Misplaced Pages

#396603

182-587: Żejtun ( Maltese : Iż-Żejtun [ɪz.zɛjˈtuːn] ) is a town in the South Eastern Region of Malta , with a population of 11,218 at the end of 2016. Żejtun is traditionally known as Città Beland , a title conferred by the grandmaster of the Order of the Knights of Malta , Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim in 1797. Before that, the village was known as Casale Santa Caterina , named after its patron saint and parish titular . The old urban cores, called Bisqallin and Ħal Bisbut, largely retain their narrow medieval streets and ancient boundaries. Since at least

364-493: A cholera outbreak led to 84 deaths in the city out of a total population of 5,491. These were concentrated in the highest part town, near a windmill in the "upper casal, or el rahal ta' fuk. " Most of the fishermen who worked out of Marsaxlokk bay hailed from Żejtun, commuting back and forth from the shore. Around 1846, the first houses began to be built in Marsaxlokk, as fishermen from Żejtun settled there permanently. Eventually,

546-617: A single deck polacre , named Zeitun . As Malta's economy shifted to the servicing of the Royal Navy , much of the islands' commercial activity moved to the fortified cities around the harbour . The importance of the town declined gradually over time. A venture by the British Irish and Colonial Silk Company to introduce silk production in Malta led to the planting of many mulberry trees in Żejtun in 1826, along Triq l-Aħħar Ħbit mit-Torok. Over

728-671: A vassal state under the Spanish viceroy of Sicily . The Hospitallers were one of the smallest groups to have colonized parts of the Americas, briefly acquiring four Caribbean islands in the mid-17th century, which they turned over to France in the 1660s. The knights became divided during the Protestant Reformation , when rich commanderies of the order in northern Germany and the Netherlands became Protestant and largely separated from

910-469: A Roman villa . The parish of Żejtun is one of the oldest on the islands and already existed in 1436. The original parish church was built in the 12th century, and rebuilt in 1492. The current mayor is Doris Abela. The archpriest is Fr Nicholas Pace. The etymology of Żejtun has been studied over the ages. It takes its name from the Sicilian Arabic for olive – zaytun ( Arabic : الزيتون ) – one of

1092-625: A century before Christ by the high priest Menelaus and the Greek King Antiochus of Jerusalem, with financing from Judas Maccabeus , and that it was first headed by Saint Stephen and had been visited by Christ and the Apostles. A historian of the Order in the 13th century wrote that this version was not true. In any case, the Hospitallers rose to fame and prestige in a short amount of time. By

1274-404: A chair during religious functions. The locals began to use the tokens as currency, until they were banned by the authorities. The tokens were collected back and stored in the parish treasury, and were forgotten. They were rediscovered in 2011, with the parish selling them to fund the restoration of the church's chandeliers. They have since become collectors' items. Part of Żejtun's school served as

1456-586: A decisive victory against a numerically superior force that made use of firearms. When the Ottomans departed, the Hospitallers had but 600 men able to bear arms. The most reliable estimate puts the number of the Ottoman army at its height at some 40,000 men, of whom 15,000 eventually returned to Constantinople. The siege is portrayed vividly in the frescoes of Matteo Pérez in the Hall of St. Michael and St. George, also known as

1638-581: A direct part in supporting the Malta native Iacob Heraclid who, in 1561, established a temporary foothold in Moldavia . The Hospitallers also continued their maritime actions against Muslims and especially the Barbary pirates . Although they had only a few ships, they quickly drew the ire of the Ottomans , who were unhappy to see the order resettled. In 1565 Suleiman sent an invasion force of about 40,000 men to besiege

1820-520: A field wall. More remains may survive beneath the soil, since an excavation in 1917 was superficial. These sites remained in use during the Bronze Age , as well as during later historical periods. Pottery shards possibly carrying the inscribed name of the Phoenician god Ashtart were also found. Other minor remains, now lost, include a menhir towards Marsascala and a stone circle at Bir id-Deheb. Along

2002-407: A general vow by the populace on their deliverance from a great plague in 1519. Recent studies have concluded that the procession was first held in 1543 by Bishop Cubelles, in response to a papal call for prayers for peace. Originally the feast was held on 12 March, later moving to Easter Wednesday . The procession included the respective clergy from all the islands' towns and villages, the canons of

SECTION 10

#1732884434397

2184-481: A group of irregulars, Vincenzo Borg "Brared". The meeting was not held due to the latter's ill health. In recognition of the villagers’ participation in the revolt against the French, a garden was built in 1802 by Alexander Ball , then British High Commissioner, as a gift to the leading representative of Żejtun, Ġuzè Abela. The garden, named Ġnien il-Kmand , served for administrative and embellishment purposes. The garden

2366-626: A hospital in the Second World War , also housing the Dorsetshire Regiment . The number of victims from Żejtun during this war amounted to 113, with the city suffering a number of air raids due to its relative proximity with the dockyards. A marble plaque in the main square commemorates a particular air raid on the city. After the war, a number of urbanisation projects were designed around Żejtun. These include housing estates in Ġebel San Martin, Ħal Tmin and Ta' Ganza. Home ownership schemes and

2548-416: A large number of borrowings from Romance sources ( Sicilian , Italian , and French ) and, more recently, Germanic ones (from English ). The historical source of modern Maltese vocabulary is 52% Italian/Sicilian, 32% Arabic/Siculo-Arabic, and 6% English, with some of the remainder being French. Today, most function words are Arabic, so despite only making up about a third of the vocabulary, they are

2730-466: A long time now nothing at all. We only have something to keep us going, Sire, in your own Kingdom and in Spain. Maltese authorities did not mention the fact that they were making a substantial profit policing the seas and seizing infidel ships and cargoes. The authorities on Malta immediately recognised the importance of corsairing to their economy and set about encouraging it, as despite their vows of poverty,

2912-488: A mass is celebrated by the Cathedral Chapter's dean, with the archbishop presiding the ceremony. Traditionally, after the ceremony those in attendance go to the nearby harbour of Marsaxlokk for their first swim of the year. Traditional food stands and fairs are held throughout the day. Historically, it used to be customary for the bridegrooms to take their spouses to this feast as part of their marriage contract. By 1575,

3094-514: A mass meeting in the town, traditionally regarded as a staunch blue collar area dominated by the Labour party . The incidents sparked some of the most serious episodes of political violence in Malta and eventually, a crucial constitutional amendment guaranteeing majority rule . The confrontations took place on the main road approaching the town, known as Tal-Barrani . Reconciliation and peace, however, prevailed. In recent years, Żejtun has benefited from

3276-771: A monastery in Jerusalem, near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre . The monastery, known as the abbey of St Mary of the Latins (to distinguish them from local Syriac Orthodox Church hierarchy), was served by the Order of Saint Benedict and took in Christian pilgrims travelling to visit the Christian holy sites. The increase in the number of pilgrims led the Benedictine monks to establish two hospitals in

3458-478: A more militarized force. In 1334, they fought an attempted invasion by Andronicus and his Turkish auxiliaries, and in 1374 they took over the defence of nearby Smyrna on the Anatolian coast, which had been conquered by a crusade in 1344 ; the knights held the city until it was besieged and taken by Timur in 1402. On the peninsula of Halicarnassus (present-day Bodrum ), the knights reinforced their position with

3640-507: A number of batteries to protect the city. By the end of December 1799, the bulk of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot was stationed in the city, with advanced posts at Żabbar, and San Rocco Battery close to the coast. In case of a French incursion from behind the Cottonera Lines , the Maltese troops in Żabbar were to pull back rapidly and concentrate their forces on Żejtun. The town

3822-411: A number of infrastructural projects and road upgrades, including the opening of Malta's first segregated bidirectional bike lane linking Żejtun to Żabbar. The Malta Business Registry inaugurated its head office in Żejtun in 2019. A local NGO, Wirt iż-Żejtun , successfully pressured government to withdraw plans to extend Bulebel industrial estate over nearby farmland, in order to protect the heritage of

SECTION 20

#1732884434397

4004-566: A number of years, was tightly regulated as the island's government attempted to haul in the unscrupulous knights and appease the European powers and limited benefactors. Yet these efforts were not altogether successful, as the Consiglio del Mer received numerous complaints around the year 1700 of Maltese piracy in the region. Ultimately, the rampant over-indulgence in privateering in the Mediterranean

4186-513: A principal residence for Maltese merchants in the late seventeenth century. Around 19% of Maltese merchants in El Puerto de Santa María , Andalusia in 1791 came from Żejtun. In 1771, of the total number of Maltese merchants in Valencia , 55% of merchants came from Senglea or Cospicua, while 32% resided in Żejtun. Such was the city's importance to commerce that seventeenth century contemporaries requested

