultural nationalists raised
to whom defences and docks were JtqJla'!Hi!_f!S their standard. Anglicization,
important.\Dnlike the generals whom they said the British and thdrsupporters, was
had replaced, the British bent backwards to to come about by means of the vernacular,
keep their peace with the Catholic Church Maltese (which until the 1930s had no
and to respect such other traditions as were standard orthography and not much of a
irrelevant to their concerns~ Unlike either, literature). Until the post-war period, when/
the British had an indusfi'filized country; Italy had discredited herself and italianita
but, like both, they needed revenues. After lost its appeal, Maltese nationalists had
1815, they were not usually at war and tended to suspect and to resist the
cherished the Pax Britannica, although upgrading and spreading of Maltese
when war did come or was felt to be close language education in schools, seeing ,this
by Malta was inevitably effected, for better as a means for anglicization. Italian, for so
or for worse. The main such 'events' after long the main official language in Malta,
the Napoleonic era were the Crimean War was identified with education, public
(1854-1856), the Russo-Turkish War affairs, liberty, religion, and contacts in
(1877-1878), the Great War (1914-1918), the the region. English was seen as useful in
Abyssinian War (1935-1936), the Second some cases or for certain purposes but
World War (1939-1945) and the war over generally regarded as the language of
Suez in 1956.JTh some extent the time and domination and of despotism, an 'Anglo-
type of constitution Britain allowed Malta Saxon tongue'. Maltese in its uncultivated
to have was also related to goings-on state was usually dismissed as a dialect
outside, in Britain and her empire, or in recalling the Saracen domination, too
Europe, especially Italy .}The main dates of restrictive, unbecoming oCa~modern,
colonial 'constitutions': up and down and secular and European society. On the other
up again, are themselves somewhat hand, by the 1880s, a growirrg category of
indicative: 1835, 1849, 1887, 1903, 1921, people were being exposed to English or
1~, 1939, 1947, 1961, 1964. helped to realise that this could be more
p-he British influenced Malta important to their advancement than
cdnsiderab!y, especially in administration, Italian. Maltese political parties thus
constitutions and electoral politics, the developed on so-called 'pro-Italian' and
economy, the dockyard, the forces, 'pro-English' lines, with the language
~ucation. In deliberately seeking to battle, a clash of cultures and interests, a
anglicize, however, they had to contend recurring and explosive issue in colonial
with some five centuries of italianita. J, politics. What this implied, of course, was
Viewing Malta on the field ti.;rougK-~;my an inability, in the circumstances, to reach
binoculars, measuring the people by land- a consensus on self-identity. Underlying the

14
culture clash, were political and economic In their vast majority the Maltese remain
interests and aspirations on all sides. Catholics, in the same bracket with the
Italianita was also a buffer, a symbol, a Irish and 1 the Poles. Freedom of conscience
rallying cry, frequently used is not in question; with cable television and
interchangeably with latinita. mass tourism, secularisation has been
The English-Italian tussle embodied making itself felt, inviting new tensions. In
many traits which cut close to the bone of the nineteenth century parishes continued
nationality, elements which are the very to grow and develop, as did the enthusiasm
sinews of identity. The language question of parishioners. Band clubs mushroomed
of Malta, however particular to the from mid-century and especiaily from the
country, was by no means removed from 1870s onwards, sometimes rival ones were
concerns that continue seriously to agitate formed in the same town or village.
people in our own times. A Maltese Valletta had two of them before 1880. The
historian reading the stirring 'A venir de la festa in honour of the patron saint, or of a
Langue Franraise' appeals in Le Monde in secondary saint, became a great village
the 'year of Europe' 1992 may be forgiven attraction: the event of the year for many
for thinking that he was reading Fortunato villagers who took much interest in church
Mizzi's Malta one century earlier. Much affairs, religious and semi-religious.
of the argumentation about language Fireworks became a speciality of thejesta.
worth, self and nation, utility and culture, The festa of the saint was also the festa of
and against 'des janatiques du tout-anglais' the town or village: families and friends
is the same: met and made merry. Qubbajd, pastizzi,
qassatat, imqaret, and other nougat, pastry
!Is oblient surtout que la langue n'est pas un vernis, with dates, ricotta, honey, typical Maltese
une marchi:mdise, n'est pas un materiau comme les snacks and sweets, became and remain
autres: elle est ce qui porte et structure la pensee. popular. To this day, on the 15 August
C'est par elle qu'adviennent en nous le monde et le
simple plaisir d'etre soi. On n'en change pas comme
when seven villages simultaneously
on change de 'job' ou de voiture. celebrated Santa Maria's feast, the night sky
of Malta is ablaze with colour, resounding
But in Malta's case there was also with petards, a quite marvellous and unique
Maltese (in a French context, the 'Breton' spectacle. Lay organisations and church
or 'Basque'). Maltese gradually attracted network diehards continue to be prominent
adherents and became more creative and in various religious outdoor and indoor
literary in this century, with many of those activities, such as the Good Friday
formerly using Italian starting to make use ceremonies and processions.
of it instead or as well. The Malta In nineteenth century Malta the social
Independence Constitution of 1964 nation came alive. More awareness of and
entrenched it as the national language, with participation in public activities, new and
English as a second language. After old, accompanied greater political
English, the best-known foreign languages organisation and mobilization especially
in Malta remained Italian and French, all under the umbrella of colonial nationalism,
languages with whose countries or as well as the continuing growth in
nationals iviaita had direci contacis for population. Between 1800 and 1964
long periods in the past. The multi-lingual, Malta's population trebled from 100,000 to
multi-cultural society of one time, which so 300,000, in spite of mass emigration to the
impressed our English traveller as 'an English-speaking world especially after
epitome of all Europe', still stirred. 1945. Malta thus became the most densely
Monolingualism certainly does not appear populated country in Europe: "una citta
to be an item on Malta's national identity sui mare", one traveller called it. Patria
agenda. and pajjiz became navjon and stat.

