Located approximately in the middle of the central Mediterranean channel, the Maltese Archipelago was touched by the historical events that effected the political, economic and cultural environment of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The islands were close to the major maritime routes throughout history and they were often on the border between clashing military, political, religious, and cultural entities. For these reasons, the islands were presumed to have been strategically and economically important, and, thus, frequented by ships. An underwater archaeological survey around the archipelago revealed the scarcity of submerged cultural remains, especially pertaining to shipping and navigation. Preliminary findings elucidate a story that contrasts with the picture presented by modern history and historiography. In this sense, a comparison of the underwater archaeological data with the information gathered through a detailed study of Maltese maritime history clearly shows that the islands were attributed an exaggerated importance in historical texts, due to political and religious trends that are rooted in the period during which the islands were under the control of the Order of Saint John. An objective investigation of the historical and archaeological material provides a more balanced picture, and places the islands in a Mediterranean-wide historical framework from the first colonization of the archipelago eight thousands years ago to the twentieth century.

Located approximately in the middle of the central Mediterranean channel, the Maltese Archipelago was touched by the historical events that effected the political, economic and cultural environment of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The islands were close to the major maritime routes throughout history and they were often on the border between clashing military, political, religious, and cultural entities. For these reasons, the islands were presumed to have been strategically and economically important, and, thus, frequented by ships. An underwater archaeological survey around the archipelago revealed the scarcity of submerged cultural remains, especially pertaining to shipping and navigation. Preliminary findings elucidate a story that contrasts with the picture presented by modern history and historiography. In this sense, a comparison of the underwater archaeological data with the information gathered through a detailed study of Maltese maritime history clearly shows that the islands were attributed an exaggerated importance in historical texts, due to political and religious trends that are rooted in the period during which the islands were under the control of the Order of Saint John. An objective investigation of the historical and archaeological material provides a more balanced picture, and places the islands in a Mediterranean-wide historical framework from the first colonization of the archipelago eight thousands years ago to the twentieth century.

La recherche qui fait l'objet de cette thèse a pour but de combler une lacune sur la connaissance des choix patrimoniaux en époque moderne d’un grand acteur territorial, l’Ordre souverain militaire hospitalier de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem, de Rhodes et de Malte. L’historiographie relative au cheminement de cet Ordre en époque médiévale est considérable et des historiens de grande envergure se sont occupés d’en reconstruire les caractéristiques et les mécanismes administratifs dès son commencement, de Jérusalem à Rhodes. Au contraire, l’étude de l’histoire des chevaliers à l’époque moderne souffre de lacunes: d’une part à cause du fait que de nombreux documents se sont perdus avant l’arrivée de l’Ordre à Malte en 1530, d’autre part, parce qu’il y a de considérables difficultés à repérer les sources parsemées dans les Archives d’État de toute l'Europe. À cette époque historique, quasiment chaque État se précautionnait d’ordres laïcs chevaleresques ou religieux-militaires, mais ceux qui maintinrent une adhérence au modèle original sont en prévalence ceux d’origine médiévale. Certains d’entre eux ont survécu jusqu’à nos jours, en renonçant au versant militaire et en trouvant une nouvelle substance dans l’action charitable : l’Ordre des Chevaliers de Malte est l'un des rares Ordres, sinon le seul, qui a su se reconstruire entièrement. Par apport aux autres ordres religieux-militaires, l’Ordre de Malte se caractérise autant pour sa solide structure hiérarchique administrative, qui se maintient inaltérée pendant des siècles, que pour sa nature patrimoniale et territoriale, qui lui consent d’accroître incessamment sa domination à niveau international, de Jérusalem à Rhodes et Malte, jusqu’à atteindre toute l’Europe de cette époque. Appréhender la hiérarchie administrative de l’Ordre est très important pour reconstruire les retombées directes sur les biens à niveau territorial, notamment à travers le système des commanderies. La consolidation de ce dernier, à partir de l’époque moderne, est pour les chevaliers de Malte un aspect fondamental à fin d’obtenir les ressources économiques nécessaires pour mener à terme la construction de «la ville de l’Ordre», La Valette, à partir de 1565. Les relations établies entre les Grands Maîtres, les papes et les princes italiens et étrangers à la fin du XVIe siècle trouvent une démonstration directe même sous le plan de l’architecture : les échanges épistolaires entre l’Empereur Charles Quint et l’Ordre religieux-militaire suite à la donation de Malte en 1530, et celui entre le Grand Maître Jean de La Valette et Cosme Ier de Toscane concourent à l’idéation d’une ville qui réfléchisse, même sous l’angle architectural, la puissance chrétienne dans la Méditerranée, tels qu’était le cas pour l’Ordre de Malte. À la fin du XVIe siècle, il y a un foisonnement d’idées autour du thème de la ville idéale: il suffit de penser à Vitry-le-François (1545), Carlentini (1551) e Palmanova (1593). Les plus grands ingénieurs militaires de l’époque furent appelés dans les plus importants États italiens et étrangers afin de réaliser les ambitions des papes, ducs, princes et empereurs, en facilitant en Europe la migration de style du langage architectural de la Renaissance tardive ainsi que du Maniérisme. Les voyages d’une ville à l’autre de ces célèbres ingénieurs militaires comportent une retombée directe autant sur les choix du langage architectural, que pour ce qui concerne l’échange constant de main-d’œuvre locale, comme c’est le cas pour la capitale de l’ordre à La Valette. De plus, il y a un rapport symbiotique entre les ingénieurs choisis par l’ordre qui portent de nouveaux modèles architecturaux et urbanistiques et la main-d’œuvre maltaise, formée dans la tradition, qui transmettent le style de la Renaissance tardive même aux plus petites agglomérations. / This dissertation aims to fill the knowledge gap about the property choices – during the Modern Age – of a great territorial mover, the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta. The historiography about the events of this Order during the Middle Ages is considerable and very prominent historians have worked to reconstruct its features and administrative machinery from its dawning, from Jerusalem to Rhodes. On the contrary, the research of Knights’ history during the Modern Age is full of lacunae: partly because a lot of documents are lost before the Order arrival in Malta on 1530 and partly because finding the sources – lost in the State Archives of all Europe – is more difficult. During this historical period almost each State has secular orders of knighthood or military-religious orders, but the ones who kept their own adherence to the original model have principally a medieval origin. Some of them survive up to the present day, renouncing the military aspect and finding new life in the charitable spirit: among them, the Order of Malta is one of the few, maybe the only one, that was been able to be completely reconverted. Compared to the other military-religious orders, the Order of Malta is characteristic of both the solid hierarchical administrative structure, all but intact during the centuries, and its property and territorial nature allowing to widen continuously its international rule, from Jerusalem to Rhodes and Malta, and the then known Europe. It is very important to understand the order administrative hierarchy to reconstruct the direct repercussions on the international goods through the system basically of recommendation, which consolidation is – from the Modern Age – an essential aspect for the Knights of Malta to get the economical resources needed to achieve the construction of the so-called “City of the Order”, Valletta, from 1565. The relations existing between the Grand Masters, the popes and the Italian princes to the end of Cinquecento find a direct confirmation in the architectural feature too: the epistolary correspondence between the Emperor Charles V and the military-religious order following the deed of donation of the Maltese Island in 1530, and the one between the Grand Master Jean de Valette and Cosimo I de’ Medici concur to the invention of a city mirroring, also from an architectural point of view, the Christian power in the Mediterranean Sea, as the Order of Malta was. At the end of Cinquecento the ideas about ideal cities topic proliferate: only think about Vitry-le François (1545), Carlentini and Palmanova (1593). The greatest military engineers of the period are called into the more important Italian and foreign States to achieve the ambitions of popes, dukes, princes and emperors, simplifying the style migration of the late Renaissance and Mannerism architectural language in all Europe. The journeys of these famous military engineers from a city to another involve a direct repercussion on the architectural language choices, both in the measure of a constant exchange with the local workers, and as it happens in Valletta, the capital of the order. Moreover, there is a symbiotic relationship between the engineers the order chose, bringing new urban architectural models, and the Maltese workers, grown up in their tradition, handing on the late Renaissance style also to the most minute settlements.

