Form 3

MALTESE HISTORY

C. Some of the Order’s Projects

in Malta

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Unit C.1 - Valletta and the Three Cities

1. Valletta in the 17th

and 18th

centuries To the original group of public buildings in Valletta the Order added in the 17

th and 18

th centuries, a theatre,

a library, a custom house and a municipal palace for the Università of Valletta and the Three Cities. The Law Courts (Castellania) were rebuilt and the Church of St John was decorated by the paintings and sculpture of the Neapolitan artist Mattia Preti. During the 18

th century new buildings in Valletta had a more

worldly use. In 1732 the Manoel Theatre was built (the oldest standing theatre in Europe today), a library and warehouses along the Valletta Grand Harbour waterfront. Grand Master Pinto’s warehouses (known as Pinto Wharf) were built in the second half of the 18

th century – today these have become the Valletta Waterfront sea-

passenger terminal. The Grandmaster’s Palace and most of the auberges had their façade decorated on the baroque style. Some of the richest houses (eg.Casa Rocca Piccola) were built in the 18

th century.

Strada San Giorgio and Strada Mercanti were the best streets of Valletta having most of the finest buildings with shops, stores or workrooms in the ground floor. Strada Forni and Strada San Paolo were mainly residential having fewer shops and fewer public buildings.

In the 17th century more and more people went to live within the walls of the city. Land which at first was left

without buildings was taken over for housing. The Manderaggio, at first planned to become a boat quay, became a slum area for the poorest families of Valletta. Other slum areas were the Camerata and the Dijuballi districts close to Fort St Elmo. In 1666 the Government stopped more people from the countryside to go and reside in Valletta or the Three Cities. One tragic result of the overpopulation of the Harbour towns was the Great Plague of 1675-76. From 9,000 who died of plague, more than half were people from Valletta or the Three Cities.

2. The Cottonera and Floriana The rapid growth of Valletta affected the other towns. Senglea became the next commercial centre after Valletta. The streets of Senglea followed the grid pattern as those of Valletta. Its buildings were nicer than those in Bormla and Birgu. Birgu had narrow streets that followed the medieval pattern. The construction of the shipyard at Galley Creek attracted many people from the villages to go to live and work there.

3. The building of Floriana in the 18th

century In 1634 Paolo Floriani started the Floriana Lines so that Valletta could expand into the area between the two lines of fortifications. The building of Floriana as a new suburb town started in 1724 on a grid street plan like that of Valletta. The entrance of Floriana was decorated by a triumphal arch (Portes des Bombes in 1720). Floriana had features associated with the 18

th century richly decorated baroque style. This style originated in

Europe at the time of King Louis XIV of France from where it spread to other countries in Europe. Contrary to Valletta, the streets of Floriana were wider and decorated with baroque gardens and monuments.

Grand Harbour c. 1750.

C

B

A

F

D

G

H

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Unit C.1- Projects Undertaken by the Order: Valletta and the Three Cities

(Total marks 20) 1. Using the table above as your source, explain the following:

(a) Why was the population of Bormla larger than that of Birgu and Senglea by 1772? ____________________________________________________________________________ (2)

(b) Suggest a reason why there are no figures in the Table for the population of Floriana? ____________________________________________________________________________ (2)

(c) What caused a sharp drop in the population of the four harbour towns by 1680? ____________________________________________________________________________ (1)

2. Name two of the poorest district of Valletta at the time of the Knights.

_______________________________________________________________________________ (1)

3. Name the two richer districts of Valletta at the time of the Knights.

_______________________________________________________________________________ (1)

4. How did the Knights embellish (beautify) Valletta in the 18th century?

_______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ (2)

5. Underline the two buildings built in Valletta by the Knights in the 18th century?

Manoel Theatre, Public Library, Knights’ Hall, Barracca Gardens, San Anton Palace, the Lazzaretto (1)

6. Find two contrasts from the text between Birgu and Senglea at the time of the Knights.

_______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ (2)

7. (a) Why did many people went to live in Valletta or Three Cities at the time of the Knights?

_______________________________________________________________________________ (1) (b) What kind of problem did this development bring about?

_______________________________________________________________________________ (1)

8. (a) Which building did the Knights built outside Floriana in 1720? ___________________________ (1)

(b) How did this building change ever since?

