David vs Goliath and the Apotheosis of Malta: Romanticizing the Siege of Malta during the rise of Nationalism (1860-1939)

Daniel Meilak has read history at the University of Malta between 2006 and 2009 graduating as B.A. (Hons) and between 2013 and 2015 obtaining a first-class M.A. degree. His research focuses on Maltese cultural and intellectural history during the British rule of Malta. As part of his M.A. degree he researched Maltese Romanticism and Nationalism taking a multi-disciplinary approach across a variety of fields from historiography, art, music, literary, archaeological and theatrical history framed in the political social and economic context of Malta, with special relevance to religious, linguistic and ideological issues taking place during this period.

Synopsis

Sponsored by the Alfred Mizzi Foundation. The end result of the 1565 Siege of Malta was immediately celebrated by the Knights Hospitallers of Malta and several European powers, institutions and notable people as a most glorious victory. But few, not to say none, would have foreseen this event to be a major catalyst in the development of Maltese nationalism during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Hailed as a victory for the Maltese, for Europe and for Christianity, this episode assumed a very significant status in the fight of Maltese national militants against nineteenth and early twentieth century colonialism amidst the earlier stages of self-realisation and determination. The Otto Settembre was not just celebrated, it was also sanctified, elevated, and romanticised to provide the best grounds for the claims put forward by several Maltese individuals and groups for self-responsibility and self-determination grounded on nationalistic aspirations and expectations. It embodied the religio et patria foundation for the nation-in- becoming and paved the way for the realisation of self-identity and the struggle for more political autonomy. This lecture will demonstrate this development as it came to be a national symbol of the struggle for survival of a small nation in the face of a more complex world of colonialism and battling identities to achieve self-realisation culminating in the declaration of the Otto Settembre as the first national holiday of the new self-responsible nation in 1925 and the crowning of the capital city with a highly significant monument dedicated to the 1565 heroes.

Speaker: Daniel Meilak