102-583: Birgu ( Maltese : Il-Birgu [ɪlˈbɪrɡʊ] , Italian : Vittoriosa ), also known by its title Città Vittoriosa ('Victorious City'), is an old fortified city on the south side of the Grand Harbour in the South Eastern Region of Malta . The city occupies a promontory of land with Fort Saint Angelo at its head and the city of Cospicua at its base. Birgu is ideally situated for safe anchorage, and over time it has developed
204-591: A British protectorate . The Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet established its base in Birgu, and British forces remained stationed in Birgu until 1979. In 1806, Birgu's gunpowder magazine exploded , killing over 200 people. Birgu was heavily bombed during World War II due to its proximity to the Malta Dockyard . A number of historic buildings were destroyed, including the Birgu Clock Tower and
306-416: 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
408-455: A large quantity of ammunition and 3,200 sacks of flour to the British. Although the island was formally claimed by King Ferdinand of Naples , it was administered by British and Maltese representatives, whose first action was to distribute the captured food supplies to the island's 16,000 inhabitants. Malta and the surrounding islands were not self-sufficient and quickly the challenge of feeding
510-570: A message arrived with the squadron from the frigate HMS Success , which had been stationed off Sicily to watch for French reinforcements. Captain Shuldham Peard reported that he was shadowing a squadron of six or seven French ships sailing in the direction of Malta. These vessels were a relief squadron, sent from Toulon with extensive food supplies and 3,000 additional troops under Contre-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée in Généreux , one of
612-556: A prominent antiquarian as well as a diplomat, spent his time exploring the island. By early June, Nelson and his party had returned to Palermo, the beginning of a lengthy overland journey across Europe to Britain. Nelson also detached Foudroyant and Alexander from the blockade, again in defiance of Keith's explicit orders, to assist the Neapolitan royal family in their passage to Livorno . Enraged at Nelson's disobedience, Keith publicly remarked that "Lady Hamilton has had command of
714-586: A public library. At the centre of the Grand Harbour, the 16th-century Fort St Angelo still stands and is currently undergoing restoration. The central piazza in Birgu was badly damaged by bombing during World War II, but one 19th-century palace thought to have been designed by Giuseppe Bonavia survives, and is used as the headquarters of the St Lawrence Band Club. In 1901, Birgu had a population of 6,093 people. After falling slightly over
816-1076: 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 ". Siege of Malta (1798%E2%80%931800) Allied victory [REDACTED] France The siege of Malta , also known as
918-778: A small squadron of coastal gunboats. Although there was intermittent skirmishing between the garrison and the Maltese, the fortress was too strong for the irregulars to assault. In mid-September, a squadron of Portuguese ships had arrived at the island. They included the Príncipe Real (90 cannons; Captain Puysigur), Rainha de Portugal (74; Captain Thomas Stone), São Sebastião (74; Captain Mitchell), Afonso de Albuquerque (74; Captain Donald Campbell), and
1020-467: A time. On receiving this reply, Bonaparte immediately ordered his fleet to bombard Valletta and on 11 June General Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers directed an amphibious operation in which several thousand soldiers landed at seven strategic sites around the island. The French Knights deserted the order, and the remaining Knights failed to mount a meaningful resistance. Approximately 2,000 native Maltese militia resisted for 24 hours, retreating to Valletta once
1122-457: 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
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#17327728420581224-534: A very long history with maritime, mercantile and military activities. Birgu is a very old locality with its origins in medieval times. Prior to the establishment of Valletta as capital and main city of Malta, military powers that wanted to rule the Maltese islands would need to obtain control of Birgu due to its significant position in the Grand Harbour. In fact, it served as the base of the Order of Saint John and de facto capital city of Malta from 1530 to 1571. Birgu
1326-469: 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
1428-543: 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
1530-587: 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
1632-849: 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/
