Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/63295
Title: A study of the material culture of Iberian Hospitallers (c. 1630 – c. 1730)
Authors: Bugeja, Charmaine
Keywords: Hospitalers -- Malta -- History -- 17th century
Hospitalers -- Malta -- History -- 18th century
Material culture
Issue Date: 2020
Citation: Bugeja, C. (2020). A study of the material culture of Iberian Hospitallers (c. 1630 – c. 1730) (Bachelor's dissertation).
Abstract: My thesis herewith probes into the material culture of the Iberian Hospitallers between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries – capturing just about a third, out of practically three centuries under Hospitaller rule. Within this period, a change in direction is experienced on a broader Mediterranean context. From the terrors and tremors of the sixteenth century’s Great Siege with a phase of ensuring the islands are well fortified, stepping onto another threshold, where we now have the Order settling in and making itself get acquainted to the fact this was to be their ‘home’, adapting a certain joie de vivre, while notwithstanding, further strengthening their base in the eventuality of future attacks. Their city glistens with splendid reflections of their European roots, highly influenced by their respective sovereigns, each Grand Master bearing the weight of responsibility, some lighter than others, while each one’s longevity could range between three, up to thirty-two years’ duration. All in all, throughout the Order’s occupation between its arrival in 1530 until it came to a cul-de-sac under Napoleonic pressure in 1798, Malta was ruled by eleven Grand Masters of Spanish and Portuguese origin, with five of these ruling practically successively, throughout the chosen period of study, which is circa 1630-1730, namely Martin De Redin y Cruzat from Pamplona, the Mallorcan brothers Rafael and Nicolás Cotoner y Oleza, Ramón Perellós y Rocafull from Valencia and the only Portuguese António Manoel De Vilhena from Lisbon. This work takes into account various visible remnants, plunging into the artistic baroque era and the Siglos de Oro in the courtly settings, how the Grand Harbour provided a theatrical setting in itself between life and death, as well as aspects of intangible cultural heritage which can still be felt in our merriments, traditions and practices to this very day. Snippets of daily life, the art of exchanging gifts, keeping up with diplomatic prerequisites, in the pursuit of igniting the curiosity of the readers from this writer’s perspective of material culture. Michel Fontenay claims that ‘the military power and cultural splendour of Spain’s Golden Century’ conveyed by the material resources from America, was not exploited to the full as, quoting Quevedo, who states that “Silver was born in the Indies, comes to die in Spain, and it is buried in Genoa”. He refers to the ports of Seville and Cadiz as being merely bridges, exporting the goods throughout the rest of Europe, thus maintaining the level of internal investment to a minimum, within the Crown. With the exception of the initial few years of opulence, a good fraction of the portion was used to settle debts with the Genoese banking system and the peninsula scarcely profited from the American boon. Nevertheless, Fontenay confirms how the Iberian peninsula contributed to Mediterranean trade with ‘Toledo renowned for its arms as well as silk and linen textiles, Granada and Cordoba for their silk trade, Segovia and Cuenca for their woollen clothes’.3 European aristocrats were becoming accustomed to a myriad of lavish materials being imported from all over the world, amongst which, ‘perfumes from Arabia, pearls from the Indian Ocean, precious gems from India, silken fabrics from China and carpets from Persia or Syria’, not to mention the fragrant blend of spices present in any avantgarde kitchen: of significant importance were ‘pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger’.4 Albeit, when it comes to the tangible much has disintegrated into thin air due to wear and tear, and above all, one cannot disregard the negative effects of events such as the bubonic plague epidemic of 1675-1676 which, has destroyed much of the corporeal resources, including personal attire, furniture and other household items, limiting us today to lure on what managed to endure the test of time.
Description: B.A.(HONS)HISTORY
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/63295
Appears in Collections:Dissertations - FacArt - 2020
Dissertations - FacArtHis - 2020

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