Popular perceptions and values in Hospitaller Malta

Abstract

In his description of Malta, Jean Quintin d'Autun observed that 'the people have a Sicilian character, with a mixture of African ... The people are very devoted to their religion ... [which] is wonderfully practised in the whole island.' Apart from Mdina 'and some houses in the suburb', the Maltese lived in makeshift houses roofed with tiles or reeds, 'which one would take … for African huts'. Above all, the Maltese depended on Sicily for their grain supplies and used thistles and cow dung for fuel, as timber had to be imported: 'the people, conscious of their country's sterility, live a very frugal life'. In the late eighteenth century, Malta was described as a country of growing material prosperity. The Order's rule had brought law and order, security as well as prosperity to the Maltese. The population, which in the early sixteenth century had barely reached 17,000 Souls, nearly toppled the 100,000 mark in 1798. Splendid buildings and a relatively high standard of living, 'higher than anywhere else in the Mediterranean, had changed life in this outpost of Europe dramatically'. The income derived from the corso, the profits of trade, and the steady flow of the Order's revenues (in the form of responsiones) were among the most important driving forces behind such change. The Order was the single most important driving factor behind this complete transformation.