In the eighteenth century Malta was a hub of maritime activity and many powers wanted to gain influence over the island state. Its fortifications, dockyards and facilities were strategically placed in the center of the Mediterranean. The island was home to the knights of St. John, upheld on the island by a cosmopolitan array of merchants, mercenaries, inquisitors and corsairs. The latter two categories are the focus of this study. The inquisitors in Malta represented the Holy See. They were the personal representatives of His Holiness on Malta. They guided the Catholic flock against the Reformation. By the eighteenth century this work had turned to other more mundane efforts, such as protecting the people from witchcraft, heresy, sodomy and blasphemy, among other things. In the two cases brought forward in our paper we analyze the trials of two corsairs. One was a simple cabin boy while the other was a famous corsair captain, who in his prime had sent shockwaves around the Mediterranean. He had been a slave of the Ottoman sultan and through sheer bravery and determination led a mutiny aboard the flagship of the Ottoman navy. He captured the ship, sailed to Malta, and started a career as a corsair that would see him one of the most feared men of the middle sea.

Keywords: corsairs, Malta, Inquisition, blasphemy, Pietro Zelalich.

Gauci L., Frumin M. Blasphemy on the ships of the Maltese Corsairs (according to the documents of the Inquisition of the end of the XVIII century) / / State, religion, Church in Russia and abroad. 2017. N 2. pp. 92-104.

Gauci, Liam, Frumin, Mitia (2017) "Blasphemy on the Ships of the Maltese Corsairs (According to Documents of the Inquisition at the End of the Seventeenth Century)", Gosudarstvo, religiia, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom 35(2): 92-104.

ONE of the most important sources for studying the social and religious history of Malta is the documents of the Inquisition. Malta rightly has a reputation as a stronghold of the Catholic faith and the attitude towards the church on the island is traditionally respectful. However, the surviving cases on charges of blasphemy, witchcraft, sacrilege, idolatry and homosexuality allow us to see the reverse side of attempts to control all aspects of society in the spirit of the decisions of the Council ^of Trent1. Documents of the Inquisition of the late 18th century from the cathedral archives have preserved for us valuable evidence of life on board corsair ships. Two such cases will be discussed in this article.

The Inquisition and its archives

The Roman Inquisition in Malta was significantly different from both the medieval and Spanish inquisitions. The official date of the establishment of the Inquisition in Malta is October 21, 1561. Thirty years earlier, Malta became the new home for the Knights of the Order of St. John the Baptist. St. John's. In light of the rapid spread of Lutheranism and Calvinism in Europe, the authorities of the Order and the Vatican decided to create a special organization to counter the "heresy". The Inquisition in Malta became the main instrument of the Counter-Reformation.

The ongoing conflicts between the Bishop of Malta and the Grand Master of the Order forced Pope Gregory XIII (1572-85) to find a diplomatic solution to the problem of power in 1574 - from that moment on, the inquisitor of the islands of Malta and Gozo was also the personal representative of the papal see. Thus, the inquisitor received full independence, not obeying either the grand Master or the local church authorities. While the Maltese Inquisition did not have any significant power on the island, it primarily played the role of a representative of the Holy See, accountable to the Vatican's Secretariat of State. Also, the Inquisition was the refendary of the St. Peter's Factory. Peter ², which significantly expanded the circle of vo-

1. Concilium Tridentinum (1545-1563) - the XIX Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church, considered the starting point of the Counter-Reformation.

2. In 1523, Pope Clement VII created a standing committee of 60 experts who were responsible for the construction (fabbrica) of St. Peter's Basilica. Peter in Rome. In 1589, Pope Sixtus V transferred the management of the committee to the Cardinal Primate of Co-

issues on which it could issue rulings. The special status of the Inquisition in Malta has made it a regular destination for local residents to complain about the Order's ill-treatment. However, in case of disagreements on religious and economic issues, residents often complained to the Order about the Inquisition ³. In addition to their main duties, the Inquisitions were assigned a number of secondary tasks, such as running an Arabic language school on the island.

The Inquisition settled in Birgu , the city where the Order's arsenal and naval school were located. Until 1571, Birgu was also the headquarters of the Order, and the building, known as the Castellana, was used by the knights as one of their administrative centers and as a room for civil courts. When the Order moved to La Valletta, the deserted Castellana building became the seat of the Inquisition's court and the inquisitor's residence, where he received visitors. [⁴]

Illustration 1. The Inquisitor (second from left), XVIII century. Private collection, circa 1790, based on a drawing by V. Fenech

A few years later, during the pontificate of Clement VIII (1592-1605), the committee became an independent administration under the name Congregazione della Reverenda Fabbrica di San Pietro ("Congregation of the Venerable Factory of St. Peter"). The prefect of this congregation, which consisted of cardinals and prelates, was the Cardinal Primate of the cathedral. The congregation was allowed to appoint its own representatives, known as the Commissioners (referendaries) for the affairs of the Venerable Factory of St. John the Baptist. Peter. The Commissioners had jurisdiction to consider all types of petitions. Their decisions could be appealed to the Congregation.