_______________________________________________________________________________ (1)

9. Identify the places labeled with letters A to H on the plan of Grand Harbour on Unit C.1.

A ______________ B _______________ C ________________ D _________________

E ______________ F _______________ G ________________ H _________________ (4

Year Valletta Birgu Senglea Bormla Floriana

1590 3,400 2,600 1,600 1,300 -

1632 8,600 3,100 4,000 2,800 -

1670 12.000 3,000 3,800 2,900 -

1680 8.000 1,900 3,100 2,400 -

1772 20,800 3,800 5,500 7,100 -

Estimated population figures of the

Harbour Cities,

Blouet, p. 114.

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Unit C.1.2 - The Building of Valletta

Read carefully the following extract and answer all the questions.

1. Who was Laparelli? ________________________________________________________ (1)

2. The author mentions ‘streets’. Which city is he referring to? _________________________ (1)

3. Why do you think Laparelli at first ‘wished the streets to follow a serpentine pattern?

_________________________________________________________________________________ (2)

4. Most of the passage is a quotation from Laparelli’s writings. Do you consider this quotation a primary or a secondary source?

_________________________________________________________________________________ (1)

5. When did Laparelli write these observations? 1562, 1566, 1568, 1572. Underline the correct date. (1)

6. (a) Do you consider the building of this city essential? ____________________________ (1)

(b) Why? ________________________________________________________________ (2)

7. What is a cavalier? _________________________________________________________ (2)

8. Do you agree with Laparelli’s assessment of the importance of cavaliers? Why? Give three reasons for your answer.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________ (4)

9. Name two strategic advantages that the new city had over the towns of Birgu and Senglea.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________ (2)

10. Who continued the work on the new city when Laparelli left Malta? ___________________ (1)

11. Name two buildings designed by this new architect.

________________________________________ _______________________________________ (2)

(Total = 20 marks)

Laparelli originally wished the streets to follow a serpentine pattern, but in these plans he shows a grid-iron layout designed so that guns could be moved easily from place to place. A main street ran straight from the gate on the landfront to Fort St Elmo and behind the gate he provided a large place of arms. On each side ‘the cavaliers will’ he wrote . . . ‘be . . . higher than the ramparts of the bastions. An attacker will never be able to equal the height of these cavaliers, because these are built on high ground. . . .The cavaliers also prevent the enemy from camping nearby. They stand sufficiently far back from the bastions so that rubble falling from them during a bombardment will not harm those who man the bastions. . . .If destroyed by continuous bombardment, their ruins will not fill the ditch, nor will they provide steps through a breach. The rubble can remain where it falls. With a minimum amount of repair the cavaliers can be rebuilt so as to be able, once more, to harass the enemy.’

Quentin Hughes, Malta – A Guide to the Fortifications, Liverpool, 1993.

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Unit C.2 - The Sacra Infermeria, the Knights’ Hospital at Valletta

Since the Knights were a Hospitaller Order they built hospitals wherever they had their headquarters. The first hospital

or Infermeria in Malta was situated at Birgu (built in 1532). When the Knights moved to Valletta a new and larger

hospital had to be built there. The Birgu infermeria was turned into a Convent for the Sisters Sta. Scholastica. The

building of the Sacra Infermerija started in 1573 during Grand Master Jean de La Cassière. Its plan was designed on

the Mannerist style by Girolamo Cassar, the Order’s building architect of the time. The site chosen was at the

entrance to Grand Harbour so that injured and sick sailors could be easily taken to hospital. An underground tunnel was

dug close to the shore leading to the hospital itself.

During the 17th century the Sacra Infermeria became well known abroad as a first class hospital in the whole

Mediterranean. The Hospital became famous for its high standards in hygiene and medical treatment. Most

surgical instruments were made of silver to reduce contamination. Even food was served in silver plates. The

Hospital was divided into sections: for the Knights and for the common people (males only). Accommodation

and cure was free of charge. Knights who enter the Order spent two years servicing the sick in the Infermeria.

The running of the Hospital was in charge of a French Grand Cross Knight known as Grand Hospitaller.

