Emmaus. The Primus Liber of the Matrice: the oldest surviving register in Gozo 3. The Book of Ben Sira: connecting the Jews all over the world 27

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1 14 Emmaus a journal of philosophical, theological, and humanistic studies The Primus Liber of the Matrice: the oldest surviving register in Gozo 3 The Book of Ben Sira: connecting the Jews all over the world 27 Il-Knisja f pajjiżna quddiem il-fenomenu tal-iżlam fid-dawl tad-dokument Nostra aetate 43 Alla għoġbu jgħarrafna lilu nnifsu : Riflessjonijiet imnebbħa mill-kostituzzjoni Dommatika Dei Verbum tal-konċilju Vatikan II 59 Il Mistero Pasquale come fonte di speranza nell insegnamento di San Giovanni Paolo II 63 Sacred Heart Seminary Gozo - Malta Academic Year Emmaus 14 ( ) 1

2 Emmaus a journal of philosophical, theological, and humanistic studies, published by the Sacred Heart Seminary - Gozo - Malta. Founded 1999 No 14 (Academic Year ) ISSN Editorial Board: Major Seminary Academic Council (Anton Borg, Ignatius Borg, Richard-Nazzareno Farrugia, George Frendo, Daniel Sultana, Joseph Sultana, Daniel Xerri) All correspondence to be addressed to: The Editor Emmaus Sacred Heart Seminary Victoria Gozo VCT 2042 MALTA. Printed by Gozo Press Gozo Malta Sacred Heart Seminary, Gozo Malta Emmaus 14 ( )

3 Joseph Bezzina The Primus Liber of the Matrice: the oldest surviving register in Gozo The Primus Liber of the Matrice Church is the oldest surviving register in Gozo, the second largest island of the Republic of Malta. The Church is situated within the medieval Citadel that rises in the geographical centre of the island. Through the Bull Singulari Amore of 16 September 1864, Pope Pius IX established the diocese of Gozo and the Matrice as the Cathedral of the new diocese. The Liber contains the earliest record of Baptisms, Marriages, Confirmations, and Deaths in Gozo. It has been the subject of an extensive study and partial interpretation published in This analysis is intended to supplement the background to its compilation, to provide a number of facts that were passed over in the study, and to clarify a number of assertions made in the study that do not in any way tally with facts. The Liber originated in the wake of the reform promoted by the Council of Trent. 1 The registration of marriage contracts The Council of Trent opened on 13 December 1545 after long years of intensive preparations and strenuous efforts. The person that succeeded to set the reform Council rolling amidst one thousand difficulties was Pope Paul III ( ). 2 Soon after his election, the Pope set up a commission of cardinals for a reform of morals. By 23 August 1735, the commission, activated and expanded, was operating in the traditional manner under Gasparo Cardinal 1 Horatio Caesar Roger Vella, The Earliest Church Register in Gozo ( ), Malta The book was launched at the exhibition hall of the Ministry for Gozo on 23 July 2010; one of the three speeches on the occasion was delivered by the author of this study. 2 Hubert Jedin, The beginnings of the Catholic Reform in Rome under Pope Paul III, in History of the Church, V/Reformation and Counter-Reformation, London 1980, Emmaus 14 ( ) 3

4 Contarini. 3 Notwithstanding the good intentions of its President, it did not go beyond the reform gestures that by then had become routine. As after a year it had hardly made any headway, in the last quarter of 1736, the Pope summoned eight independent and uncommitted cardinals and tasked them to prepare with Contarini a blueprint for a reform within the Church. Their deliberations led to a pivotal reform statement, the Consilium de emendenda ecclesia Project for the Reform of the Church. On 9 March 1537, the statement was submitted to the Pope and commented upon by Cardinal Contarini. With admirable candor, it delineated the many evils besieging the Church and called for a ruthless correction. The Pope accepted the recommendations and multiplied his efforts towards the convocation of the reform council. The worries concerning the pastoral and administrative activity in dioceses and parish churches crop up frequently in the report. The Diocesan Bishops Commission, established in 1542, studied the necessary reform in these regards and suggested solutions. A chunk of the problems on a diocesan level were related to marriages. Clandestine marriages were rife as was the number of people seeking re-marriage. In the accompanying requests and litigations, the lack of documentation related to the administration of sacraments became very evident. The problems and their solutions became enshrined in the Canons on the reformation of the sacrament of Matrimony, promulgated on 11 November The first chapter of these Canons, referred to from the introductory word as Tametsi, 4 lays down, inter alia: Habeat parochus librum, in quo coniungum et testium nomina, diemque et locum contracti matrimonii describat, quem dilgenter apud se custodiat. The parish priest is to keep a register, in which he is to record: (a) the name of the spouses contracting marriage; (b) the name of the [two or three] witnesses; 3 Gasparo Contarini ( ) was a major protagonist in the Counter-Reformation of the sixteenth century. A career diplomat of the Republic of Venice, he was still a layperson when the Pope summoned him to Rome. He was promoted to cardinal on 21 May 1535, ordained bishop, and soon became an ascetic advocate of Church reform. See Elisabeth G. Gleason, Gasparo Contarini: Venice, Rome, and Reform, Berkeley/ca 1993, passim. 4 Council of Trent, Sessio XXIV, Canones super reformatione circa matrimonium, Tametsi (11 Nov 1563), in Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta, third edition, Bologna 1973, 756, Emmaus 14 ( )