4368-933: A sample of 1,821 Quranic Arabic roots were found in Maltese, considerably lower than that found in Moroccan (58%) and Lebanese (72%) varieties of Arabic. An analysis of the etymology of the 41,000 words in Aquilina's Maltese–English Dictionary shows that 32% of the Maltese vocabulary is of Arabic origin, although another source claims 40%. Usually, words expressing basic concepts and ideas, such as raġel (man), mara (woman), tifel (boy), dar (house), xemx (sun), sajf (summer), are of Arabic origin. Moreover, belles-lettres in Maltese aim to maximise their use of vocabulary belonging to this group. Notes: * from Arabic استقصى ( istaqṣā ) "to investigate", ** from Arabic اشتاق ( ištāqa ) "to yearn for ". Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of

4550-658: A separate entity from the monastery when he reformed the Catholic hierarchy in Palestine , and a step towards this was taken by Pope Paschal II when he recognized the abbey of St Mary as a church of the Holy See , placing it under his protection and exempting it from paying tithes on its land, on 19 June 1112. The monastic Hospitaller Order was formally created when the Pope issued the papal bull Pie postulatio voluntatis on 15 February 1113 to

4732-491: A slow re-Christianisation process began with monks from the monastery of Saint Basil arriving to Malta from Sicily and Pantelleria . These were devoted to various saints, particularly Saint George and Saint Catherine of Alexandria . The devotion towards the latter led to the dedication of a number of chapels to the saint. One of these was the Church of Saint Catherine of Bisqallin, now known as Saint Gregory's church. This church

4914-457: A variety of historical Arabic that has no diglossic relationship with Classical or Modern Standard Arabic . Maltese is thus classified separately from the 30 varieties constituting the modern Arabic macrolanguage . Maltese is also distinguished from Arabic and other Semitic languages since its morphology has been deeply influenced by Romance languages , namely Italian and Sicilian . The original Arabic base comprises around one-third of

5096-464: A ḡ fir lanā ḏ unūbanā , kamā na ḡ firu na ḥ nu ʔ ay ḍ an lil-muḏnibīn ʔ ilaynā. wa lā tud ḵ ilna fī tajāriba , lākin najjinā min a š-š irrīr. ʔā mīn hab lan lahmo d-sunqonan yowmono washbuq lan hawbayn wahtohayn aykano doph hnan shbaqan l-hayobayn lo ta`lan l-nesyuno elo paso lan men bisho Amin Although the original vocabulary of Maltese was Siculo-Arabic , it has incorporated

5278-507: Is Frott iż-Żebbuġ Ismi , meaning that the city derives its name from the fruit of the olive tree. The core of Żejtun is located on a hill, rising 60 metres (197 feet) above sea level . The promontory is marked to the north by Wied iz-Ziju, which separates Żejtun from Tarxien and the outlying high ground. Another valley, Wied iż-Żring, is partly obscured by the Bulebel industrial zone, and an old road which links Tarxien to Żejtun, as well as by

5460-531: Is a Semitic language derived from late medieval Sicilian Arabic with Romance superstrata . It is spoken by the Maltese people and is the national language of Malta , and the only official Semitic and Afroasiatic language of the European Union . Maltese is considered a North African dialect of Colloquial Arabic that was brought to Malta by Arab and Berber ( Aghlabids ), who in 869/870 CE seized control of

5642-399: Is a major centre on the islands, with a significant contribution to the islands' history, arts and commerce. One of the country's principal industrial estates, Bulebel , can be found on the city's borders. Żejtun contains a number of important heritage sites, such as St Catherine's Parish Church , St Catherine's Old Church – known as St Gregory's, numerous votive chapels, and the remains of

Żejtun - Misplaced Pages Continue

5824-576: Is descended from Siculo-Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family . In the course of its history , Maltese has been influenced by Sicilian, Italian, to a lesser extent by French , and more recently by English. Today, the core vocabulary (including both the most commonly used vocabulary and function words ) is Semitic, with a large number of loanwords . Due to the Sicilian influence on Siculo-Arabic, Maltese has many language contact features and

6006-849: Is distinctive word-medially and word-finally in Maltese. The distinction is most rigid intervocalically after a stressed vowel. Stressed, word-final closed syllables with short vowels end in a long consonant, and those with a long vowel in a single consonant; the only exception is where historic *ʕ and *ɣ meant the compensatory lengthening of the succeeding vowel. Some speakers have lost length distinction in clusters. The two nasals /m/ and /n/ assimilate for place of articulation in clusters. /t/ and /d/ are usually dental , whereas /t͡s d͡z s z n r l/ are all alveolar. /t͡s d͡z/ are found mostly in words of Italian origin, retaining length (if not word-initial). /d͡z/ and /ʒ/ are only found in loanwords, e.g. /ɡad͡zd͡zɛtta/ "newspaper" and /tɛlɛˈviʒin/ "television". The pharyngeal fricative /ħ/

6188-407: Is known about Żejtun under Arab rule. Outside Mdina and possibly Birgu , hardly any village existed. However, a number of Late Medieval place-names in the general area of Żejtun, such as Bir id-Deheb, Ħajt il-Wied , Tal-Ħotba and Bulebel il-Kbir serve to highlight the intensity with which the area was used. One such name, il-Minżel, in Bulebel iż-Żgħir, can be translated as 'field at the descent' or

6370-654: Is less distant from its Siculo-Arabic ancestor than is Standard Maltese. Voiceless stops are only lightly aspirated and voiced stops are fully voiced. Voicing is carried over from the last segment in obstruent clusters ; thus, two- and three-obstruent clusters are either voiceless or voiced throughout, e.g. /niktbu/ is realised [ˈniɡdbu] "we write" (similar assimilation phenomena occur in languages like French or Czech). Maltese has final-obstruent devoicing of voiced obstruents and word-final voiceless stops have no audible release , making voiceless–voiced pairs phonetically indistinguishable in word-final position. Gemination

6552-454: Is likely that the Hospitallers were inspired by them to have their own knights. A charter made for a gift to the Hospital of St John in a Christian army on 17 January 1126 recorded that a brother from the Order was present as a witness and that he held a military title. Raymond du Puy , who succeeded Gerard as master of the hospital in 1120, is credited with establishing the military element of

6734-737: Is most commonly described as a language with a large number of loanwords. Maltese has historically been classified in various ways, with some claiming that it was derived from ancient Punic (another Semitic language) instead of Siculo-Arabic, and others claiming it is one of the Berber languages (another language family within Afroasiatic). Less plausibly, Fascist Italy classified it as regional Italian . Urban varieties of Maltese are closer to Standard Maltese than rural varieties, which have some characteristics that distinguish them from Standard Maltese. They tend to show some archaic features such as

6916-404: Is part of the supercontinent of Eurasia'), while not understanding a single word of a basic sentence such as Ir-raġel qiegħed fid-dar ('The man is in the house'), which would be easily understood by any Arabic speaker. At that time Malta was thoroughly Arabized. The conquerors brought to the island the vulgar (colloquial) variation of Arabic, not the classical one (Classical Arabic), Therefore

7098-502: Is said to them in Maltese. This reported level of asymmetric intelligibility is considerably lower than the mutual intelligibility found between other varieties of Arabic. Maltese has always been written in the Latin script , the earliest surviving example dating from the late Middle Ages . It is the only standardised Semitic language written exclusively in the Latin script. The origins of

7280-856: Is the Lord's Prayer in Maltese compared to other Semitic languages ( Arabic and Syriac ) with cognates highlighted: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen Ħobżna ta' kuljum agħtina llum . Aħfrilna dnubietna , bħal ma naħfru lil min hu ħati għalina . U la ddaħħalniex fit-tiġrib , iżda eħlisna mid-deni. Ammen ʔabāna , alla ḏ i fī as-samāwāt , li- yataqaddas ismuka , li- yaʔti malakūtuka, li-takun ma šī ʔatuka, kamā fī as-samāʔi ka ḏ ālika ʕa lā al-ar ḍ . ḵ ubzana kafāfanā ʔaʕṭi nā alyawm , wa

7462-524: Is the name of the lower part of the city, is traditionally linked with the arrival of Sicilian settlers, however this claim is contested by modern historians who link it with the diminutive form for Ħal Baskal or Baskal iż-Żgħir . Over time, the name was also corrupted into the Italian Casal Pasqualino . Żejtun shares its name with a number of settlements and areas in Greece , North Africa and

Żejtun - Misplaced Pages Continue

7644-425: Is velar ( [ x ] ), uvular ( [ χ ] ), or glottal ( [ h ] ) for some speakers. Maltese has five short vowels, /ɐ ɛ ɪ ɔ ʊ/ , written a e i o u; six long vowels, /ɐː ɛː ɪː iː ɔː ʊː/ , written a, e, ie, i, o, u, all of which (with the exception of ie /ɪː/ ) can be known to represent long vowels in writing only if they are followed by an orthographic għ or h (otherwise, one needs to know

