Armoury of the Knights

411 Pages·2002·104.81 MB·English

by  Stephen C. Spiteri

A Study of the Palace Armoury it Collection,
and the Military Storehou e
of the H pitaller Knight of the 0 rder of St John
0
Stephen C Spiteri
Mid ea Book
in associat ion with
Fondazzjoni W irt Artna
ArmolllY 0/ fhe Knighfs ha been re earched, wrillen. and desgned
by tephen C piteri.
Contact addr : PO Box 460. Vallella CMR 01, Malta G
e-mail: sspiteri maltaneLnet
ORMIFDDZ
© Copyright tephen C piteri 2003
o part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any foml or by any means. electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwi e, without the previous written permis ion of the author.
AI7lIOIIIY offhe Knighfs was first published as 77le Palace ArmolllY -A SflIdy 0/
a MilifOlY STOrehollse o/fhe Knighfs o/fhe Order O/Sf John in 1999.
Al7llOlIry of fhe Knighfs has been published by Mid. ea Books Ltd in association
with Fondazzjoni Wirt Anna and printed by Gutenberg Press Ltd, Tarxien.
ISB 99932-39-33-X (hardback)
ISB 99932-3945-3 (paperback)
This book i al 0 available on CD-ROM (PDF format) in limited edition.
(I B 99932-64-0-6).
Ofh er books by fhe same OIahor;
Discovering fhe FOrTijicOfions 0/ fhe Kllighfs 0/ Sf. Jolm ill Malia
The Knighfs' FonijicOfions
The Brifish FOrTifiCaTions
Forfl't!s es 0/ fhe Cross: HospilOller MililOl)' Arr:hifecfllI't!. 1136-1798
Brifish MilifOlY Archifecml't! ill MallO
The FOllgasse: The Sfolle MolUu' o/MallO
Fonresses o/fhe Knighfs
111 our halls is hung
Armoury of the invincible knights of old'
WillianWords\\Onb(l 07)
For Iy Parents, Marlene
and Joe, and my wife
ifarthy
Annolll), of the Knights
is a second, revised, and expanded edition of
The Palace Annollry - A Stlldy of a Milito!), Storehouse
of tlte Knights of the Order of St John
first published in 1999 and
sponsored by the Farsons Foundation.
Coot EJ1t s
Introduction 5
fure~~ 6
Preface 9
Origins of the Palace Annoury 17
The Knights of Malta 47
A 'Sala d' Anni' in the Grand Master's Palace 75
A Profu ion of Amlouries in the 18th Century 119
The Organizational Framework 141
Artillery Stores & Gunpowder Magazines 163
The Development & Layout of the Palace AmlOUry 183
From Annoury to Mu eum 20 I
The ollection of Ann &Annour 229
el ctive Record of the ollection of Arm. & Ann ur 273
ppel/dix
Li t of Weapons mentioned in the pogli, propriamenLi.
and Wills of Hospitaller Knights 359
Laking's 'Catalogue of the Armour & rill in the Annoury
of the Knight of t John of Jeru alem.· 369
Glossary of Arm & Armour 383
References & otes 389
Bibliography 405
I n t rO OU ct i 01
It wa with great pleasure that I accepted to write thi forward to tephen
C Spiteri's excellent new work on the ubject of the historic annouries in
Mal tao Bei ng myself an aficionado of m iIi tary history albei t better versed
in periods more modern than that covered by thi book, I can very well
appreciate theeruditeness by which it has been both researched and written.
I consider mysel f to have been singularly pri vileged to witness its long and
meticulous gestation. Throughout this period I ha e enjoyed many great
hours spent in regular discourse on the subject with Spiteri. This has not
only enlightened meon a subject which I was soon to realize how little I
knew abou t; it has also made me more conscious to the u niq ueness and at
the same time the fmgi Ii ty of our national armoury collection.
As is to be seen in this book, the contents of our national armoury collection,
most of which isba edatthePalaceArmouryMu eum are indeed ome
of the fine t example of their kind. Many were made by the able r of
ma tel of the tmde for the noble t and riche t oftheirtime. Contained in
thi mas ive treasure collection are great work ofartthatcertainlycompare
well with any of our preciou canva e by great and famou master uch
a Caravaggio, Preti, and Favray. Yet, for officialdom, in particular, thi
collection tillremain anendle ourceofconvenientobjelsd·arltoline
up corridors and stately halls in our gmnd public building . Thi false pmctice
to gothicize the interior of our public building transcend from our fonner
colonial masters. It is foreign and certainly hold no historic water with us.
In my opinion, this great work by Spiteri should not only serve to trace the
history 0 f this co llecti on and document its contents for the readers to enjoy
and students to better understand. Itshould also serve to make us aware
of the great needs that exist in the long-term preservation of this great
historical collection. It also oughtto gal anize the will to take timely action
to ascertain that this unique treasure house is guaranteed a ecure future
through better management and ongoing conservation.
Mario Farrugia
Executive Dircctor FW,
23.ll.03
FcreNcrd
A considerable number of young Maltese re earchers and scholars have
come into the field of historical studies. giving a reassurance that the long
tradition established in our country in the past will not only continue, but will
be strengthened. There is so much treasure in our heritage that has not
been properly studied, evaluated, and made known. So that there are stiU
areas of research where young scholars can roam and then establish their
base and specialize.
Stephen Spiteri has for some time concentrated his intellectual energies on
the discovery, study, and illu tration of the treal ures bequeatiled to us by our
forebears and our erstwhile ruler , in connection with our military defence.
His specialization has not, however, narrowed in scope. Hi. book. about our
fortification ha e become to be con idered clal . ics oflheir kind, altracting
encomium in Iheir re iew b the pecialized learned journals. On the other
hand he has n Ire lri led his .Iudie 10 the mo.t. pecla ularly beautiful and
ingenious ba ·tion built by Ihe Knight of aint John around Valletta and the
Thrce itie. He ha el hi gaze n the later British Fortifications in the
rth r the I land and scrupulou.ly described every redoubt, tower, and
fort throughout the I land. He ha even made researching pilgrimages to the
fortification erected by the Ho pitaller before they came to Malta.
Spiteri has also focused on the study of arnlOur and in particular on tile
Armoury. This book i a result of his labours in the closest possible position,
and contains a great deal of original research into the vicissitudes of tile
Armoury as an institution, as weU as an invaluable study of many of tile
individual items. Spiteri s work has the attractive trait of not only providing
material for the experts in the particular discipline, further reinforcing in tilis
way his standing as a recognized authority. but of interesting and intriguing
aU 'lay' lovers of our history.
For this study sheds light, from a certain angle but given the times and
circumslances, an extremely relevant angle, on our Island ' history and tile
history of the Order. The hi lOry of Malta and Gozo during the years 1530-
1798 is perhaps unique. We were governed by a religious Order of
Hospitaller\warrior knight , with a tanding arnlY and a neet fitted out not
only to defend but al 0 to police the eas around us. We acqui red on of the
largest and be t equipped hospilal a well nigh impregnable line of
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fortificati n encircling our citie , a university, and a et of u tom-mad
'Municipal Laws'. We as a nation were ometime hard put but never
completely removed from some ay in the running of our country; in actual
fact most of the civil ser ants, judge . doctors. urgeon ,and officer. in the
Army and Navy w re Maltese. We acquired a pennanent a ern lage of
young and no longer young ari tocrat Fr m all over Europe, e selllially trying
to tind a justification for their Ii e in the ideal of defending from here th
whole of hristendom. ome of course made a nuisance ofthemselve and
betrayed their vows. Taking on an overalJ view. there i no denying the fact
that we began in 1530 a history of separate and independent political exi tenee.
That we are today an independent republic governed from within owes
much to the events following 1530 and our severanee from Sicily. The knights
of St John fulfilled their role of guardians of Malta and Europe by donning
their suits of armour and brandishing their swords and rapiers. The prowess
of every individual was established in personal combat, at first on land and
later mostly at sea. Their amlour has, therefore, become symbolic as well
as emblematic. It was not, howe er, merely decorative or ceremonial. The
regalia in ow' Armoury at the Palace but a fraction of what we mu. t have
had, and what Stephen Spiteri now discovers to have actually had, are not
simply shown together as a museum collection: the are in all en. es the
real thing: the re ource entre for the armed defence of our country in time.
gone by. It speaks eloquently for the fa t thatlhe Order saw in the defence
of Malta the raisoll d'elre of their existen e that tll Grandma. ters hould
have lodged the annoury within their own re idential palace.
tephen piteri's new opus is thu a contribution toward. the beller
understanding of our history. It i al 0 more. It draw allention to the state
ofpreservation of the treasure in th Annoury. We of thi generation have
an obI igation, to preserve. to maintain. to study. to exhibit for the purpose of
education, to exhibit for interest in leisure time. The Armoury attracts nol
only Maltese but also visitor from abroad. Stephen Spiteri's work is not
merely a scholarly work. it calls for the attention of all the country to the
duty we have towards our heritage.
Dr. go Mif ud Bonnici

