T H E   M A L T E S E     (who are they?)    

 
Their Homeland

Malta, is an independent Republic in the Commonwealth of Nations, consisting of a small group of islands, with an area of 122 square miles or 316 square kilometers. The Republic consists of  the islands of  Malta, Gozo, Comino, Cominotto, and Filfla.  The archipelago is  located in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea about 90 km (60 miles) south of Sicily and 300 km (190 miles) to the north of Africa.   Malta is the largest island with an area of  246 sq km (95 sq mls); Gozo covers 67 sq km (26 sq mls), and Comino has an area of 3 sq km (1.1 sq mls). The total area of the islands is 316 sq km (122 sq mls). The capital of the republic is Valletta (population, 1990, greater city, 101,749). The population of Malta at the 1985 census was 345,418; the estimate for 1996 was 360,000; yielding an average density of 1139 persons per sq km (2950 per sq mls).

The terrain of the islands of Malta is comparatively low, the highest point being about 239 m (about 785 ft) above sea level. The climate is temperate and healthful for most of the year, the mean temperature being 19 deg; C (66 deg; F). Average annual rainfall is about 560 mm (about 22 in).

The People   

The strategic location of  Malta in the middle of the Mediterranean,  the hub of  Earth's first civilization, had been a subject of controversy regarding the origin of the Maltese race. The indigenous islanders had experienced many changes and numerous invasions from nations near and far.
The Maltese had survived so successfully through the ages owing to their endurance to adopt to all  foreign customs and changes. Up to the present day, the Maltese are noted for their ability to assimilate with their new environment, at home and even abroad.

Their Language   

The Maltese language which is spoken in Malta is Semitic in origin descended from a dialect of Arabic. It was so long isolated from other dialects of Arabic and so heavily influenced by Italian and English, that the resultant loss of mutual intelligibility with other Arabic speakers justifies its usual classification as a separate Euro-Semitic language. Maltese is the only form of Semitic to be written in the Latin alphabet.


                                                                            The Stone Age

Many traces and artifacts  have been located on the islands of Malta and Gozo, proving the pre-historic civilization that dates back to the Neanderthal man, circa 3,800 B.C.

By the end of the Copper Age circa 1800 BC, the primitive Maltese became a builder of temples and other stone structures. These inhabitants lived undisturbed on the islands until  Bronze Age 1,500 BC,  when people from Southern Italy invaded the islands. Then followed three centuries of invasion from various nations from Southern Europe and North Africa.  
 

The Phoenicians  (Circa 1,000 B.C.)  

The Phoenicians (the Canaanites of the Old Testament) became the most notable traders and sailors of the ancient world. The fleets of the coast cities traveled throughout the Mediterranean and even into the Atlantic Ocean, as other nations competed to employ Phoenician ships and crews in their navies.

In connection with the maritime trade, the Phoenician Empire founded many colonies, notably Utica and Carthage in North Africa, and in the Mediterranean,  the islands of Sicily, Rhodes, Cyprus, Sardinia, Corsica and Malta.

The Phoenicians called the islands Malet (meaning refuge) as they used the many safe ports for their navies. The Phoenician occupation brought great prosperity for bronze-age Maltese as they adopted many of the skills and the spoken language of their invaders.

During this period, the Maltese had their first taste of  wars and world conflicts as their were in the midst of the Punic wars (from 264 BC to 164 BC). During this period,  Malta's landlords changed from the Phoenicians to the Carthaginians and to the Greeks.

 
The Roman Empire  (146 BC - 475 AD)   (Roman Period (218 B.C. - A.D. 870)

When the Roman army defeated Hannibal in Zama, in 202 BC, Carthage was compelled to give up its navy and cede all the Mediterranean islands to Rome. Somehow the Maltese retained their relations with the Carthaginians until the second Punic war broke out in 218 BC.

The Roman General, Titus Sempronius invaded the islands and (with the help of the Maltese??) secured the surrender of the Carthaginian commander Hamilcar and his 2000 strong garrison. Since that time, Malta prospered as an Imperial Province of Rome.

The most notable event that occurred during the Roman occupation was the shipwreck on the islands of the Saint Paul, the Apostle in 58 AD.  Saint Paul implanted the first seed of Christianity with the Maltese people, which is still flourishing up to the present day. Rome gave Malta the status of Municipium and the Maltese became renowned right through the Roman Empire for the production of textiles, in particular, sail cloth and for the production of honey.

The long period of Roman rule ended when the Empire was divided into East and West. In 395 AD, the Maltese found themselves governed by the Eastern Empire controlled by the Byzantines until 870 AD


                                      The Arab Domination   Circa 800 AD

The Maltese under the Byzantine rule fought great battles to repel the numerous attacks by the Arabs who started to rule the Mediterranean, but in 870 AD  Malta fell to the Aghlabid Arab invasion  from Sicily led by Admiral Ahmad bin-Umar, known as Habasi.

The Arabs aim to expand the Islam faith had its effect on the Maltese, as additional taxes were imposed on Christians  while those who embrace the new religion would not be liable to these taxes. The Maltese had also experienced religious prosecution. In 878 AD the Arabs expelled the Maltese bishop and a number of his flock and imprisoned them in Palermo, Sicily. This was also the era of piracy and slavery and at one stage the number of slaves in Malta exceeded that of the free Maltese population.  