7826-562: The Ad providam bull that turned over much of their property to the Hospitallers. At Rhodes, and later Malta, the resident knights of each langue were headed by a bailiff . The English Grand Prior at the time was Philip De Thame , who acquired the estates allocated to the English langue from 1330 to 1358. On Rhodes, the Hospitallers, by then also referred to as the Knights of Rhodes , were forced to become

8008-450: The Cathedral and the bishop , who assembled together – initially starting from Mdina, but later beginning at Raħal Ġdid , or Tarxien , thence walking to Żejtun. On their way, the whole company joined in the litany , as pronounced by the chief priest of each confraternity. On their arrival at Żejtun, the procession visited the church of Saint Gregory. At a particular point of the ceremony,

8190-555: The County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch . Those notably included the Krak des Chevaliers in 1142, which they received from Raymond II, Count of Tripoli . According to one estimate the Hospitallers had 25 castles as of 1180. In addition to defending them, the Hospitallers also undertook construction projects to build new castles or repair and expand existing ones, with an example of

8372-641: The Italo-Normans ended Arab rule of the islands, a written form of the language was not developed for a long time after the Arabs' expulsion in the middle of the thirteenth century. Under the rule of the Knights Hospitaller , both French and Italian were used for official documents and correspondence. During the British colonial period , the use of English was encouraged through education, with Italian being regarded as

8554-597: The Johanniterorden to its continuing place as the chief non-Roman Catholic branch of the Knights Hospitaller. The Knights of Malta had a strong presence within the Imperial Russian Navy and the pre- revolutionary French Navy . When Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy was appointed governor of the French colony on Saint Kitts in 1639, he was a prominent Knight of St. John and dressed his retinue with

8736-463: The Near East . Today, Bisqallin (Biskallin) is known as ir-raħal t'isfel , the 'lower village', while Ħal Bisbut is referred to as ir-raħal ta' fuq , the 'upper village.' The historic motto of the city of Żejtun is Palladis clara munera, indicating the town's position on a hill gifted it with clear and commanding views over the south eastern part of Malta. The motto according to the Żejtun Local Council

8918-445: The Order , reference is always made to the parish or chapel of St. Catherine. The name Żejtun began to refer to the town, instead of a district or contrada , by the 1650s. Over the centuries, the region of Żejtun included a number of smaller settlements and villages. Casale Santa Caterina, Ħal Bisbut, Ħal Ġwann, and Bisqallin were used interchangeably to refer to both specific areas, or to the whole settlement. The name Bisqallin, which

9100-547: The Ottoman -endorsed Barbary pirates operating out of North Africa. Boosted by an air of invincibility following the successful defence of their island in 1565, and compounded by the Christian victory over the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the knights set about protecting Christian merchant shipping to and from the Levant and freeing the captured Christian slaves who formed

9282-518: The Public Library was established in 1761. The University was founded seven years later, followed, in 1786, by a School of Mathematics and Nautical Sciences. Despite these developments, some of the Maltese grew to resent the Order, which they viewed as a privileged class. This even included some of the local nobility , who were not admitted to the Order. In Rhodes, the knights had been housed in auberges (inns) segregated by Langues. This structure

SECTION 50

#1732884434397

9464-916: The Sovereign Military Order of Malta , the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John , the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Chivalric Order of Saint John , the Order of Saint John in the Netherlands , and the Order of Saint John in Sweden . In 603, Pope Gregory I commissioned the Ravennate Abbot Probus, who was previously Gregory's emissary at the Lombard court, to build a hospital in Jerusalem to treat and care for Christian pilgrims to

9646-517: The diaspora . Most speakers also use English. The largest diaspora community of Maltese speakers is in Australia , with 36,000 speakers reported in 2006 (down from 45,000 in 1996, and expected to decline further). The Maltese linguistic community in Tunisia originated in the 18th century. Numbering several thousand in the 19th century, it was reported to be only 100 to 200 people as of 2017. Maltese

9828-779: The label of a dialect , and is similar to many accents of the south east of Malta. In Maltese this is termed as Żejtuni and by the speakers as Żejtewnij . The dialect is spoken by local inhabitants and those in neighbouring settlements around the city, such as Marsaxlokk. Żejtun is considered the hub of Maltese folk singing, l-għana and the city has given Malta many of its most respected folk singers. These include Pawlu Seychell l-Għannej (1907–1992), Pawlu Degabriele il-Bies (1908–1980), Mikiel Abela il-Bambinu (1920–1991), Żaren Mifsud Ta' Vestru (1924–1999), and Frans Baldacchino il-Budaj (1943–2006). Famous contemporary Żejtun folksingers include Fredu Abela iż-Żejtuni and Mikiel Cutajar is-Superstar. An important event taking place in

10010-617: The "Land of Severin" ( Terra de Zeurino ), along with the nearby mountains, from Béla IV of Hungary , as shown by a charter of grant issued on 2 June 1247. The Banate of Severin was a march , or border province, of the Kingdom of Hungary between the Lower Danube and the Olt River , today part of Romania, and back then bordered across the Danube by a powerful Bulgarian Empire . The Hospitaller hold on

10192-499: The 'field at the house,' with the word manzil meaning a resting place, a place of alighting, settlement or abode. A large number of place-names implies the accessibility of the land, and therefore its use. Hence, the area was extensively used, with the Arabs using the established agroindustrial infrastructure as the basis for their presence in Malta and Gozo. With the Norman occupation of 1091 and re-establishment of Latin rule in 1127,

10374-446: The 1980s, together with a grammar, the Regole per la Lingua Maltese , attributed to a French knight named Thezan. The first systematic lexicon is that of Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis , who also wrote the first systematic grammar of the language and proposed a standard orthography . Ethnologue reports a total of 530,000 Maltese speakers: 450,000 in Malta and 79,000 in

10556-451: The 19th century, the name Żejtun, or Casale Zeitoun , has referred to the settlement which developed around these two core villages. Together with a number of small hamlets in the vicinity, the bulk of the conurbation forms the city of Żejtun, administered by the Żejtun Local Council . Over successive centuries, Żejtun lost to urbanisation a number of villages and hamlets that used to form part of its territory, which originally covered most of

10738-510: The 700 knights and 8,000 soldiers and expel them from Malta and gain a new base from which to possibly launch another assault on Europe. This is known as the Great Siege of Malta . At first the battle went as badly for the Hospitallers as Rhodes had: most of the cities were destroyed and about half the knights killed. On 18 August, the position of the besieged was becoming desperate: dwindling daily in numbers, they were becoming too feeble to hold

10920-606: The Banate was only brief. After the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1291 (the city of Jerusalem had fallen in 1187 ), the Knights were confined to the County of Tripoli and, when Acre was captured in 1291, the order sought refuge in the Kingdom of Cyprus . Finding themselves becoming enmeshed in Cypriot politics, their Master, Guillaume de Villaret , created a plan of acquiring their own temporal domain, selecting Rhodes , then part of

11102-423: The Baptist where Benedictine monks cared for sick, poor, or injured Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land . Blessed Gerard , a lay brother of the Benedictine order, became its head when it was established. After the Christian conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade , the Hospitallers rose in prominence and were recognized as a distinct order by Pope Paschal II in 1113. The Order of Saint John

SECTION 60

#1732884434397

11284-441: The Byzantine Empire. He also reorganised the order into eight langues , or "tongues", corresponding to a geographic or ethno-linquistic area: the Crown of Aragon , Auvergne , Crown of Castile , Kingdom of England , France , Holy Roman Empire , Italy and Provence . Each was administered by a Prior or, if there was more than one priory in the langue, by a Grand Prior. Guillaume's successor, Foulques de Villaret , executed

11466-456: The Catholic main stem, remaining separate to this day ; modern ecumenical relations between the descendant chivalric orders are amicable. The order was suppressed in England, Denmark, and other parts of northern Europe, and was further damaged by Napoleon 's capture of Malta in 1798, after which it dispersed throughout Europe. Today, five organizations continue the traditions of the Knights Hospitaller and have mutually recognised each other:

11648-498: The Conqueror in 1480, who, after capturing Constantinople and defeating the Byzantine Empire in 1453 , made the Knights a priority target. In 1522, an entirely new sort of force arrived: 400 ships under the command of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent deployed as many as 100,000 men to the island, and possibly up 200,000. Under Grand Master Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam , the knights, though well-fortified, only had about 7,000 men-at-arms. The siege lasted six months, after which