3. Bonnici, A. (1998) Medival and Roman Inquisition in Malta. Religjon u Hajja.

4. Agius, D. (ed.) (2013) Georgio Scala and the Moorish Slaves. The Inquisition - Malta 1598, p. 20. Malta: Midsea Books Ltd.

The activity of the Inquisition over the course of more than two hundred years of its existence5 has led to the formation of a huge body of documents, the basis of which is 18 thousand ⁶ judicial proceedings (processi). Processis had different duration and complexity. The result of the proceedings could be justification, edification, orders to perform prayers and fasts, the imposition of a fine or alms, prison, torture, or exile to the galleys. Both knights and commoners, as well as clergy - prelates, preachers, monks of various orders-were summoned to the tribunal of the inquisition. People of various faiths - Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Protestants, Quakers, Jews, and Muslims-were brought before the court. The Inquisition files represent a broad cross-section of Maltese society: from the criminal bottom - murderers, prostitutes, polygamists, etc., to the social basis of the island's life - craftsmen, fishermen, sailors. And, of course, corsairs, as in the two cases discussed in the article.

The place of blasphemy in the typology of Inquisition charges

The main task of the Inquisition on the island of Malta was to protect the Catholic faith. But even though the Inquisition in Malta was created as a counter-measure to protect against the onslaught of the Reformation, it was not the spread of Protestantism that posed the main threat to the Catholic faith on the island. Located in the contact zone between the Christian and Islamic worlds, Malta, an ancient crossroads of cultures, religion, customs and trade, was much more cosmopolitan than neighboring Sicily and, as a result, more at risk of apostasy and conversion to Islam. The reason for this situation was not only the geographical location and constant external contacts with the Muslim world, but also the presence of a significant number of Muslim slaves on the island itself. Most of them were brought to Malta by corsairs-the slave trade

5. The Roman Inquisition in Malta was abolished after the capture of the island by French troops in 1798. See: Griffiths, V. G. (1999) "A Letter to Inquisitor Monsignor Carpegna compiling a "Diary": Account of Events of the French Occupation (1798-1800)", Proceedings of History Week, Malta Historical Society, pp. 67-96. Valletta.

6. Oral information from Mgr. John Azzopardi, Founder and Director of the Archivum Inquisitionis Melitensis (AIM) at the Archives of the Cathedral Museum, Mdina, Malta.

It was one of the most important economic components of the island's life. Many Muslim slaves have lived in Malta for years, mostly in the port area.

Esoteric practices common among Muslim slaves created a mystical aura for them in the eyes of the local population. Hundreds, if not thousands, of sailors, laborers, and housewives turned to Muslim slaves for magical remedies. After apostasy, witchcraft and black magic were the second most important concern of the Inquisition. In Malta, 30% of all trials were related to witchcraft accusations7, which is several times more than the percentage of trials on this charge in Spain (about ⁷% of the total number of cases) and neighboring Sicily (about 8%).

To combat the threat, the Maltese Inquisition issued edicts prohibiting the reading or storage of written materials containing scandalous, infidel, heretical, etc., as well as amulets and magical texts that passed between people. Any written communication on religious topics with non-believers was also prohibited. Edicts warned believers of the danger of condemning the soul to eternal suffering.

Blasphemy, two examples of which are discussed below, against the background of apostasy and witchcraft, was certainly perceived as a less serious problem from the point of view of the inquisition. This is evidenced by relatively lenient punishments of those convicted for this crime. At the same time, blasphemy, especially verbal blasphemy, is often one of the external indicators that indicate a disrespectful attitude towards the faith or a departure from it. Therefore, the Inquisition paid close attention to the need for believers to inform the authorities about such manifestations and moods. From the documents of the inquisition, it is clear that most of the denunciations were made by people close to the accused - friends, neighbors, acquaintances of parishioners. Some of the denunciations were filed for reasons of compliance with the instructions of the authorities and religious duty, but many were written by their authors in order to protect themselves from accusations of non - reporting-for fear that someone else from the witnesses present would report the blasphemer's inappropriate behavior. You can not exclude the possibility of data sharing.-

7. Ciappara, F. (2000) The Roman Inquisition in Enlightened Malta. Malta.

through the filing of charges. In any case, numerous reports of blasphemy indicate that this phenomenon is widespread in Maltese society as a whole.

