The Holy Roman Inquisition, or The Holy Office as it was commonly known, was formally established in Malta shortly after the Order settled here.     See Note 1   It is believed that its raison d’être as far as Malta was concerned was precisely to ensure the proper conduct of the militant fraternity, then residing in the cosmopolitan port area of the Borgo (Birgu), which inevitably became a location prone to a loose way of life.     See Note 2

The official purpose of the Inquisition was to stomp out 'heresy' and, with the ever increasing number of visitors to the Maltese Islands that followed the arrival of the Order of St. John, Protestantism (Lutherism) was perceived by the Catholic Church to be a most serious threat.   But this was not the only problem facing the authority of the church.

The practice of folk magic (often attributed to the presence of Moorish and Turkish slaves on the island) was another major concern.   Historian, Carmel Cassar tells us that the people themselves often sought remedy against the threat of 'wise women' and non-conformists through the Holy Office; their accusations often being unfounded and irrelevant.

The Inquisitor was nobody's friend.   During most of its existence of well over 200 years, the Holy Office operated independently of the authority of the Bishop of Malta, such that not even clergymen were above his distrustful surveillance. But it is probably safe to say that, above all else, he was always at odds with the Order itself, which perceived the Inquisitor to be an unnecessary hindrance and must have feared his daunting presence on the Maltese Islands.

For the Holy Office, the people's crimes were considered to be minor when compared to the practice of the so-called 'learned magic' attributed to the Knights of St. John, the educated caste and to the clerics themselves.   In fact, Vittorio Cassar, son of the prominent Girolamo Cassar and himself one of the Order's military engineers, is reported to have been accused and sentenced by the Inquisition for the practice of magic.   It is likely that his 'sins' were actually that of knowledge and of possession of certain banned books, both being considered in contempt of the authority of the Holy Church.

"...como averai colto lerba ce farai dire nove messe di sopra..."

Contrary to common belief, folk magic as performed in Malta around the 16th and 17th centuries was no more diabolic than it was superstitious.   The Inquisitor knew well enough that the common, ignorant folk's indulgence in mystical incantations, intertwined with prayer and invocation of saints, was but the product of confused minds.   Some of this magic was meant to heal physical ailments while some was aimed at reviving or provoking romance.   Whatever the case, the portrait handed to us via the Inquisition's Tribunal records is one of deranged old women, often of foreign descent, whose warped beliefs and practices earned them the perilous reputation of being witches.

The tribunal was the Inquisitor's prime method of investigation, with accusations often being based on hearsay and/or confessions obtained through intimidation, but it is believed that the Holy Office may have considered the transgressions of the lowly as erroneous beliefs and acts of ingorance, with punishments often being spiritual, sometimes public flogging and, for repeated offenders, jail terms. It is said to have been harsher with the learned caste and the aristocratic brothers of the Order.

It is understood that torture was rarely used in Malta and public burning was never resorted to. However, apart from the official Tribunal Proceedings of the Inquisition, we find an account from Scottish adventurer William Lithgow that contradicts this belief.

Thus, we see how the thick, dark cloud of the Inquisition hung over Malta as it did over other Catholic countries, casting a shadow of awe over both the ruling class and their subjects. Was it necessary? Was it fair? As always, we have the benefit of hindsight and the uncertainty of time to consider, so that our opinion today could be influenced by our views of what is and is not nowadays.   But was it necessary at the time that it was in force?   Perhaps.   Would we welcome it today?   Surely not!

In conclusion, one thing must not be forgotten: Various of the 63 Inquisitors who presided over the Maltese Islands went on to become Cardinals (24 of them!) and even Popes of the Catholic Church.   Fabio Chigi became Pope Alexander VII and Antonio Pignatelli became Pope Innocent XII.

Notes:

1. Albert Friggieri & Thomas Freller: Malta -- The Bulwark of Europe (A.Friggieri, 1998).
   
   "The Roman Inquisition, as distinct from both the old medieval and the Spanish versions, was instituted by the Bull Licet ab Initio on 21 July 1542, but it was officially introduced in Malta in Otober 1561."
   
   Carmel Cassar: Witchcraft, Sorcery & the Inquisition (Mireva Publ., 1996).
   
   The Old Inquisition already existed in Malta when the Order arrived in 1530 and was lead by the office of the Bishop of Palermo.
   
   Cassar tells us that Bishop Domenico Cubelles (1542-1566) became Bishop of Malta and Holy Inquisitor, but these two offices were separated following a quarrel between Grand Master La Cassière (1572-1581) and Bishop Pietro Dussina (1574-1575), where Vatican intervention was sought.
   
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2. Albert Friggieri & Thomas Freller: Malta -- The Bulwark of Europe (A.Friggieri, 1998).
   
   Quoting from the (A.D.1588) travelogue of Hieronymous Megiser, published in October 1606, Friggieri and Freller translate:
   
   "...as there are always knights and commanders of the Order of St. John from various nations living here in great numbers, there are also many courtesans and mistresses."
   
   In their annotations, citing various references, they explain that 'this exceptional abundance of international courtesans in the Grand Harbour region is reported in numerous accounts of the second half of the 16th century ...   The efforts of Grand Master Jean Levesque de La Cassière (1572-81) to remove the numerous concubines and prostitutes from the island proved fruitless.'
   
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3. Military Engineer Vittorio Cassar (1550-1607) is accredited with several buildings.   Amongst these, there is the original Church dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Senglea, built circa 1580 as a monument to the Christian victory in the Ottoman Siege of 1565, but which was utterly destroyed in the Second Great Siege (WW2) in 1941.
   
   Other works attributed to this Maltese Architect are a number of coastal fortifications built during the reign of Gran Master Alof de Wignacourt.
   
   The tower at Saint Paul's Bay, built in 1609, remains the oldest-standing of the Maltese Islands' Coastal Towers (since the demolition of the 1605 Garzes Tower, on Gozo, in the mid-1800's). Reference: Heritage Saved; Historic Monuments restored by Din L-Art Hewla - 1965 to 2002; Stanley Farrugia Randon / © DLH 2002
   
   Other Wignacourt Towers believed to have been designed by Cassar include the San Lucjan Tower (1610), situated in Marsaxlokk, the one at St. Thomas Bay (Marsascala), built in 1614, and the Santa Marija Tower on Comino in 1618.
   
   Fra Vittorio Cassar was buried on Gozo, in the Chapel of Santa Barbara situated in the Citadel.
   
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4. Carmel Cassar: Sex, Magic and the Periwinkle -- A trial at the Malta Inquisition Tribunal, 1617 (P.I.N., 2000).
   
   The author cuts right into the fabric of Maltese society, citing various testimonies that reveal the common people's lifestyle during that period.
   
   Cassar describes how an altar boy and a young Turkish slave saw a 'donna vecchia' (54-year-old Greek, Sulpitia de Lango, a former prostitute) rushing out of Saint John's Co-Cathedral.   Suspecting her vile conduct, they followed and subdued her, taking her back to the church where she was accused by many to have been a 'witch' who ought to be burned at the stake!
   
   In the tribunal, other people were named; some implicated and others accused of the same crime. Generalizations and vindictive claims were habitually hurled, until we learn how Sulpitia's accomplice, Violante Vergotti, involved her educated 22-year-old grandson (a clerk in the Grand Magistral Courts) so that he might read them the spell as they themselves were illiterate.
   
   In this concise and very interesting book, Carmel Cassar, an authority on the history of the Inquisition at Malta, describes in detail the ritual used, giving original and translated depositions and invocations. These include phrases like "Health and safety to Giacomina wherever she may be, and this is the will of God and Our Lady, Saint Mary who is the mother of all the saints of paradise with all the love God has so that Giacomina may not be touched nor hurt..."
   
   The spell involved a complex ritual whereby the person collecting the periwinkle leaves was to light 'nine blessed candles', reciting specific prayers and certain words, following which s/he should pay for 'nine masses to be said over the said herb' ["...como averai colto lerba ce farai dire nove messe di sopra..."] and the ritual goes on and on.
   
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5. Albert Friggieri & Thomas Freller: Malta -- The Bulwark of Europe (A.Friggieri, 1998).
   
   "...in 1616 the Scottish adventurer William Lithgow - himself a victim of the Spanish Inquisition in Malaga - during one of his visits to Malta saw a Spanish soldier and a young Maltese burnt 'in ashes, for the public profession of Sodomy, and ... there were above a hundred Bardassos, whoorish boyes [who] fled away to Sicilie in a Galleyot, for feare of fire ..." -- pp.55
   
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