5 (c) the day of the wedding; and (d) the place of the wedding. He is to preserve this register diligently. The Council of Trent had laid strict rules for the celebration of the Sacrament of Matrimony. 5 Parish priests soon found out that to fulfill the Council requirements and to ascertain that there were no marriage impediments, other records were necessary. They started keeping annotations of baptisms, confirmations, and deaths. Through the baptism record, the parish priest could ascertain, among other things, that those seeking marriage had reached the age stipulated by the Church. It was desirable for couples to receive Confirmation prior to matrimony and now this could be checked. Deaths records were necessary to establish that the spouses of those seeking re-marriage had indeed passed away. The keeping of parish registers became compulsory. 2 The promoter in Malta The proceedings of the Council of Trent coincided with the first years of the rule of the Knight Hospitallers of Saint John of Jersusalem, now referred to as the Sovereign Miltary Order of Malta (SMOM). Emperor Charles V donated the archipelago of Malta and Gozo to the Knights on 23 March Their sovereignty heralded, amongst many reforms, the permanent residence of the bishop of Malta and Gozo on the island, a rarity in the previous centuries. 6 The higher echelons of the Order were fully abreast of the developments in Rome concerning reform. 7 Besides, the Diocesan Bishops Commission kept regular contact with Ordinaries and often sought their advice. So it is no wonder that the first registers in Malta started before the Council enacted legislation to that effect. The promoter of Trent in Malta was Bishop Domenico Cubelles, a native of Zaragoza. He was elected to the bishopric on 10 December 1540, at a 5 Ibid, 755, ,30; see also Canones de sacramento matrimonii, Si quis dixerit (11 Nov 1563), 754, , Joseph Bezzina, Storja tal-knisja f Malta (= Kullana Kulturali 42), Pietà/Malta 2001, The Consilium de emendenda ecclesia, that was intended to remain under wraps, was published in Italy in 1538 and in Germany soon afterwards. The Order must have certainly acquired this Consilum; however no copy has been traced in the National Library of Malta. Sincere thanks to Maroma Camilleri for her research. Emmaus 14 ( ) 5

6 time when he was Prior of the Conventual Church of the Order, the highest clerical office within the Order. 8 He was the first to introduce pastoral visits and though the reports have gone lost, they are referred to in later records. He carried his major pastoral visit in 1545, and it was probably during this visit that he encouraged parish priests to start keeping parish records. He sensed their importance and recommended an immediate implementation. The only exception being the records of the Cathedral Parish of Mdina; they started being kept in The first records after the visit are those of the Naxxar Parish, with the first baptism registered on 12 May 1546 and the first marriage on 24 May The third oldest is the Primus Liber of the Parrochia Gaudisii, the Parish of Gozo or the Matrice, beginning in There might have been an earlier register, but all sorts of records were lost when tragedy struck Gozo in In July 1551, a fleet of at least one hundred and forty five vessels started to arrive off Mġarr, the main inlet of Gozo. The fleet was under the military command of Sinan Pasha, a first grade pasha that had distinguished himself in several battles. His lieutenant was the dreaded corsair of the Mediterranean, Rais Dragut. The general of the artillery and the engineer of the army was Kambil Bey. 9 The medieval walls of the Citadel without flanks and terreplein to resist gunpowder bombardment were easy prey to the besiegers and, on 27 July, the weak fortifications succumbed. Around 500 succeeded to escape, the rest of the population, about 5000, was taken into slavery. The siege of Gozo of July 1551 left the island bereft of people, foodstuffs, farm animals, and documents. The best study of the tragedy and its aftermath estimates that from a population of about 6050, only about 510 succeeded to escape by scaling down the walls of the north enciente of the Citadel. 10 Don Nicolò Castelletti and Don Lorenzo Apap, parish priests of the Matrice and of Saint George, were among those dragged into slavery. The parish priest 8 Vincent Borg, Melita Sacra II. The Maltese Diocese during the Sixteenth Century, Malta 2009, Joseph Bezzina, 1551 the Year catastrophe struck Gozo, in The Sunday Times [of Malta] (05 Aug 2011) Supp. iii. xii. 10 Stanley Fiorini, The resettlement of Gozo after 1551, in Melita Historica 9 ( ) Emmaus 14 ( )