1734-544: Is housed at Auberge de France . The architects and engineers Girolamo Cassar , his brother Andrew Cassar, and his son Vittorio Cassar were all born in Birgu in the sixteenth century. The Cassar family moved to Valletta after the new city was built in the 1570s. Architect Lorenzo Gafà (1638–1703), who worked on a number of churches in Malta including St. Paul's Cathedral in Mdina , was born in Birgu. He also designed many of
1836-654: 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
1938-747: 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
2040-404: 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
2142-510: 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
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#17327728420582244-860: 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
2346-425: 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
2448-722: Is well known for its vital role in the Great Siege of Malta of 1565. In the early 20th century, Birgu had a population of over 6000 people. Over the years this decreased, and stood at 2,629 in March 2014. The local population speaks the Cottonera dialect , which is, however, most limited in Birgu. Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, the Angevines, the Aragonese and the Order of Saint John all contributed to
2550-656: The Auberge d'Allemagne . In recent years, due to an agreement made by the Maltese Government with Sovereign Military Order of Malta , this Catholic Order of Knighthood has returned to the Island. This agreement, which has a duration of 99 years, grants the Knights of Malta the exclusive use of Fort St. Angelo in Birgu. Birgu is the location of several tourist attractions. The historic Vittoriosa Waterfront contains
2652-538: The Dominican Order . This church is also known as St. Dominic's Church. The feast of Saint Dominic is held every last Sunday of August. The Freedom Monument commemorates the departure of British forces from the island in 1979. Birgu also contains five Auberges of the Knights, including the Auberge d'Angleterre , for some time the home of the English Knights of St John on the island, which now contains
2754-666: 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
2856-685: The Knights of St. John , an old and influential feudal order weakened by the loss of most of their revenue during the French Revolution . The order was composed of men from across Europe, including a significant proportion of Frenchmen, who ruled over the majority Maltese population of the islands. The head of government was Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim , who refused Bonaparte's demand that his entire convoy be allowed to enter Valletta and take on supplies, insisting that Malta's neutrality meant that only two ships could enter at
2958-571: The Ottoman Empire , the Order of Saint John were granted Malta as their new home. In 1526, the Order sent a commission made up of eight knights to Malta, representing each of the langues . They described Birgu as a small defenceless town with old houses in poor condition. When they arrived in 1530, they decided to make Birgu the capital city of Malta, since the former capital, Mdina , was inland and did not suit their naval requirements. The city
3060-527: 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
3162-715: The siege of Valletta or the French blockade ( Maltese : L-Imblokk tal-Franċiżi ), was a two-year siege and blockade of the French garrison in Valletta and the Three Cities , the largest settlements and main port on the Mediterranean island of Malta , between 1798 and 1800. Malta had been captured by a French expeditionary force during the Mediterranean campaign of 1798 , and garrisoned with 3,000 soldiers under
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3264-450: 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
3366-613: The British ships of the line HMS Alexander under Captain Alexander Ball , HMS Culloden under Captain Thomas Troubridge and HMS Colossus under Captain George Murray joined Niza's ships off Malta, marking the formal start of the blockade. On the same day, Vaubois withdrew the last of his soldiers into the fortified new city of Valletta, accompanied by approximately 100 Maltese nationals who had joined
3468-687: The French Mediterranean fleet granted control of the sea to the Royal Navy, soon joined by the navies of Portugal , Naples , the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire as part of the hastily organised Second Coalition against France. On Malta, the French had rapidly dismantled the institutions of the Knights of St. John, including the Roman Catholic Church . Church property was looted and seized to pay for
