Durham E-Theses Society and the inquisition in Malta 1743-1798 Ciappara, Frans How to cite: Ciappara, Frans (1998) Society and the inquisition in Malta 1743-1798, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4672/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk FRANS CIAPPARA SOCIETY AND THE INQUISITION IN MALTA. 1743-1798 Ph. D. thesis submitted to the University of Durham (1998) The copyriglit of tliis thesis rests witli the autlior. No quotation from it should be published witliout the written consent of the author and infomiatioa derived from it should be acknowledged. The thesis falls into two main sections. It endeavours to analyse the major aspects of Maltese society in the second half of the eighteenth century as they emerge from a close scrutiny of the Archives of the Inquisition in Malta. The approach is mainly that of the ethnologist, a social history written 'from below'. The ultimate purpose was to try to arrive at as clear and accurate a picture of the Maltese mentalite as the archives permitted. Unfortunately, the Archives of the Inquisition in Malta have hardly ever been seriously studied by the social historian. Their richness and diversity not only cast enormous insight into the mental habits and frame of mind of a wide cross-section of Maltese society; they even shed sufficient light on a wide range of the social life of the Maltese. The subject is also approached from the point of view of the legal historian. The Inquisition was a Tribunal of Faith set up to stop the onslaught of Protestantism, as well as to reform the superstitious accretions to popular religion practised by the remaining part of the Catholic Church. The thesis examines the events leading to the charge and possibly arrest of the accused. Most of the reports were self-accusations and those arrested were taken into custody only after much deliberation. If the Inquisitors did make use of torture the accused was assisted by the defence counsel and produced his own witnesses. No instance of death sentences are encountered with in the second half of the eighteenth century and those foimd guilty were kindly dealt with, the Inquisitors being only after their conversion. 1 2 MAR IR99 n o 3 CONTENTS page IV List of Tables VI List of Illustrations vn List of Appendices vni Abbreviations IX Glossary Acknowledgements 1 1. The Background 47 11. Christian Life 76 III. Marriage and Carnal Sin 104 IV. Protestants, Greek Orthodox and Jews 129 V. Apostasy 158 VI. Witchcraft 195 VII. Preliminary Enquiry 240 VI11. Examination 279 IX. Sentence 316 Conclusion 353 Bibliography 111 Tables 1.1 Population of Malta and Gozo in 1784 page 2 1.2 Percentages of elderly and aged persons by sex 17 1.3 Households inhabited by the elderly 18 1.4 Titled persons at Mdina in 1785 33 1.5 Maltese employed with the Order's Navy, 1750-1753 37 1.6 Maltese Merchants - their origin and their reference abroad 39 2.1 Denunciations by year, 1744-1798 51 2.2 'Heresies' denounced to the Holy Office, 1744-1798 54 2.3 Causes for blaspheming, 1760-1777 57 2.4 Age at First Holy Communion 58 2.5 Number of habitues (repeat offenders) at B'Kara, 1794 61 2.6 Recusants for the Year 1794 62 2.7 Matter printed in Malta, 1761-1770 66 3.1 Origin of Bridegrooms at Birgu, 1700-1800 91 3.2 Origin ofForeigners who took Vittoriosa girls 92 3.3 Heretical propositions 94 3.4 Confessorsaccusedof Solicitation, 1743-1798 102 4.1 Northern Ships Undergoing Quarantine in Malta 105 4.2 'Heresies' denounced to the Holy Office, 1546-81 108 4.3 Origin ofProtestants and their sects (1743-1798) 112 5.1 Residence and place of origin of Maltese slaves, 1717 135 5.2 Origin of Renegades and their place of Apostasy, 1743-1798 154 5.3 Maltese renegades: their origin and their place of Apostasy, 1743-1798 155 IV 6.1 Motivesfor summoning the devil, 1743-1798 167 6.2 Number of'Witches' in Malta, 1777-1798 176 6.3 Types of Witchcraft, 1777-1798 178 6.4 Residence of Witchcraft procurers 183 7.1 Geographical distribution of denunciations 210 7.2 Social class of the denounced 219 8.1 Types of torture applied to prisoners 272 8.2 Crimes dealt with by torture 273 9.1 Reports to the Holy Office 290 9.2 Sentences passed on prisoners, 1744-1798 293 9.3 Exposed to shame 297 9.4 Flogging 298 9.5 Expenses incurred by Fra Girolamo da Pavia 309 Illustrations The Maltese Islands in the 18* Century frontispiece The Distribution of Population in Luqa in 1791, by sex and age page 15 Denunciations by year, 1744-1798 53 Self-denunciation of Protestants (1744-1798). 