Page 12 - Italina-American Herald - January 2025

12 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | JANUARY 2025 ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
HISTORY
German, French and Spanish rule ends with
the ceding of Malta to Knights of St. John
Italian-American Herald
Malta remained under German rule
from 1194 until 1266 in a period where
western influence diminished the imprint
of the Muslim population. The population
continued to grow with immigrants arriving
from the northern areas of what is now Italy
and from the nearby island of Sicily. The
entire male population of Celano, Sicily,
was exiled to the island in 1223, and a
garrison was established in 1240. In 1224
all remaining Muslims who were not Moors
were expelled from the country. Malta was
declared a marquisate, and a fortified garrison
was established.
Around 1240 or 1241, a report written
by Gililberto Abbate, who was the royal
governor of Frederick II, noted that the
islands of Malta and Gozo had 836 Muslim
families, 250 Christian families and 33 Jewish
families. Somewhere around 1249, a group
of Maltese Muslims were sent to the Italian
colony of Lucera which had been established
for Sicilian Muslims. This event is considered,
by some historians, to mark the end of Islam
in Malta though there would still be Muslims
on the island who, by the end of the 15th
century, were forced to convert to Christianity
and had to find ways to mask their previous
identities by adopting new surnames. Arab
rule greatly influenced much of the culture
and buildings which remains to this day.
In 1266 the island became a fiefdom
under Charles of Anjou, the brother of King
Louis IX of France. He imposed high taxes,
and a previous fragile religious coexistence
was threatened by his intolerance of any
religion other than Catholicism. When he
attacked the republic of Genoa in 1275 the
island of Gozo was invaded and pillaged.
In nearby Sicily, a large revolt (The Sicilian
Vespers) followed, and Malta fell under the
rule of the Arogenese in 1282. Once again,
events off the island would change the
destiny of Maltwa’s populace.
Under Spanish rule various relatives of
Aragone rulers were given the title of
“Count of Malta” By 1397 there was a fight
for the title between two families and the
Philippe Villiers de
L'Isle-Adam takes
possession of the
island of Malta,
26 October 1530.
WIKIMEDIA
King abolished the title only to later reinstate
it. This led to an uprising led by local nobility
and the Maltese populace pledged their
loyalty to the Sicilian Crown. By 1409 the
island was once again under the rule of the
king and not his delegates and the city of
Mdina was given the title of Città Notabile.
In September 1429, Muslims from the
Middle East made another attempt to capture
Malta but were defeated by the Maltese. They
did, however, ransack the countryside and
took about 3,000 citizens as slaves.
In 1530, Emperor Charles V, the Holy
Roman Emperor, and King of Spain, ceded
the island of Malta to the Knights of St. John.
Once more the island’s populace found
themselves under the control of a different
foreign ruler. Maltese citizens recognized
the order would bring protection and some
prosperity under the Knights control and
they coexisted fairly peacefully for over 200
years.
Next month: The abiding impact of the
Knights of Malta. IAH
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