r^\7S55 Short Sketch of the Maltese Nobility Se.Js^Je.Ss^Se.^^S A -f SHORT SKETCH 5^^ OF THE MALTISI NOBILITY ^- -^ MALTA: Printed by E. Laferla, No. 98, Strada Reale, Valletta. 187G. '^^^^'^^^"^^^ ^1' A SHORT SKETCH OF THE MALTESE NOBILITY .^lALTA: Printed bv E. Laferla, Xo. 98^ Strada Reale, Valletta. 1876. A SHORT SKETCH OF THE MALTESE NOBILITY, Cl Noblesse oUige''' "A state of perfect equality cau subsist ouly among be- ings possessing equal talents and equal virtues ; but such beings are not men," hence the necessity of a nobility, or aristocracy, or privileged class in all states whether they be monarchical or republican. Different, therefore, are the pri- vileges accorded to the nobility or aristocracy of each coun- try as different are its laws and institutions. In England the opinion seems to prevail that the peers are the nobility, an opinion as erroneous as it is fallacious, as has been cleai-ly proved by several learned authors. It is true that the peers of the realm enjoy certain privileges from which the other members of the aristocracy or nobility are excluded, but it does not arise in consequence that the younger sons of dukes, marquesses, &c., are less noble than their fathers or elder brothers, — otherwise there would be a manifest contradiction in the rules of precedency observed in the United Kingdom. The peers are only, as it were, the representatives or mandataries of their respective families. But whatever may be the English custom, it is far from be- ing so in many European countries, but more especially in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy and Kussia. This latter country is said to contain 580,000 nobles; Austria on a late enumeration 239,000; Spain, in 1785, 479,000; and France, dui'ing the first revolution, 365,000; numbers which could never have swelled so much if only the actual possessors of titles or heads of families were to be considered as forming the nobility. Malta, so far, follows the customs of these countries, for tliough ill many cases the title belongs exclusively to the first born of the familv, the other members arc not the less noble, are always considered as pajt and parcel of the Nobility, and are, moreover, allowed the titles of "dei Mar- chesi," "dei Conti," or "dei Baroni," as the case may be. The Maltese patriciate at present is estimated to consist of only 85 individuals. That the Maltese Nobility is of prcat antiquity, and can bear to be coni{)arcd with that of any other country, all those who arc conversant with the history of this illustri- ous Island can attest; but as even persons who pretend to be omniscient arc wont to insinuate that it is not of long Htanding, the writer will make no ajiolopry for briefly stating some of the most important points of its history, and enu- merating a few of the j)rivileges and prerogatives which it formerly enjoyed. Malta can boast of an aristocracy from the time of the Grecian occupation — IJ. C. 757 — when this island enjoyed perfect autonomy, ad was governed by a hereditary senate and by its Areons, Protos and Amj)hipoli:u<, who amongst o- ther privileges, enjoyed that of coining medals, the form of government being Aristo-dcmocratic. Livy attests — Lib. XXI. c. 52 — that when the Romans (A.U.C. 532— B. C. 23 1) cxjielled the Carthaginians from this island, they took more than two thcmsand prisoners, who were all sold at Marsala, with the exception of those of noble birth. {*) By the Romans theMalte.se were formed intoa municipality, granting them equal rights with the other sub- (•) "A LilylMW, consul, Tlicrono ciim classo rcgia demisso relirtoque prac- toro atl tuomlani Sicili:io. orani ipso in insiilam .MeiiUni iiuue a Carth.itriniiMi- sibus tviu'batur trajwit: .•wlvonii'nti llamili-Jir Gisionis filius pr.i<»fivtus prac.sidii cum paulo minus duobus millibus mtlitum oppidumque cum insula tratlitiir. Imie post p;iuco.s dies reditum Lilybacuin, captivique et a coasulc ct a pr:i»>torc praclcr uisignc:* aobilitatc viros sub corona vcnicrunt.'' 5 jects, as well as the privilege of sending ambassadors to tlic senate. That a patriciate existed later is also further i'uily provcd by Cicero — Lib. XIII. epist. 