Even among the main defenders of the faith-knights of the Order of St. John the Baptist. John, there were blasphemers. During the period from 1564 to 1626, the Inquisition charged thirty of them with this crime, which is 12% of the cases examined.⁸

When Inquisitor Innico Caracciolo (1686-1691) took up his duties in 1686, he wrote: "The abuses that have entered this island are a cause for serious scandal. Blasphemy multiplies daily. Without any concern, those who call themselves Christians resort to blasphemy, which is so offensive to the Catholic Church."⁹ Blasphemy remained a major concern of the Roman Inquisition in Malta well into the eighteenth century.¹⁰

Among different groups of the population, the "God-defying" language was especially abused by sailors. This characteristic behavior was widespread among seafarers from different countries. For example, in the English Royal Navy, captains who actually performed the duties of spiritual pastors on board were punished for such violations with penalties ranging from verbal reprimands and suggestions to flogging. ¹¹ They even sinned on the Order of Malta's own galleys.¹²

Maltese corsairs, of course, were no exception to the rule. Perhaps they were even more prone to blasphemy than other categories of Maltese. However, there is insufficient documentary evidence for this claim in the archives of the Maltese Inquisition. On the other hand, given the long voyages of corsair ships and the associated months-long absences of corsairs from Malta, there was no physical opportunity to report every such event to the Inquisition

8. The statistics are based on the study of 254 cases concerning professed knights of the Order. A total of 358 charges were documented, of which 30 were related to blasphemy.

9. Bonnici, A. (1998) Medival and Roman Inquisition in Malta, p. 189. Religjon u Hajja.

10. Ciappara, F. (2014) The Social and Religious history of a Maltese Parish, p. 171. Malta.

11. Adkins, R.&L. (2008) Jack Tar, pp. 213-214. London.

12. Ciappara, F. (2014) The Social and Religious History of a Maltese Parish, p. 172. Malta.

in this case. All the more interesting are the few examples that allow you to look under the deck of corsair ships and learn about what, as a rule, did not fall on the pages of ship's magazines.¹³

The case of Fortunato Refalo

One of the documented cases of blasphemy occurred in 1796 on a ship under the command of Captain Felice Micalef. On corsair ships, a place was provided for a volunteer priest (Sacerdoto Missionario), whose duties included providing for the religious needs of the crew. Such a ship's priest usually received no pay, but was entitled to a share of the prize money. ¹⁴ On Captain Micalef's ship, the Sacerdoto Missionario duties were performed by a monk named Salvatore Tagliaferro (Fra Salvatore Tagliaferro). By order of the priest, the ship's cabin boy Fortunato Refalo 16 was to bring Fra Tagliaferro lemons and sugar to the cabin in the morning. On one of these days, while descending with a tray, the cabin boy slipped and fell off the ladder.

He hit the ground hard and cursed the priest angrily. In the documents of the Inquisition, the words of Fortunato Refalo are given in the following form: "Malvagia il suo santo". Most likely, what is written in the protocol is a translation from Maltese. In the original version, the curse sounded like "Jahraq qaddisek"¹⁷, i.e. "May your saint burn". The lack of restraint of language put Jung in a difficult position. Fra Tagliaferro's name was Salvatore, " the saviour." On the basis of this, the priest accused Jung

13. Corsairs should never be confused with pirates. Although the corsairs were not part of the Order's own fleet, they were not part of the Order's own fleet. Their activities were strictly regulated by the laws of Malta and controlled by the port authorities who issued the corso permit. And for permission to use the flag of the grand Master, the corsairs paid a certain percentage of the loot. The complex economic mechanism of organizing, financing, securing and insuring corso required comprehensive reporting. Therefore, the voyages of corsair ships are quite well documented. См.: Gauci, L. (2016) In the Name of the Prince. Maltese Corsairs 1760, pp. 117-126. Malta.

14. Gauci, L. (2012) The Organisation and Activities of Maltese Corsairs 1775-1798. MA dissertation, p. 15. University of Malta.

15. F. Refalo also served as a cooper on the ship.

16. AIM, Case 241, F96.

17. Translations and transcriptions of recorded blasphemies - Dr. Olvin Vella.

I accused him of insulting Christ the Saviour himself and refused him absolution.

