Activities

Classes

Classes in various weapons and styles will be held in Fort St. Angelo through the weekend.

All classes will be held twice, so you can make your own programme without missing any classes you would like to take! Please refer to the list of instructors for more information.

Lecture

As part of our mission to explore and expand the knowledge around the field of historical martial arts, each year we invite a guest speaker to discuss some aspect of the arts or the environment surrounding them. This year's lecture is "Violence and the Order of Malta", by Dr. Emanuel Buttigieg.

In 1699, a group of rebellious Hospitallers threatened to break into the palace of the Bishop of Malta. They were warned that doing so might incur upon them, and the whole Order of St John, the ‘destruction of the Templars’. Violence was synonymous with the Knights Hospitaller as they fought their Muslim enemies across the Mediterranean. It was also ubiquitous within the Order, creating significant discipline challenges. Yet violent behaviour was also part of a cultural repertoire that defined what it meant to be a Hospitaller, a man.

During this lecture, Dr Buttigieg will look at examples of Hospitaller violence in relation to Inquisition officials, to women, to Muslim slaves as well as to other Knights, while trying to discern meanings underlying such interactions.

Emanuel Buttigieg - Biography

Emanuel Buttigieg is a Senior Lecturer in early modern history at the University of Malta. He read History at the Universities of Malta and Cambridge. His books include Nobility, Faith and Masculinity: The Hospitaller Knights of Malta, c.1580–c.1700 (2011), Islands and Military Orders, c.1291–c.1798 (2013), co-edited with Dr Simon Phillips, and Parallel Existences. The Notarial Archives: A Photographer’s Inspiration. Alex Attard (2018), co-edited with Dr Joan Abela. He is Vice-President ex-officio of the Malta University Historical Society (MUHS).

Gala dinner

More information about this year's gala dinner coming soon!