Maltese privateering, 1772-1785 : partial recovery in years of decline

Abstract

[…] My objective in the present dissertation is to expose the said partial privateering recovery in a holistic way, by delving into politico-military as well as socio-economic issues. The prime mover of the partial recovery, the growth's extent and the related consequences will be discussed within the larger European and Mediterranean frameworks, and not in isolation. The arguments are put forward through a three-fold process: (i) the gathering of scattered and limited data on the partial privateering recovery from pertinent secondary sources since the available literature does not deal with the topic per se; (ii) the presentation of criticism of several important contributions by different historians of the corso; (iii) the addition of original archival findings. The time-frame covered by this dissertation stretches from 1772 to 1785. It is necessary to determine in what different situation Maltese privateering found itself in, a little bit behind and beyond the 1776-1784 partial recovery. I started from the year 1772 for one major reason. The volume of the Quarantine Registers covering the years of the partial recovery (a principal source of information referred to frequently in this dissertation), opens with the records for 1772. The examination of corsairing-related entries along four whole years prior to 1776 is enough for the above-mentioned exposure purposes. I will confine my analysis to the year 1785 in order not to enter into the peculiarities of another period of growth for Maltese privateering, ranging between 1787 and 1798, already thoroughly examined by a different author in an unpublished dissertation at undergraduate level. Avoidance of repetition demands so. The present dissertation is divided into four chapters: an introduction which explains why Malta found itself on the forefront of the Holy War and how the local privateering industry fared before the troublesome eighteenth-century; a critical literature review evaluating the most crucial writings on the decline of Maltese privateering, outlining both the strengths and limitations of the consulted primary sources, and featuring original input concerning the politico-military sphere in correction of some inaccurate statements; a chapter on the socio-economic context of the partial recovery based on deductions from secondary sources and more original research; a conclusion elucidating two chief benefits brought about by the Maltese corso and the negative consequences of its demise. I adopted an Empiricist approach throughout this dissertation, considering facts as sacred. Hypotheses for which I found no archival confirmation were simply aborted rather than placing them in a context of possibilities.