In the 1670s, during the reign of Grand Master Nicholas Cotoner (1663-80), the main hall was enlarged and became

the largest hospital ward in the Mediterranean. A medical and surgical school was also opened to train doctors and

nurses. There was a pharmacy which mixed medicine prescribed by the doctors. The Hospital served as one of the

main sources of employment for the Maltese in the form of doctors, surgeons, nurses, clerks, handymen, cooks and

kitchen hands, cleaners and messengers.

Difficulties in the running of the Sacra Infermeria started in the late 18th century. By that time the Order’s finances

were going bad and income from the corso had declined as well. With the cost cutting measures of the 1780s, the Order

managed to restore the finances and maintain the Hospital for some years. But the troubles caused by the French

Revolution made the upkeep of the Hospital impossible. During the 1790s the Order had to reduce the number of staff

and some of the services given in the Hospital. The silver ware had to be melted to mint coins. When the Knights left

Malta in 1798 the Hospital was taken over by the French Government and turned into a military hospital. Under the

British the Knights’ Hall, as it became known served as a military hospital until 1920. It was left unused after World

War II, until in the 1980s it was restored and renamed as the Mediterranean Conference Centre (MCC).

Besides the Sacra Infermeria, the Knights built other specialized

hospitals. The Lazzaretto was built in the 1640s as a plague hospital

on Manoel Island at the time of Grand Master Jean Lascaris

(1636-57). Its importance was greatly felt during the plague

epidemics of 1675 and 1813. The Knight opened a hospital for

women at Floriana known as the Casetta. Santo Spirito Hospital at

Rabat was enlarged and run by the università (local council) of

Mdina. It catered for the sick and the old people of the villages.

1. The Main Hall of the Saxcra Infermerija (exterior and interior) 2. Knights curing the sick.

(by Favray, 18th

century)

Michelang Grima and Giuseppe Zammit,

surgeon and physician employed at the

Sacra Infermeria

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Unit C.3 - The Wignacourt Aqueduct

1. The importance of fresh water supply for Valletta By the late 16

th century the population of Valletta had reached

3,000. Hundreds of Maltese had by then left the villages to settle in the harbour towns in search of work and more commodities. The migration to the harbour towns brought about a strain to the land and water resources of Valletta. Most of the land was already built-up. The Officio delle Case of 1566 had stipulated the digging of wells in private dwellings. The Order dug large cisterns in the southern part of Valletta. At that time water supply for Valletta depended mostly on rainwater or carried by boats from natural reservoirs at Marsa.

2. The aqueduct project In 1596 Grandmaster Martin Garzes (1595-1601) appointed a Jesuit, Fra Jacobo to design a project that would increase fresh water supply to Valletta. But due to some technical problems, the project was abandoned.

In 1610 Grandmaster Alof de Wignacourt (1601-22) decided to finance the project himself. The Jesuit Fra Natale Mesuccio was the appointed engineer. Fresh spring water from the Dingli-Rabat-Mdina region was to travel to Valletta through canals dug underground for this purpose. But the project had to stop when the canals reached H’Attard, which is situated in lower ground. Mesuccio had no solution to the problem and the project had to be shelved for some time.

In 1612 the Italian engineer Bontadino Bontadini was asked to continue the project. He brought to Malta a new type of water resistant pozzolana pipes instead of canals made from stone slabs. A Maltese mason Ġianni Attard came up with an idea to built arches at Attard upon which water could proceed its route to Valletta. The height of these arches were adjusted according to the level of the ground. Thus an acqueduct was built from Attard yo St Venera. From St Venera onwards water travelled underground again through Ħamrun, Floriana and hence to Valletta.

The acqueduct, 15 km in length, was inaugurated on 21 April 1615. The original fountain that was situated in Piazza San Giorgio (in front of the Grandmaster’s Palace) was later transfered to St Philip’s Garden, Floriana. Wignacourt Fountain remained up to this day in front of Sarria Chapel, Floriana. To remind the people of the importance of the acqueduct, a fountain was built on the inside of Porta San Giorgio (Valletta’s Main Gate), with the words Omnibus Idem (meaning: ‘the same for everyone’) inscribed on it. Fleur-de-Lys Gate, which once formed part of the acqueduct, was accidentally pulled down by a crane during World War II. When the Government decided to rebuilt it in the 1990s it was found that most of the original masonry blocks had been lost or stolen. A few years ago the acqueduct was restored and renovated as part of our historical heritage.