Unlucky Fortunato had to appear before the court of the Inquisition. The trial, however, ended without far-reaching consequences for the young blasphemer. The profound and sincere remorse shown by Fortunato Refalo satisfied the Inquisitor (see Figure 1), and the punishment was limited to a severe verbal censure. ¹⁸

The case of Pietro Zelalic

An unusual case on charges of blasphemy and sodomy had to be conducted by the court of the Inquisition of Malta against Pietro Zelalich, one of the most famous and successful Maltese corsairs of the XVIII century.

Figure 2. The entrance of the Turkish ship Corona Ottomana captured by Pietro Zelalic (sailing ship on the right) in the harbor of Marsamxett in Malta. On the left, in the foreground - Fort St. Elmo. Private collection, 1760, anonymous.

This amazing man's life had its ups and downs. A Montenegrin born in Kotor ¹⁹, Zelalic was captured by the Turks on board an English privateer ²⁰, chained up and released from prison.-

18. AIM, Case 241, F97.

19. The Kotor Maritime Museum houses the only surviving portrait of Pietro Zelalic.

20. A private ship authorized to conduct combat operations (letter of marque) against the French allied to the Turks. See: Cathedral Archives: Panzavecchia Vol 1 F 882.

He was sent to one of the best ships of the Sultan's fleet - Corona Ottomana. Among the slaves held on board the Corona, a significant proportion were Maltese corsairs captured during the unsuccessful landing in Cyprus. In 1760, Zelalich was able to find like-minded people among the prisoners and started a riot. The rebel slaves managed not only to take possession of a fully equipped Ottoman warship, but also to bring it safely to Malta (Figure 2). There, Pietro Zelalic, the de facto leader of the uprising, proved himself not only as a determined soldier and experienced sailor, but also as a careful diplomat, he presented the captured ship as a gift to the grand master. The angry sultan threatened to punish Malta. Only the timely mediation of King Louis XV of France saved the Order of Malta from a full-scale war with the Ottoman Empire.²¹

Despite the fact that the captured Turkish ship had to be returned to its original owners, Grand Master Manuel Pinto (1741-1773) did not forget the generous gift made to him. He brought Pietro Zelalic closer to him and repeatedly appointed him captain of his personal galley ²² - an honor awarded only to the bravest, most capable and most proven captains.

Pietro Zelalic became one of the richest and most influential corsair captains. During his career, he captured no less than 348 men during independent campaigns (corso) and another 181 prisoners during joint raids with other corsairs [²³] (Figure 3). Zelalich continued to sail at least until 1795. [²⁴

21. Gauci, L. (2014) "The Exploits of a Maltese Corsair Captain 1785 - Part 1", Treasures of Malta, 59 - Easter 2014, pp. 22-26.

22. NLM, AOM6529, 11-10-1765.

23. Wettinger G. (2002) Slavery in the Island of Malta and Gozo, ca 1000-1812, p. 564. Malta.

24. NLM, AOM6532, 4-1-1795.

Illustration 3. Pietro Zelalic attacks Turkish ships. Verdala Palace, Malta, 1765, anonymous.

Who brought the charges against the illustrious and respected captain? Angelo Calandri, ²⁵, and his wife, Maria Lucia Calandri, applied to the Inquisition. Angelo Calandri was originally from Rome. In Malta, he lived in the town of Senglea, and from 1786 went to the Corso with the rank of sergeant on board various corsair ships. Angelo served for some time under Zelalic and accused his captain of numerous cases of blasphemy and open sodomy. Zelalich's blasphemous utterances, according to the plaintiff, were directed against St. John the Baptist. St. Joseph, the Madonna, and St. Nicholas ²⁶.

Zelalic had a particularly passionate relationship with the last saint. On the one hand, Pietro Zelalic certainly revered St. Nicholas, the famous patron saint of sailors. Back in 1766, at the very beginning of his career, Zelalich named one of the first ships entrusted to him "San Nicola". It was also the name of the ship of which he was captain during the Inquisition's trial. [²⁷] One of the witnesses in the case mentioned that in the captain's cabin, on the stern of the ship, there was an icon of St. Peter.

But, despite all the examples given above, it is St. Nicholas got most of the vilification and God-

25. NAV, Ruolli Box, Cavasso 1786, No 17.

26. AIM, Case 265, f221.

27. AOM6532, 02-09-1793.

28. AIM, Case 265, f225v.

the blasphemies that Zelalic was accused of. The reasons for this behavior were different. Usually the captain would lose his temper at sea. If there were no prize ships on the horizon for a long time, the captain would be furious. He scolded St. Nicholas, threatened to stop honoring the saint, and sometimes, in a fit of anger, could throw the icon on the floor, beating it with a cane. If there was bad weather on a hike, Pietro Zelalic often publicly blamed the Holy Spirit for it. St. Nicholas ²⁹.

