The Grand Master’s sword and goodwill

A Facebook campaign has been launched lobbying the French government to return the sword and poniard of Grand Master Jean de Valette to Malta. Both are exhibited at the world-famous Louvre museum in Paris.

The initiative, started by an IT manager with an avid interest in Maltese history, soon attracted widespread attention and support. Titled Bring Back The Sword Of La Valette To Malta (Grand Master de Valette is usually referred to as La Valette), the Facebook page had close to 300 members in just a few weeks. It indicates growing interest in the country’s heritage, which, for so long, was taken for granted to the point of often being ignored.

There can certainly be no controversy on the initiative. Here is a civic-minded Maltese citizen expressing active keen interest in his country’s history and heritage. But there may be controversy if one were to enter into the ownership of the sword and the poniard from a legal point of view.

The beautifully crafted sword and poniard were given to the Grand Master in 1565 by the grateful Holy Roman Emperor, Philip II of Spain. General Napoleon Bonaparte captured the sword and the poniard in 1798 from the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

A document (apparently co-signed by Maltese representatives) attests to the passing of all the Order’s properties to France and a further document dated 1800 – after the French surrendered Malta to the British – gave the invaders and spoils of war.

The legal ownership of the sword is therefore open to litigation. It could be argued that since Napoleon captured the sword from the Order of St John, the Order must be its rightful owners. On the other hand, since there had already been a legal transfer of the Order’s property to France in 1798, one might want to insist that the sword and the poniard were always France’s to take.

But what matters most: determining the legal ownership of the items or striking a deal, based on goodwill and mutual respect, between Malta and France for the sword and the poniard to be exhibited in the environment where their undisputed owner – Grand Master de Valette – is associated with worldwide and where the capital city still bears his name?

The significance of the sword and the poniard lies in their history and what they represent. They embody the greatness that the Grand Master – supported by countless brave Maltese – achieved and brought on Malta in repulsing the Ottoman Empire. Malta was indeed then the last Christian bastion against an overwhelming Muslim force. If Malta had fallen, the rest of Europe would have been vulnerable.

So the sword represents the courage of the Knights and the Maltese who stood together against Suleiman the Magnificent not in France but in Malta. Therefore, one is justified in arguing that in the Louvre it is devoid of all context. For the sword belongs to Malta where blood was shed to achieve it.

Surely France and its people, many of whom have visited the island and admired its heritage, appreciate that. The forthcoming celebration of Valletta as the European Capital of Culture offers the perfect opportunity for France to make a noble gesture and agree that the sword and the poniard can continue to be exhibited in Malta. Here, the items can be given pride of place in the country and the capital that shall for ever be associated with a great man, a French national fighting in Malta on behalf of Europe almost 450 years ago.