The Maltese militia from the late medival to the Hospitallers periods

Abstract

During the latter stages of my undergraduate degree I decided to continue my studies by reading for a degree in Master of Arts by specializing in the Maltese Military History. My previous degree was about my village, Mellieħa, during the Second World War, because I always wanted to do an academic work about my village and the Second World War. However, as mentioned above, I had already showed interest in broading my horizons into Military History by doing research into a different period and aspect. In doing so I contemplated research about Maltese Medieval Period, but in discussions with my tutor Mr Charles Dalli, he pointed out that it’s a little bit difficult to do so in terms of Maltese Medieval Military History of that period. He proposed a different topic, within Maltese Militias, namely Il-Maħras and Id-Dejma, and I soon found the subject very interesting. Together with my tutor I drafted a plan to have an idea on what and where I need to research. It was already evident that if I tackle this aspect of Maltese Military History, I need also to include the coastal fortifications, especially during the 17th and 18th centuries. Apart from that, I had already formulated an interest into comparisons and contrasts of these with foreign coastal defences. In fact I had already written two articles in early 2000 about the coastal towers, batteries, redoubts and entrenchments of Mellieħa in contrast to foreign ones. Therewith was born the route of my reasoning. When I undertook readings in secondary sources I found a number of useful books and articles about different periods of the Maltese Militias and coastal fortifications. These led me into the archives, mainly the National Library in Valletta and the Cathedral Archives. I found an abundance of manuscripts ranging from Maltese militias and coastal fortifications.