The Winged Lion and the Eight-Pointed Cross: Venice, Hospitaller Malta, and the Mediterranean in Early Modern Times

Description

The papers reprinted in this volume focus on the extraordinary and multifaceted relationship between two Christian States: the Republic of Venice and the Island Order State on Hospitaller Malta between 1530 and the late 1790s. It was marked by three distinct phenomena – military cooperation along with other Western allies against the Ottoman Empire; direct mutual confrontation, at times even leading to war; and commercial cooperation. A fourth phenomenon, this time involving the wider Mediterranean context within which the two interacted, concerns the idea of decline. Some of the papers that follow question the validity of the traditional view that the Mediterranean and Venice were in decline by the sixteenth century and that the Hospitaller Order, claimed to be in decline by the eighteenth, had given up Malta to the French as a result. This book will appeal to all those interested in Crusading Orders and the history of the Crusades, as well as the history of Venice, Malta, and the Mediterranean in the early modern period. Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Contents Preface Introduction I ‘Vol veder di aver Brandizo ovvero Malta’: the Hospitaller odyssey from Rhodes to Malta, 1523–1530 II The Birgu phase of Hospitaller History III Hospitaller baroque culture: the order of St John’s legacy to early modern Malta IV Society and the economy on the Hospitaller island of Malta: an overview V Malta and Venice in the eighteenth century: a study in consular relations VI The Hospitaller receiver in Venice: a late seventeenth-century document VII Poised between hope and infinite despair: Venetians in the port of eighteenth-century Malta VIII Property, piracy, and pugnacity: reflections on Venice’s attitude towards the order of the Hospital in early modern times IX A man with a mission: a Venetian Hospitaller on eighteenth-century Malta X Venice, Hospitaller Malta, and fear of the plague: culturally conflicting views XI Towards the end of the order of the Hospital: reflections on the views of two Venetian brethren, Antonio Miari and Ottavio Benvenuti XII A living force of continuity in a declining Mediterranean: the Hospitaller Order of St John in early modern times XIII Venice, Hospitaller Malta, and the little soldier from Ajaccio: a semi-autobiographical rhapsody Index