7 of the Matrice succumbed to the harshness of slavery and died in captivity. Don Lorenzo succeeded to redeem himself. The major importance of this Primus Liber lies in the fact that it records the rebirth of Gozo and the re-population of the island after the devastation of People who had left the island to the relative safety of Malta or Sicily before the attack and the few hundreds who escaped began to return slowly but surely it would however take some one hundred and thirty years for the population of Gozo to climb again to the pre-1551 figures. 3 The Matrice and its Primus Liber The Primus Liber belonged to the Parrochia Gaudisii, the Parish of Gozo, referred to in contemporary documents as the Matrice. It was the only functioning parish in Gozo for many years after The name Parish of Gozo reflects the title by which the church was usually referred to at that time, the Matrice terra et insula Gaudisii, the Matrice of the city and the island of Gozo. 12 The term abounds in medieval and later documents. 13 It is quite remarkable that the principal church within the citadel-fortress of Gozo was referred to as the Matrice from its earliest mention up to recent times. The term Matrice can have several meanings one of which is that of an Ecclesia Cathedralis. 14 This term was in fact anciently applied to a cathedral in relation to the other churches in the same See. 15 It might have been the Episcopal See of the bishop of Gozo and Malta between 1127 and 1249 when the majority of Christians in the Maltese Islands were concentrated in Gozo Ibid. 12 For example, the Gozo Matrice within the Citadel is referred to as Sancta Maria Matrix Ecclesia terrae et insulae Gaudisii; see Registrum Fundationum Beneficiorum Insulae Gaudisii ( ), 32v-35r : Documentary sources of Maltese History, v /1/Curia Malta, edited by Stanley Fiorini, Malta 2006, no The term Terra refers to the Citadel; see Joseph Bezzina, From Gaûlos to Mdina, from Belt to Ċittadella. The changing name of the Gozo Citadel, in Treasures of Malta 17/1 (No 49) (Christmas 2010) Joseph Busuttil Stanley Fiorini Horatio C.R. Vella, Tristia ex Melitogaudo. Lament in Greek verse of a XIIth-century exile on Gozo, Malta 2010, xcvii. 15 Black s Law Dictionary, edited by Michael J. Connolly Henry Campbell Black Jacqueline M. Nolan-Haley Joseph R. Nolan, Dallas/tx 2009, under Matrix Ecclesia. 16 Stanley Fiorini, Tristia ex Melitogaudo revisited. Objections, clarifications, confirmations, Emmaus 14 ( ) 7

