Slavery in Malta
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Slavery in Malta existed and was recognised from Antiquity until the Middle Ages, as was the case in many countries around the Mediterranean Sea. The system reached its apex under Hospitaller rule, when it took on unprecedented proportions, largely to provide galley slaves for the galleys of the Order, as well as other Christian countries. Commerce raids, which were the backbone of the Knights' economic military system helped to maintain this system, partly through creating the demand for slaves to maintain the military fleet, but also due to the influx of muslim prisoners when battles were won. Thus Malta became the hub of slavery in Christian Europe. Slavery was abolished in Malta by Napoléon Bonaparte during his invasion of the Maltese archipelago on 16 June 1798.
Before 1530
Slavery in Malta starts in ancient times. All the successive powers in the archipelago used slave labour, from the Romans to the Byzantines, Arabs, Sicilians, until the Knights Hospitallers of the Order of Malta.
At the end of the medieval period pirates, the Genoese and the Maltese added human captives to their loot, these people were often enslaved black Africans.[1] This type of banditry was practised across the Mediterranean coast.
Maltese documents report the presence of domestic slaves throughout the 13th and 14th centuries. A Greek slave called Catherina, for example, was emancipated by an official decree dated from the 23 January 1324.[2]. However, it seems that before 1530, the majority of domestic slaves had been black Africans.[3], captured by North Africans at the southern border of their territories.[1] At the end of the fifteenth century, such slaves are found with the rich families of Mdina, but also in the countryside and in Gozo, for example when the priest Peitru Mannara sold his slave Ferha to a fellow countryman. Usual practice seemed to be that slaves would be baptised upon their arrival to the island.[3]
In official deeds, slaves were designated according to their role, their origin, or their religion. They could thus be designated casanaticii (household slaves) or scavi ad usum maghazeni; ethiopes, sylvestri, mauri, greci; or saraceni, christiani ou judei. Beyond domestic tasks they could also be employed for construction work or landscaping.[1]
Emancipation was a relatively commonplace practice, probably depending on human relationships. The emancipated slave would usually take the name of their former master, adding a mark of provenance to avoid any ambiguity: for example, it would be understood that Franciscus de Vaccaro had been emancipated by the Vaccaro family, or Giorgius de Mazarra by the Mazarra family.[1].
This private slavery would continue for a long time after the arrival of the Knights, even if they tried to limit the practice to gain exclusivity. From the 16th century the Order would shift slavery towards its need for rowers on its galleys.
Slave demographics
Slave numbers
Largely taken from the work of Anne Brogini[4][5][6]:
| Year | Total number of slaves | Maltese population | Relationship slaves/population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1548 | less than 400 | 20,000 | 2% |
| 1569 | around 400 | 11,970 | 3.3% |
| 1575 | 400 | around 16,000 | 2.5% |
| 1582 | 800 | 22,000 | 3.6% |
| 1590 | 1,405 | 32,310 | 4.3% |
| 1599 | around 1,800 | environ 21,000 | 8.5% |
| 1632 | 2,046 | 43,000 | 4.7% |
| 1669 | 2,390 | around 40,000 | 5.9% |
| 1710 | 3,000[7] | around 50,000 | 6% |
| 1741 | 2,500[8] | around 60,000 | 4.2% |
| 1769 | 2,500[8] | around 70,000[9] | 3.5% |
| 1798 | around 2,000[10] | around 100,000[11] | 2% |
Sex and age
The majority of slaves working in Malta were men who could manage the extreme strain of the galleys. During the Inquisition in Malta, only 10% of slaves were women, who primarily worked on domestic tasks.[12] However, women and children could be victims of raids on the shores of the North Africa.[13]
The exact age of slaves is rarely known, apart from those registered during the Inquisition in Malta. A series of studies from the 17th century determined an average age of 31.[12]
Slave origin
Approximately 80% of slaves were Muslim or Jewish. They were often captured during military conflicts by the Order and later during pirate raids. Muslim slaves were largely Turks, Moors, or Barbary pirates - as well as limited numbers of sub-Saharan Africans. Jews came from the Levant, the Aegean Islands, Rhodes, Crete, or Venice.[12]
Around 20% were Christian, who came from Greece, the Middle East or Central Europe and may have already been slaves at the time of their capture. They would have to prove their religion before being freed from servitude, but they may have also remained slaves. Over time and according and dictated by need, Greeks were captured and held in slavery as schismatics[14], or on the pretext that they would trade with the Turks.[15]
This group also comprised of new, former-muslim converts (they were not liberated for converting), as well as renegades who had already changed their faith.[12].
Upon their arrival
Like all travellers arriving from the sea, captives spent their quarantine upon the ship or in the island's lazaretto on bay of Marsamxeett. They were then triaged according to their sex, their age, their robustness, with all these qualities counting towards their market value. If the slaves were captured by a ship belonging to the Order, the knights decided their respective destinations: the galleys, domestic service, gift or sale. If they had been captured by a licensed ship, the captain would pay the Order a certain percentage before disposing the balance as he pleased.[1] The slave was considered to be the total property of their owner.
Those who had not yet found a definitive owner were taken to the public slave market in Valetta, situated on San Giorgio square, (today known as Misrah San Gorg), in front of the Palace of Justice.[11].
