https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/91681 2026-05-07T12:51:31Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/95718 Title: Living and dying in the horrible summer of 1837 Abstract: Epidemic cholera reached Europe for the first time at the beginning of the nineteenth century. After devastating countries all over Europe, it reached Malta in June 1837 finding a poor and destitute population that was too fragile to withstand its onslaught. It attacked the old and weak inmates of the Ospizio and then spread to every corner of the archipelago. The Government, belatedly appointed Committees of Health to deal with the consequences of the epidemic and cholera hospitals were opened in the cities and villages, directives issued and health workers and priests mobilized. The malady wreaked havoc for 3 months attacking 8785 and killing 4252. Many Maltese doctors feared contagion and would not attend the cholera hospital but others and a few British army and navy doctors did not believe it was contagious and cared for the sick and the dying. Parish priests did their best for their parishioners and the monks (especially the Capuchins) contributed immensely to the spiritual needs of the dying. The population at large was in terror; brother shunned brother, mothers abandoned their sick children and sons and daughters would not go near their sick parents. People died in the streets locked out of their homes. Amid all this horror there were courageous and kind persons who took care of the sick and the dying. This thesis considers the relations and conflicts amongst people; the Government, the people, the doctors and the churchmen. Many people were very poor, deeply religious, illiterate, and uneducated, the few were better off but all had to face the destructing calamity of terror. Their reactions and behaviour vary from fear to fatalism, abandonment to attempts at self-preservation. Description: M.MALTESE STUD. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/95716 Title: Feelings, suffering and events : the poetic writings of Maltese physicians on doctoring Abstract: This research was conducted (a) to identify local physicians who wrote poetry and (b) to select and analyse those poems which included doctoring as a theme, particularly those that concentrated on feelings, suffering and significant events associated with their medical experiences. Through a mixed methodology approach, twelve such physicians were identified whilst fifty-two out of four hundred and eleven analysed poems could be classified under a broad definition of doctoring. Significant events noted included the execution of Mattew Callus, the healing properties of the earth of St. Paul’s Grotto, Malta acting as the ‘Nurse of the Mediterranean’ in World War I, the clashes between the medical union and government and the scourges of past diseases such as leprosy, brucellosis and plague, all of which touch on elements of local history and identity. Rużar Briffa stands out as the leading physician poet, both in the number of his compositions and in his reflections on the suffering endured by patients. However, as is demonstrated, other physicians also wrote verse on feelings generated by direct patient contact or endowed with a medical sensibility or background. This study also highlights and discusses a number of physicians hitherto unknown or forgotten for their poetry. This thesis, whilst contributing further to the multi-faceted aspects of Maltese studies, should serve as a reminder that the poetic writings of physicians, even in languages other than Maltese, should be acknowledged, appreciated and quoted. Description: M.MALTESE STUD. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/95704 Title: Protestant challenges to Malta's Roman Catholic Identity in the early nineteenth century Abstract: In researching and writing about Catholic-Protestant relations in the early nineteenth-century Malta, especially on how Protestant-tinged activity could have possibly challenged Malta‟s Roman Catholic identity, I realised that Anglicisation posed an insidious threat to Maltese culture more than before. It is ironic, for instance, how in a post-colonial, republican Malta, many Maltese couples, who are themselves native speakers of Maltese, choose to bring up their children speaking only English. Our Catholic churches, once the home of heavenly sacred music, seem to have succumbed to a plethora of Protestant-style worship songs, some of which in English, limiting the Latin Tridentine mass to but one little church, St Paul's in Birkirkara. Queen Elizabeth II's cipher has also found its place on the Commonwealth walkway bronze markers in streets around Valletta. New Protestant churches, mostly of American provenance, such as the Mormons and Baptists, have set up shop on the island, even though their scant following by locals is rather dubious. Some processions have thankfully survived, and have seen unprecedented growth and modification, though others, such as the procession of the Viaticum have disappeared. Some street niches are still lit by candles from devotees, though the indulgence plaques beneath, may now only have historical and linguistic merit. Rather than offering a chronological inventory of what the Protestants did in Malta, this dissertation is more of an appraisal or critique of Maltese Catholic culture. Although this work is historical in nature, I have tried to reflect the multidisciplinary approach of the Institute of Maltese Studies, which among other things, seeks to analyse in depth the nature of Malteseness, and the complex make-up of the Maltese people. With this in mind, the said Institute has helped me to appreciate further my love of Malta and its unique character. Description: M.MALTESE STUD. