The Republic of Ragusa and Hospitaller Malta : mercantile shipping to an order-state in the eighteenth-century

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to scrutinise the characteristics of Ragusan commercial endeavours with the Hospitaller island-headquarters in the turbulent eighteenth-century. Ragusa was experiencing decadence at that time and Malta was in an appalling financial situation which did not portend well. The preliminary hypothetical question motivating further research was: did Ragusan shipping visit Malta as a convenient port of call on the way to the coasts of the Barbary Regencies, or did they stop at the Order's citadel for the purpose of catering for the sophisticated demands of the Convent and its subjects in general? The covered time frame has been prescribed by the availability of primary sources and my own language skills. The informative Quarantine Registers present fully decipherable Italian just for the eighteenth-century and the manuscripts pertaining to the legal establishment known as the Consolato Del Mare commence from 1697. Dealing with a contained field of action granted me the necessary concentration and stimulus to carry out a qualitative, analytical study as opposed to the repetitive quantity-oriented alternative. This dissertation is built on five interwoven chapters: an introduction revolving around a familiarisation with Ragusa and her entrepreneurs in harmony with the better known Hospitaller and Maltese experiences; a literature review complemented by new comparative considerations; a thematic enquiry into the distinct eighteenth-century scenario highlighting inconveniences and opportunities shared by the two protagonists; a chapter devoted to archival data from the Quarantine Registers; lastly, a conclusion answering the question posed above, featuring cases presented to the Consolato and outgoing Magistral correspondence.