4. The Aqueduct with Fleur-de-Lys Gate c.1800. 5. The route of the Wignacourt Aqueduct.

1. Alof de Wignacourt 2. Wignacourt Fountain

3. The fountain in Valletta

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Unit C.3 - The Wignacourt Aqueduct

1. Why did the supply of fresh water to Valletta become a pressing problem by 1600?

______________________________________________________________________________ (1) 2. Why was the project shelved in 1610?

______________________________________________________________________________ (1) 3. How did these people contribute to the aqueduct project?

(a) Grand Master Alof Wignacourt: _______________________________________________ (1)

(b) Natale Mesuccio: _______________________________________________ (1)

(c) Bontadino Bontadini: _______________________________________________ (1)

(d) Ġianni Attard: _______________________________________________ (1) 4. How did the project transform everyday life in Valletta once it was completed?

______________________________________________________________________________ (1) 5. Draw the route of the aqueduct by using red ink to join the dots on the map in Unit C.2. (1)

6. Choose the odd one out from the following:

Attard, Mdina, St Venera, Ħamrun, Marsa, Floriana, Valletta (1)

7. Fill in the crossward on the Wignacourt Aqueduct. (12)

(Total = 20 marks)

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2

3

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6 7

8 9

10

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Vertical 1. An arched wall for water supply (8).

2. He initiated the project in 1596 (6).

3. Christmas Mesuccio in Italian (6).

5. A number connected with the Wignacourt Aqueduct (7).

6. Waterproof pottery pipes from Italy (9).

7. Bontadino turned surname (9). 9. The place of origin of the aqueduct (6).

10. A source of water supply prior to the aqueduct (5).

Horizontal

4. He resumed the project in 1610 (10).

8. The Valletta board of building control (16).

11. The whereabouts of Wignacourt Fountain (6).

12. Omnidem . . . . (4).

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Unit C.4 - The Restoration of Mdina

1. The changing role of Mdina under the Knights With the coming of the Knights in 1530 Mdina (Città Notabile or Città Vecchia as it was known by the Knights) started losing its importance and population. Most of its noble families went to live in Sicily and the lower classes preferred to live at Rabat. By 1700 the population of Mdina consisted of about 300 people mostly from the noble and professional classes.

2. The earthquake of 1693 and its consequences on Mdina On 11

th August 1693 Malta and Gozo were affected by an earthquake that caused a great damage in

Sicily. Hundreds of people were killed in Syracuse and Catania. Panic and fear swept throughout the islands. Many people stayed outside their homes and spent the night in the open. The people of Valletta stayed ‘nel piano della Floriana’ while the people of Senglea took refuge on galleys and ships that happened to be in the harbour. No deaths were caused by the earthquake but some people died later because they were injured by falling stones. But some Maltese who were in Sicily during the earthquake lost their life.

After the earthquake the Order set up a commission of architects to report on the damages. It was found that a large section of Mdina was badly damaged. The medieval Cathedral suffered considerable damage. It was decided to build a new Cathedral designed by the Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafà on the richly decorated baroque style. It took only five years to build, from 1697-1702. Gafà built also the Gozo Cathedral (1711).

3. Restoration works undertaken by Grand Master Vilhena Thirty years after the earthquake Grand Master Manoel de Vilhena (1722-36) planned to give a new life to the old town of Mdina. The damaged buildings that were left unrepaired were cleared away. Between 1723 and 1728 the fortifications were remodeled and repaired, the street plan of the town was changed and new baroque palaces and public buildings were undertaken. Nearly all these buildings were designed by the Parisian architect Francois de Mondion who introduced French baroque architecture to Malta. The old medieval square in front of the old Cathedral was enlarged to make more space for the new Cathedral, the Bishop’s Palace and the Banca Giuratale (or Municipal Palace). The last buildings to be completed were the grain stores next to Greeks Gate (1739). In 1727 Grandmaster Manoel Vilhena issued a decree to encourage people from the villages to go and live at Mdina. Unfortunately, these projects failed to convince many people to go and reside there. The population of Mdina in the 18

th and 19

th century remained low. One historian came up with the

view that the upper classes of Mdina discouraged people of lower classes from Rabat and the villages to go and live there. But one thing was certain, the rebuilding of Mdina served as a propaganda scheme of the Knights to show their power, their wealth and their benevolence towards the common people.