Praace
!4 cloistel' witholll a libl'{//Y is like a castle lI'itholll all al'mowy,
Fol' the libl'{I/y is 0111' al'mollry'
Geoffrey de & ..e uil ( 1165)
In his introduction to J F Verbruggen's The Art of Warfare ill Western
Europe during the Middle Ages, Manhew Bennen remarks that it is unusual
in any discipline for four decades to pass by without any scholar contributing
to a field of study. Had he known that a century has elapsed since Laking
produced the only book ever to appear on the Palace Armoury, he would
have had to rephrase his sentence. Indeed, the one critical problem that has
plagued the Palace Annoury from the day it was first e tabli hed as a
mu eum way back in 1860 ha been an unfamiliarity with it hi. torical p~ t;
a situation that hru condemned it to the lalU of a gallery of curio itie ever
since.
This inability t depict the rmoury beyond the c mmon notion ofa mere
antiquarian collection tem primarily from an a toni hing lack of hi. torical
research. Until very recently. no seriou efr It wa ever hanneled toward,
understanding the real significance of the Pala e Annoury. Basic que ti n
of when and how thi Aml0ury was set up. of how it wa administered and
equi pped with weapons. and of how it functioned and developed within the
overall Hospitaller military organization were ne er ever raised, let alone
answered. As a result. the whole corplls of knowledge on this subject
remained dependent on a few isolated facts draped in much speculation
and myth.
Throughout the Annoury s 140 years as a museum, there was only one
attempt to make a scholarly analysis. And iliat was nearly a century ago
when Lord Grenfell, Governor of Malta, called in Guy Francis Laking (then
one of the world's leading experts on anns and annour) to study and evaluate
the collection. The lasting product of Laking' brief intervention wa his
publication but this, conceived as a catalogue, wa mainly concerned with
the description of the mo t notable items in tile ollection and aid practically
nothing at all on the hi. tory of the Annoury it elf. Its purely d~ criptive
approa h, based largely on tylistic compari. on . may ha e then been
pennissiblc in the field of tudy of aml and annour, but it did no ju tice to
the historicity of the Palace mloury. F r the nnoury collection i not
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