3570-616: The French forces. The garrison numbered over 3,000 men and initially at least was well supplied. In the harbour lay the ships of the line Dégo and Athénien and the frigate Carthaginoise , all of which were former ships of the Maltese Navy, as well as the newly arrived Guillaume Tell and frigates Justice and Diane , survivors of the Battle of the Nile under Rear-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve , which had reached Malta at
3672-405: The French hold this place. The fate of the inhabitants is none of your concern. As for your ultimatum, French soldiers are not accustomed to such a tone"). Unable to persuade the French to give in, Saumarez instead provided the Maltese forces with 1,200 muskets with which to continue the siege and, unable to delay repairs any longer, sailed for Gibraltar at the end of the month. On 12 October,
3774-604: 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
3876-508: 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
3978-508: 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
4080-485: 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
4182-645: 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
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4284-697: The Mediterranean, considered the ongoing War of the Second Coalition in Italy and the defence of Menorca to be higher priorities than Ball's siege, while the defeated Neapolitans continued to refuse assistance. A Russian squadron under Admiral Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov briefly appeared off the island in January, but was almost immediately ordered to join the Russian and Turkish forces besieging
4386-660: 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
4488-649: The Ottoman Empire during the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. After four months of successful defence by the Knights, the city was almost captured by the Ottoman army in August, but was recaptured by the Knights under Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette . Reinforcements from Sicily arrived a month later, and the siege was abandoned by the Ottomans. After this, a new capital city was built on Mount Sceberras, bearing
4590-781: The Patristic Institute Augustinianum in Rome and was created a cardinal in 2012. People awarded the honorary citizenship of Birgu are: Birgu is twinned with: Dorothy Dunnett's novel The Disorderly Knights , the third volume of her Lymond Chronicles series, covers the events in Birgu in 1551 around the events of the Dragut Raid. Archived 11 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine Maltese language Maltese (Maltese: Malti , also L-Ilsien Malti or Lingwa Maltija )
4692-484: The Western Mediterranean, forcing Nelson to recall his scattered fleet from across the region, temporarily raising the blockade of Malta. During this operation a number of French supply ships took advantage of the absence of the British squadron to enter Valletta. However, despite these occasional supply ships, the French garrison was rapidly running out of food. To conserve resources, the French forced
4794-458: The aftermath of these French defeats at sea, and with the food supply in Valletta dwindling, the British sent another demand for capitulation. Vaubois again refused, with the reply "Cette place est en trop bon état, et je suis moi-même trop jaloux de bien servir mon pays et de conserver mon honneur, pour écouter vos propositions." ("This place is in too good a situation, and I am too conscious of
4896-421: The agreed terms with Vaubois and Villeneuve. The Maltese were excluded from negotiations entirely, although their commander, Alexander Ball, subsequently became the first Civil Commissioner of Malta . The terms of the surrender were absolute: the island, its dependencies, fortifications and military supplies were all turned over to British control. This included the ships of the line Athenien and Dégo and
4998-680: The battle. Heavily outnumbered, Généreux surrendered. Shortly after the capture of the Généreux , Keith returned to the Italian coast in Queen Charlotte , where his flagship was lost in a fire that killed more than 700 of its crew, although Keith was ashore at the time. Before departing, Keith issued strict instructions to Nelson that he was not to return to Palermo, but was to confine any shore leave in Sicily to Syracuse . Nelson ignored
5100-462: The blockade squadron. The blockade fleet, consisting of five British and four Portuguese ships, operated from St. Paul's Bay and Marsa Sirocco (now Marsaxlokk) on the island of Malta itself. 1799 was a frustrating year for the British and Maltese forces deployed against the French forces, as efforts to secure sufficient forces to prosecute the siege were repeatedly denied. Major-General James St Clair-Erskine , commander of British Army forces in