52, M. T. Cic, Regi — wherein honorable mention is made of AulusLicinius Aristo- teles a jMaltese patrician; and in one of his best orations — ia Verrem — he speaks of Diodorus the Maltese, whom he calls a noble, domi nobilis (B. C. 70), and in the Acts of the Apo- stles, Luke the Evangelist calls St. Publius ri&oTo,- or primus, that is Prince of the Island. Besides, many are the inscriptions, which from time to time have been found, recording the names of distinguished' Maltese, honored with such titles as that of Decurion, Knight &c. during this epoch. The following, translated into Italian by the learned Monsignor Bres, will serve as an illustration: L • Castriccio • Delia • Tribii • Quirina Prudentc * Cavaliere • Romano 11 • Primo • Dei ' Maltesi Arcipatrouo • E ' Flamine Del • Dio • Augusto Very many of the present noble families descend in di- rect line from the Normans, who under Count Roger (A. D. 1090) expelled the Arabs, as Commendatore Abela (who died in 1655) clearly attests in his Malla Illustrata. It was the Normans who established in Malta, in the same manner as they did in Sicily, the different ranks of the population, that is: Barons, Nobles, Yeomen, Citizens, Burgesses and Rus- tics, and they also were the first to grant to this island re- presentative institutions. During the Aragonese dominion, 13th to 16th century,tlie nobles, who were more than a hundred in number, possess- ed rich fiefs, kept both horse and foot soldiers at their own private expense, and were invested with the chief militaiy command, as well as with executive authority, and king Fer- dinand in 1495 gi'anted them the exclusive privilege to keep falcons. The Governorship of the Island was for a long time — 6 — liereditaiy in the family of Inguanez, whose descendants are extant to this very day; the Castle, now known as St.Angelo was hereditary in that of Nava, who, together with the Gat- tos, enjoyed a special right to keep galleys, and by this means rendered a signal service to King Alphonsus during the war in Barbary. Baron John de Nava, Royal Alcayde, who greatly distinguished himself in the affair of Gerbe in 1432, by his will, di-awn in the acts of the Notary Graziano Yassallo, on the 1st of November, 1487, disposed of the said castle, together with the title of Alcaijde, and the Barony of Marsa in favour of his eldest son Peter. And the nobles were then held in such estimation, that when King Alphonsus the magnanimous was returning victorious, in 1432, from Bar- barv,hc did not disdain to dwell in the house of an Inguanez, as well as to order that their arms should be placed on one of the chief gates of Notabilc by the side of his own. Margaix?t of Aragon (obiit 1418), fi'om whom the Testa- fcrratas, Sccbcrras, Stagnos, &c. descend, and daughter of Count William of Aragon, natural son of Frederick III. possessed amongst others the fiefs of Marnesi and Bahria, the former of which is still owned by a Testaferi-ata and the latter by a Stagno. That she was of blood royal is clearly proved from the words which Frederick III. used on the 7th April, 1365, in his diploma granting certain prerogatives to James Pellegrino, a Maltese noble, husband to the above- named ]\[argaret: " Fndericus &c. Presentis scripti sei'ie notum fieri volu- miis ufiiversis, quod ad humilem supplicat'wncm noviter Ex- ceUmtiae Nostrae factam per Nobilem Marf/aritatn de Ara- gonia, consortem Jacobi de Pellegrino, Militis, Consangui- neam,familiarem etfidelem nostram eidem Nobili concedimu» gratiose, (£c." When John de :Nrazara and Antonio Falsone were deputed as ambassadors to King Alphonsus, they were thus styled in royal decree given at Naples on the 11th of March, 1 138: '' Nil per rime autcm jjer Nobiles et fukhs Nostros Jcan- ntm ds Mazara Melitcns. et Judicem Antonium de Falsone ip- sius Civitatis, Ambasciatores Majestaii Nostrae, &c. Moreover, tlie late Dr. Gio. Antonio Vassallo, Professor of Italian Literatm-e in the University, in liis Avell known His- tory or Malta says, that it is undouhted that duiing the 15th century the class of nobles was numerons, amongst whom not a few were exceedingly rich. The respectability of these Mal- tese citizens was weU knorrn to King Ferdinand, who when yet Infante was personally acquainted with Alvaro de Kava, who had lent him the sum of 3,000 gold florins (a large amount at that time), on condition that when he ascended the throne, he would grant him the fief of 5e«Mflrra^ until