In around 1660, for example, more than 700 slaves disembarked, of whom 538 were quickly sold for an average price of 142 Maltese écus or scudi for a man, and 159 écus for a woman[16] Prices would increase until the beginning of the 18th century, then stabilising as demand decreased, in particular with the continued disbanding of galleys by the great powers (in around 1750 in the French Navy), even if their usage would continue in Malta.[13]
Different functions
The vast majority of slaves belonged to the order. They were divided into numerous types, with the most robust being destined for the galleys, while the others remained on land and worked in domestic service, as knights' servants, cooks, and workers.
Private slavery also persisted, with every free man being able to buy a slave at the market. These slaves were destined for domestic or agricultural work. This form of private slavery remained restricted by the Order (accounting for about 200 slaves in number for the entire period).[12].
Slaves in Malta were entirely objectified as people, they were turned into saleable objects, as included in the penal code of 1724.[17]
Hospitaller rule
There were a number of female Muslim slaves in Malta during the 18th century. They do not seem to have been intimidated by their status and slaves, and some are known to have openly quarreled or insulted Maltese women, including their own mistresses.[18]
Revolts
Revolt of 1531
On 29 June 1531, a year after the Order arrived in Malta, sixteen slaves escaped from Fort St. Angelo and killed some guards. Their leaders, Cara Saïm and Cara Mustafa, were killed by the knights after a short battle, and their bodies were displayed on pikes near the entrance of the Grand Harbour, on a peninsula which later became known as Gallows' Point (where Fort Ricasoli was later built). Later in 1531, the Order decided to built a slave prison.
This revolt is not mentioned in the Order's archives, and its authenticity is disputed. It is only known from the writings of Giacomo Bosio.
Revolt of 1596
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Revolt of 1749
Abolition
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Further reading
- Lanfranco, Guido (2007). "Xogħol tal-Iskjavi fost il-Maltin" (PDF). Programm tal-Festa (in Maltese). Kirkop: Għaqda Mużikali San Leonardu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 April 2016.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Moureau, François (2008). "Captifs en Méditerranée (XVI-XVIIIe siècles): histoires, récits et légendes". In Fiorini, Stanley (ed.). Aspects de l'esclavage à Malte au tournant du XVe. Presses Paris Sorbonne. p. 141. ISBN 978-2-84050-583-9.
- ^ Dalli, Charles (2006). Malta, The Medieval Millennium. Malta's Living Heritage. Malta: Midsea Books Ltd. p. 320. ISBN 99932-7-103-9.
- ^ a b Wettinger, Godrey (2008). "Esclaves noirs à Malte". In Moureau, François (ed.). Captifs en Méditerranée (XVI-XVIIIe siècles): histoires, récits et légendes (in French). Paris: Presses Paris Sorbonne. p. 163. ISBN 978-2-84050-583-9.
- ^ Brogini, Anne (2002). "L'esclavage au quotidien à Malte au XVI". Cahiers de la Méditerranée (in French). 65: 137–158.
- ^ Brogini, Anne (2013). "Une activité sous contrôle : l'esclavage à Malte à l'époque moderne". Cahiers de la Méditerranée (in French). 87: 49–61.
- ^ Brogini, Anne (2004). "La population de Malte au XVII, reflet d'une modernité". Cahiers de la Méditerranée (in French). 68: 17–36.
- ^ Cini, George (3 July 2015). "Horrible torture on streets of Valletta".
- ^ a b Pasquale, Carmen (2008). "Quelques aspects de l'esclavage à Malte au XVIII". In Moureau, François (ed.). Captifs en Méditerranée (XVI-XVIIIe siècles): histoires, récits et légendes (in French). Presses Paris Sorbonne. p. 181. ISBN 978-2-84050-583-9.
- ^ Brian, Blouet (1989). The Story of Malta. Progress Press Publication.
- ^ Ghazali, Maria (2002). "La régence de Tunis et l'esclavage en Méditerranée à la fin du XVIII d'après les sources consulaires espagnoles". Cahiers de la Méditerranée (in French). 65: 77–98.
- ^ a b Freller, Thomas; Cilia, Daniel (2010). Malta, the Order of St John. Midsea Books. p. 172. ISBN 978-99932-7-298-4. Cite error: The named reference "mid" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b c d e Brogini, Anne (2002). "L'esclavage au quotidien à Malte au XVI". Cahiers de la Méditerranée. 65: 137–158.
- ^ a b Mathiex, Jean (1954). "Trafic et prix de l'homme en Méditerranée aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles". Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations (in French). 9 (2): 157–164. doi:10.3406/ahess.1954.2260.
- ^ Botte, Roger; Stella, Alessandro (2012). Couleurs de l'esclavage sur les deux rives de la Méditerranée (Moyen Âge-XXe siècle) (in French). Karthala Edition. p. 203.
- ^ Gugliuzzo, Elina (2013). "Être esclave à Malte à l'époque moderne". Cahiers de la Méditerranée (in French). 87: 63–76.
- ^ Fontenay, Michel (2002). Cahiers de la Méditerranée (in French). 65 (17–52) http://cdlm.revues.org/42.
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medwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "18th century nun had sought abortion". Times of Malta. 6 November 2017. Archived from the original on 6 November 2017.
Malta Category:History of Malta Category:Slavery in Europe Category:1798 disestablishments in Malta