11830-465: The Crusaders on 22 August 1153. It is not clear if the role of the Hospitallers was only advisory or if they were involved in the fighting at Ascalon. The Hospitallers and the Knights Templar became the most formidable military orders in the Holy Land. Frederick Barbarossa , the Holy Roman Emperor , pledged his protection to the Knights of St. John in a charter of privileges granted in 1185. The statutes of Roger de Moulins (1187) deal only with

12012-416: The English branch was confiscated in 1540. The German Bailiwick of Brandenburg became Lutheran in 1577, then more broadly Evangelical, but continued to pay its financial contribution to the Order until 1812, when the Protector of the Order in Prussia, King Frederick William III , turned it into an order of merit; in 1852, his son and successor as Protector, King Frederick William IV of Prussia , restored

12194-434: The European states became more complacent about the Order, and more unwilling to grant money to an institution that was perceived to be earning a healthy sum on the high seas. Thus, a vicious cycle occurred, increasing the raids and reducing the grants received from the nation-states of Christendom to such an extent that the balance of payments on the island had become dependent on conquest. The European powers lost interest in

12376-495: The Fatimid garrison at Ascalon , and allowed the Hospitallers to manage one of them in 1136, the castle of Bethgibelin . This castle also allowed them to defend the pilgrim route between Jaffa and Jerusalem. Later in the century, the Hospitallers were given control over more castles in Syria than they had in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In the next several decades after 1136 the Order was granted more castles and towns by nobles that needed assistance in defending them, especially in

12558-493: The French Navy over the long caravans favoured by the Maltese, and if the Knight desired, to indulge in some of the pleasures of a traditional debauched seaport. In return, the French gained and quickly assembled an experienced navy to stave off the threat of the Spanish and their Habsburg masters. The shift in attitudes of the Knights over this period is ably outlined by Paul Lacroix, who states: Inflated with wealth, laden with privileges which gave them almost sovereign powers ...

12740-404: The French Navy proving the most popular destination. This decision went against the knights' cardinal reason for existence, in that by serving a European power directly they faced the very real possibility that they would be fighting against another Roman Catholic force, as in the few Franco-Spanish naval skirmishes that occurred in this period. The biggest paradox is the fact that for many years

12922-484: The Holy Land were built by the Templars and the Hospitallers. At the height of the Kingdom of Jerusalem , the Hospitallers held seven great forts and 140 other estates in the area. The two largest of these, their bases of power in the Kingdom and in the Principality of Antioch , were the Krak des Chevaliers and Margat in Syria. The property of the Order was divided into priories , subdivided into bailiwicks , which in turn were divided into commanderies . As early as

13104-558: The Holy Land. Gerard acquired territory and revenues for his order throughout the Kingdom of Jerusalem and beyond. Under his successor, Raymond du Puy , the original hospice was expanded to an infirmary and by then was subordinated to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Around this time the Hospital of St John became connected with that Church, and documents often referred to "the Holy Sepulchre and

13286-519: The Holy Land. In 800, Emperor Charlemagne enlarged Probus' hospital and added a library to it. About 200 years later, in 1009, the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroyed the hospital and three thousand other buildings in Jerusalem. Merchants from Amalfi in southern Italy were given permission by the Egyptian Fatimid Caliph al-Mustansir Billah ( r.  1036–1094 ) to build

13468-517: The Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( Latin : Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani ), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller ( / ˈ h ɒ s p ɪ t əl ər / ), is a Catholic military order . It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there until 1291, thereafter being based in Kolossi Castle in Cyprus (1302–1310),

13650-500: The Hospital of St John hired knights or foot soldiers after the First Crusade to provide security, before it formally established its own military organization. Knights in western Europe left their horses and weapons to the Hospitallers in their wills in the 1120s, and in the early 1140s Pope Innocent II mentioned that the Hospitallers had "servants" to protect pilgrims. An account from a Hospitaller priest in 16th century stated that as

13832-400: The Hospital of St John of Jerusalem." Initially, the Hospitallers cared for pilgrims as well as others (including Muslims and Jews) in Jerusalem, but the order soon extended to provide pilgrims with an armed escort before eventually becoming a significant military force. Thus, the Order of St. John imperceptibly became militaristic without losing its charitable character. It is possible that

14014-657: The Hospitallers in Germany, into the Principality of Heitersheim , making the Grand Prior of Germany a prince of the Holy Roman Empire with a seat and vote in the Reichstag . The knights would stay in Malta for the next 268 years, transforming what they called "merely a rock of soft sandstone" into a flourishing island with mighty defences, whose capital city, Valletta , would become known as Superbissima , "Most Proud", among

14196-427: The Hospitallers was granted the status of Reichsfürst ( Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ), even though the Order's territory was always south of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1630, he was awarded ecclesiastic equality with cardinals , and the unique hybrid style His Most Eminent Highness , reflecting both qualities qualifying him as a true Prince of the Church . With their diminished strength and relocation to Malta in

14378-577: The Hospitallers, the "eight-pointed cross," is said to have originated in the Byzantine Empire before reaching the Duchy of Amalfi in Italy, and it was later used in Jerusalem by the monks that founded the Hospital of St John. After the Hospitallers moved to Malta, it became known as the Maltese cross . King Fulk of Jerusalem constructed several castles to defend the kingdom's southern border from attacks by

14560-538: The Kingdom of France remained on amicable terms with the Ottoman Empire, the Knights' greatest and bitterest foe and purported sole purpose for existence. Paris signed many trade agreements with the Ottomans and agreed to an informal (and ultimately ineffective) cease-fire between the two states during this period. That the Knights associated themselves with the allies of their sworn enemies shows their moral ambivalence and

14742-413: The Knights boosted the economy, were charitable, and protected against Muslim attacks. Hospitals were among the first projects to be undertaken in Malta, where French soon supplanted Italian as the official language (though the native inhabitants continued to speak Maltese among themselves). The knights also constructed fortresses, watch towers, and naturally, churches. Its acquisition of Malta signalled

14924-429: The Knights were granted the ability to keep a portion of the spoglio , which was the prize money and cargo gained from a captured ship, along with the ability to fit out their own galleys with their new wealth. The great controversy that surrounded the knights' corso was their insistence on their policy of 'vista'. This enabled the Order to stop and board all shipping suspected of carrying Turkish goods and confiscate

15106-595: The Levant. The Norman conquest in 1091 , followed by the expulsion of the Muslims , complete by 1249, permanently isolated the vernacular from its Arabic source, creating the conditions for its evolution into a distinct language. In contrast to Sicily, where Siculo-Arabic became extinct and was replaced by Sicilian , the vernacular in Malta continued to develop alongside Italian, eventually replacing it as official language in 1934, alongside English. The first written reference to

15288-538: The Maltese cavalry and militia. A member of the Żejtun contingent, Clemente Tabone , built a chapel dedicated to St Clement , possibly in commemoration of the deliverance from the attack. This attack confirmed the need of the coastal towers of St Thomas and St Luciano , in Marsascala and Marsaxlokk respectively. Increased population, and the extensive size of the parish led to an eventual reorganisation. On 23 December 1615, Bishop Baldassere Cagliares separated Żabbar from

15470-500: The Maltese language are attributed to the arrival, early in the 11th century, of settlers from neighbouring Sicily, where Siculo-Arabic was spoken, reversing the Fatimid Caliphate 's conquest of the island at the end of the 9th century. This claim has been corroborated by genetic studies, which show that contemporary Maltese people share common ancestry with Sicilians and Calabrians , with little genetic input from North Africa and

15652-504: The Maltese language differs from Classical Arabic in the same way as the Arabic dialects differ from Classical Arabic. the Maltese language also comprises a considerable number of Maghrebi features, in other ways it can be closer to other Arabic dialects, or closer to Classical Arabic than to the other dialects as in the word ra ('to see'). Arabic supplies between 32% and 40% of the language's vocabulary. Żammit (2000) found that 40% of

15834-477: The Maltese language is in a will of 1436, where it is called lingua maltensi . The oldest known document in Maltese, Il-Kantilena ( Xidew il-Qada ) by Pietru Caxaro , dates from the 15th century. The earliest known Maltese dictionary was a 16th-century manuscript entitled "Maltese-Italiano"; it was included in the Biblioteca Maltese of Mifsud in 1764, but is now lost. A list of Maltese words

16016-638: The Maltese vocabulary, especially words that denote basic ideas and the function words , but about half of the vocabulary is derived from standard Italian and Sicilian; and English words make up between 6% and 20% of the vocabulary. A 2016 study shows that, in terms of basic everyday language, speakers of Maltese are able to understand around a third of what is said to them in Tunisian Arabic and Libyan Arabic , which are Maghrebi Arabic dialects related to Siculo-Arabic, whereas speakers of Tunisian Arabic and Libyan Arabic are able to understand about 40% of what

