Start Date & Time: 27/01/2018 - 7:00 pm
End Date & Time: 27/01/2018 - 8:00 pm
Price: 7
Inquire At: 20106428
Malta’s Empire in the West
The Hospitaller Order’s Caribbean Venture
FAA members and guests gathered in the Salesian Theatre in Sliema on Saturday evening, 27th January 2018 for a talk by Prof. William Zammit based on his book written with Dr. Thomas Freller entitled ‘Knights Buccaneers and Sugar Cane’. It is an account of Malta’s colonial holdings on tiny Caribbeanislands, notably St. Kitts, through the intermediary of the Knights of the Order of St. John in the 17th century.
French Hospitaller Knight Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy (1584–1660) of the Order of St. John of Malta was appointed Lieutenant General of the French West Indies by King Louis XIII and set sail for St. Kitts in 1639, where he became Governor of the Islands in the name of a French Trading company. Thus, the Order acted as proprietor of the Islands, while the King of France continued to hold nominal sovereignty. As Governor, de Poincy ruled the French area of St. Kitts from 1639 to his death in 1660 largely independently of the French king. He made Basseterre the capital of St. Kitts and was credited with turning it into a successful Caribbean trading port. At the time the British held the interior of St. Kitts and the island of Nevis but de Poincy extended French rule to the other islands of St. Bartholomew, St. Croix, and St. Martin.
Prof. Zammit went on to say more about when in 1653 de Poincy wanted the Order to purchase the Islands from the failing French Trading Company that owned them. De Poincy wanted to secure his own position, and convinced the Order to purchase the Islands from the French company. Prof. Zammit displayed an old map (found in the archives of St. John Co-Cathedral in Valletta) of the Island of St. Kitts, which showed the Island divided into four parts, two coastal areas held by the French, two central areas held by the British.
Prof. Zammit then talked about the economic importance to the Order of produce grown in St. Kitts. Earliest information reaching Malta mentioned important crops such as cassava, potato, pineapple, banana, sugar, tobacco, ginger, as well as indigo for colouring textiles. In addition, the presence of richly abundant sea life of species of fish around the Islands together with sea turtles around Tortuga Island would indeed have been motivation for the Order to consider taking over the Islands, as fabulous profits would surely be generated by the main crops of sugar, tobacco and indigo. At this time the French Government tried to remove de Poincy, but he resisted and managed to hold on to his position.
Unfortunately, the purchase of the French part of St. Kitts went wrong. Promises of wealth proved disappointing as it was discovered that the administration of the Islands was riddled with debts. The Order sent Knight Charles de Sales to replace de Poincy, but he refused, so de Sales could only take over after de Poincy died in April 1660. Notwithstanding de Sales’s effort, the Order of the Caribbean Empire was still struggling financially due to political insecurity, calamities such as wars, earthquakes, floods, riots, and hurricanes, low productivity by slaves, and logistical transportation problems of produce to Europe. Also, in the 1660’s there was conflict between the French and the stronger British powers who could easily have taken over the whole of the Island.
In the 1660’s, Louis XIV wanted the Islands back so pressured the Order to sell them back to France. What motivated the Order to re-sell the Islands were all the issues mentioned above, and so in 1665, the Knights sold their rights in the Islands bringing their colonial project to an end. In 1666, after the Knights of the Order of St. John had formally given up their control of the Islands, there was conflict resulting in fighting between the French and the English on the Island during which de Sales was killed, but the French held on to their settlements.
Illustrations of several unique very detailed maps of St. Kitts, the originals of which are held in British and Vatican archives, were screened by Prof. Zammit. One map of St. Kitts, drawn by the Order of St. John, showed the geographical division of the Island between the British central mountainous part and the French coastal part following colonisation. Maps and reports (in cipher) sent to Malta were received by the Inquisitor (the Pope’s representative of the Catholic faith in Malta) who then forwarded them to the Vatican in Rome. One document was a detailed plan of Fort St. John which showed similarities in design to defences built in Maltese forts.
In addition to the maps above, Prof. Zammit showed a detailed plan, which had been sent to Malta of de Poincy’s grand residence, built in Italian Renaissance style in 1640. This was an elaborate building with surrounding grounds, including sugar refineries; five furnaces for boiling sugar and alcohol; houses for the fountain-keeper, tinsmith, and gardeners who looked after the gardens heavily planted with exotic plants; plus two water reservoirs to hold water for boiling sugar. The whole complex was self-sufficient and surrounded by fortifications (bastions).
In Prof. Zammit’s concluding remarks, he answered – Not really to the question ‘Was the Order seeking an Empire? The Order had been caught up in the European scramble for colonies when lured by promises of vast profits. Financial and logistical realities were a big challenge for the Order in administering the Islands profitably. Great power interests intervened to remove the Order from territories it had gained (or hoped to have gained) with France putting pressure on the Order to sell the Islands back for a fraction of the original price.
On behalf of the FAA, Tim Alden thanked Professor William Zammit for a well delivered and interesting account of Malta’s colonial holding of St. Kitts by the Knights of the Order of St. John in the 17th century, which the audience thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated.
Derek Moss
FAA Volunteer
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