The Religion and the Republic : an overview of the work of Victor Mallia-Milanes

Abstract

Most relationships are complicated; indeed, those that are not tend to be dull, an adjective that certainly cannot be attributed to the relationship between the Religion (the Order of Malta) and the Republic of Venice. The author of the above tract was a Hospitaller, but we do not know his identity. He wrote this in 1630, a year before the important chapter general summoned by Grand Master Antoine de Paule (r.1623-1636), and, as it happened, 100 years since the Religion settled in Malta in 1530. It offers both a description of the mechanics of the Religion's administration and a snapshot of the state of affairs of the Religion at a critical junction in its long, winding and colourful story. And, in the case of this particular extract, it reminds us that when talking about the Religion and the Republic, it never was just about them because there was a third, significant other in the relationship: the Ottoman Empire, 'the Turks'. These are the lead characters in Victor Mallia-Milanes's academic work over the years, alongside a series of other supporting characters, which this chapter seeks to sketch out.