the extinction of the debt. This results from a privilege signed by the said King, and dated 28th ^Nlay, 117/. Let us now see whether before the Order took possession of Malta there existed anythink like a nobility. No less an au^ thoritv than Bosio, the historiographer of the renowned Order of St. John, in describing the formal entry of Grand Master Lisleadam into Notabile, November, 1530, says that the Nob- les received him on horseback near the gate, that Paolo de Nasis a nobleman made a speech before presenting the keys of the gate to him, the Grand Master swearing to preserve the rights and privileges of the Maltese; a ceremony repeated by every successive Grand Master down to Hompesch (*) and that Lisleadam was greatly surprised to find so many distin- guished and learned persons among the nobility, as weU as such a perfect knowledge of antiquity. The same historian (*) Canon Panzavecchia in Ms well known work— "L' ultimo periodo della Storia di Malta"— says distinctly that G. M. de Rohan was received at the gate of Xotabile, by four noble senators of the ancient families of Xai-a, Cas- sia, Bonniciand Muscati, with the Capitano di Yer-a, Baron Pasquale Sce- berras Testafen-ata, at the head of the civic cavaby. And Baron Azopardi, C. M. G., in his "Giornale della presa di Malta e Go- zo" attests that when Sir Alex. J. Ball made his entry into Valletta he was ac- companied by Baron Gauci theCapitauodiYerga, who was also afterwards appointed Lieutenant Governor. — 8 — ^oes on to sar,tliat after returning: tiian^cs in tlie Cutlicdral the Orand Master aiul hia suite Vv'cre hospitably entertained bv the patrician Michele Falsone, Royal Viee-Adniiral. Dui-ingtlie long period which Malta was governed by the Knights of St. John, great respect and esteem continued to be shown to the Nobility, and tlie Grand ?>Iaster3 not only recog- nized the prerogatives and titles which they pi!?>icsscd, but granted new distinctions and honors to several f am lies as a reward for signal services. During the said period titles and distinctions granted by foreign princes were also acknow- ledged. The British Government, on receivjng this Island sponta- neously offered by the Maltese, promised In the most solemn manner to maintain and defend their religion, "riglits and pri- vileges. (*)and,indeed, up to no very remote pcriod.grsat defer- ence was on all occasions shown to the Nobility, when, for unknown reasons, t!ie nobles, those who have been a privi- leged class for more than nineteen centuries were put aside and slighted in the most unwarrantable manner. Tliat the Maltese Nobilitv have been considered from time immemorial as a privileged and dirttinct class will re- sult from the following facts: The Barons or possessors of fiefs had, up to the 18th cen- tury, the right to sit iu the National Council or Cons'tjUa Po- jHjlare, and the other nobles were entitled to elect and dej)utc as their representatives in the said Council a certain num- ber of their own Body, a circumstance which alone suiTiccs to prove that the nobles, ever since the institution of the Council — A. D. 1090 — Avere considered as a corporate body or body politic. (•) Besides several Proclanr^tions, tins is further '•onfirm'^dliy Sir A.. T-Bivll ill a despatch, addressed to the Ri:,'ht Ilnn. William Win Ihain, oil the •2Sth. Felmi.^rv, 1m>7: '"Yon are aware, Sir, tint wiien tin' liri' ' • ' ssi->n of tlie Island, it was stipulated tliattlie privileges i>f t':c ?! . i a- pro- se rved, and their auriont laws contijiued in tone. — 9 — The learned Dr. Yassallo tlius describes the Consiylio Po' polare in his justly celebrated liistory: The Consiglio Pox^oiare was a National representative iu- stitution of members elected by the free suffrage of the not- able citizens. Each head of a family had a ritght to vote, and entitled to be represented were the Nobles, the Esquires or well-to-do citizens, Professors, secular Priests, and up to 14GG Merchants and Tradesmen. The Feudatories or P>arDns and the high Church dignitaries (such as the Bishop, Archdeacon, &c.) formed part oii\cCow.iv^\\oju,reproprio. The Capitano di Verr/a (or Governor of Notabile and Is- knd of :w^alta and Colonel of the Militia) /the Governor of Gozo; the Vice- Admiral; the S'Jffreto, or administrator of government property 5 the first