8 In late medieval Gozo, besides the Matrice, there were three other paroeciae, all situated in Rabat, the suburb of the Citadel: the parish of Sancti Iacobi, Saint James, first recorded in 1449; 17 of Sancti Georgii, Saint George, in 1450; 18 and of Sanctae Mariae Savina in Of these four, only the Matrice seems to have been a baptismal church, an ecclesia baptismales. In medieval times, the development of suburbs around the walled towns and the devotion of the faithful, especially towards relics, had led to the erection of numerous secondary chapels, referred to as paroeciae, oratoria, basilicæ, martyria, that also had their clergy. But these so-called tituli minores were not parishes in the full sense of the word; they depended on the principal church of the vicus and on its archpriest, who had authority over his own clergy and over those of these lesser chapels. 20 The parochial character of the ecclesiae parochiales et baptismales was emphasized by the fact that the faithful of the lesser chapels had to receive the sacraments and pay their tithes in the former. The Council of Trent would do away with this distinction. 21 If the state of affairs in Gozo after 1551 reflects the previous years, this seems to have been the situation. In 1598, Antonio Hagius, parish priest St George, informed Bishop Domenico Cubelles that he administered all sacraments, except baptism, to all the inhabitants of Rabat. Baptism, he affirmed, was the exclusive right of the parish priest of the Matrice. 22 The same situation existed at Malta with the Cathedral of Mdina and the parish church of Saint Paul in Rabat, where no baptisms were administered. Hagius informed the bishop that he never remembers a Baptismal font in the church of Saint George. 23 The parishes of Saint James and Santa Marija ta Savina were not revived after Malta 2010, ACM Archivum Cathedralis Melitense, AO Acta Originalia, 2, 8v. 18 ASV Archivum Secretum Vaticanum, Registra Vaticana, 494, 217r-v : Documentary sources of Maltese History, iv/2/documents at the Vatican, Msida 2005, no Registrum Fundationum, no See Auguste-Marie Boudinhon, Parish, in The Catholic Encyclopedia 11 (1913) Council of Trent, Sessio XXI, Decretum de Reformatione, Eodem Sacrosancta (16 Jul 1562), in Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta, third edition, Bologna 1973, 729, , Melita Sacra II, AEG Archivum Episcopale Gaudisiense, VP Visitatio Pastoralis (1598) 158v-159r. 8 Emmaus 14 ( )

9 The Primus Liber is presently preserved at the AEG Archivum Episcopale Gaudisiense, but it has always been considered as belonging to the Matrice. 24 This is clear from the inventari, the list of possessions, recorded from time to time in the pastoral visits. Just to give one example; in the report of the visit of Bishop Giacomo Cañaves at the time of the consecration of the new Matrice (11 October 1716), the register is included in the list of manuscripts at the Matrice with the years that it covers The restoration The register fell under my attention for the first time in It was held with other parish registers in a bookcase at the private residence of Archpriest Mikiel Cefai (27 Sep Dec 1981), archpriest of the Cathedral as well as the parish of Saint George. It was in an appalling condition leading me to humbly suggest to the archpriest not to leave it to deteriorate further. He seemed completely oblivious to my apprehension. In 1976, the two Victoria parishes the Matrice of Santa Marija and Saint George united under the Matrice archpriest in 1689 were given two different pastors. Bishop Nikol Cauchi (2 Mar Nov 2010) decided to entrust the register to the Episcopal Archives and not to the Cathedral Archives, where it belonged. However, this decision actually saved it. By that time, due to the fact that it was kept in an adverse, humid, and totally inadequate place, the register was simply one whole mass, an impasto or knead that could not even be opened. Daniel Glavina, a Jesuit (9 Sep Oct 1994) archivist of the Episcopal Archives of Gozo for many years, took the initiative for its restoration with the other assistant archivist, Canon Alwiġ Camilleri (16 Feb Dec 2001). 26 Two well-known restoration laboratories were contacted: the Istituto centrale di patologia del libro Alfonso Gallo (Via Milano 76, Rome) and the book restoration laboratory within the Monastero dei Padri Benedittini Olivetani (Via dei Cerchi 87 [Circo Massimo], Rome). The choice fell on the latter. Due to its horrendous condition, the price asked for was exorbitant but Bishop Nikol Cauchi gave the go-ahead. Daniel Glavina took the volume to Rome 24 For this reason, the title chosen for Vella s study referred to above: The Earliest Church Register in Gozo misses this very important fact. 25 See ACM, Misc 188, VP (1716) 138r. 26 These two who saved the register for posterity do not even get a mention in Vella s book. Emmaus 14 ( ) 9

10 10 Emmaus 14 ( ) fig. 1 The first folio of the Primus Liber.