15
 An aerial view of Valletta intersecting the Grand Harbour and Marsamxett Harbour
with Manoel Island and Sliema in the background.

Churchill, Roosevelt, Badoglio and Eisenhower in Malta during the Second World War.

16
17
 The main political parties, Nationalist especially for the longer distances. In print
(Christian Democrat) and Labour (Demo- journalism, Maltese newspapers started in
cratic Socialist), in the last thirty years have 1838, when Britain removed the
at times instrumentalized the popularity of censorship: a remarkable number of
open-air jesta-atmosphere gatherings, so newspapers, magazines and reviews were
that sometimes even 'mass meetings' - the published. For the last twenty years, Malta
appealof which seems to be decreasing of has had three or four dailies and Sunday
late - came to include food-stalls, fairs, newspapers, in both Maltese and English.
fireworks, music and song. The daily Italian language newspaper
X::until independence in 1964, Malta's Malta stopped being published in 1940,
national day was the Otto Settembre - 'il- after a run of nearly sixty years. British-
Vitorja' - first celebrated as such by initiated locally-based radio - Rediffusion
Mizzi's Nationalist Party in Valletta in - started in the mid-1930s, after Italian
1885. This day came to recall Malta's wireless had begun to reach Malta. Italian
victory in her two great sieges: 1565 and TV reception and a Maltese TV station go
1943; among emigrants it remained their back to the 1950s and 1960s respectively.
most important feast. It was replaced by Information-spreading, opinion-forming
Independence Day, also in September, in and public participation became features of
1964. In the 1970s, during Mr Mintoff's a more modernized, more secularized
premiership, there ceased to be a consensus lifestyle.
among the party leaderships as to the best Introduced by the British, football
date for Malta's national day. In 1988 it became and remains the most popular
was unanimously agreed by parliament to national sport; but, at the Marsa Sports
have no less than five national 'feasts', Club, even polo survives. Tennis too
including Independence Day (21 September became popular, not only among younger
1964), Republic Day (13 December 1974), people. Swimming has been endemic. To
the Sette Giugno recalling Maltese anti- Maltese, the sea is in the bones. The
British demonstrations in 1919 when number of professional fishermen declined
several Maltese were killed or wounded; over the years, as has that of farmers, but
the Otto Settembre; and even 31 March there continue to be numerous dilettante
1979, when 'the last British soldier fishermen and farmers. Various folk events
left'. have long been associated with the sea,
Communications were facilitated first by such as gostra (the greasy pole), or the
train services (from the 1880s), then by regatta boat-races. Horse-racirig, hunting,
trams, and subsequently by char-a-banes, even home pigeons have been popular for a
as the still throttling quaint Maltese long time, especially among the country-
passenger buses are known. The motor-car, folk; in some areas impromptu guitar-
a rare commodity until the 1950s, became accompanied folk-singing has continued to
all too popular, although it still has to entertain select audiences, and is well
share the road with trotting ponies or the patronised among some Maltese overseas
horse-drawn carriage karrozzin. For communities.
ferrying across harbours or from ship to In art, literature, music and theatre, a
quay, there were always the typical Maltese certain revival was experienced in the
multi-coloured boats, mainly the oar-driven 1960s, especially in painting, poetry and
dgnajsa, or occasionally one of the smaller drama. Several talented individuals have
fishing boats (kajjik). These had a thriving distinguished themselves, including a few
trade when Grand Harbour headquartered stars in film or opera, composers and
the British Mediterranean Fleet. More conductors who 'made it' overseas. Maltese
recently these have had to compete with creative artists and authors of all genres
launches, hydrofoils and helicopters have tended to be somewhat handicapped

18
Queen Elizabeth II {md Prince Philip at the Manoel Theatre, and with parliamentarians
led by the Speaker of the House during a royal visit in 1967.
The Prime Minister, Dr Borg Olivier, is on Prince Philip's left.