three jurats of Notabile and the first two of Yalletta; the Lieutenants or Commanders of the Three Cities, -Yittoriosa, Scnglca and Cospicua; the Pre- sident of the Water Supply; the President and Commissaries of the Monte di Pida; the President of the Civil Hospitals, and the Depositary of the Universities, were all exclusively chosen from the Nobility, commencing from the 12th century and ending with Sir Thomas Maitland's administration. And that Governor on abolishing some of those employments, by way of compensation, instituted (*) the ofiiceof Lord Lieutenants to be solely selected, without any exception, from the Nobility, a privilege also abolished in 1833, thus destroying the connect- in^y link between the Government and the lower orders. Moreover, the precedency granted to the Nobility above all other classes, by the enactments of Grand Masters Dcs- puig andde Rohan, dated respectively IGth S3ptember,173i), andirthMarch, 1795,- clearly prove, if farther proof wore necessary, that the patriciate has always been coasidersd as a distinct class or Body. Besides, through "custom the nobles were allowed certain distinctions which were not extended to the other cla-ssci!, (*)_By a Proclamation dated 5Ui. J'-uio, I'M'j. —10— Thus we find in a public contract dated 2ord July.loSS, that, it v/as (*) usual and customary, for many and many" years past, that the nobles should spend in the funerals of every member of their body, be he a Baron, or Capitano di Verga or of other dii/nitij,^OY\vcix,coccia, manses fccfrom thirty to forty ouiwjes or thereabouts, as was the case on the death of the Eminent ]\Iarco Inguanez, Baron of three fiefs, one of the most nobtc of this city, M'ho had passed through all its highest dignities, and of the Worshipful Captain Giuseppe de Nava, also most noble, both belonging to ancient and noble houses, and ex- ceedingly rich and noble ex utroque latere. The said Nava possessed fiefs and plantations, ice. &e. Another of the many customs was to cover the vault wherein nobles Were interred with a rich black velvet carpet, which in very many cases was kept there for yeai-s and years. As in a letter lately adcb-cssed to the Times it was stated that the nobles have ever taken a prominent part in the various political crisis through which Malta had to pass, and many have distinguished themselves on "the field of battle, by founding institutions of public beneficence, in literature and in other ways, it will not be amiss to mention en pnsmnt SOME of the most note-worthy, premising, however, that out of 13f> Maltese who up to 17 10 had distinguished themselves, all mentioned in Zammit's Elor/ia Illustriuni Melitensium, M'c find no less than 36 members of the patriciate, and that the writer of these remarks thinks proper to omit the list of Governors of these Islands, of the Jurats and of those who were admitted into the various orders of knighthood, includ- ing that of St. John,on account of its being too long,and thus inadmissible in so short a sketch as the present. Ad rem. Amongst the Vice Roys and ambassadors, we find that John Baptist Platamone, was, owing to his uncommon ability, appointed Vice Roy of Sicily in \11\; that Ludovico Plata- C) Traiishtwl from tlic ori^ia-il. —11— mone represented tlie Order as Ambassador In Sicily in 1591: and that Ignatius Bonnici occupied the same post in 1651, and a Marquis Testaferrata in 1714, in the Court of Spain. In 1373 ^largaret of Aragon built and endoAved the Mo- nastery of Carmine at Notabile. The noble Olivier, in 1581, founded the Convent of St. Catherine in Valletta. Catherine Vitale established the Monte di Pieta and amongst other pro- perty bequeathed the palace of Selmone and sui-rounding es- tate. The Baroness Diana Tcstaferrata Inguanez left a con- siderable fund, the interest of which is to be annually distri- buted amongst the poor— and the Rev. Giuseppe Marco Azopardi bequeathed the whole of his property to the Saura Hospital at Notabile. Amongst the prominent leaders of the revolt against the French in 1798, figured the Marquis De Piro, Counts Man- duca and Teuma, Chev. Paolo Parisio, and Barons Fournier and Bonnici. The leader of the Deputation that waited, in 1802, on His Majesty George III, requesting that Malta should be annexed to the British Empire, was the Marchese Mario