https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102305 Sun, 19 Apr 2026 01:26:21 GMT 2026-04-19T01:26:21Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102374 Title: The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M) Abstract: The origin of the Order dates back to the l0th Century, when some of the Merchants from Amalfi (Italy) founded a 'hospital' in Jerusalem to take care of the weary and tired pilgrims visiting the Holy Land. Then, under the leadership of Raimondo De Podia (its first Grand Master) it became a Military Order, intimately linked with a number of victories and military occurrences. Unlike its predecessors, the S.M.O.M. is today a purely a non belligerent body totally dedicated to deeds of philanthropic nature. In Malta, the year 1968 saw the opening of both a seat (of an Ambassadorial nature) in St. John's Cavalier, and of a blood clinic in St. Ursula Street, Valletta. To help in its fund raising drive the Order issues for the present, two to three sets of stamps every year. Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102374 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102371 Title: The postal history of Thurn and Taxis Abstract: Some 500 years ago, the family of Thurn & Taxis, or de Tour et Tassis, as they were known then, originated the postal services of Western Europe. The seat of their organisation was in Brussels, then the Capital of the Southern Netherlands, whence Francois de Tassis established a network of postal services to many towns in the Western European Countries. Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102371 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102369 Title: History of the post and stamp Abstract: The first information about the transmitting of messages was made known to us from the Chinese and Assyrian Civilisations. The Egyptians about 4000 years B.C. have also had a more or less organised delivery system of messages, as well as the Greeks and Romans. After the invention of paper in the middle ages, a great progress was made and the communication between people by way of transmitting messages came a step forward. But still something was missing, and that was the cover, to put the letter in it. That was not before the middle of the 19th century; before that, letters were folded or rolled up, and were sealed with a seal of wax. But it was not before 1500 that a well organised regular Service was established by Emperor Maximilian in nominating a nobleman of Bergamo Francois de Tassis, later called of Thurn & Taxis, as Postmaster of the whole Holy Roman Empire. In 1840, in Great Britain, the first adhesive stamp popularly referred to as the "Penny Black" was issued. Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102369 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102336 Title: Malta Napoleontic occupation 1798-1800 Abstract: For 268 years (1530-1798) Malta had been ruled by the Knights of St. John. When, at the close of the 18th century, Napoleon was planning the conquest of the world he determined to use Malta as the starting point of his Expedition to Egypt, and thence to India, to shatter the British power in the East. On the 9th June 1798 Bonaparte, with an overwhelming naval and Military force, appeared off the Island and on the flimsiest of pretexts, attacked it. The timidity of the Grand Master, the treachery of most of the Knights, and several other circumstances greatly favoured his plan, and within three days of his arrival, the island which his expert eye had discerned as "la place plus forte de l'Europe", was in his hands. Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102336 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z