11 personally in the summer of Here the register received a pre-restoration chemical treatment before the actual work of repair could begin. After that, every single folio was manually restored, assembled, and sewn up together into a book block. Six months later the register was picked up personally by the undersigned. It became possible for the first time, in who knows how many years, to actually see the contents on the folios. The restoration of the register proceeded in Malta at the hands of Joseph Schirò, Malta s leading manuscript restorer. He prepared the endbands and provided the volume with a vellum binding as the original was too damaged to be fixed. 27 Soon afterwards, the register was microfilmed and is now also digitalized. 5 The register: specifications and contents The Primus Liber of the Matrice of Gozo, as already stated, is the oldest surviving register in Gozo. It was started on 1 September The records of the Universitas, the town council of Gozo, a sort of regional Government, start six years later, on 1 September They are preserved at the National Archives Gozo. 28 The Primus Liber is the Registrum Baptizatorum, Confirmatorum, Matrimoniorum, and Defunctorum of the Matrice of Gozo. On the first folio (fig. 1), 29 it carries the following title, part of which is worn out [ ]: P[rimus] Liber Ba[ptizatorum] in parrochia Gaud[isii] [incipi] endo a p[rim]o mense 7[bro 1554] factus et ordinat[us] per Leonardum de Cace dic[tae] [Parro] chiae Indignum Rectore[m] It states that is the first register of Baptisms administered in the parish of Gozo, 30 beginning from the first of the month of September 1554, provided and ordered by Leonardo de Cace, unworthy Rector of the above-mentioned parish. 27 His important contribution is also wanting in Vella s study. 28 NAG National Archives Gozo, UG Universitas Gaudisii, 01/01, 10r. 29 AEG, Paroeciae, Matrice. Liber Baptizatorum, Confirmatorum, Matrimoniorum, et Defunctorum, 1, 1r; henceforth quoted Matrice The two keywords of the title, Parrochia Gaudisii, are, mirabile dictu, skipped over by HCR Vella, both in the transcription as well in the translation; see Vella, 184. Emmaus 14 ( ) 11

12 Besides Baptisms, the register also records the Confirmations, Marriages, and Deaths of the Matrice. The register is made up of a number of quinterni with a total of 196 folios, 31 twenty pages of which are blank. 32 One quinterno seemingly have a missing folio 33 and a number of folios seem to have been added on between some quinterni. A quinterno is defined as cinque foglie di carta uniti; a quintuple or five folios of paper folded in a manner to form a fascicle. The open folio of this register is millimeters. Every folio folded once forms two leaves or four pages, mm. The quinterno have ten folios, twenty pages. It is slightly larger than the A4 size paper, mm. A quinterno, according to later sources, cost an irbiegħi, one ħabba, and two dwiener, about two Euro cents ( 0.018). 34 The paper of the Primus Liber is a rice based paper; a thin artist s paper made from the pith of the rice-paper plant. The Primus Liber contains the following records, explained in detail infra. 1r 49v Baptisms 1551 Sep Jan 07 39r-v Baptisms 1578 Jan Feb r-v Baptisms 1572 Oct Jan r 58r Confirmations 1579 Jul 02 58v 101v Baptisms 1579 Aug Aug r 121v Marriages 1556 Dec Feb r 123v Deaths 1591 Dec Feb r 128r Deaths 1616 Jan Oct This numeration includes a note dated 27 July 1618 (Matrice 1, 175r) from Don Ioanne Debono, Archpriest of the Cathedral, Mdina, concerning two marriage banns read at the parish of Saint Paul, Rabat-Malta, and a dispensation from the third, in relation to the marriage of Helena Zahira of Rabat-Gozo, who was going to marry Pietro Grima of Rabat-Malta. 32 Matrice 1, 128v. 129r-v. 165v. 166v. 167r-v. 168v. 169v.175v. 178v. 170v. 191r-v. 192r-v. 193r-v. 194r-v. 33 Reflected in the missing baptisms from after 07 Feb 1579 to before 19 Aug 1579; it is missing after 50v. 34 NAG, UG, Acta, 10/ , 26r. 35 This folio is misplaced; it should have been inserted after 49v. 36 This folio is misplaced; it should have been inserted after 38v. 37 Folio 100r-v is followed by 100Ar-v. 12 Emmaus 14 ( )

