Malta

The principal and almost the only monument of the Arab dominion is said to be the Maltese language, which is Semitic and has much in common with Arabic. The weight of the best authority seems, however, to incline decidedly to the view that the present Maltese language is directly descended from the Phoenician with but little modification by the Arabic. The Arabs, in fact, seem to have left the Maltese very much to themselves and to have interfered with their language as little as they interfered with their religion and their popular customs. The account of the capture of Malta by the Normans, as given by Mataterra, the secretary of Count Roger, does not, certainly, convey the idea that the Saracens were sufficiently numerous to offer any serious resistance to the invaders. If the Arab influence had prevailed so far as to make a complete change in the language of the islanders, this could only have been the sequel to a process of denationalization which had no counterpart in the neighbouring island of Sicily and which would have implied the presence of a strong army of occupation. History and philology alike point to the conclusion that the Maltese, in spite of powerful outside influences, are still substantially, a Phoenician people. Count Roger of Sicily, who landed in Malta in 1090, was welcomed, it seems, not as a deliverer from an oppressive yoke, but because the islanders naturally preferred a Christian to a Mohammedan rule. The Norman domination established by him lasted about a century. It was probably during this period that the absence of a national literature, the need of employing foreign notaries, and other causes, forced the Maltese to adopt Sicilian as their written language. Later on, when the more fully developed Italian asserted itself in Sicily it naturally became the medium of legal and commercial transactions in Malta. Its influence on the spoken language was confined to the vocabulary, which contains a number of Italian words, the structure remaining unaltered. At least conjointly with Latin and other languages, Italian has remained the literary language of the island right down to our own times.

In 1199 Malta, along with Sicily, passed into the hands of the Swabian emperors, but, after the battle of Beneventum (1266) in which Charles of Anjou put an end to the Swabian rule in Apulia and Sicily, it remained for seventeen years in the possession of the French. In 1283, the year after the "Sicilian Vespers", the island, which had fared badly under the Swabians and worse still under the French, once more changed masters and became the property of King Peter III of Aragon. Under the Spanish rule, which lasted two centuries and a half, Malta made considerable progress in civilization. This was very largely owing to the influence of the religious orders, especially the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians, but partly also to the influx of foreign beneficiaries who, if they lived on the wealth of the land, made some return in the higher culture which they helped to diffuse. Early in 1523, the Knights of St. John, after the fall of Rhodes, left that island with the honours of war, and being unable, for nearly seven years, to find a lodgment that was convenient to all parties concerned, they were at length established in Malta, which was conferred upon them by the Emperor Charles V in the year 1530. The earlier period of their rule was the golden age of the history of the island, for during that time Malta was one of the chief bulwarks of Christendom against the power of the Turks. The successful defence of the island by the Grand Master La Vallette, in 1565, ranks as high as the Battle of Lepanto among the feats of Christian chivalry. The invaders, numbering over 40,000 men, must have considerably outnumbered the total population of the island which contained but 8500 men bearing arms, including the 592 members of the order. Yet such was the spirit which the brave islanders imbibed from their leaders that they compelled the enemy to retire, with heavy loss, after a siege of nearly four months.

The decline of the Ottoman power meant the decay of the Order of St. John. By the end of the eighteenth century, so rife was the spirit of the Revolution, so powerful the clique of traitors among the Knights, and so great the disaffection of the people, that, when Napoleon Bonaparte appeared before Malta in June, 1798, he found that there was little left for him to do but to take quiet possession of the island. After a few days' sojourn, during which he drew up a new scheme of government and made French the national language, he departed on his fatal expedition to Egypt, carrying with him a great part of the loot which, to the value of £250,000, had been taken from the churches and palaces of Malta. Shortly after his departure the French garrison, cut off by Nelson's fleet from all chance of reinforcements, was shut up in Valetta by the Maltese who were aided, at the last, by English and Neapolitan troops, and was compelled to surrender in September, 1800, after a siege of two years. Immediately after this event the Maltese, who had no reason for desiring the return of the Knights and still less of falling into the power of France or Russia, offered to place the island under the protection of the British flag. The offer was accepted on the distinct understanding that their religion and institutions should be respected. The British sovereignty was confirmed at the treaty of Paris (1814). The population of Malta and Gozo was over 25,000 in 1535; over 40,000 in 1621; 54,463 in 1632, and 114,000 in 1798. Since this last date it has nearly doubled.

The Church in Malta was founded by St. Paul, and St. Publius, whose name is mentioned in the Acts, was its first bishop. After ruling the Maltese Church for thirty-one years he was, we are told, transferred in A.D. 90 to the See of Athens, where he was martyred in 125. Though a complete list of bishops from the days of St. Paul to Constantine has been made out, its authenticity is more than doubtful. Still there seems no reason to suppose that, during the early days of persecution, the flock was long without a shepherd. In 451 there was an Acacius, Melitenus Episcopus, whose name is subscribed to the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon. In 501 Constantinus, Episcopus Melitenensis, was present at the Fifth General Council. In 588 Tucillus, Miletinae civitatis episcopus, was deposed by St. Gregory, and his successor Trajan elected by the clergy and people of Malta in 599. The last bishop before the Saracen conquest was the Greek Manas. After the Council of Chalcedon in 868, he was unable to return to his see, which was being invaded by the Arabs, and not long after we find him in chains in a Saracen prison at Palermo. Of successors of his under the Arabs there are no records, though probably such were appointed. Hence, if probable breaks in the episcopate be no bar to their claim, the Maltese can boast of belonging to the only extant Apostolic see, with the single exception of Rome. Except under Charles of Anjou, who caused Maltese prelates to be appointed, the Bishop of Malta was commonly a Sicilian. There was one Maltese bishop under the Spaniards, one Maltese and one half Maltese under the Knights. Since 1808 all the bishops have been natives of the island. No Maltese was allowed to become a knight of St. John. This arrangement was made with the purpose, among others, of preventing the existence, within the order, of a faction supported by the native population. Ecclesiastical grades, however, were open to natives, and we find the names of three Maltese who were grand priors of the order.

The clergy in Malta have always been the natural leaders of the people. It was a priest, Gaetano Mannarino, who headed an abortive revolt against the government of the Knights in 1775. In 1788 Canon F. X. Caruana acquired a more enviable reputation by accepting the leadership of the people in their insurrection against the French invaders. It was he too who demanded the annexation of Malta to Great Britain. He became bishop in 1831. Since 1864 the island of Gozo has had its own bishop. Hence, with their two bishops and nearly a thousand priests, the Maltese islands are more plentifully provided with pastors than any other country in the world. The place occupied by religion in the life of the people is betokened not only by the large number of the secular clergy and of religious men and women, but also by the frequent festas and processions which stay the traffic of the streets, by the constant ringing of bells, and by the size and beauty of even the village churches. The church of the village of Musta boasts the third largest dome in the world. Canon law prevails in Malta as the law of the land. Hence mixed marriages are illegal unless performed by a Catholic priest. The large number of clerics in Malta is due, in some measure, to the smallness of the patrimony fixed as a condition for receiving the priesthood. The necessary minimum is XX10. Equivalent to this is a benefice of XX5 rental. In 1777 Pius VI, in order to lessen the excessive number of clerics in the island, raised the minimum patrimony from 45 Maltese ducats or scudi (abt. $19) to 80 (abt. $34).