Gozo's forgotten medieval collegiate

During the 15th century and the first half of the 16th, the small and undefended island of Gozo suffered continual attacks by Barbary pirates and other Turkish marauders culminating in the siege of Gozo of 1551, when almost the entire population of this island was taken into slavery.

The destruction and ravages brought about by these foreign intruders and occasional epidemics were so great and profound that we now know next to nothing about the social and ecclesiastical history of Gozo during the Middle Ages. All ancient documents have been lost, either carried away or simply destroyed by friend and foe alike.

Now, thanks to the hard work of dedicated professional Maltese historians, important documentation revealing very important information concerning Gozo's ecclesiastical history during the Middle Ages is being discovered. The University of Malta has just published the second collection of historical documents in Part IV - Documents of the Vatican - of the series Documentary Sources of Maltese History. These documents refer to the period from AD 416 to 1479.

Among these documents is one which, in my opinion, outshines all the others in importance. In this document - No. 199 - we read about Pope Pius II who, on December 22, 1463, grants his familiaris and commensalis Canon Adreas Catalano the tithes prebend of the Collegiate Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gozo, of the diocese of Malta (Andree Cathalani canonico prebendato Collegiate Ecclesie Beate Marie Terre Gaudisi Meleviten(e) diocesis familiari nostro).

This grant of the prebenda decimarum could be made because the prebend had become available following the demise of its former holder, Canon Raymundus Navarra (per obitum eiusdem Raymundi). This prebenda decimarum is referred to as qui inibi dignitas principalis existit et quam quondam Raymundus Navarra olim ipsius ecclesie prebendarius dum viveret obtinebat.

Regarding this important historical discovery, the editors of this collection of documents - Fr George Aquilina, OFM and Professor Stanley Fiorini - had this to say "...concerning the Gozitan Church, never before has the Church of Sancta Maria on the sister island been referred to as a collegiate and never before has there been mention of a tithes prebend pertaining to it. The only vague reference that might have hinted at the collegiate status (by then apparently lost and totally forgotten) is the sporadic mention of the chorus of the church in Dusina's Apostolic Visitation Report of 1575: teneatur deservire choro Ecclesia Parrochialis [intus Castrum]."

The actual words of Don Lorenzo de Apapis were: In quanto allo servitio dello choro io non me ne impaccio ne tocca a me, perchè non sono se non un semplice parrochiano, et non si fa servitio in choro in questo loco. (Part IV, No. 1 Dusina's Report, p. 231). In 1575 the old collegiate was dead.

To these remarks I would like to add that in the inventory of movable items of this church drawn up by Don Leonardo de Cachi in the Acts of Notary Franciscus Xerri, UJD, dated December 25, 1569, there is mention of the choir of the old Matrice with seven stalls on each side, 14 stalls in all (item lo choro consistente in sedi sette per banda - Part IV No. 1, Dusina's Report, p. 349).

A copy of this inventory was also appended to Dusina's Report. (Part IV No. 1, Dusina's Report pp. 347-359). Surely, these were the same stalls that were still used by the collegiate chapter 100 years earlier.

So the ancient church of Sancta Maria in the Citadel not only enjoyed the centuries-old title of Ecclesia Matrix (initially the Mother Church of three small parishes in Rabat), but was already right from the Middle Ages a collegiate church with canons enjoying lucrative prebends. Due to devastations brought about by Turkish corsairs and epidemics, late in the 15th century it became defunct and forgotten altogether.

Historically it was founded again by Bishop Cagliares in 1623. The second collegiate lasted till 1864. when it was suppressed to make way for the new Cathedral Chapter of the newly founded Gozitan diocese.

The above-mentioned document concerning Gozo's medieval Collegiate is only the tip of the iceberg. I am sure that in time more similar documents will come to light and the history of this early Gozitan collegiate will be better known. This priceless document is of such inestimable importance that whoever discovered it deserves to receive an honorary degree from our University.