13 130v 166r Baptisms 1614 Jun Feb r 190v Marriages 1615 Feb Sep 13 6 The compilers Don Leonardus de Cace, parish priest of the Matrice, started this register in September 1554 as he records in his own hand on the first folio. Don Leonardo was born in Gozo around 1505, was ordained priest in Sicily when he was twenty-three, and soon afterwards took up residence in Malta. In this register he writes his last name as de Cace; however in other sources he is referred to as de Agatiis, and even as Micallef. 38 Besides being a priest, he was a professional bookbinder and candle-maker. 39 By 1549, he was curate at Ħaż-Żebbuġ, Malta. Sometime in 1553, news reached Gozo, through redeemed slaves that Don Nicolò Castelletti, the parish priest of the Matrice, had died in slavery. Bishop Cubelles appointed him parish priest in his stead. Having worked with paper since early life, he succeeded to obtain enough paper, a rare commodity at the time, to start the register. Its compilers were four, two Matrice parish priests and two Matrice curates or vicars. Besides these, there were other priests who administered the sacraments with the permission of the parish priests. This happened either during their absence from the island, or as the baptizing priest happened to be related to the child being baptized. 40 (1) Leonardo de Cace, was parish priest of the Matrice between 1553 and 1570, when he resigned in favour of his nephew, who was not yet a priest; he remained parish priest de facto up to 20 March He was responsible for its compilation during all those years. (2) Antonio Attardo, born in Gozo around 1548, elected parish priest of the Matrice on 13 April 1570, installed 10 August 1570, but actually entered office on 19 January He is referred 38 Vincent Borg, Melita Sacra II. The Maltese Diocese during the Sixteenth Century, Malta 2009, Ibid, The first such priest recorded is Don Nicolò De Nicolachio (18 Feb 1560); Matrice 1, Melita Sacra II, Emmaus 14 ( ) 13

14 to as Parochus Insulae Gaulitanae, parish priest of the island of Gozo; he died in office on 28 January In 1575, soon after the beginning of his tenure, the population of the Matrice amounted to about 800, while that of Saint George was about These figures exclude the non-communicants; fifteen years later, the five year olds and under amounted to slightly over 13% of the population. This means a population of about 1037 in the year In 1590, the population of Gozo amounted to 2147: 1864 five years old and over, of which 952 males, 912 females; and 283 below five years, of which 135 males, 148 females. 44 With a total of 1087 males and 1060 females, this is the only known instance in the demographic history of Gozo when males prevailed over females. (3) Lorenzo Apap, born in Gozo around 1501; notary since 1540; elected parish priest of St George around 1546; enslaved 1551; redeemed 1553; curate at the Matrice from He administered baptisms as the Matrice curate, as clearly stated in the register. 46 He probably died in (4) Angelo Modulun, Gozitan, sacristan at Matrice from 1575; ordained priest 17 March 1584; economo or administrator of the Matrice from October 1585, instead of Don Lorenzo Apap, who was too old to continue in that office; curate at the Matrice from 42 Melita Sacra II, VA Visitatio Apostolica (1575) 225v; for a full transcription, Pietro Dusina, Visitatio Apostolica (1575) : ASV, Cong. Vescovi e Regolari, Malta 51 : Documentary sources of Maltese History, iv/1 Documents at the Vatican, Visitatio Apostolica Dusina 1575, edited by George Aquilina Stanley Fiorini, Malta 2001, Melita Sacra II, 140; population return based on a study by Carmelo Traselli, Una statistica Maltese del secolo XVI, in Economia e storia 4 (1966) Melita Sacra II, See, for example, the baptism of 15 Oct 1579 in which he designates himself as vicecurato; (Matrice 1, 58v). It is interesting to note that during the sede vacante, from the end of the administration of De Cace and the assumption of office by Attardo (Oct 1572-Jan 1573), he wrote simply his name (50r-v). 14 Emmaus 14 ( )

15 October 1592 till May He also administered baptisms as the Matrice curate. 48 The last two baptized as curates and not as parish priests of Saint George. 49 This is confirmed by another fact. Don Antonio Hagius, a Gozitan, who was nominated parish priest of St George on 7 April 1587 and remained in office until his death on 24 January 1614, 50 had no relationship with the Matrice and, for this reason, his name never figures as minister of baptism in this register. 7 Baptisms at Saint George The parish of Saint George, as the whole of Gozo, passed through extreme trying times during the sixteenth century. Landings and ransacking in Rabat- Gozo are recorded in 1500, 1511, 1521, 1525, 1526, 1531, 1544, 1545 (two times), 1546 (when the parish priest of St George was enslaved), 1549, 1551, 1560 (two times), 1563, 1570, 1574, 1582, 1583, 1588, 1597, 1598, and more. The constant peril of Turkish incursions had persuaded the ecclesiastical authorities to direct the parish priest of Saint George to preserve the Blessed Sacrament and the Holy Oils at the Matrice. In 1575, the Apostolic Vistor Pietro Dusina directed Don Lorenzo Apap, the parish priest, to start preserving them at St George once a tabernacle had been set up. 51 The order does not seem to have been followed as Don Lorenzo Apap lived, died, and was buried in the walled Citadel. There was another problem: the partly dilapidated state of the church. This results from the reports of the pastoral visits of and 1592, when the old parish church was partially demolished as a new one was being built. 53 Don Antonio Hagius, who replaced Don Lorenzo, succeeded in completing the new church by 1598 as recorded in the pastoral visit that took place that year. 47 Melita Sacra II, He was never parish priest at the Matrice as stated by Vella, xv. In the first reference given (fn 8), Modulun notes that he is a cappellano aj[giunto], a vice-curate (100v); while in the second (fn 10), Modulun designates himself as vice cappellano [100Av). 49 An important detail left out in Vella s book. 50 Melita Sacra II, AEG, VA (1575) 111r-v. 52 AEG, VP (1587) 12v-13r. 53 AEG, VP (1592) 9v. Emmaus 14 ( ) 15