A. Grand Master Vilhena B. _______________________________ C. ______________________________

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Unit C.4 - The Restoration of Mdina

1. Match the letters A to F on the map of Mdina with the buildings restored or built anew during the reign of Grandmaster Vilhena (1722-1736).

I Greek’s Gate

II Main Gate

III The Grand Master’s Palace

IV The Cathedral

V The Municipal Palace or Banca Giuratale

VI The Tower of the Standard

(6)

Mdina in about 1730 C

B A

F

E

D

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2. By which name was Mdina called at the time of the Knights? __________________________________ _____________________________________ (2)

3. Give two reasons why Mdina was restored in the early 18th century?

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________ (2)

4. Who was the architect who took charge of the restoration and the new buildings?

__________________________________________________________________________ (1)

5. What was his preferred building style? __________________________________________ (1) 6. Did the restoration of Mdina encourage more people to go and live there? State why?

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________ (2)

7. Underline four categories of Maltese who resided at Mdina in the 18th century:

merchants, artisans, sailors, doctors, notaries, nobles, lawyers, peasants, Knights. (2) 8. Give the names of the restored or rebuilt buildings in Mdina shown in sources B, C, D and E. (4)

Source D ______________________________ Source E ___________________________

(Total Marks = 20 marks)

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Unit C.5 - SEC Source Question on Hospitaller Projects in Malta

Read carefully the following source and then answer all the questions.

1.1.1 Who was Dragut mentioned in the extract? __________________________________ (2)

1.1.2 What part did he play during the Great Siege of 1565?

______________________________________________________________________ (2) 1.2 What is the modern name of Dragut Point mentioned in the extract? _______________ (1)

1.3.1 Which city was built on Sciberras? _________________________________________ (1)

1.3.2 What strategic advantage did this place over the other fortified towns that already existed in 1565?

______________________________________________________________________ (2)

1.4.1 Name the two military engineers that came to Malta before the siege of 1565.

___________________________________ _______________________________ (2)

1.4.2 What was the reason for their coming?

______________________________________________________________________ (2)

1.5 Who were Tigné and Mondion mentioned in the extract?

______________________________________________________________________ (2)

1.6 Suggest two reasons by it took so long for the Order to built a fort on Dragut point.

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________ (2)

1.7 The source is PRIMARY or SECONDARY? Why? ____________________________

______________________________________________________________________ (2)

1.8 Name two harbour towns, besides Valletta, that developed when the Knights were in Malta.

__________________________________ _________________________________ (2)

(Total 20 mar

‘After the siege of 1565 the knights were left in no doubt as to the damage which could be inflicted by enemy batteries stationed on Sta Maria point at the entrance to the Marssamxett. Indeed, the headland had been renamed Dragut point in memory of the corsair who established the batteries on that site ….At the time of the siege Mount Sciberras was occupied only by the small fort St Elmo, but even with the fortification of the whole peninsula, Dragut point represented a threat to Valletta and Floriana, for it was sufficiently elevated to allow the enemy guns to bombard and damage Valletta. This weak link in the defences of the city was mentioned by various engineers from the sixteenth century but it was not until the closing decade of the 18

th century that the Order occupied

the site with a fort on Dragut point….Tigné proposed…a large battery closed at the gorge-costing 3,000 scudi. But Tigné classified this as non-urgent, and Mondion, although he recognised the importance of fortifying Dragut point, realising that the Order’s resources were not equal to the construction of two forts on the Marsamxett flank, preferred to build the one on the Isoloetto, which, he believed, would afford more general protection than that on Dragut point.’

A. Hoppen, The Fortifications of Malta by the Order of St John, Edinburg 1979.

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Unit C.6 - SEC Source Question on Hospitaller Projects in Malta

Read the following source and then answer all the questions.