111 The Mediterranean in the 18* Century 144 Appendices Proceedings for Polygamy page 327 Slaves redeemed by the Confraternita della Carita 328 Prisoners of the Inquisition 353 vu Abbreviations AAM Archiepiscopal Archives, Malta. AC Atti Civ Hi. AIM Archives of the Inquisition, Malta. AO Acta Originalia. Arch. Archives. ASPN Archivio Storico per le Provincie Napolitane. Bapt. Baptizatorum CEM Curiae Episcopalis Melitensae. Conf. Confirmatorum. Conj. Conjugatorum. Corr. Corrispondenza. Def. Defunctorum. ed. Editor/s. E.S.C. Economic, Societes, Civilisations. Ibid. In the same volume. Lib. Liber. Libr. Library. Matr. Matrimoniorum. Mem. Memorie. Misc. Miscellanea. Mort. Mortuorum. NAV Notarial Archives, Valletta. NLM National Library, Malta. n.s. New Series. op. cit. Opus citatum. PA Parish Archives. Proc. Proceedings RAC Registrum Actorum Civilium. SA Status Animarum. Univ. Universita Manuscript Collection, National Library of Malta. VP Visitationes Pastorales. vni Glossary Ballata Women who beat crushed potsherds for roof-surfacing Beduini Villagers Buonavoglia Voluntary rowers on galleys Calesse Coach drawn by a mule Campagna Countryside Campagnoli Villagers Capotto Mantle Casal Village Casino Countryhouse Castellania Lawcourts of the government De formali Formal heretic De Levi Lightly suspect of heresy De vehementi Gravely suspect of heresy Diffun Ground pottery Forzato Prisoner condemned to row on galleys Fuklar Stone stove Ghonella Faldetta Ghorfa Upper room Imnara Oil lamp Inunctions Smearings, rubbings. Macalugio Raw cotton Mahlut Mixture of com and barley Marzeppa Wooden rammers Patentees Those who fell under the jurisdiction of the Inquisitor Piazzanti Pensioners Promotor fiscale Prosecutor Qorq Shoes Religion The Order of St John Rotolo Weight Setah Terrace Stanga Bar Terra Village IX Acknowledgements This thesis would never have been completed if it had not been the kind assistance of several people. Prime of place goes to my tutor, Dr J. Register, who was very generous with his advice and though busy with his own work, he would go out of his way to help me. I would also like to thank Fr John Azzopardi, the curator of the Cathedral Museum at Mdina, where the Inquisition Archives are kept. In Malta I received help also fi-om the staff of the National Library, University Library, the Church Archives at Floriana, the Notarial Archives and the Parish Archives. The British Library and the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emanuele 11 of Rome always supplied me with the necessary material. I also remember with pleasure the time I spent at Durham University Library and the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris. I would like to mention by name Alain Blondy and Michel Fontenay of the Sorborme; John Tedeschi of Wisconsin University; Hans Chr. Johansen of Odense University; Francisco Malfa Sanchez of Cadiz, Spain; Dott. Paolo Selmi, Director of the Archivio di Stato, Venice; Dott. Marino Zorzi, Director of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice; Dott. Pierluigi Agostini of the University of Trento; Dott. Salvatore Bono, of the University of Perugia; Prof Giuseppe Bonaffini of the University of Palermo. To all these, as well as to the editors of the Rivista Storica Italiana I owe a lot of gratitude. Nearer home at Malta the regular contact with my colleagues was of great benefit to me but I would like to mention especially my nephew, Kurt Zammit, whose expertise in computing made the printing of the thesis not as difficult as I had thought. CHAPTER 1 THE BACKGROUND By the second half of the eighteenth century Malta's population had increased from about 20,000 as it was in 1530' - at the time of the arrival of the Hospitallers - to about 87,535 inhabitants, excluding mainly the knights and the religious orders.^ Such an increase was accompanied by marked changes in the distribution of population. As had happened in Europe^ and north Africa"^ the tiny rural villages and hamlets were abandoned^ and were replaced by larger settlements. These, however, varied consider• ably in size. As Table 1.1 shows eleven of these casalt were below the 1000 mark. Ten ' Jean Quentin d'Autun, The Earliest Description of Malta, p. 29. -AIM, Mem. 21, ff. 351r-v. ' For the case in Italy, Aldo Landi, 'La Diocesi di Luni-Sarzana nella Seconda Meta del Cinquecento', Nuova Rivista Storica, Anno LIX (Sept-Dec.