16 However, he informed the Bishop that he still did not administer baptisms at his parish, as this was a prerogative of the Matrice. 54 Bishop Thomas Gargallo, aware of Trent s reform, directed Don Antonio to install a baptismal font in the new church within four months and to acquire all that was necessary for the administration of baptism. It was to be erected on the right hand entrance of the church. The Holy Oils used during the administration of the sacrament were to be safeguarded in a small windowlike recess near the main altar. 55 Things are easier said than done as the font was still missing in 1608, when during another pastoral visit the parish priest was again reminded of this requirement. Don Antonio died in office on 24 January 1614 without having executed the bishop s order. Don Angelo Modulun, the former curate at the Matrice, appointed parish priest of Saint George soon afterwards, immediately provided his church with a baptismal font. He baptized for the first time on 30 June At that time, the Matrice was no longer recording the administration of sacraments in the Primus Liber. In mid 1603, after the demise of Antonio Attardo, Bishop Gargallo elected Giovanni-Mattheo Chiappara as the new parish priest. He decided to split the registration of sacraments and started three new registers; one for Baptisms, another for Marriages, and a third for Deaths. 57 He was installed on 28 August 1603 and that same day he recorded the first baptism in the second Baptism register of the Matrice. A week before, on 20 August, he had started using the one for Deaths. He registered the first marriage in a third new register on 8 November The Primus Liber was put aside, but only for eleven years. Don Angelo Modulun, for some reason, did not acquire a separate register for the parish 54 CEM Curia Episcopalis Melitensis, Acta Originalia 75, 159r. This is the reason why there are no records of baptisms at St George, and not because they were not recorded or not passed to the Matrice; see Vella, xvii. 55 AEG, VP (1598) 158v-159r. 56 See Matrice 1, 130r. 57 So there are no gaps of registrations as stated; Vella, xvii. 58 ACG Archivum Cathedrale Gaudisiense, Bapt 2; Matr 1, and Mort Emmaus 14 ( )

17 of Saint George but started recording his baptisms in the Primus Liber of the Matrice. The second block of registrations in the table of the register s contents supra, from folio 124r to 190v, refers to the administration of sacraments exclusively at Saint George. There is no amalgamation of fascicles 59 but simply the use of blank folios in the Primus Liber. Don Angelo continued to register the sacraments administered at his parish in the Primus Liber of the Matrice until On 29 October of that year he started a register exclusively for his own parish. 60 This is the earliest register of Saint George Parish. In 1980, when I started making extensive use of the parish registers for my research, they were still unnumbered. So I suggested to Archpriest Emmanuel Mercieca (24 Dec Aug 2000) to enumerate the volumes. He immediately acceded to my wish and accepted another proposal. I explained to him that as part of the contents of the Primus Liber were related to Saint George, it would be appropriate that at least the first Baptism register at his parish be given the number two to better reflect the church s history. The subsequent registers in the two Victoria parishes resume as follows. The Cathedral: ACG, Bapt, 2 (28 Aug May 1646) ACG, Matr, 1 (08 Nov Jul 1771) ACG, Mort, 1 (20 Aug Jul 1761) Saint George: APG, Bapt, 2 (29 Oct Jul 1680) APG, Matr, 1 (08 Aug Aug 1710) APG, Mort (18 Aug May 1683) The Deaths between 1626 and 1683 are recorded in the register APG, Bapt, 2; and eventually, separately: APG, Mort, 1 (20 May Dec 1760) 59 As stated by Vella, xv. xviii. 60 APG Archivum Paroeciale Sancti Georgii, Bapt 2. Emmaus 14 ( ) 17

