Narratives of War : discourse, reality and Hospitaller naval warfare in the seventeenth century

Abstract

Fernand Braudel in The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II writes that after the Peace Treaty between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans in 1580, the Mediterranean faded out of the limelight of history Mediterranean powers made way for 'Northern Invasion', when the Dutch, the English and the French dominated Mediterranean trade and commerce. Molly Greene argues that what took place during the seventeenth century in the Mediterranean was more complex and less clear cut. As the 'formal war' between the two empires that dominated the sixteenth century receded, what continued was an 'informal war of corsairing' largely reflecting the Christian-Muslim divide that for ages made the Mediterranean a theatre of war between the two civilisations. Greene argues that this war had an important role to play in the emergence of a dominant 'northern' west, over the Muslim controlled territories of the East and the South, that were increasingly excluded from trade and commerce. Religion had become an important element in the economic war to alienate and dominate the Muslim adversary. In this dissertation, the Order of St. John's discourse on war will be discussed within this context, in a comparative exercise to determine whether the Order was able to adapt to the challenges that rose during the seventeenth century, and if yes to what extent. The focus of this dissertation will be on the war-reports written by the galley captains of the Order of St. John between 1583 and 1701; particularly AOM 1768 (containing reports between 1583 and 1639) and AOM 1771 (containing reports from 1686-1701). Reference will also be made to corresponding Relazioni, newssheets published for a European audience narrating the feats at sea of the Order's navy, largely based on the captains' reports sent to the Grandmaster and Council. The main focus in this dissertation will not be on the feats themselves, but rather on the perceptions, attitudes, observations and justifications written in these reports. From these reports and Relazioni an analysis will be made of the socio-religious, military and strategic dimensions of discourse in order to reveal which were the elements that were mostly influenced by what was happening during the century and to what extent these influences changed the Order.