16198-607: The Mdina town-council, or Universitas , against the independent entity centred around the Castrum Maris . Many inhabitants of Birgu , and the neighbouring villages argued that they were not liable to pay taxes to the Mdina town-council, as they fell within Castrum Maris jurisdiction. This was the case with the inhabitants of Żejtun, who refused to pay the taxes due to the Mdina council in 1473. However, as late as 1494, in case of attack

16380-653: The Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail. L-Unjoni hija bbażata fuq il-valuri tar-rispett għad-dinjità tal-bniedem, il-libertà, id-demokrazija, l-ugwaljanza, l-istat tad-dritt u r-rispett għad-drittijiet tal-bniedem, inklużi d-drittijiet ta' persuni li jagħmlu parti minn minoranzi. Dawn il-valuri huma komuni għall-Istati Membri f'soċjetà fejn jipprevalu l-pluraliżmu, in-non-diskriminazzjoni, it-tolleranza, il-ġustizzja, is-solidarjetà u l-ugwaljanza bejn in-nisa u l-irġiel. Below

16562-520: The Order against the laity and the clergy, and the Grandmaster ordered taxmen to start their collections. The tax collectors met immediately with opposition and an uprising began in September in Żejtun, the first village where collection was attempted. The leaders hoped to assemble the people at Marsa, then to march on Valletta as a procession with a cross or some statue of a saint. The parish priest of Żejtun

16744-410: The Order of St John became more wealthy it hired knights to defend its hospitals and pilgrims, and these knights eventually became Hospitallers themselves. It is known that secular knights and soldiers were hired by institutions in Jerusalem to provide protection after 1099, including churches, and some of them later joined military orders. The Order of Knights Templar was founded around 1119-1120 and it

16926-478: The Order. Raymond decided some time before 1136 that Hospitallers could fight to defend the kingdom or to besiege a pagan city. The Knights Hospitaller, like the other military orders, organized its fighting members into the ranks of knight and sergeant . In 1130, Pope Innocent II gave the order its coat of arms , a plain silver cross in a field of red, to differentiate them from the Templars. The other symbol of

17108-473: The Ottoman fleet, was a serious blow. The Turkish commanders, Piali Pasha and Mustafa Pasha, were careless. They had a huge fleet which they used with effect on only one occasion. They neglected their communications with the African coast and made no attempt to watch and intercept Sicilian reinforcements. On 1 September they made their last effort, but the morale of the Ottoman troops had deteriorated seriously and

17290-598: The Sacred Heart set up a children's home in the town. In 1913, Josephine Curmi established a home for girls in Żejtun, which was eventually transferred to its current premises in 1925 - the Jesus of Nazareth Home. The charitable institute was placed under the care and direction of the Missionaries of Jesus of Nazareth. In the 1930s, the Żejtun parish minted 6000 aluminium token coins inscribed Zeitun to use as change when renting

17472-724: The Throne Room, in the Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta ; four of the original modellos , painted in oils by Perez d'Aleccio between 1576 and 1581, can be found in the Cube Room of the Queen's House at Greenwich , London. After the siege a new city had to be built: the present capital city of Malta, named Valletta in memory of the Grand Master who had withstood the siege. In 1607, the Grand Master of

17654-458: The ancient agronomic industries on Malta. This was confirmed by Ciantar, who stated that "...the town was very pleasant, due to the great quantity of olive groves, from whence it got and still retains the name Zeitun, which means olive; there is also the tradition that olive oil in abundant quantity used to be made here." While the Sicilian Arabic word zaytun refers to the fruit of the tree,

17836-576: The area to retain its true name." In his commentary on Maltese history, Gio. Francesco Abela claimed that the eastern half of Malta, from the old city to the coast was often divided into two further halves. To the east, all the land was called Zeitun , while to the other side - that is, from Marsamxett to all the old territory of the Birkirkara parish - the land was called Araar . Abela claims to have seen this notation in plans drawn by Girolamo Cassar , and that these two contrade were covered with

18018-456: The attack was feeble, to the great encouragement of the besieged, who now began to see hopes of deliverance. The perplexed and indecisive Ottomans heard of the arrival of Sicilian reinforcements in Mellieħa Bay. Unaware that the force was very small, they broke off the siege and left on 8 September. The Great Siege of Malta may have been the last action in history in which a force of knights won

18200-497: The availability of housing plots led to increased urban sprawl and congestion. The town, however, retained some of its rural character. As early as 1952, the region around Żejtun was identified as one of the areas best suited for irrigation with treated second-class water. The suitability of the quadrangle between Żejtun, Marsascala, Marsaxlokk and St Thomas' Bay was highlighted because it contained sufficient area of gently sloping land that could be irrigated by gravity. An FAO study in

18382-461: The basis of the Barbary corsairs' piratical trading and navies. This campaign became known as the "corso". Yet the Order soon struggled on a now reduced income. By policing the Mediterranean, they augmented the assumed responsibility of the traditional protectors of the Mediterranean, the naval city states of Venice and Genoa . Further compounding their financial woes; over the course of this period,

18564-492: The beginning of the Order's renewed naval activity. The building and fortification of Valletta, named for Grand Master la Valette , was begun in 1566, soon becoming the home port of one of the Mediterranean's most powerful navies. Valletta was designed by Francesco Laparelli , a military engineer, and his work was then taken up by Girolamo Cassar . The city was completed in 1571. The island's hospitals were expanded as well. The Sacra Infermeria could accommodate 500 patients and

18746-463: The bravery of its people. Four buildings in Żejtun – the old church of St. Gregory, a villa belonging to Bishop Vincenzo Labini , and two villas belonging to Count Agostino Formosa de Fremaux ( Palazzo Fremaux and Villa Arrigo) – were used as hospitals for invalids in the insurgency against the French. Captain Alexander Ball , stayed at Żejtun on 15 January 1799, in order to meet with the leader of

18928-404: The breaches, and the capture of Malta seemed more and more impossible. Many of the Ottoman troops in crowded quarters had fallen ill over the terrible summer months. Ammunition and food were beginning to run short, and the Ottoman troops were becoming increasingly dispirited by the failure of their attacks and their losses. The death on 23 June of skilled commander Dragut , a corsair and admiral of

19110-620: The cargo to be re-sold at Valletta, along with the ship's crew, who were by far the most valuable commodity on the ship. Naturally, many nations claimed to be victims of the knights' over-eagerness to stop and confiscate any goods remotely connected to the Turks. In an effort to regulate the growing problem, the authorities in Malta established a judicial court, the Consiglio del Mer, where captains who felt wronged could plead their case, often successfully. The practice of issuing privateering licenses and thus state endorsement, which had been in existence for

19292-464: The central Mediterranean, the knights found themselves devoid of their founding mission: assisting and joining the crusades in the Holy Land . Revenues subsequently dwindled as European sponsors were no longer willing to support a costly and seemingly redundant organization. The knights were forced to make do with their maritime location and turn to combating the increased threat of piracy, particularly from

19474-408: The city. Żejtun had the largest amount of arable land devoted to food production on the island, amounting to 8,585 acres (3,474 ha), or 15.1% of total land under cultivation. Żejtun was the cotton producing centre of the islands, producing 10,312 cwt ( hundredweights ) of cotton, or 20.8% of the total production in 1836. Such was the importance of the town for commerce, that a local merchant owned

19656-594: The construction of Petronium Castle , utilizing pieces of the partially destroyed Mausoleum at Halicarnassus , one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , to strengthen their rampart. In the 15th century, the knights fought frequently with Barbary pirates , also known as Ottoman corsairs. They withstood two invasions by ascendant Muslim forces, one by the Sultan of Egypt in 1444 and another by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed

19838-403: The construction of a public school in Żejtun, as it was a city where many merchants were to be encountered. In 1797, Grandmaster Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim was invited by the parishioners of Żejtun for the feast of St Catherine. After the feast, Don Giacomo Michele Tortella, in the name of the clergy of Żejtun and the villagers, petitioned the Grandmaster to raise the village of Żejtun to

20020-455: The construction of a three-aisled basilica built atop pagan temples. The basilica remained in use until the Arab invasion of AD 870. The historian Ibn Hawqal wrote about the invasion of AD 870, describing how the whole islands were depopulated. Modern scholars debate whether the invasion marked an outright "ethnic break and not merely a cultural and religious switch on the Maltese islands." Little

20202-455: The crowd exclaimed aloud for three times the word Misericordia . The remaining part of the day was then spent in eating and feasting, and other kinds of amusements. The modern procession begins at the Chapel of Saint Clement, which is just over a kilometre away from the church of Saint Gregory. On the way, it enters the current parish-church of Żejtun, then continuing to Saint Gregory's. On arrival,