Tcstaferrata. And in 1812 the Marchese Nicolo Tcsta- ferrata took such an interest in the welfare of his country as to remain for a long time in London, and ultimately succ- eeded in causing the appointment of a commission of enqiii- rey composed of Sir Kildebrand Oakes, and Messrs. AVilliam A'Court and John Bui-rows. In 1837 we again find at the head of a movement for a general reform and the granting of a free press the Noble Camillo del Baroni ScebeiTas, as- sisted by Count Gatto and Marquis Lorenzo A. Tcstaferra- ta, on wliich occasion the Nobility appointed a Committee and sent two deputies to the general :Maltese Giunta. If we look to the art of war a long roll presents itself al- so. Can anv one deny the valour of a Tommeo Cassia, of a Matteo Abela, of a Bartolomeo and a Giuliano Abela, the rare courage of a Basilico, elected Prince of AYallachia, cf a Giacomo Bonnici, who distinguished himself so much in the TO siege of 1565 as to merit the appellation of the Maltese Her- cules; the uncommon bravery of a Count Ignazio Francesco Wzzini Palcologo, and latterly the no less distinguished Ge- neral ]\Iichele dei Baroni SccbeiTas Testafcrrata, who for a while held one of the portfolios in Bavaria, the courage of a ^Marchcse Filippo Testaferrata, Capt. in the Royal Regiment of Malta, and that of the no less distinguished Capt. Rinaldo dei Baroni Sccberras of the 80th. Regiment, who died fight- ing in the late Indian mutiny; can any one, I repeat, deny their valour, courage and bravery? Most decidedly «o. In the Church many a noble merited to be elevated to its highest dignities. At the head of these must jvistly be placed the pious Cardinal Fabrizio Sceben*as Testaferrata, Bishop of Sinigaglia, who received the hat from his Holiness Pius VII. on the 8th.March,181G. It is impossible to mention the others chronologically, but it matters little when they flour- ished, the object of the writer being that of proving that the iVIaltese Nobility has, at all times,bccn the nursury of distin- guished men. Monsiguor Leonartlo Abela, Bishop of Sidonia and Apo- stolic Nuncio in the East, is well known to have been the Cardinal Mezzofanti of his epoch. Fra Michele Olivier of the Oixlcr of St. John; Fra Pictro Xara, O. P.; Father Girolamo Manduca; Monsiguor Alberta de Nasis, Bishop of Nicopoli; Canon Giuseppe Manduca; Archdeacon Faustinus Xara; Father Francesco Piscopo, O.P.; F. Camillo Cassia, O. P.; F. Luigi ]M. Wzzini Palcologo, S. J.; Monsiguor Domenico Sccberras, Bishop of Epiphania; Monsiguor Baldassare Damico; Arclideacon LorenzoUbaldesco De Piro; Cauon Alessandro Bologna; Monsiguor Pier Gia- como Testaferrata, Governor of Cittil di Castcllo and Legate of Ravenna; and last, but not least, ^lonsignor Sant, Arch- bishop of Rhodes and Bishop of Malta, arc a few of those who rendered themselves uoteworthv in this branch. —13— In the Bar the primates are undoubtedly Oio. Batta Pla- tamone, Baron Ascanio Surdo, Igaazio Bonnici, Carl'Alessio Pisani and Gregorio Bonnici. Nor have the nobles been backward in the republic of letters. Not to mount to any very remote period, the Commendatore Gio. Francesco Abcla, author of Malta fllu- strata; Baron Ascanio Surdo, and F. Faustinus Xara are found to have flourished in the XVII century. Baron Gaeta- no Pisani, Count Paleologo, Baron Calcedonio Azopardi, Marquis Carl' Antonio Barbaro, Count Gio. Antonio Ciantar, Canon Giuseppe Giacomo Testaferrata and the INIarquis Giu- seppe Testaferrata Viani in the XVIIIth. And the XlXth. has not been less productive, for amongst those who are no more, (*) Marquis Gioacchino Barbaro, Baron Vincenzo Azopardi, C.M.G., LL. D., and the no less distinguished Ba- ron Giuseppe M. De Piro, G.C.M.G., have merited the ap- plause of the learned, but more especially of their fellow countrymen. Whether the local authorities are justified in slighting, without any reason whatever, so respectable a body, by vio- lating its ancient privileges, is a question which the writer leaves to the intelligent portion of the public to decide. Malta, October, 1876, M. C. 1). (*-) The writer has made it a pcdnt not to mention any person living. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-10m-l.'52(02Ul)444 1HK UBRAKt^^. 767 "^^nort. sk'^'T '^lim of the -ic.lt ,?s el 1 1 AA 000 663 115 cs 767 M17S^5 ^ ^>K