Part Two: Society and Culture

Who are the Maltese people? Simply the inhabitants or natives of the Maltese Islands? A chronicler jotting down observations in the year 1,000 AD would have described the Maltese as dark-skinned, Arabic-speaking poor farmers, artisans and fishermen embracing Islam. Five hundred years later, the same chronicler would find a striking difference: the Maltese would be staunch Christians in the forefront of the struggle against the Turks and in defense of Christian Europe. They would speak a form of Sicilian dialect with a distinct Arabic grammar, but still conducted an existence at the mercy of the soil and their toil. At the end of the Second Millennium, this same chronicler would be shocked to see that the Maltese breed had lost its religious fervour, it speaks a mixture of English and the native Maltese language, lives in one big urban sprawl that hides the magnificence of Valletta, its capital city, but enjoys a good standard of living and stands out among the free and democratic nations.

A chronicler in the Maltese Islands, jotting down observations in the year 1,000 AD, would have described the Maltese natives as dark-skinned, Arabic-speaking poor farmers, artisans and fishermen embracing Islam.

Although many Maltese today try to erase this chapter from Maltese history, the proof of Arabic ancestry is indelible, and survives in the toponomy, grammar and some basic words like the numbers in the Maltese Language. When the Normans recaptured Malta in the Eleventh Century and the slow process of re-Christianisation began, strong Arabic influences persisted in the Maltese way of life.

The Maltese Islands, under the subsequent rule of the Spaniards from Sicily, were economically and militarily backwards, underpopulated and at the mercy of recurrent Muslim attacks. The 17,000 or so inhabitants of Malta and Gozo barely scratched a living by cultivating food crops, cotton and cumin; by fishing; and undertaking the more lucrative but risky business of organised piracy.
When the Knights came to Malta in 1530 the only thing that offset this misery was the excellent potential in the harbours that could host its small but efficient galley squadron, and with adequate protection from fortifications, serve as a base for attack on Turkish shipping in the Central Mediterranean.

Once the Turkish threat was thwarted after the Great Siege of 1565, the Knights embarked on a vast building programme, reaching its epitome in the new city of Valletta, named after Grand Master La Valette who led the defence of Malta during the Great Siege.

Under the Knights, who were the flower of European aristocracy, the Maltese Islands experienced a renaissance, with an architectural, artistic and cultural awakening as they had never seen before, although everything had a religious smack on it. For the first time Malta had an opera house, the Manoel Theatre, and balls and parties were a regular feature of the elite’s way of life. For the populace, the introduction of Carnival and the revival of old customs such as the l-Imnarja (Light Festival) provided cheap entertainment. The first Maltese University was also founded in the late 16th Century.
The Knights provided many job opportunities for sailors, soldiers, craftsmen and tradesmen. This was a sign of relative prosperity, with the population increasing tenfold during the Knights’ stay until 1798, when the French ousted them.

The French invasion brought two years of confusion and suffering, and only the British, with their military might, ensured once again relative prosperity. The new British masters were only keen at preserving their hold on the excellent harbour facilities that provided a vital link in the chain of their worldwide empire. While the British kept aloof from intervening in the Maltese way of life, they made an unofficial but important pact with the Maltese Church, whereby the Church was given carte blanche at the local level as long as the Maltese populace remained obedient to the British masters.

Party politics in Malta evolved in the late 19th Century as an expression of discontent among the upper classes at the strict colonial rule of the British. This was disguised as the Language Question: the Italian Speaking nobility and intelligentsia wanted closer relations with Italy, while the industrial and commercial entrepreneurs favoured closer ties with Britain and therefore championed English and the native Maltese Language.

During the First World War, Malta served as a hospital for the wounded and did not see action, but as a result of the pressure that the war brought, Malta was granted self-government in 1921. The Language Question, never resolved, threatened Malta’s stability with rise in Fascism in Italy. The Italians bombs falling on Malta during the Second World War settled the matter once and for all. The Maltese language became one of the official languages in 1934 with a proper grammar and vocabulary.

The Maltese resumed their pressure for more autonomy, which resulted in independence from Britain in 1964. The Church’s hold on the Maltese way of life was broken by two political-religious questions in the 1920’s and the 1960’s, which resulted in the net distinction between Malta’s secular and religious leadership. The Church never recovered from the second dispute and Malta’s newly born consumerist society left less space for the Church to stretch its muscles.

At the end of the Second Millennium, this same chronicler mentioned at the beginning of this account, would be shocked to see that the Maltese breed had lost its religious fervour, it speaks a mixture of English and the native Maltese language, lives in one big urban sprawl that hides the magnificence of its historic architecture, but enjoys a good standard of living and stands out among the free and democratic nations. Modern means of communication like television and Internet have broken Malta’s isolation, although the colonial mentality is still prevalent. Many a Maltese still suffer from an inherent inferiority complex vis-à-vis foreigners. Nevertheless, the Maltese people are in control of their destiny more than ever.

Go to Part 3 entitled: People and Events

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