20384-507: The current local council was not extended to five years with last elections having been held in May 2019. Żejtun has a secondary school for girls, St Margaret's College, located close to Saint Gregory's Church. The primary school, consists of two primary schools, Żejtun Primary 'A' Dun Alwiġ Camilleri and Żejtun Primary 'B'. A kindergarten school and a church school, Theresa Nuzzo School, can also be found in Żejtun. The Żejtun accent long ago acquired

20566-511: The defeated surviving Hospitallers were allowed to withdraw to Sicily . Despite the defeat, both Christians and Muslims seem to have regarded Phillipe Villiers as extremely valiant, and the Grand Master was proclaimed a Defender of the Faith by Pope Adrian VI . In 1530, after seven years of displacement from Rhodes, Pope Clement VII – himself a knight – reached an agreement with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain and Sicily, to provide

20748-518: The early 1970s confirmed two areas in the South-East Malta, centred around Żejtun, which were deemed suitable for second-class water irrigation. In the 1980s, Żejtun was known for fervent political rivalry which culminated in 1986, with an infamous riot involving supporters of Malta's two main political parties. The clashes took place on 30 November 1986 after the Nationalist party proposed to hold

20930-540: The eastern outskirts of the village, and is known for the Chapel of St Mary of Ħal Tmin . Żejtun is surrounded on all sides by the rural areas of Għaxaq , Marsaxlokk , Żabbar and Marsascala , with a distinct gap existing between Żejtun and the other localities, except in Bir id-Deheb. Żejtun is strategically located between three important ancient harbours, that of Marsa to the north, and those of Marsaxlokk and Marsascala to

21112-529: The emblems of the Order. In 1651, the knights bought from the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique the islands of Sainte-Christophe, Saint Martin , and Saint Barthélemy . The Order's presence in the Caribbean was eclipsed with De Poincy's death in 1660. He had also bought the island of Saint Croix as his personal estate and deeded it to the Knights of St. John. In 1665, the order sold their Caribbean possessions to

21294-493: The exchange rate of the local currencies against the 'scudo' that were established in the late 16th century gradually became outdated, meaning the knights were gradually receiving less at merchant factories. Economically hindered by the barren island they now inhabited, many knights went beyond their call of duty by raiding Muslim ships. More and more ships were plundered, from whose profits many knights lived idly and luxuriously, taking local women to be their wives and enrolling in

21476-449: The expense of his own defences. A wrong decision could mean defeat and exposing Sicily and Naples to the Ottomans. He had left his own son with La Valette, so he could hardly be indifferent to the fate of the fortress. Whatever may have been the cause of his delay, the Viceroy hesitated until the battle had almost been decided by the unaided efforts of the knights, before being forced to move by

21658-563: The fishing village of Marsaxlokk was separated from Żejtun and became a distinct parish in January 1897. As the town of Żejtun continued to develop, the British colonial administration built a police station and a public school. The latter was completed in 1908. Both buildings are built in a Neo-Classical style , synonymous with public buildings under British Rule. A year later, in 1909, the Daughters of

21840-418: The form of a latin cross . The ruins of a chapel dedicated to St. Leonard, dating back to the 1600s, may still exist in the limits of Żejtun. The feast of Saint Gregory was one of the principal traditional feasts on the islands, involving a procession composed of confraternities from all the parishes on the islands. The origin of this feast was unknown for centuries, with the common belief that it related to

22022-400: The great powers of Europe. However, the indigenous islanders were initially apprehensive about the order's presence and viewed them as arrogant intruders; they were especially loathed for taking advantage of local women. Most knights were French and excluded Maltese from serving in the order, even being generally dismissive of local nobility. However, the two groups coexisted peacefully, since

22204-451: The head of the Hospital of St John, Blessed Gerard de Martigues . The Pope subordinated the hospital to his own authority and exempted it from paying tithes on the lands it owned, and gave the right to its professed brothers to elect their master. He also placed several other hospitals and hospices in southern Italy under the governance of the Hospital of St John in Jerusalem, as they were located at port cities from which pilgrims traveled to

22386-486: The importance of a religious army), and thus in the Knights' regular tributes from European nations. That the knights, a chiefly Roman Catholic military order, pursued the readmittance of England as one of its member states – the Order there had been suppressed under King Henry VIII of England during the dissolution of the monasteries – upon the succession of the Protestant queen Elizabeth I of England aptly demonstrates

22568-519: The increasing influence of Romance and English words. In 1992 the academy issued the Aġġornament tat-Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija , which updated the previous works. The National Council for the Maltese Language (KNM) is the main regulator of the Maltese language (see Maltese Language Act, below). However, the academy's orthography rules are still valid and official. Since Maltese evolved after

22750-467: The indignation of his own officers. On 23 August came yet another grand assault, the last serious effort, as it proved, of the besiegers. It was thrown back with the greatest difficulty, even the wounded taking part in the defence. The plight of the Turkish forces was now desperate. With the exception of Fort Saint Elmo , the fortifications were still intact. Working night and day the garrison had repaired

22932-477: The inhabitants of Żejtun were expected to take refuge in Mdina. The villages' lack of defences, and proximity with the sea, made all casali in the south-east of Malta exposed to raids and incursions. The chapel of St Catherine was already a parish church in 1436 as one of the eight mother churches on Malta. This chapel stood halfway between Bisqallin and Ħal Bisbut, a distance of half a mile from each village. This medieval chapel remained in use until 1492, when it

23114-453: The inhabitants. Of the 8,000 eligible voters, around 2,200 voted – roughly 25% of the electorate – of which 1,917 preferred the feast to remain in winter. 348 preferred the feast to be held in summer instead. In that year, the two village bands did not take part in the November feast events. Maltese language Maltese (Maltese: Malti , also L-Ilsien Malti or Lingwa Maltija )

23296-522: The island from the Byzantine Empire. It is also said that it descents from Siculo-Arabic, which developed as a Maghrebi Arabic dialect in the Emirate of Sicily between 831 and 1091. As a result of the Norman invasion of Malta and the subsequent re-Christianization of the islands , Maltese evolved independently of Classical Arabic in a gradual process of latinisation. It is therefore exceptional as

23478-526: The island of Rhodes (1310–1522), Malta (1530–1798), and Saint Petersburg (1799–1801). The Hospitallers arose in the early 12th century at the height of the Cluniac movement , a reformist movement within the Benedictine monastic order that sought to strengthen religious devotion and charity for the poor. Earlier in the 11th century, merchants from Amalfi founded a hospital in Jerusalem dedicated to John

23660-468: The knights as they focused their intentions largely on one another during the Thirty Years' War . In February 1641 a letter was sent from an unknown dignitary in the Maltese capital of Valletta to the knights' most trustworthy ally and benefactor, Louis XIV of France , stating the Order's troubles: Italy provides us with nothing much; Bohemia and Germany hardly anything, and England and the Netherlands for

23842-564: The knights permanent quarters: In exchange for providing Malta, Gozo , and the North African port of Tripoli in perpetual fiefdom , Charles V would receive an annual fee of a single Maltese falcon (the Tribute of the Maltese Falcon ), which they were to send on All Souls' Day to the king's representative, the Viceroy of Sicily. In 1548, Charles V raised Heitersheim , the headquarters of

24024-450: The late 1060s, one for men and one for women, with the former known as the Hospital of St John. They did this with the support of a wealthy Amalfian named Mauro of Pantaleone. In the early 1070s the hospital was visited by Archbishop John of Amalfi during his pilgrimage. In later centuries, to help raise money in Europe, the Order of St John made claims that the hospital had been founded more than

24206-639: The late 12th century, the order had begun to achieve recognition in the Kingdom of England and Duchy of Normandy . As a result, buildings such as St John's Jerusalem and the Knights Gate, Quenington in England were built on land donated to the order by local nobility. An Irish house was established at Kilmainham , near Dublin, and the Irish Prior was usually a key figure in Irish public life. The Knights also received

24388-494: The latter being Krak des Chevaliers. One of the first battles that the Knights Hospitaller fought in was the Siege of Ascalon in 1153. After a group of Knights Templar, led by their Grand Master, Bernard de Tremelay , entered the besieged fortress and were all killed, King Baldwin III of Jerusalem wanted to withdraw, but Raymond du Puy convinced him to continue, and the fort surrendered to

24570-403: The long line of fortifications. But when his council suggested the abandonment of Birgu and Senglea and withdrawal to Fort St. Angelo , Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette refused. The Viceroy of Sicily had not sent help; possibly the Viceroy's orders from Philip II of Spain were so obscurely worded as to put on his own shoulders the burden of the decision whether to help the Order at