19
 by the limited audience or market around required by a small state competing for
them, or the want of adequate markets and influence in Europe, the
remuneration from official quarters for Mediterranean and beyond; and seeking to
their talents: thus to go abroad, or to write help uplift the quality of life, social and
or sing in a language of wider intellectual. The economy had to be
communication, was always a temptation. diversified radically: for centuries this had
Recognised Maltese singers are recorded as been very largely a dependent one, with the
early as the twelfth century. Musical bulk of salaried employment all too often
compositions found at the Mdina subject to the policies, priorities and
Cathedral archives, which have been exigencies of foreign and unrepresentative
premiered in Malta by Maltese musicians, governments. Public sector employment,
date back to the Middle Ages and early although somewhat on the decline, remains
modern times. Others distinguished hi~h. Tourism (mainly from Britain,
themselves in various branches of the Germany and Italy), light industry
sciences, social, natural and physical: (computer software, quality textiles, toys,
opthalmologists, for example: Ba'rth, glass), ship-repairing and some agricultural
Preziosi, Tabone; or a maverick like and horticultural production (including
Edward de Bono. The most successful not export of potatoes, tomatoes, flowers)
infrequently left Malta: they went to became the mainstays of the economy. In
Vienna or Paris, London or Rome, settled the post-war period Maltese wines and
in Melbourne or Toronto; yet many stayed, beers started to be more professionally
strayed back or kept in touch. marketed and, after independence, also
In 1964-1965 Malta became a member of exported. The latest developments have
the Council of Europe, of the British been in offshore investment, transhipment
Commonwealth of Nations, of the United in a free port, yacht marinas, fish-farming.
Nations, and later of the Conference on Maltese tend tO' work hard, enjoy the
Security and Cooperation in Europe, and family and save, and the Malta currency
of other international organisations. Until has been a strong one; but flair,
1971, NATO's Allied Forces Mediterranean engagement, self-confidence and openness
were headquartered in Malta. Before the are also precious. A respectable showing in
1987 elections parliament agreed that Malta some regional or world event by a Maltese
would be neutral and not host military national (as in the Eurovision Song Contest
bases on her soil (and that the party or snooker competitions), always raises a
obtaining the absolute majority of votes cheer. Three decades after independence,
would govern even if the number of seats as the 'cultural cringe' slowly sheds off, we
won initially did not tally). find Malta in the queue to join the
The Maltese are and feel European. European Community. The parliamentary
They have belonged in Europe: were its tradition has survived in this ex-colony,
leitmotiv Christendom, as in 1565; or anti- past hiccups notwithstanding, and its
Bonapartism, as in 1798; or people's future now appears assured. Partly due to
democracy, as in and after 1940-1945. The partisan polarisation, now also on the
contrast of shimmering light and retreating wane, Malta's voter percentages in general
shade on ihe iimesione ihai consirucied ihe elections became ihe highesi in ihe world,
megalithic temples, the towering bastions usually over 900Jo. Higher education has
and the anti-aircraft ranges, merges with been expanding in recent years - in 1992
the still clean, dazzling blue sea: but the the University of Malta celebrated its four
galleys and destroyers have made way for hundredth anniversary. The average
oil tankers and cruise liners. Maltese will be accustomed to visitors and
Since 1964 Malta has been striving to almost invariably speak or at least
acquire the infrastructural supports understand more than one language.

20
 Increasingly conscious of Europe, with and language-cultures, forging its identity
which Malta mostly trades, Maltese are at least partly by default or conscious
also not unaware of their own limitations, effort. Luxembourgeois is a distinguishing
and their own characteristics. They German dialect, not a fully-fledged
would wish to be European without language like Maltese; it co-exists in
renouncing to their recognisably Maltese Luxembourg with French and German. In
identity: the mould of their own ingenuity spite of its size, Luxembourg has had a
over the millenia, in an intense, varied and fairly eventful history, of which its
often difficult history. They survived as continued survival as a separate nation-
one of the world's smallest ethnic state in continental Europe is living proof.
minorities, about one million in all world- The Luxembourgese historian Gilbert
wide, with their own undisputed territory Trausch in a 1988 study on Luxembourg's
and surrounding seas, with their own search for a national conscience concluded,
language too. by exclusion: 'Ni Franr;ais, ni Allemands,
In Europe the closest parallel to Malta is ni Beiges!' By the same token, and
probably Luxembourg. With a comparable similarly by elimination, the Maltese
resident population of somewhat less than position is this: Wi Italiens, ni Anglais, ni
400,000, Luxembourg like Malta has been Arabes!'
sandwiched between neighbouring countries

21
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