Cette thèse doctorale consiste en une investigation sur la pénétration des différentes formes et types d’influence française sur la politique stratégique de l’Ordre de Saint Jean, et la perte graduelle de la domination espagnole à Malte. Elle examine l’influence française consécutive sur l’architecture maltaise au cours du XVIIᵉ siècle qui résulta de ce changement d’allégeance. À cette fin, les facteurs politiques, stratégiques, sociaux et esthétiques, ainsi que la formation et les carrières des différentes personnalités concernées, en particulier les ingénieurs militaires français, sont examinés afin de comprendre l’importance de leur rôle sur le développement des fortifications des îles maltaises et sur l’idiome architectural local. Les relations des chevaliers appartenant aux trois Langues françaises avec la Cour de France sont étudiées dans leur contexte historique. Cet aspect est aussi examiné à travers la fréquente correspondance entre les Grands Maîtres et les rois Louis XIII et Louis XIV. L’étude montre comment l’arrivée sur la scène locale d’ingénieurs militaires eminents, durant l’été 1645, signale le passage de l’Ordre de la sphère d’influence de l’Empire espagnol à la française. Les ingénieurs militaires français s’activent dans l’archipel maltais depuis que Vauban avait donné à la France la primauté du développement de l’architecture militaire dans la seconde moitié du XVIIᵉ siècle. L’importance de Médéric Blondel, le premier ingénieur résident français, comme catalyseur du développement de l’influence française sur l’architecture maltaise est démontrée. Ce travail examine comment son influence se reflètera sur les architectes maltais de la fin du XVIIᵉ siècle et sur les éléments classiques qui sont introduits dans l’architecture baroque maltaise imprégnée de l’école classique d’architecture française très appréciée par Louis XIV. / This doctoral thesis consists of a research-based investigation on the different forms and types of French influence within the strategic politics of the Order of St. John and the gradual loss of Spanish domination in Malta. It examines the French influence on Maltese architecture during the seventeenth century that resulted from this change of allegiance. For this purpose the political, strategic, social and aesthetic factors, as well as the study of the formation and careers of the different personalities involved, are analysed in order to understand the importance of their role on the development of seventeenth century fortifications of the Maltese Islands and on the local architectural idiom. The various connections of the Knights belonging to the three French Langues with the French Court are therefore investigated in their historical context. This is also examined through the frequent correspondence between the Grand Masters and Kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV. The study shows how the arrival on the local scene of eminent French military engineers during the summer of 1645, marks the passage of the Order from the Spanish sphere of influence to the French. The French military engineers were active in the Maltese archipelago since Vauban had put France at the helm of the development of military architecture in the second half of the seventeenth century. The importance of Médéric Blondel, the first French resident engineer, as a catalyst of the development of French influence on Maltese architecture is investigated. The study examines how his influence is reflected on the work of Maltese architects at the end of the seventeenth century and on the classical elements which are introduced into Maltese baroque architecture that is highly influenced by the classical school of French architecture so greatly appreciated by Louis XIV.