24752-459: The main thoroughfare to the parish church. Grandmaster Perellós built a summer residence, Casa Perellos in the narrow streets of Gwiedi, as a country residence during the feast of Saint Gregory. A 1791 report by the Maltese Chamber of Commerce lists Żejtun, along with Valletta and four other cities, as one of the principal trading and commercial centres on the island. In fact, Żejtun was

24934-444: The military brothers, the brothers infirmarians, and the brothers chaplains, to whom was entrusted the divine service. In 1248, Pope Innocent IV (1243–1254) approved a standard military dress for the Hospitallers to be worn during battle. Instead of a closed cape over their armour (which restricted their movements), they wore a red surcoat with a white cross emblazoned on it. Many of the more substantial Christian fortifications in

25116-466: The most used when speaking the language. In this way, Maltese is similar to English , a Germanic language that has been strongly influenced by Norman French and Latin (58% of English vocabulary). As a result of this, Romance language-speakers (and to a lesser extent English speakers) can often easily understand more technical ideas expressed in Maltese, such as Ġeografikament, l-Ewropa hi parti tas-superkontinent ta' l-Ewrasja ('Geographically, Europe

25298-557: The navies of France and Spain in search of adventure, experience, and yet more money. The Knights' changing attitudes were coupled with the effects of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation and the lack of stability from the Roman Catholic Church. All this affected the knights strongly as the 16th and 17th centuries saw a gradual decline in the religious attitudes of many of the Christian peoples of Europe (and, concomitantly,

25480-419: The new commercial-minded nature of the Mediterranean in the 17th century. Serving in a foreign navy, in particular that of the French, gave the Knights the chance to serve the Church and for many, their King, to increase their chances of promotion in either their adopted navy or in Malta, to receive far better pay, to stave off their boredom with frequent cruises, to embark on the highly preferable short cruises of

25662-400: The new religious tolerance within the Order. For a time, the Order even possessed a German langue which was part Protestant or Evangelical and part Roman Catholic. The moral decline that the knights underwent over the course of this period is best highlighted by the decision of many knights to serve in foreign navies and become "the mercenary sea-dogs of the 14th to 17th centuries", with

25844-609: The newly formed Langue, now occupied by the Lands Authority) and Provence (now National Museum of Archaeology ). In the Second World War, the auberge d'Auvergne was damaged (and later replaced by Law Courts) and the auberge de France was destroyed. In 1604, each Langue was given a chapel in the conventual church of Saint John and the arms of the Langue appear in the decoration on the walls and ceiling: The Order may have played

26026-405: The next-most important language. In the late 18th century and throughout the 19th century, philologists and academics such as Mikiel Anton Vassalli made a concerted effort to standardise written Maltese. Many examples of written Maltese exist from before this period, always in the Latin alphabet, Il-Kantilena from the 15th century being the earliest example of written Maltese. In 1934, Maltese

26208-464: The olive tree itself is called zabbūğ or zanbūğ . The Arabic origin of the town's name was again recorded in the first Maltese language dictionary as "Żejtun, in the eastern part of the island of Malta, there is a large, rich and thriving town with this name, which incorporates another area called Bisqallin, and the village of Bisbut. In the Saracen era, there must have been olive groves here, for

26390-445: The order at last became so demoralised by luxury and idleness that it forgot the aim for which it was founded, and gave itself up for the love of gain and thirst for pleasure. Its covetousness and pride soon became boundless. The Knights pretended that they were above the reach of crowned heads: they seized and pillaged without concern of the property of both infidels and Christians." With the knights' exploits growing in fame and wealth,

26572-535: The other using Romance loanwords (from the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe Archived 2015-12-29 at the Wayback Machine , see p. 17 Archived 2020-08-04 at the Wayback Machine ): The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to

26754-418: The parish of Żejtun contained nineteen churches, seven in Żejtun, three in Ħal Għaxaq , five at Żabbar and four rural chapels. On 6 July 1614, a considerable Turkish force of sixty galleys laid anchor at Marsascala and St Thomas' Bay . The Turks pillaged Żejtun , damaging the church of St Gregory's, and the surrounding villages. The attack continued until the Turkish pirates were forced back to their ships by

26936-504: The parish of Żejtun, while Ħal Għaxaq was recognised as a parish on 1 January 1626. Cagliares also built a country house on the edge of the valley between Żejtun and Żabbar. In 1637, Grandmaster Giovanni Paolo Lascaris set out to levy a tax of 50,000 scudi on the Maltese for the construction of the Floriana Lines . The Grandmaster ignored a protest against the tax by the Maltese clergy, lodged with Pope Urban VIII . The Pope sided with

27118-536: The plan to take Rhodes, and on 15 August 1310, after more than four years of campaigning , the city of Rhodes surrendered to the knights. They also gained control of a number of neighbouring islands and the Anatolian port of Halicarnassus and the island of Kastellorizo . Not long after, in 1312, Pope Clement V dissolved the Hospitallers' rival order, the Knights Templar , with a series of papal bulls , including

27300-480: The pronunciation; e.g. nar (fire) is pronounced /nɐːr/ ); and seven diphthongs , /ɐɪ ɐʊ ɛɪ ɛʊ ɪʊ ɔɪ ɔʊ/ , written aj or għi, aw or għu, ej or għi, ew, iw, oj, and ow or għu. The original Arabic consonant system has undergone partial collapse under European influence, with many Classical Arabic consonants having undergone mergers and modifications in Maltese: The modern system of Maltese orthography

27482-566: The realisation of ⟨kh⟩ and ⟨gh⟩ and the imāla of Arabic ā into ē (or ī especially in Gozo), considered archaic because they are reminiscent of 15th-century transcriptions of this sound. Another archaic feature is the realisation of Standard Maltese ā as ō in rural dialects. There is also a tendency to diphthongise simple vowels, e.g., ū becomes eo or eu. Rural dialects also tend to employ more Semitic roots and broken plurals than Standard Maltese. In general, rural Maltese

27664-457: The regiment went on to clear Villa Bighi from French forces and then snatched from under the French held fortifications a large wooden cross, which stood in the front parvis of the abandoned Capuchin Friary at Kalkara . The Friary later hosted a battery manned by Maltese insurgents . The cross, held as a war trophy, was displayed in the main square of the city, as a reminder for future generations of

27846-470: The responsibility of administering one of six districts. Żejtun, along with Għaxaq, Żabbar, Tarxien, Paola, Gudja and Luqa, formed the District of Żejtun . The first Luogotenente di Governo of the Żejtun District was Baron Pascalo Sciberras. Around the beginning of the 19th century, Żejtun continued to be a major contributor to the islands' agrarian economy. Many of the Maltese merchants and traders hailed from

28028-422: The revolt. Around half a century after the reorganisation of the south-eastern parishes, Gregorio Bonnici, a local nobleman, bought a tract of land for the construction of a new parish church . The foundation stone was laid by Bishop Davide Cocco Palmieri on 25 November 1692, with Don Ugolino Bonnici as archpriest. The church was designed by Lorenzo Gafà , with the lateral wings being later additions. The church

28210-473: The service of the sick; the first mention of military service is in the statutes of the ninth grand master, Fernando Afonso of Portugal (about 1200). In the latter, a marked distinction is made between secular knights, externs to the order, who served only for a time, and the professed knights, attached to the order by a perpetual vow, and who alone enjoyed the same spiritual privileges as the other religious. The order numbered three distinct classes of membership:

28392-430: The south eastern part of Malta. The city experienced extensive urbanisation over the 1970s and 1980s, with the completion of numerous infrastructural and urban projects designed to relieve housing pressure in the neighbouring Three Cities area leading to a significant increase of the town's population. The town and its surrounding satellite villages are said to typify the basic Maltese conception of village life. Żejtun

28574-412: The south of Malta. The Local Council is presently represented by Doris Abela (PL) as the Mayor, Joan Agius (PL) as the Vice Mayor, together with seven councillors, namely Amanda Abela (PN), Jesmond Baldacchino (PL), Dorcas Camilleri (PL), Raymond Caruana (PL), Roderick Caruana (PN), Sean Chircop (PL) and Stephania Fenech (PL). The current Executive Secretary to the Town Council is Anton Falzon. The term of

28756-418: The south. The area was occupied since prehistory. Late Neolithic remains were found near the megaliths of Ħal Ġinwi , as well as the megalithic remains at Tas-Silġ , found on a hillock between Żejtun and Marsaxlokk. Remains of the temple at Ħal Ġinwi were found in the vicinity of San Niklaw chapel , between Żejtun and the Tas-Silġ temple. The site is today represented by a few ashlar blocks still visible in