5202-628: The brig Falcão (24; Captain Duncan). All were under the command of Domingos Xavier de Lima, Marquess of Niza . In addition, the British ship HMS Lion (Captain Manley Dixon ) and the fireship HMS Incendiary (Captain George Baker) were attached to the squadron. The Portuguese government had sent this force from the Tagus to augment Nelson's fleet. After a brief stay off Malta
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#17327728420585304-466: The city and turning inland. The fleet was ordered to anchor in nearby Aboukir Bay and await further instructions. On 1 August, Nelson returned to the Egyptian coast and discovered the French fleet at anchor. Attacking immediately, Nelson's ships managed to capture nine French ships of the line and destroy two, including the flagship Orient with only moderate damage to themselves. The destruction of
5406-423: The city as rations became scarcer. The arrival of an aviso in January 1800 with the news of the events of 18 Brumaire that made Bonaparte First Consul of France prompted a brief respite and a public statement from Vaubois that the city would never be surrendered, although conditions continued to deteriorate. At the beginning of February 1800, the Neapolitan government, reinstated in Naples after being expelled
5508-445: The city of Mdina fell to General Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois . Although Valletta was strong enough to hold out against a lengthy siege, Bonaparte negotiated a surrender with Hompesch, who agreed to turn Malta and all of its resources over to the French in exchange for estates and pensions in France for himself and his knights. Bonaparte then established a French garrison on the islands, leaving 4,000 men under Vaubois while he and
5610-416: The city, the cisterns had been emptied and even firewood was in short supply. So desperate was the need for wood that the frigate Boudeuse , trapped by the blockade, was broken up for fuel by the beleaguered garrison. With defeat now inevitable, Vaubois gave orders that the frigates Diane and Justice were to attempt a breakout for Toulon, with minimal crews of approximately 115 men each. On 24 August, when
5712-441: The civilian population out of the city; the civilian population dropped from 45,000 in 1799 to 9,000 by 1800. Nelson himself took nominal command of the blockade, while Ball was made president of the Maltese National Congress. As liaison between the Maltese military and civilian commanders, he directed the distribution of supplies to the Maltese population, which was beginning to suffer from disease brought about by food shortages. He
5814-399: The command of Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois . After the British Royal Navy destroyed the French Mediterranean Fleet at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798, the British were able to initiate a blockade of Malta, assisted by an uprising among the native Maltese population against French rule. After its retreat to Valletta, the French garrison faced severe food shortages, exacerbated by
5916-429: The development of Birgu. Birgu was part of a town named Birmula. When the order of St John came to Malta they planned to build 3 cities from this land. It started from Senglea, then Vittoriosa and Cospicua. The rest of the land was named Cottonera and it was surrounded with the Cottonera lines. In the Middle Ages, the islands' communal organisation in this period pitted the Mdina town-council, or Universitas , against
6018-427: The effectiveness of the British blockade. Although small quantities of supplies arrived in early 1799, there was no further traffic until early 1800, by which time starvation and disease were having a disastrous effect on the health, morale, and combat capability of the French troops. In February 1800, a significant convoy under Contre-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée sent from Toulon made a determined effort to resupply
6120-407: The end of September. On 24 October, after a ten-day passage from Naples, Nelson joined the blockade squadron in HMS Vanguard accompanied by HMS Minotaur . On 28 October, Ball successfully completed negotiations with the French garrison on the small island of Gozo , the 217 French soldiers there agreeing to surrender without a fight and transferring the island, its fortifications, 24 cannon,
6222-563: The end"). By this point, Nelson was conducting the blockade at a distance, based at the Neapolitan court in Palermo . There he indulged in gambling and social engagements, becoming closer and closer to Emma, Lady Hamilton , wife of the ambassador Sir William Hamilton . His behaviour was heavily criticised, not just by his commanding officer Vice-Admiral Lord Keith , who had recently replaced Earl St Vincent, but also by old friends such as Thomas Troubridge , who wrote to him "If you knew what your friends feel for you I am sure you would cut out all
