Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE LHM1015

 
TITLE Introduction to Historico Legal Research: The Notarial Archives

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL Not Applicable

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Legal History and Methodology

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit will discuss the importance of notarial records to the understanding of the development of Maltese law, a law which is the product of an intrinsic fusion of laws and customs dating back to Roman times. It will seek to show how up to the early days of British rule, Maltese law was structured on the Sicilian framework, and how during the course of history different Maltese governing bodies adopted their own rules and regulations which were tailor-made to accommodate the island’s particular way of life.

Maltese notarial acts provide contextual references for a number of medieval and early modern legal institutions and practices, and also record the early use of legal terminology such as moratoria, beneficium, census, hypotheca, usufructus, etc. Another aspect of this study-unit will show how in civil law jurisdictions the notary acted as the archivist of the document he drafted, witnessed and signed. Furthermore it will explain the manner in which these completed acts, which were public records, had to be kept and made accessible to the public.

Description:
- An overview of the history of the notarial profession in Malta, including the notary’s duties;
- Visits to the Notarial Archives in order to familiarize the students with the primary sources and teach them research methods;
- An examination of various types of contracts in order to assess how these reflect on a particular society and how they relate to modern day legal practice.

Study-unit Aims:

This study-unit aims to introduce students to archival legal sources and to give them an understanding of the specific challenges posed to the legal system by social, economic and political developments from the medieval to the early modern period.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will have:
(a) A knowledge and critical understanding of the main themes of legal evolution during the medieval and early modern period;
(b) A critical understanding of the place of the Maltese legal system in its wider historico-legal context;
(c) A detailed knowledge and understanding of the specific challenges posed to the legal system by social, economic and political developments from the medieval to the modern period, and the ability critically to evaluate the responses to those challenges.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will have:
(a) A critical understanding of the relationship between the changing social, economic and political needs of a society and its legal system;
(b) An appreciation and understanding of the main materials and sources for undertaking medieval and early modern legal history research when called for in modern legal practice and analysis;
(c) A critical understanding of the different approaches to legal history;
(d) The ability to use original and secondary legal sources.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

- J. Abela, Port Activities in Mid-Sixteenth Century Malta, Unpublished MA History Thesis, (University of Malta, 2007).
- W. Ashburner, The Rhodian Sea-Law, (1909).
- G. Aquilina, The full clause explaining the et cœtera abbreviation.
- C. Dalli, ‘Medieval Communal Organization in an Insular Context: Approaching the Maltese Universitas’, in Heritage Supplement, 9.
- C. Dalli, Malta, The Medieval Millennium, (Malta, 2006).
- S. Fiorini, ‘The Vice-Admiracia Insularum Meliveti et Gaudisii’, in C. Vassallo, [ed.], Consolati Di Mare and Chamber of Commerce, (Malta, 2000), 29-41.
- S. Fiorini , Documentary Sources of Maltese History Part 1 Notarial Documents No.1 Notary Giacomo Zabbara R494/1(I): 1486-1488, (Malta, 1996).
- S. Fiorini, Documentary Sources of Maltese History Part 1 Notarial Documents No.2 Notary Giacomo Zabbara R494/1(II-IV): 1494-1497, (Malta, 1999).
- G. La Mantia, ‘Capitoli e Statuti Amministrativi Dell’Isola di Malta approvati dai Re o Vicere di Sicilia 1130-1530’, Archivio Storico di Malta, Anno VIII, 28 Nov. 1936-28 Jan.1937, Fasc. 1, 12.
- V. Mallia-Milanes (ed.), Hospitaller Malta 1530 – 1798, Studies on Early Modern Malta and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, (Malta, 1993).
- A. Mifsud, ‘Le Franchigie Costituzionali’, ‘L’Approvigionamento e l’Università di Malta nelle passate dominazioni’, Archivium Melitense, Vol. III, (1918), 163-212.
- C. Trasselli, I Privilegi di Messina e di Trapani (1160-1355), (Messina, 1992).

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Presentation No 30%
Assignment Yes 70%

 
LECTURER/S Joan Abela

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit