The recent opening up of the Maltese Notarial Archives marks an important step for Maltese and Mediterranean historical studies. Researchers had always found this archive difficult, if not at times impossible, to consult and this mostly due to its inaccessible state. Being legal in nature, the documents are a unique and veritable mine of information for the socio-economic historian. They not only provide evidence of an uninterrupted series of daily trading activities from the late fifteenth century to date but also shed light on various laws, customs and traditions which have moulded Maltese society through the centuries. The acts of notaries working in and around the harbour area are a significant source for establishing prevailing economic patterns.

This book has traced the impact of the arrival of the Knights Hospitaller on Malta's economic activity during the period 1530–65. The focus has been on specific topics which both enlighten local historiography and allow for comparative analysis with similar issues in play in other countries. The paths chosen by particular sections of the local population have been traced, including a number of new settlers such as the Rhodiot community that followed the Order from the Dodecanese island of Rhodes. Additionally, wherever possible, it has followed the route of foreign traders, whether Christian or Muslim. The case studies support the central argument that the presence of a naval power, the Knights Hospitaller, generated a variety of economic activities which led to the creation of a vibrant, monetarised economy based on trade. The trade which flourished in the late sixteenth century and which is often referred to in Maltese historiography had a precedent which was interrupted only by the Ottoman siege of 1565.

Even though the fundamental reason for the existence of the Knights of St John had substantially diminished by the beginning of the sixteenth century, their naval presence and power in the Mediterranean were not an anachronism. With Malta as a base for their constant naval activities, especially those targeted against the Barbary corsairs, they managed to adapt themselves to the exigencies of the times. The acts of Notary Bartholomeo Selvagi de Via drawn up in Malta in 1530 bear witness to the Knights’ immediate participation in an ‘undeclared’, low-level holy war which justified their raison d'être in the eyes of their European benefactors.