Eight Thousand Years of Maltese Maritime History: Trade, Piracy, and Naval Warfare in the Central MediterraneanFor millennia, Malta has always been considered a site of strategic importance. From the arrival of the Phoenicians through rule under Carthage, Rome, Sicilian Arabs, Normans, and Genovese, to the Order of St. John ("Knights of Malta"), the advent of the Napoleonic Wars, and even World Wars I and II, the Maltese islands have served as re-provisioning stations, military bases, and refuges for pirates and privateers. Building on her systematic underwater archaeological survey of the Maltese archipelago, Ayse Atauz presents a sweeping, groundbreaking, interdisciplinary approach to maritime history in the Mediterranean. Offering a general overview of essential facts, including geographical and oceanographic factors that would have affected the navigation of historic ships, major relevant historical texts and documents, the logistical possibilities of ancient ship design, a detailed study of sea currents and wind patterns, and especially the archaeological remains (or scarcity thereof) around the Maltese maritime perimeter, she builds a convincing argument that Malta mattered far less in maritime history than has been previously asserted. Atauz's conclusions are of great importance to the history of Malta and of the Mediterranean in general, and her archaeological discoveries about ships are a major contribution to the history of shipbuilding and naval architecture. |
Contents
From the Period of Muslim Occupation to the Arrival | 38 |
The Order of Saint John in Malta | 73 |
Naval Organization of the Order of Saint John | 89 |
Copyright | |
2 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
activity amphoras Arabs archipelago Arsenal attack Birgu Bonanno Bono Bosio Byzantine capitana captured carrack Castrum Maris century Christian commercial construction Corsair Crete crew Dauber Descriptor Order's ships documents enemy Number Event Descriptor French galleon Galley Replacements galley squadron galleys Genoa Genoese Gozo Grandmaster Greek Grima history of Malta Hospitaller Malta Ifriqiya Knights Knights of Malta L'Ordre de Malte Luttrell Maintenance major Mallia-Milanes Maltese Islands Medieval Malta Mediterranean merchants Messina Muscat Muslim N/A N/A N/A Naval Exploits navy Number Number Number Number of galleys Number of prizes Order of Saint Outcome period Phoenician piracy pirates port privateer captain prizes captain Punic Quarantine Quintano Rhodes Roman Rossi sailing ships Saint John San Giovanni scudi settlements ships of prizes shipwreck Sicily slaves Source of information Storia della marina Table D.1-Continued trade Tripoli Ubaldini Valletta Venetian Venice vessels Vidal González Wettinger Wismayer Xlendi