The Smell of Slavery: Aspects of Slavery on Early Modern Malta

Emanuel Buttigieg is a Senior Lecturer in early modern history at the University of Malta. He graduated B.A. (Hons) at the University of Malta in 2002. During 2003-2004 he was engaged as a Principal Officer at the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta. In 2004 he was awarded a Commonwealth (Cambridge) Scholarship in order to read for an M.Phil. in early modern history at the University of Cambridge (Peterhouse); he wrote a dissertation about childhood history in early modern Malta. In 2005, he was awarded further scholarships in order to be able to pursue his studies at a doctoral level. His Ph.D dealt with nobility, faith and masculinity in the Order of Malta in the seventeenth century. His Ph.D. supervisor was Prof Mary Laven of Jesus College. His first book was entitled ‘Nobility, Faith and Masculinity: The Hospitaller Knights of Malta, c.1580-c.1700’ (London and New York: Continuum, 2011). Together with Dr Simon Phillips of the University of Cyprus he has also co-edited ‘Islands and Military Orders, c.1291-c.1798’ (Farnham: Ashgate, 2013). He is also the author of several papers in journals and edited books. At present he is Vice-President ex-officio of the Malta University Historical Society (MUHS) and he was a Committee member of the Malta Historical Society (MHS) between 2011 and 2015.

Synopsis

Sponsored by the Alfred Mizzi Foundation. Muslim slaves on early modern Malta were, “flesh-and-blood human beings with some agency, shaped, by the distinctive circumstances and values of their times, sometimes accommodating, sometimes resisting, sometimes suffering, sometimes escaping, sometimes changing things and trying something new” (Natalie Zemon-Davis, 2000). This presentation attempts to analyse aspects such as what slavery smelled and looked like, slaves’ bodies and their material culture, and the fluidity of their faith. It will offer a series of snapshots of the embodied and material culture of slavery, which illuminate the ideas and practices surrounding the complex issues of religion, identity and otherness embodied in slavery.

Speaker: Dr Emanuel Buttigieg