The South East of Malta and Its Defence up to 1614
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THE TURKISH RAID OF 1614 82 THE SOUTH EAST OF MALTA 7 AND ITS DEFENCE UP TO 1614 Stanley Fiorini University of Malta [email protected] ABSTRACT The object of this presentation is to give an overview of how the south-east of Malta comprising the Cappella of Sancta Catherina, that is the Parish of Ÿejtun, was geared for enemy attacks before 1530 and after the arrival of the Order of St John until the last invasion of 1614, whose fourth centenary is being commemmorated. It is shown how the coastal watch, the so-called Maœras, for this district, originally organized by the Mdina Universitas came to be dependent on St Angelo towards the mid- fifteenth century and how, at about the same time, fortification of the old Parish Church was undertaken to defend the villagers, in view of the distance of the parish from Mdina. The dependent hamlet of Ÿabbar was one of the identified Dejma (land force as opposed to the coastal Maœras) centres. It is suggested that one reason why the Port of Marsaxlokk appears to have been singled out by the Moorish corsairs for especial attention was retaliation for its use as the hub of Christian provocation, especially after 1530. INTRODUCTION and Frederick III King of Sicily.1 The following century was witness to escalating In the wake of the Muslims’ expulsion from Moorish attacks. The Hafsids of Tunisia these islands in the mid-XIIIth century took revenge on Gozo in 1389 following these shores became frontier territory – in Manfred Chiaramonte’s assault on Jerba fronteria barbarorum – with Moorish North with vessels which had left from these Africa and never ceased to bear the brunt islands. The damage effected then was of onslaughts from that direction. Nor, nothing compared to the devastation left however, were they spared the damaging behind by Qa’id Ridwan’s tragic invasion attention of Christians who were the of 1429, when a horde of 18,000 Moors enemies of the powers that happened to be pushed their aggression to the walls of ruling them at the time. Often it was Gozo, Mdina and carried off into slavery no the relatively undefended island, that was less than 3,000 islanders; this, again, was dealt the most harmful blows. Thus, in in retaliation for the Aragonese attack on 1274, the smaller island was sacked by the Kerkenna.2 This tit-for-tat repeated itself Genoese who were then enemies of the right down to the assault on the south- Angevins. In 1283, a fierce naval battle east of the island in 1614, the event we raged in Malta’s Grand Harbour between are commemorating this year, culminating the navies of Anjou and of Aragon, battling in the massive invasions of 1551 and each other for domination of these islands. 1565 intended to take over these islands In 1298, then, destruction reigned in completely. these islands when they were involved in the internecine struggle between the two It is for these reasons that, in 1375, King reigning brothers, Jaime King of Aragon Frederick IV of Sicily took action to THE TURKISH RAID OF 1614 83 The South East of Malta and its defence up to 1614 defend the realm’s shores by organizing a to appear after 1650, both in the status coastal watch which, for this island in that animarum records and in other collections year, was entrusted in the hands of Malta’s of demographic data, although even here, Castellan. Thereafter, defence became less it is often qualified as being composed of decentralized and it passed into the hands the villages of Œal Bisbut, Œal Bisqallin of the Municipal Council, or Universitas, and Œal Æwann.5 Even for the historian of Mdina headed by its Œakem, four Gio Francesco Abela, who produced his Jurats and other officials. It is worth magnum opus in 1647, Zeitun is merely remarking that the terminology used in a contrata or district of the southeastern the documentation for the organization corner of Malta, by contrast with the two of the coastal watch (known as maœras) other main districts, also named for trees, for the various districts of the island was Il-Gœargœar and Iÿ-Ÿnuber.6 One cannot precisely by amalgams of villages into but help connecting this information cappelle or parishes, which is ecclesiastical with what is known about the constituent language. This shows that the ecclesiastical elements of Malta’s Mediterranean forest organization of the island into distinct in the XIIth century as described by the districts preceded the civil. Thus among Arab geographer Al-Himyari (whose text the earliest militia lists and rosters, dating was certainly not available to Abela).7 to 1417 and later, published by Professor Wettinger, one encounters the population For a detailed illustration of the around Raœal Dingli being