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#17327728420586324-492: The expedition to Egypt, an act that generated considerable anger among the deeply religious Maltese population. On 2 September 1798, this anger erupted in a popular uprising during an auction of church property, and within days thousands of Maltese irregulars had driven the French garrison into Valletta. Valletta was surrounded by approximately 10,000 irregular Maltese soldiers led by Emmanuele Vitale and Canon Francesco Saverio Caruana . The Maltese were armed with 23 cannon and
6426-410: The fleet long enough". In May, Troubridge returned to Britain and was replaced in command by Captain George Martin , while Graham was succeeded by Major-General Henry Pigot . The British blockade continued to prevent French efforts to resupply Valletta during the early summer of 1800, and by August the situation was desperate: no horses or pack animals, dogs, cats, fowls or rabbits still lived within
6528-450: The following 20 years, this figure had increased to 6,673 in 1931. However, in 1948 the population stood at just 3,816, although it had increased slightly by 1957. The city's population fell in the following four censuses, and in 2005 was recorded as 2,701. By 2011 the estimated value had risen slightly to 2,758. In March 2013 the population stood at 2,673, and it was slightly lower in March 2014, when it stood at 2,629. Birgu's local council
6630-459: The former Palace of the General of the Galleys and the Order of St John's treasury. The area was refurbished in the early 2000s, and both buildings are used for other activities: the former is now a casino , while the latter is home to the Malta Maritime Museum . A second museum, the Vittoriosa 1565 Museum, is also located in the town and is dedicated to the siege and the battle in the town in 1565. St. Lawrence's Church , one of several churches in
6732-419: The frigate Carthagénaise (these were all French ships previously captured from the Order), although only Athenien was of sufficient standard to be incorporated into the Royal Navy, becoming HMS Athenienne . The other ships were broken up in their berths. The British also took two merchant ships and a variety of smaller warships. The capture of Malta gave control of the central Mediterranean to Britain and
6834-401: The garrison. The blockade squadron under Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson intercepted the convoy within sight of the starving troops on Malta. Perrée was killed and his flagship captured in the ensuing and brief Battle of the Malta Convoy (1800) ; no supplies reached Malta. The following month, the ship of the line Guillaume Tell set sail from Valletta to Toulon, laden with soldiers, but this too
6936-450: The harbour that the ship came under fire from the French batteries. It was not hit, but Nelson was furious that Emma had been taken into danger and immediately ordered Berry to withdraw. His anger was exacerbated by Emma's refusal to retire from the quarterdeck during the brief exchange. From there, Foudroyant anchored at Marsa Sirocco, where Nelson and Emma lived together openly and were hosted by Troubridge and Graham. Sir William Hamilton,
7038-428: The historic buildings in the Vittoriosa Waterfront area, some of which have recently been restored. Paul Boffa (1890–1962), the Prime Minister of Malta between 1947 and 1950 and the country's first Labour Party Prime Minister, was also born in the city. Sr. Beniamina Portelli , founder and director of the St. Monica Choir was born in Birgu. Prospero Grech (1925–2019) was an Augustinian friar, who co-founded
7140-409: 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
7242-493: 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. For example, this was the case with the inhabitants of Żejtun , who refused to pay the taxes due to the Mdina council in 1473, even if as late as 1494 they were expected to take refuge in Mdina, rather than Birgu. After being driven out of Rhodes by
7344-587: 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
7446-577: The island of Corfu . In addition to the difficulties the Allies faced in obtaining food for the Maltese population, the French succeeded in bringing supplies through the blockade in the early part of the year: in January 1799 a schooner reached Valletta from Ancona , and in February the frigate Boudeuse evaded the blockade and entered the port with supplies from Toulon . In May, a major French expedition under Admiral Etienne Eustache Bruix entered
7548-466: 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