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/95626 Title: Festa rivalries : changing attitudes to the Maltese festa Abstract: I have been living in the village of Ħaż-Żebbuġ for more than forty years. This gives me a good insight of how the people in the village live, think and talk. In villages like Ħaż-Żebbuġ almost everyone knows one another and if someone is not local, somehow, someone, finds about that person too. The same can be said about Mqabba. Although I do not hail from there, it is the same village attitude where everyone knows everyone on a smaller scale. Even though there is a distinction in population and distance between Ħaż-Żebbuġ and Mqabba, the fact that one finds similarities, especially with regards to festa celebrations, encouraged me to do the research about Mqabba too. The village festa has always been an interesting event in the village of Ħaż-Żebbuġ as I am sure in almost most of the other villages around Malta and Gozo. The name of the village of Ħaż-Żebbuġ is mostly associated with the titular saint, San Filep especially with those that love to attend the village festa. Still, San Filep is not the only village festa that we celebrate, there is also the festa of San Ġużepp, the secondary festa. Since there are two festas in the same village this was eventually for Ħaż-Żebbuġ, the cause for the festa rivalry that exists today. The rivalry that exists within the village of Ħaż-Żebbuġ was the cause for this study to commence. At a tender age, I remember people bickering on which saint is better or which band club is organising a better festa than the other. Since I used to play the clarinet with one of the San Filep band clubs, such criticism towards the other band clubs was the norm of the day. Still I could never share their opinion regarding the insults that they used to say or the band criticism mentioned towards the other band clubs. I wanted to find out the reason behind this rivalry, what causes it, what makes a person support one saint and not the other and if the attitudes towards rivalry have ever changed. I used a system of triangulation for my research, where I started off from the literature about both villages and searched theories about people’s participation in the festa. This was one of the main reasons why I chose Mqabba as a comparative study since there is abundant literature and studies on the place from various authors. I also attended certain festa celebrations of both villages, and lastly, I used the interviews to gather the information about my research which was the bulk of my research. Those interviewed come from all walks of life, from labourers to professional people but mostly people from the same committee of the local band, from the president to the secretary and local supporters that just attended the club. I went through the local historical books of both villages of Ħaż-Żebbuġ and Mqabba. This gave me an insight about how the villages originated and how the cults and band clubs started off in both villages. The local festa booklets of both villages illustrated how both festas are organised: from the committee members that take care of the organisation of the festa to the number of activities organised during the week preceding the festa. The local booklets also shed light on the rivalry that exists between clubs in the same villages especially for Ħaż-Żebbuġ. This was the first part of the write up of my research, the introductory chapters deal with the historical part of both villages. Still, this was not enough for me. Books do not give you details about rivalry. They illustrate facts, especially the historical ones. I wanted to gather the opinion of the people regarding my theme of research and that is what my research was mostly about: what the people know and think about the rivalry in their village. When possible, historical facts helped me out in comparing what the people said in the interviews to what really happened. Since I am from the village of Ħaż-Żebbuġ, it was easier for me to interview the people there mostly because they knew who I was and because many knew some of my relatives. For the village of Mqabba I had link persons that vouched for me and once I have stated from where I was, it was somehow easier for them to communicate with me. The results of the interviews were then discussed in the sole chapter entitled Oral History since it dealt with what the people told me in the interviews, what they know. One of the last chapters in my research is about comparing the celebration of Palio di Siena with the local village festa. There are many things that are common in both celebrations because after all in both activities people attend to have fun and feel proud when participating in them. Since there is more than one group involved that also means that there is cause for rivalry too as the research has shown. The concluding chapter of this research was formulated from the historical books, the personal experience of the village festa and the interviews that gave me an insight on what the people think about rivalry and on the preparations involved for the celebration of the local village festa. Description: M.MALTESE STUD. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z