1.1.1 Which hospital is referred to in the extract? __________________________________ (1)

1.1.2 Who built this hospital? __________________________________ (1)

1.1.3 Where is it situated? __________________________________ (1)

1.1.4 When was it built? Underline the correct year: (1560s, 1570s, 1580s, 1590s) (1)

1.2.1 Who was Henry Teonge mentioned in the extract? ____________________________ (1)

1.2.2 Why was he fascinated by this hospital? _____________________________________

______________________________________________________________________ (2)

1.2.3 Do you consider Henry Teonge’s diary as PRIMARY or SECONDARY source? Why?

______________________________________________________________________ (2)

1.3 Suggest one good reason why successive Grand Masters carried out ‘various major structural changes or additions’ to this hospital?

______________________________________________________________________ (2)

1.4 This hospital later on became a teaching hospital. Why was this development important?

______________________________________________________________________ (2)

1.5 What made this hospital famous abroad? ____________________________________

______________________________________________________________________ (2)

1.6 Name one Maltese physician or surgeon who worked in this hospital.

______________________________________________________________________ (1)

1.7 Suggest one reason why the Knights of St John were originally known as Hospitallers?

______________________________________________________________________ (2)

1.8 What positive effects did the building of this hospital have on the Maltese economy of that time?

______________________________________________________________________ (2)

(Total 20 marks)

“The original long, timber-roofed structure, which later came to be known as the Old Ward, measures 185 feet by 34 feet by 13 feet high and is still reckoned as one of the longest rooms in Europe, a fact which has fascinated many a visitor including the diarist Henry Teonge who wrote on the 2nd August 1675: ‘The hospital is a vast structure, wherein the sick and wounded lye. This is so broade that twelve men may with ease walk abreast up the midst of it.’ Pariodically during the next 150 years various major structural changes or additions were made. Within ten years of its founding, a new block was commissioned in 1583 by Grand Master Hughes de Verdalle. This was followed in 1593 by the building of a laundry and a linen store across the street from the hospital at a place now known as the Camerata. In 1660 and 1662, the Old Ward was remodelled and lengthened to over 500 feet by order of Grand Masters Cotoner. The new extension began to be recognised as the Great Ward. Teonge marvelled at the dimensions of the hospital after these extensions were carried out.” G. Attard, The Religious, Civil and Economic Administration of the Holy Infirmary 1775-1798, Malta 1984

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Unit C.7 - The Hospitaller Projects in Malta

Read carefully the following essay titles and answer any ONE in about 200 to 300 words.

Essays carry 20 marks each.

PAPER 2A

1. Why did Grandmaster de Vilhena initiate a programme for the rehabilitation of Mdina? Account for the demographic terms? (SEC 1992) 2. Why did the Order of St John settle in Birgu in 1530 (6) and why did it move to Valletta after 1566? (6) How did all this affect the Maltese? (8) (SEC 1997) 3. ‘If one man can be said to have made the architecture of an island that man is Girolamo Cassar.’ How far do you agree with this statement? 4. ‘By the eighteenth century, Hospitaller Malta was a model for other countries in Europe’. Discuss. (SEC 2011)

5. Why was the building of Valletta important for the Knights and the Maltese? (Annual Paper 2008) 6. Describe the main stages by which Valletta was planned, built and embellished during the rule of the Order of St John in Malta. (Annual Paper, 2010)

PAPER 2B

1. Write about four of the following, all connected with Valletta’s early history: (a) Francesco Laparelli (b) Girolamo Cassar (c) Grandmaster La Cassière (e) Caravaggio (e) The Jesuit Order (f) Grandmaster Alof de Wignacourt (Marks: 4 x 5) (SEC 1997) 2. Discuss the building of Valletta from an architectural point of view. 3. Write briefly about five of the following: (a) Valletta’s Sacra Infermeria (4) (b) The Order of St John and the Battle of Lepanto (4) (c) Mgr. Dusina in Malta (4) (d) How Valletta came to be supplied with fresh water (4) (e) The Order’s galley and vessel squadron (4) (Adapted from SEC 1998) 4. Show how the Knights of St John changed Malta into a modern European state. Explain under thee headings: (a) the state of the Maltese Islands in 1530 (5) (b) the projects undertaken by the Order after 1565 (10) (c) the employment opportunities offered by the Knights to the local population (5) (SEC 2011)