7650-597: The name Valletta . In 1571, the Knights transferred their convent and seat to the new capital and Birgu lost some of its importance. Despite this, after the siege, Birgu was given the title Città Vittoriosa , Italian for "victorious city". After the taking of Malta by Napoleon in 1798, French forces were garrisoned in the city. Soon after the Maltese rebelled and the Grand Harbour area was blockaded by Maltese rebels aided by Britain, Portugal and Naples. The French eventually capitulated in September 1800, and Malta became
7752-405: 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
7854-412: The night of 22 June in the dark without discovering their presence, and arrived off Alexandria on 28 June ahead of Bonaparte. Believing that the French must have had a different objective, Nelson turned northwards the following day to investigate the coast of Anatolia and missed Bonaparte's arrival on 30 June by less than 24 hours. Unopposed, Bonaparte landed his army and marched on Alexandria, capturing
7956-419: The nocturnal parties . . . I beseech your Lordship, leave off". In December 1799, Erskine was replaced by Lieutenant-General Henry Edward Fox , who immediately redistributed 800 troops from the garrison at Messina to Malta under Brigadier-General Thomas Graham . These troops filled the gap left by the withdrawal of Portuguese forces, which had been ordered to return to Lisbon . Disease began to spread within
8058-521: The order and by late March was in Palermo conducting an open love affair with Emma Hamilton. In his absence, Troubridge took over command of the blockade, delegating temporarily to Captain Manley Dixon . Dixon led the squadron on 31 March when Guillaume Tell attempted to break out on Valletta under Decrés. Spotted by the frigate HMS Penelope under Captain Henry Blackwood , Guillaume Tell
8160-585: The parish, was once the Conventual Church of the Order of St John. It is dedicated to St. Lawrence of Rome , and the feast is very popular among locals for the decorations in the local streets. The celebrations start on 31 July and continue till 10 August, the saint's feast day. Other churches in Birgu include the Monastery of St. Scholastica and the Our Lady of Annunciation Church which is run by
8262-463: The population became a strain on the islands' resources, particularly with so many men under arms. Although now formally in command of the islands, King Ferdinand refused to assist with supplies, and the responsibility was left to Ball and his captains to arrange for the transport of supplies from Italy. By the end of the year, the number of Maltese troops in the field had fallen from 10,000 to 1,500, supported by 500 British and Portuguese marines from
8364-486: 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
8466-570: 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
8568-400: The rest of the expeditionary force sailed eastwards for Alexandria on 19 June. Bonaparte's convoy was pursued across the Mediterranean by a British fleet of 14 ships under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson , who learned of the invasion of Malta while anchored off Sicily , and subsequently attempted to intercept the French on their passage to Egypt. Nelson's force overtook the French fleet on
8670-666: The service of my country and my honour, to listen to your proposals"). In reality, the situation was dire: during February, prices of basic foodstuffs stood at 16 francs for a fowl, 12 francs for a rabbit, 20 sous for an egg, 18 sous for a lettuce, 40 sous for a rat and six francs per pound for fish. For the civilian typhus patients, the only food available was horse-flesh soup. On 23 April, Nelson departed Palermo in Foudroyant , with both Sir William and Emma Hamilton on board as his guests. The party visited Syracuse and then travelled on to Valletta, where Berry took Foudroyant so close to
8772-464: The ships of the line that had escaped at the Nile two years earlier. On 18 February, the convoy was sighted by lookouts on Alexander . In the ensuing chase, Success captured a French transport and attacked the much larger Généreux . Although the frigate was damaged in the exchange, Success ' second broadside mortally wounded Perrée and delayed the ship of the line long enough for HMS Foudroyant , under Lord Nelson, and HMS Northumberland to join
8874-797: The squadron continued to Alexandria. There Nelson sent the squadron back to blockade Malta. Late in September, a British convoy consisting of 13 battered ships under Captain Sir James Saumarez appeared off the island. Survivors of the Battle of the Nile, they were in urgent need of repair and unable to directly assist in the siege. Nevertheless, Saumarez met with representatives of the Maltese and on 25 September, sent an offer of truce to Vaubois on their behalf. Vaubois replied "Vous avez, sans doute, oublié que des Français sont dans la place. Le sort des habitans [sic] ne vous regarde pointe. Quant à votre sommation, les soldats français ne sont point habitués à ce style" ("You might have forgotten that