This behavior was enough to bring Pietro Zelalic before the Maltese inquisitor, Gulio Carapegna (1793-1798). But blasphemy was rarely the only charge brought. As a rule, accusations of blasphemy were accompanied by others, often more scandalous, but to a lesser extent provable.

In the case of Pietro Zelalic, the Calandri couple accused the captain of repeatedly declaring that Islam is better than Christianity. According to them, he publicly exclaimed "blessed is Turkey", "blessed is the Turkish law", "long live Mohammed, if I were not so old, I would convert to Islam seven times in a row" ³⁰. Of course, such statements were extremely strange to hear from the mouth of a Maltese corsair, a defender of the Christian faith, a man who has spent his entire life fighting Muslims at sea.

But the main accusation brought against Pietro Zelalic was not even that, but sodomy. The captain was accused of blatantly sexually harassing a subordinate - a cabin boy named Marco. According to Calandri, Pietro Zelalic publicly kissed and touched the cabin boy "from behind" ³¹. Everyone on the ship knew about this carnal predilection of their captain.³²

Unfortunately, neither the details of the trial itself nor the final decision on this case have been preserved. Perhaps the case was "put on the brakes" because of the Inquisition's unwillingness to quarrel with Grand Master Emanuel de Rohan (1775-1797). In contrast to the island's economically insignificant Fortunato Refalo, Captain Pietro Zelalic

29. AIM, Case 265, f225v.

30. AIM, Case 265, f222: - benedetta la Turchia - Benedetta la legge de turchi - viva maometto, se non sarei inoltrato in eta mi sarei fatto turco per sette volte.

31. AIM, Case 265, f226v.

32. AIM, Case 265, f226v.

he was not an ordinary subject of the grand Master. He was lucky. One of Pietro Zelalic's campaigns in 1793 brought about 2,800 scudi to investors who invested in his Corso ³³. Over the decades, Zelalic's activities have also paid considerable dividends to the personal coffers of the Grand Master himself, ³⁴ whose annual income from the Corso averaged just over 34,000 scudi^.35

After the conquest of Malta by Napoleon in 1798, the Tribunal of the Inquisition was closed and all the property of the Inquisition was confiscated. The last inquisitor, Giulio Carapena, left the island. The godlessness of the revolutionaries did not prevent the zealous Catholic Angelo Calandri, Zelalic's accuser in the face of the Inquisition, from cooperating with the occupation authorities - he became a guide for the French, and after their departure, most likely, left Malta. Pietro Zelalic himself died in December 1811, at the age of about 80, and was buried in the Church of the Assumption of Mary in Birgu. The church was completely destroyed during the Second World War.

Bibliography / References

Archival materials

AIM - Archivum Inquisitionis Melitensis.

AOM - Archives of the Order of Malta.

NAV - National Archives of Valletta.

NLM - The National Library of Malta.

Literature

Adkins, R.&L. (2008) Jack Tar. London.

Agius, D. (ed.) (2013) Georgio Scala and the Moorish Slaves. The Inquisition - Malta 1598. Malta: Midsea Books Ltd.

Bonnici, A. (1998) Medival and Roman Inquisition in Malta. Religjon u Hajja. Ciappara, F. (2000) The Roman Inquisition in Enlightened Malta. Malta. Ciappara, F. (2014) The Social and Religious History of a Maltese Parish. Malta.

Gauci, L. (2012) The Organisation and Activities of Maltese Corsairs 1775-1798. MA dissertation. University of Malta.

33. NAV, R473, f32v.

34. Wettinger, G. (2002) Slavery in the Island of Malta and Gozo, ca 1000 - 1812, p. 567. Malta.

35. Ibid., p. 567.

Gauci, L. (2014) "The Exploits of a Maltese Corsair Captain 1785 - Part 1", Treasures of Malta, 59-Easter 2014, pp. 22-26.

Gauci, L. (2016) In the Name of the Prince. Maltese Corsairs 1760-1798. Malta.

Griffiths, V.G. (1999) "A Letter to Inquisitor Monsignor Carpegna Comprising a "Diary": Account of Events of the French Occupation (1798-1800)", Proceedings of History Week, Malta Historical Society. Valletta.

Wettinger, G. (2002) Slavery in the Island of Malta and Gozo, ca 1000 - 1812. Malta.

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