The impact of the arrival of the Knights of St John on the commercial economy of Malta 1530-1565
Much has been written about various aspects of the long presence of the Knights of the Order St John on the island of Malta. Nonetheless, throughout this literature there is one noticeable omission - a study of the commercial development of the harbour area during the first decades of the Orderâs rule. Despite Maltaâs small size, the presence of the Order of St John (1530 -1798) ensured an inflow of foreign resources which eventually permitted very dense human settlement and an international projection beyond the islandâs shores which was largely disproportionate to what would normally have occurred in such a small and sterile island. The maritime nature of the Order and the heavy dependence on imports hastened the creation of an efficient maritime communication system. The development of all these economic activities resulted in a prime economic means of generating wealth and served as a pull factor to a large number of enterprising individuals, both local and foreign. Early modern Hospitaller Malta eventually saw the consolidation of an enterprising business class, which, out of sheer necessity, grew accustomed to operating well beyond its narrow confines. In turn, this contributed to the island becoming
Abela, Joan Angela
Knights of St John ; Malta ; North Africa ; Levant ; commerce ; usury ; maltese historiography ; mediterranean historiography ; women ; economic activities ; port ; slaves ; redemption ; legal institutions ; Charles V ; Tripoli
The impact of the arrival of the Knights of St John on the commercial economy of Malta 1530-1565. Much has been written about various aspects of the long presence of the Knights of the Order St John on the island of Malta. Nonetheless, throughout this literature there is one noticeable omission - a study of the commercial development of the harbour area during the first decades of the Orderâs rule. Despite Maltaâs small size, the presence of the Order of St John (1530 -1798) ensured an inflow of foreign resources which eventually permitted very dense human settlement and an international projection beyond the islandâs shores which was largely disproportionate to what would normally have occurred in such a small and sterile island. The maritime nature of the Order and the heavy dependence on imports hastened the creation of an efficient maritime communication system. The development of all these economic activities resulted in a prime economic means of generating wealth and served as a pull factor to a large number of enterprising individuals, both local and foreign. Early modern Hospitaller Malta eventually saw the consolidation of an enterprising business class, which, out of sheer necessity, grew accustomed to operating well beyond its narrow confines. In turn, this contributed to the island becoming
impact arrival john commercial economy malta much_write various_aspect long presence order john island malta nonetheless throughout literature noticeable omission study commercial development harbour area order rule despite malta small size presence order john ensure inflow foreign resource eventually permit dense human_settlement international projection beyond island shore largely disproportionate would normally occur small island maritime nature order heavy dependence import creation efficient maritime communication_system development economic_activity result prime economic mean generate wealth serve pull factor large_number enterprising individual local foreign early_modern malta eventually saw consolidation enterprising business class sheer necessity grow operate well beyond narrow confines turn contribute island become