Digitising Malta

The Malta Study Center of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library announces that it will resume manuscript preservation work in Malta:

On Oct. 23, Dr. Theresa M. Vann, The Joseph S. Micallef Curator of the Malta Study Center, will sign a contract with Mr. Charles J. Farrugia, national archivist of Malta, to digitize the Magna Curia Castellaniae collection held in the Banca Giuratale, Mdina. The event will be under the patronage of the Hon. Dr. Louis Galea, minister of Education, Youth and Employment.

The Magna Curia Castellaniae is the archives of the central law court of the Knights of Malta. This court had jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases on the islands of Malta and Gozo. The archives consist of 1,411 volumes plus various registers and indexes, dating from 1543 until 1798. They are a tremendous source of information for the social and economic history of the Maltese people under the administration of the Knights of Malta.

The Malta Study Center of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library has already microfilmed the Archives of the Knights of Malta, held in the National Library of Malta. The archives date back to the 12th century, and are an important source for the history of crusading warfare and Mediterranean culture. In 1988, the Library wanted to microfilm the Magna Curia Castellaniae as part of the project, but the archives were housed in a different place and the estimated costs were too high.

“Now the time is right,” said Vann. “We have just successfully completed an NEH Challenge Grant to endow the Center, which means that we can budget for on-going preservation work. HMML has switched to digital technology, which is more economical and gives faster results than microfilming. Malta has a very rich archival heritage, which comparatively few people outside the country know about. I hope that this is just the start, and that more opportunities will occur to both preserve and provide access to Malta’s history.”...