Gozo after the siege of Malta : a study of the acts of notary Tomaso Gauci, 1566-68

Abstract

Ever since I was introduced to History I have always been fascinated by the 'history from below', by that history which has to do with the people who actually lived the events which I studied along the years. My interest in this kind of history has deepened during the years which I have spent reading history at the University of Malta and thus when the time came for the writing of my dissertation, I could not but choose something which had to do with social history. Thus, the aim of this dissertation is to open a window, however small it may be, on the life in Gozo following the Siege of Malta, between 1566 and 1568. The main primary source for this work are the acts of Notary Tomaso Gauci, through which one is able to paint a cohesive picture of the society at the time. Coming from the mouths of the people, one gets to know certain experiences which these inhabitants went through and can then understand this society which had gone through so much in the previous twenty years. The 1560s were the years when the society of Gozo was being rebuilt after the disaster of 1551 and thus one gets a glimpse of the shape which this reconstruction was taking. The first chapter of this dissertation looks into the situation in Malta and Gozo in the 1560s, taking into account the coming of the Knights of St. John in 1530, the sacking of Gozo in 1551, the Great Siege of 1565 and the subsequent developments including the building of Valletta, and puts these events into a wider Mediterranean context. The second chapter considers the importance of the notarial archives as a primary source for the studying of history as well as gives a manuscript analysis. The third chapter deals with the social makeup of the population of Gozo and how this society was rebuilding itself. The fourth chapter focuses on the economic sector of society which was mainly based on agriculture but also incorporated other activities such as trade and corsairing. The fifth chapter is a general conclusion.