28938-515: The southern edge of Żejtun, excavations led to the discovery of an ancient Roman villa . The remains still contain areas of the original Roman tiling and coloured stucco. The complex was an active settlement since the Bronze Age, although the presently visible remains can be dated from the Punic period right up to Late Antiquity . More evidence of ancient habitation in the area comes from burial grounds , such as those around St Gregory's Church, Tal-Barrani, Tal-Ħotba and Bulebel. The excavation site at

29120-415: The status of a city, on grounds of the town's large size, its established commercial interests and military contribution. The petition was received, and on 30 December 1797, Grandmaster Hompesch recognised Żejtun as a city, granting it the title Ċittà Beland , this being his mother's maiden name. During the French Blockade , Żejtun was garrisoned by Maltese irregulars and British elements. The Maltese built

29302-425: The structure of the Maltese language are recorded in the official guidebook Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija (English: Knowledge on Writing in Maltese ) issued by the Akkademja tal-Malti (Academy of the Maltese language). The first edition of this book was printed in 1924 by the Maltese government's printing press. The rules were further expanded in the 1984 book, iż-Żieda mat-Tagħrif , which focused mainly on

29484-499: The time of the success of the First Crusade in 1099, the Hospital of St John was already well known among pilgrims and was regarded as a separate organization from the monastery of St Mary. The monastic brothers at the hospital saw it as their duty to provide the best possible treatment to the poor. They were given an endowment by Godfrey of Bouillon , the leader of the First Crusade, before he died in 1100. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem , Ghibbelin of Arles , formally recognized it as

29666-400: The town during the year is the feast of St Catherine of Alexandria, which is now celebrated in summer and not in the traditional date of 25 November. On this day Żejtun's two rival musical bands, the Banda Beland and the Żejtun Band, perform in Gregorio Bonnici Square. The anthem dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria, which is played during the feast, was written by Emmanuele Palmier-Cecy, and

29848-403: The two respective trees. The name Żejtun was used to refer to the general south eastern region of Malta. In 1372, for example, King Frederick of Sicily granted fiefs in contrata de lu Zeituni , and again in 1373 in contrata de Lu Zayduni . The use of the name Żejtun for the urban core and town, as used today, does not go back further than the mid-17th century. In population censuses taken by

30030-446: The villa confirms the presence of a thriving olive oil industry at the southern end of the islands. Modern historical studies and topology confirm that the area between Żejtun and Marsaxlokk was covered in vegetation and pasture land. With the collapse of Roman rule in the early 5th century, the Roman villa in Żejtun entered a period of long decay. The Christian religion and Byzantine civilisation , however, clung on at Tas-Silġ, with

30212-440: The widened arterial road of Tal-Barrani. The valley meanders until it reaches the harbour of Marsascala . To the south, the Żejtun promontory is bounded by a gentle slope which then forms the greater port area of Marsaxlokk . The higher ridge of Żejtun is marked by the late medieval chapel of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, known as Saint Gregory's Church , and the important crossroads of Bir id-Deheb. The Ħal Tmin district lies on

30394-401: The years, the trees became so deep-rooted in local history that their stretch of the main road from Fgura to Żejtun became known to locals as Triq iċ-Ċawsli (Mulberry Road). Żejtun was linked with a main aqueduct providing water from Fawwara , with the project commissioned by Governor Henry F. Bouviere . The aqueduct began providing water to the town in 1845. Twenty years later, in 1865,

30576-466: Was alarmed at these preparations, particularly the suggestions to bear arms in the protest, and informed Bishop Miguel Juan Balaguer Camarasa . The Bishop sent the priest to the inquisitor, Fabio Chigi, later Pope Alexander VII , who ordered him to report everything to the grandmaster. The latter imprisoned the lay leaders of the revolt. Acting on Chigi's advice, the grandmaster did not arrest local priests, even if there were suspicions they were involved in

30758-404: Was composed by Don Lorenzo Mifsud. On 3 October 1987, a referendum was held for Żejtun residents to see whether they wished the feast to be moved to summer, instead of its traditional day on 25 November. The referendum was held after a proposal by one of the town's feast organisations. The two village bands refused to have anything to do with the referendum, fearing it might incite division between

30940-452: Was consecrated on 11 May 1742, with the anniversary of the consecration celebrated on the fifth Sunday of Easter. The church became a focal point for the south east of the island, providing new and ample wall space for the artists of the late Maltese Baroque. Artists such as Enrico Regnaud, Gio Nicola Buhagiar and Francesco Zahra all executed works in this church. The latter was the most talented artist of this period, whose presence in Żejtun

31122-426: Was designed by Michele Cachia . The first British governor of the islands , Sir Thomas Maitland , instituted a number of reforms to the administrative and judicial systems of Malta. An important reform set-up local governments, first abolishing the old Luogotenente system by a proclamation issued in 1815. In its place, the post of Luogotenente di Governo was established, with the new official being entrusted with

31304-460: Was famous as one of the finest in the world. In the vanguard of medicine, the Hospital of Malta included Schools of Anatomy, Surgery and Pharmacy. Valletta itself was renowned as a centre of art and culture. The Conventual Church of St. John , completed in 1577, contains works by Caravaggio and others. In Europe, most of the Order's hospitals and chapels survived the Reformation, though not in Protestant or Evangelical countries. In Malta, meanwhile,

31486-400: Was ideally placed for defence, standing on a hill two hundred feet high, and surveying the surrounding countryside all the way to the Three Cities . Moreover, the old town core of Żejtun was easily defended, being a tightly packed maze of houses and narrow streets. During the blockade, the Żejtun regiment mounted an attack on an enemy entrenchment on Fort San Salvatore . During the same attack,

31668-410: Was included in both the Thesaurus Polyglottus (1603) and Propugnaculum Europae (1606) of Hieronymus Megiser , who had visited Malta in 1588–1589; Domenico Magri gave the etymologies of some Maltese words in his Hierolexicon, sive sacrum dictionarium (1677). An early manuscript dictionary, Dizionario Italiano e Maltese , was discovered in the Biblioteca Vallicelliana in Rome in

31850-404: Was introduced in 1924. Below is the Maltese alphabet, with IPA symbols and approximate English pronunciation: Final vowels with grave accents (à, è, ì, ò, ù) are also found in some Maltese words of Italian origin, such as libertà ' freedom ' , sigurtà (old Italian: sicurtà ' security ' ), or soċjetà (Italian: società ' society ' ). The official rules governing

32032-458: Was maintained in Birgu (1530–1571) and then Valletta (from 1571). The auberges in Birgu remain, mostly undistinguished 16th-century buildings. Valletta still has the auberges of Castile and Portugal (1574; renovated 1741 by Grand Master de Vilhena, now the Prime Minister's offices), Italy (renovated 1683 by Grand Master Carafa, now an art museum), Aragon (1571, now a government ministry), Bavaria (former Palazzo Carnerio, purchased in 1784 for

32214-459: Was militarized in the 1120s and 1130s, hiring knights that later became Hospitallers. The organization became a military religious order under its own papal charter, charged with the care and defence of the Holy Land , and fought in the Crusades until the Siege of Acre in 1291. Following the reconquest of the Holy Land by Islamic forces , the knights operated from Rhodes, over which they were sovereign , and later from Malta, where they administered

32396-413: Was rebuilt and enlarged to its present state. This was commemorated by an inscription. The present church was built on the footprint of the old chapel, with the current building's nave now corresponding with the old chapel walls. The chapel was enlarged in 1593 and again in 1603, with the additions of a transept and an altar. With the addition of the transept, this was the first church in Malta to be given

32578-445: Was recognised as an official language. Maltese has both Semitic vocabulary and words derived from Romance languages , primarily Italian . Words such as tweġiba (Arabic origin) and risposta (Italian origin) have the same meaning ('answer') but are both used in Maltese (rather like 'answer' and 'response' in English. Below are two versions of the same translations, one with vocabulary mostly derived from Semitic root words and

32760-407: Was renowned across the islands for its age, being one of the first built in Malta following the end of Saracen rule. In 1223, Emperor Frederick II , ordered the exile of the entire male population of Celano to Sicily and Malta. An established tradition held in both Żejtun and Celano claims that some of these exiles settled down in Żejtun. The island's communal organisation in this period pitted

32942-468: Was secured at an early age because his father, Pietro Paolo, was working on the stone carvings within the same church. The two side naves were finished in 1778. The area in front of the new parish church, which lay between the two old cores, was built up immediately after construction works began on the church. This land, known as Gwiedi, includes a number of palaces, chapels and large houses. Gregorio Bonnici's palace, Aedes Danielis , stands to this day on

33124-411: Was to be the knights' downfall in this particular period of their existence as they transformed from serving as the military outpost of a united Christendom to becoming another nation-state in a commercially oriented continent soon to be overtaken by the trading nations of the North Sea . Even as it survived in Malta, the Order lost many of its European holdings during the Reformation . The property of

#396603