referred to occurrence of Ÿejtun as a contrada, the as Cappella Santa Dominica Tartarni et reader is referred to Professor Wettinger’s Dinkili. The same can be said for lists paper read during another symposium, of c. 1450 related to the importation of similar to this, held in 2001, where the wheat, wherein well-to-do islanders from documentation is taken back to 1419.8 the south-east of the island are grouped Documents being published in the together under headings such as Santa Documentary Sources of Maltese History Catharina.3 This Church of St Catherine, series push back these references into the precisely where this symposium is being XIVth century such as the concession of held today, from very early times was 1372 made to Joannes de Peregrino by the principal church of the district so- King Frederick IV of Sicily of land in called Iÿ-Ÿejtun, so that when the parish contrata de lu Zeituni,9 and a similar grant a network was set up it became the Parish year later of the fief of Petralonga (a Sicilian Church of this district or capella. Before surname) in contrata de Lu Zayduni prope embarking on the subject-matter proper Putheum Salsum (near Bir il-Mielaœ) and a few definitions and clarifications are in of the other fief of Bullumeni (Buleben). order. In medieval times, this district of Malta counted within its boundaries a fair number CAPPELLA SANCTA CATHERINA of villages and hamlets which together formed the ecclesiastical entity, called The name iÿ-Ÿejtun for the village as we Cappella, with its Rector, il-Kappillan, know it today, both as an ecclesiastical under the name of Santa Katerina, the and as a civil entity, does not go back patron saint and titular of the principal further than the mid-XVII century. church, the one we are occupying now. Thus, in the censuses of the population Among these satellite villages one finds taken by the Order in 1590, 1614, Raœal Biÿbud (nowadays referred to as 1617, 1632, reference is always made to Ir-Raœal ta’ Fuq), Raœal Bisqallin (which the Parish or Cappella of St Catherine.4 name, incidentally, has nothing to do The appellative Casal Zeitun only begins with Sicilians but is merely the diminutive THE TURKISH RAID OF 1614 84 The South East of Malta and its defence up to 1614 of Baskal, Baskal iÿ-ÿgœir) – this is Ir- It was important to go into this detail Raœal t’Isfel, – Raœal Æwann (near Bir id- in order to understand why the Church Deheb), Raœal Bajda (or Bajjada), Raœal of St Catherine was chosen as the Parish Gœaxaq, Raœal Temim Assant (today, Œal Church, whence the sacraments were Tmin), Raœal Œarrat (near the Church administered, in spite of the fact that of St Cajetan on the road to Ir-Ramla ta’ it was not located in any of the villages San Tumas), Raœal Ÿabbar, and close to it mentioned. The church was sited, as it Raœal Sajd, Il-Biççieni and Il-Bidni, Raœal were, at the barycentre of the population Gœadir at San Æoræ ta’ Birÿebbuæa, Tal- (Fig. 1), minimizing the sum of the Æinwi (later referred to as Œal Æinwi) and distances the Parish Priest had to travel Œal Risqun.10 A number of other minor to the several people’s habitations.12 hamlets only known by their name are Similar instances can be cited in the case also found here, including Raœal Arrig and of Birmiftuœ and Birkirkara’s Santa Elena Raœal Gœabdirÿeq, near Bin Gœisa, and at Il-Gœargœar. Raœal Spital (Œas Saptan). In this fairly extensive territory, there were important Another point that needs to be stressed fiefs like Il-Marnisi, documented already is that, although in Malta there were two in the mid-XIVth century,11 Buleben, distinct parishes dedicated to St Catherine already noted, and Dejr l-Imara (Delimara) of Alexandria, namely Ÿejtun and Ÿurrieq, which appears towards the beginning of references to the latter are always in the the XVth century. These latifundia were form Casalis Zuric (or similar) so that worked in Norman and Swabian times Capella Sancta Catherina always meant by serfs of the Curia Regia, who, for the Ÿejtun (Fig. 2). As a corollary, we have Church, meant souls that had to be cared that a reference to Sancta Catherina for by the Kappillan of the Parochial dating back to 1270 and Angevin times district. This spread of villages and hamlets alludes to Ÿejtun.13 More solidly based, (often not embracing much more than because specifying land descriptions, are a farmstead or two) reflected a medieval references of a century later such as the fief demographic profile very different from of Petralonga, that is on the way to Sancta what we are used to today, an extremely Catherina,14 as we know of the same fief dense conurbation centred on Grand in contrata dilu Zajduni prope pheudum Harbour accounting for two-thirds of the Bullumeni,15 which is none other than entire population.