8976-479: 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
9078-540: The 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
9180-639: The wind was favourable and the night dark enough to obscure their movements, the frigates put to sea. Almost immediately, lookouts on HMS Success sighted them and Captain Peard gave chase, followed by HMS Genereux and Northumberland . Diane under Captain Solen was too slow and Peard soon overhauled the under-strength French ship, which surrendered after a brief exchange of shot. The frigate later became HMS Niobe . Justice , under Captain Jean Villeneuve,
9282-412: The year before, finally agreed to participate in the siege and 1,200 troops were embarked on a squadron led by Vice-Admiral Lord Keith's flagship HMS Queen Charlotte and landed on Malta. For a time, both Keith and Nelson remained with the blockade squadron, which consisted of six ships of the line, along with a few Neapolitan ships of the line, and several British and Neapolitan frigates. On 17 February
9384-655: Was an important step in the invasion and liberation of Egypt from French rule in 1801. An essential condition of the Treaty of Amiens in the same year, which brought an end to the French Revolutionary War, was that the British leave Malta. The Napoleonic Wars with the French Empire began soon afterwards, in part due to the unwillingness of the United Kingdom to comply with this clause of
9486-506: Was chased northwards and engaged by first Penelope and then by Dixon's HMS Lion , driving both ships back but suffering severe damage. Eventually the arrival of the powerful Foudroyant under Captain Sir Edward Berry proved too much for Decrés, but he continued fighting for another two hours before he was forced to surrender his battered and dismasted ship; in the engagement, he lost more than 200 men killed and wounded. In
9588-548: Was destined for Egypt, Bonaparte seeking to expand French influence in Asia and force Britain to make peace in the French Revolutionary Wars , which had begun in 1792. Sailing southeast, the convoy collected additional transports from Italian ports and at 05:30 on 9 June arrived off Valletta , the heavily fortified port-city on the island of Malta. At this time, Malta and its neighbouring islands were ruled by
9690-499: Was established by the Local Councils Act of 1993. The first election was held on 19 February 1994 and John Boxall was elected as mayor. In 1995 Joseph C. Azzopardi took over as mayor but in the 1998 local elections Boxall became the mayor once again. He contested in later elections in 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2012 and has held the office ever since. The present council is made up of the following people: The Birgu Local Council
9792-473: Was faster, however, and outran its pursuers, eventually making Toulon, the only ship from Malta to do so during the siege. On 3 September, with his men dying of starvation and disease at the rate of more than 100 a day, Vaubois called a council of his officers at which they unanimously decided to surrender. The next day, envoys were sent to the British and in the afternoon General Pigot and Captain Martin signed
9894-454: Was fortified in the 1530s and strengthened in the 1550s in preparation for an attack by the Ottoman Empire. This included the construction of the Castle of St Angelo , a large fortification separated from the city by a narrow channel, instead of the ancient Castrum Maris . The castle was connected to the city by means of a drawbridge. Birgu was the site of major battles between the Knights and
9996-555: 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
10098-472: Was intercepted and in a hard-fought battle was forced to surrender to a larger British squadron. These defeats rendered the French position on Valletta untenable, and its surrender inevitable. Although Vaubois held out for another five months, he eventually surrendered on 4 September and Malta was taken by Britain. On 19 May 1798, a French fleet sailed from Toulon , escorting an expeditionary force of over 30,000 men under General Napoleon Bonaparte . The force
10200-404: 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
10302-500: 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
10404-448: Was replaced on Alexander by his first lieutenant, William Harrington. On 1 November Nelson again offered terms of surrender to Vaubois, and was again rebuffed, with the reply "Jaloux de mériter l'estime de votre nation, comme vous recherchez celle de la nôtre, nous sommes résolus défendre cette fortresse jusqu'à l'extrémité" ("Keen to deserve the esteem of your nation, as you seek that of ours, we are resolved to defend this fortress until
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