| CODE | HST1020 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Aspects of the Parish in 18th-Century Malta | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 2 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | History | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Aspects of the parish in 18th-Century Malta discusses the power structure in the village. As the parish priest was supposed to be the head of the parish a description of his social origin, education and appointment is first made. His financial position is next examined because poverty diminished his importance in the eyes of the people and did not let him exercise his ministry as he should. The third point will be to assess how much power he wielded. Did the parishioners contest his authority, considering the parish their own? If they paid for most of the liturgical services and were as well responsible to maintain the church fabric in a good state did they not feel that the parish belonged to them? Various examples will be given, ranging from the expulsion of Don Francesco Maria Xuereb from St Catherine’s (Zejtun) in 1785 to the unwillingness of various parishioners not to pay the tithe. And if parish priests could be challenged for the control of the parish, did they have their way in spiritual matters? Did they succeed, for example, to impose their moral code on the people? Aims How the Maltese parish evolved from the 16th to the 18th century. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to understand how parishes are set up and governed. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to appreciate grass roots history and the importance of 'history from below'. Reading List: Recommended Reading: Malta • Frans Ciappara, ‘The Financial Condition of Parish Priests in late Eighteenth-Century Malta’, Journal of Ecclesiastical History 53, no. 1 (2002), 93-107. • Frans Ciappara, ‘Parish Priest and Community in 18th-Century Malta: Patterns of Conflict’, Journal of Early Modern Malta 9, nos. 3-4 (2005), 329-347. • Frans Ciappara, ‘The Parish Community in Eighteenth-Century Malta’, The Catholic Historical Review, forthcoming, October issue. • Frans Ciappara, ‘Una Messa in Perpetuum: Perpetual Mass Bequests in Traditional Malta, 1750-1797’, The Catholic Historical Review 91, no. 2 (2005), 278-99. • Frans Ciappara, ‘Perceptions of marriage in late-eighteenth-century Malta’, Continuity and Change 16, no. 3 (2001), 379-398. • Frans Ciappara, Marriage in Malta in the late Eighteenth Century (Malta: Associated News, 1988) • Frans Ciappara, Society and the Inquisition in Early Modern Malta (Malta: PEG, 2001). General • Martha C. Skeeters, Community and Clergy. Bristol and the Reformation c.1530-c.1570 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993). • J. H. Bettey, Church and Parish. A Guide for Local Historians (London: B. T. Batsford Ltd., 1987). • Katherine L. French, The People of the Parish. Community Life in a Late Medieval English Diocese (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press: 2001. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Francis Ciappara |
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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. |
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