   Count Roger of Normandy and the Normans      

 It was Count Roger of Normandy who ended the Arab occupation in 1091, ushering Malta into the European community once again. Although the Arabic influence remained with the Maltese until 1224 AD, they regained their freedom of worship and the Maltese had by now regained their freedom and returned back to Christianity. 1224 AD was also the time that Malta was annexed to the Kingdom of Sicily

 Angevin and Aragon Rules    1282-1438
(and the Maltese revolt)

While under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Sicily,  Malta went through a long unstable period. The Angevins and the Aragonese were engaged in fierce battles for control of the Mediterranean.

The Maltese witnessed the first battle in their  own waters, when in 1283 AD, the Aroganese fleet fought a decisive battle in the Grand Harbour.  The Maltese who were on the Aroganese side, rejoiced at the defeat of the Angevins.

The locals did not enjoy this new found freedom for long, as during this period, Malta saw numerous changes  of power. Malta was tossed around from one King to another, used as a fief to please some Duke  or Count.   In January 1421 King Alfonso granted the islands and all the Maltese revenue to Don Antonio Cardona, who in turn transferred these rights to his friend Don Gonsalvo de Monroy.

The dissatisfied Maltese where getting more restless and in 1426 with the backing of the Universita rebelled, pillaging the Monroy's house in Mdina and laid siege on his castle at Birgu. For a brief period, the Maltese had complete control on their homeland.    This rebellion had prompt King Alfonso to grant the Maltese to buy back the islands and he formally ratified Malta's rights under the Crown in a Royal Charter.

The Golden Era of the Knights of  Malta - 1530 -1798 

The Holy Roman Emperor  Charles V, King of Spain and Sicily and Pope Clement VIII granted the islands to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, after their expulsion from Rhodes

In October 1530, the Knights under the leadership of Grand Master Philippe Villiers de L'Isle Adam entered the Grand Harbour, and  anchored beneath the fort of Castello a Mare, Birgu.

July 1551 .... The worst ever tragedy suffered by the Maltese was the invasion of the Island of Gozo by the Ottoman Turks who attacked the island and removed the entire population, estimated at 5000, to the slave markets in Libya.

The Great Siege of Malta,  (July/September 1565)  demonstrated to the World the courage and determination of the Maltese. The Great Siege was conducted by a Turkish fleet of 181 ship carrying over 30,000 fighters.  The Maltese defense consisted of  about 600 Knights and around 800 Maltese Militia.  Under the leadership of Grand Master Jean Parisot de La Vallette  they inflicted a crashing defeat to the invading Turkish armies under command of Suleiman the Magnificent.

This victory saved Malta's and  Europe's Christian cultural heritage from the Musulman treat. The Knights ruled Malta for two and a half centuries but it came to an abrupt end when Grand master Ferdinand von Hompesch offered little or no opposition to Napoleon and the French invaders.

          The  Grand Masters of the Maltese Period          

Napoleon Bonaparte and the French

Napoleon Bonaparte stayed six days on the islands, enough time to expel the Knights from the islands and installing his conquering force to take control of the Maltese Islands.

Napoleon was the general who ushered in a new epoch in Maltese history which eventually led to Maltese taking the running of their country's affairs into their own hand.

Within three months of French occupation, the Maltese were already becoming restless. They could tolerate no longer the flagrant abuses and the arrogance of the French garrison. The Maltese organized themselves under Emanuel Vitale and attacked the French at Mdina, and Fort Chambray in Gozo, killing the Commandants and all the soldiers.

The entire French army retreated behind the walls of Valletta where the Maltese blockaded the City. The Maltese were eager to rid themselves of the French insurgers so a message was sent to the British Admiral Horatio Nelson, who was with his fleet in the Mediterranean, to come to the aid of the Maltese. When Captain Ball called for recruits to form an army, 800 Maltese joined the Light Infantry known as the Cacciatori Maltesi plus about 2,000 Maltese irregulars.With reinforcement from British and Neopolitan forces, the French had no alternative but to surrender the islands.   This was the start of the 174 years of British rule in Malta.
 

The British Empire - Colonial Malta 1800-1974

 
Although still under foreign rule, the Maltese had their first taste of freedom and  to create their own destiny. The British used the islands as naval and defense bases. This gave great opportunity to the Maltese to improve their academic and trade practices.

Maltese art and culture became as good as any found in Europe at that time. This great progress was abruptly halted with the commencement of World War I and World War II.

During these World conflicts, the Maltese heroic nature demonstrated great courage in the face of the Axis raiders, who for three long years attacked the Maltese Islands, relentlessly from the air. King George VI of England awarded the George Cross Medal to the Maltese for their bravery during World War II.

Soon after W.W.II,  a great number of  young people from Malta and Gozo  had to leave the islands in search of employment in far away countries. During the 1950's and 60's, thousands of Maltese migrated to countries such as America, Canada and Australia.

  The Final Chapter   The Republic of  Malta  

 © Copyright  1997 ~ Charles J. Belli