18 8 The first entries The following transcriptions and translations of each of the first entries provide an idea of the registrations that are not always easy to transcribe and understand. 61 The first entry in the register is the baptism of Ioanna De Manueli on 27 September It is thus recorded (fig. 2): Io do[n] Leonardo de Cace curato baptizai a Joanna f[iglia] de Nic[ol]ò de Manueli / li p[at]rini foro Paulo Vella [per] la porta, Do[n] Iac[ob]o Tavula in fonte, et Ant[onio] Teobaldo in evangelio. I, Don Leonardo de Cace, curate, baptized Joanna, daughter of Nicolò de Manueli / the sponsors were Paulo Vella at the door, Don Iacobo Tavula [D Avola] at the font, and Antonio Teobaldo at the gospel. fig. 2 The first Baptism registration. The old baptism rite required three sponsors. The first sponsor, at the narthex or entrance of the church, accompanied the candidate of baptism who was not yet a member of the church, during the introductory rite and the ceremony of exorcism. The second, at the font, held the candidate as the priest poured water over the head three times, once after each mention of the Divine Persons. After the actual celebration of baptism, the child was moved to the gospel side of the altar, where the third sponsor attested the anointing with chrism and the placing of a white line on the head. The sponsor finally received a burning candle, symbol of the Light of Christ transmitted through the teachings in the gospel. 61 The names in Vella are translated from the original Maltese, Sicilian, Italian, or Latin into English. Such translation becomes problematic when the parish priest transcribed rare Maltese names as Żrajżra into Italian Zirayzira (69v), rightly translated by Vella (p152) as Lazzarina; but it is difficult to arrive at the original from the translated name. 62 Matrice 1, 1r. 18 Emmaus 14 ( )

19 Don Iacobo Tavula who appears many times in this register might have come to Gozo after 1551 from Avola, a city and comune in the province of Syracuse, Sicily. The next baptism took place on 25 March 1555; a proof that four years after the Siege, the island was still sparsely populated. The first wedding was celebrated on 25 December and is thus recorded (fig. 3): Fu fatto matrimonio per verba de presenti infra Ioannes Curmi et Angela figlia di Ioanni Muscato presenti Dominus Laurentio Apapis et Dominus Iacobo Tavola inguag[g]iati et sposati. A wedding took place and is confirmed by the present [writing] between Ioannes Curmi and Angela, daughter of Ioannes Muscat; the witnesses being Don Lorenzo Apapis and Don Iacobo Tavola, without impediments and duly married. fig. 3 The first Marriage registration. The new marriage regulations codified by the Council six years later are already reflected in this first marriage registration by the emphasis upon inguaggiati et sposati. This infers that the parish priest had checked that the couple was marriageable before exchanging rings. Inguag[g]iati from Sicilian inguag[g]iari, refers specifically to the placing of the ring by the bridegroom on the ring finger of the bride. 64 By extension, the word means that there were no impediments to marry. It is interesting to note that the two marriage witness were priests; Don Lorenzo Apapis and, the already mentioned Don Iacobo Tavola. Again, the 63 Matrice 1, 102r. 64 See Vocabolario Siciliano, fondato da Giorgio Piccitto, diretto da Giovanni Tropea, III, Catania-Palermo 1990, 230. Emmaus 14 ( ) 19

20 depopulation of the 1551 was still sorely felt; almost three years would pass before the second marriage was celebrated on 2 February Bishop Thomas Gargallo confirmed 198 persons, children, adolescents, and adults, at the Matrice on 2 July 1579 on the occasion of his pastoral visit to the Matrice Ecclesia Gaulitana. 66 The following is the first registration (fig. 4): Iulia f[igli]a Ambrosio Vagnolo et Luisa Vella; co[m]pater D. Leonardus Dallo. Julia daughter of Ambrosio Vagnolo and Luisa Vella; the sponsor [being] D. Leonardo Dallo. fig. 4 The first Confirmation registration. This was possibly the first Confirmation to take place in Gozo after the 1551 Siege; this is inferred from the large number of persons confirmed. The Death records do not start until 11 December Previous records were either lost or not kept. The following is the first registration (fig. 5): 65 Matrice 1, 102r. 66 Matrice 1, 51r. 67 Matrice 1, 122r. 20 Emmaus 14 ( )