https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145442 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:28:06 GMT 2026-07-16T14:28:06Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145466 Title: Siġġiewi in the late 18th century (1790–1800) investigating society throughout the entire lifespan : from birth until death Abstract: This dissertation investigates the social, religious, and demographic landscape of Siġġiewi between 1790 and 1800, examining how a rural Maltese community experienced everyday life during a decade marked by political upheaval, famine, and socio-economic strain. Employing a life-course and microhistorical approach, the study analyses the parish registers of baptisms, marriages, and deaths alongside selected parish administrative sources. These records provide a detailed reconstruction of family formation, reproductive patterns, mortality trends, and devotional practices, enabling an assessment of both continuity and adaptation within village society. The findings reveal a community characterised by remarkable structural resilience. Family life largely followed established Maltese patterns—nuclear households, early adulthood marriage, and high infant mortality—yet was periodically disrupted by crisis. The French occupation and subsequent blockade (1798–1800) caused a sharp decline in baptisms and marriages, alongside a dramatic surge in mortality in 1799, reflecting the effects of famine, disease, and armed conflict. Nonetheless, these disruptions proved temporary: parish life quickly rebounded, and long-standing social frameworks endured. Religion emerged as the principal anchor of community identity. Daily devotional routines, confraternities, liturgical feasts, and pastoral leadership reinforced cohesion, even during periods of political instability. Evidence from the registers—including cases of refugees, foundlings, illegitimacy, clerical succession, and wartime casualties—demonstrates how broader events were filtered through the intimate spaces of family and parish. By foregrounding the experiences of ordinary villagers, this dissertation contributes to Maltese social history by highlighting the interplay between continuity and crisis. It shows that Siġġiewi, despite facing profound external shocks, preserved the essential structures of family, faith, and communal life that defined it at the close of the eighteenth century. Description: M. Malt. St.(Melit.) Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145466 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z