| CODE | HST1057 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Stone and Wooden Walls: Military and Naval History | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | History | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will give students a coherent overview of military and naval developments in Malta over time, with reference to the wider Mediterranean-European framework. The study-unit will provide an insight into the importance of studying the military history of the Maltese islands as means of understanding the political forces governing it, the changes brought about in its landscape and social life. It also aims to show how defensive and offensive means employed on Malta were abreast with the international arena despite the isolation of the island from its powerful European counterparts. Much emphasis will be made on the Hospitaller period (1530-1798) where changes in military and naval warfare were introduced and developed at a constant pace, transforming an agrarian island into a fortress, later consolidated under British rule. The study-unit will discuss this slow but consistent process of transformation. The planned lecture outline will develop along these lines: • Introduction on Malta’s Military and Naval History • Military History from Antiquity to Medieval Malta • Warfare in the Hospitaller Period (1530-1798) • The Lines of Defense (1530-1798) • Fortress Malta under British Rule I • Fortress Malta under British Rule II • Military Architecture of the Maltese Islands. An onsite lecture • Medieval Malta and the arrival of the carracks • From Birgu to Valletta, 1530-1571 • Taking the fight to the enemy: offensive actions by the Order’s fleet • The galley: a taste for all the seas • Privateering: 1530-1820 • Malta Maritime Museum onsite lecture Study-Unit Aims: • To offer students a clear idea of the importance of the study and understanding of the history of war; • To make students aware of the dynamic and gradual changes in warfare and the effects of politics on peace and war; • To help students understand and appreciate the military and naval history of Malta as a means to apprehend the history of a state and its people. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • list the determining forces behind the art of defense and the role of people in all social strata; • discuss the changes brought about by technological developments and subsequent changes in warfare both on land and at sea; • engage in the debate about the concept of war as a continuous human struggle and how this effects the history of a country and its people; • recognise the fact that military and naval history, like all fields of historical studies, are dynamic and can never be absolute; • illustrate a basic understanding of military and naval architecture and their jargon. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • review and critically read military-naval historical sources; • demonstrate the ability to approach war studies through various perspectives; • reconstruct the military-naval aspect of Malta’s past within the global context of military-naval studies. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: • S. Spiteri, The Art of Fortress Building in Hospitaller Malta (Malta, 2008). • S. Spiteri, Fortresses of the Knights, (Malta, 2001). • S. Spiteri, The Great Siege: Knights vs Turks MDLXV, Anatomy of a Hospitaller Victory, (Malta, 2005). • Q. Hughes. Fortress: Architecture & Military History in Malta, (London, 1969). • L. Gauci, In the Name of the Prince: Maltese Corsairs 1760-1798 (Malta, 2015). Supplementary Readings: • C. Duffy, Fire & Stone, (London, 2006). • J. Grima, The fleet of the Knights of Malta : its organisation during the eighteenth century, (Malta, 2016). • A. Quintano, The Maltese-Hospitaller sailing ship squadron, 1701-1798 (Malta, 2003). • J. Muscat, Il-flotta ta' l-Ordni ta' San Ġwann, (Malta, 2000). |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | This study-unit is solely offered to Undergraduate Diploma in Maltese History in Context students. | |||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Fieldwork | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Fleur Brincat Liam Gauci |
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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. |
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