Before the Knights of St John came to Malta, Maltese women used to go out in the streets enveloped in clothes. Not even an inch of flesh would show from their tightly tucked wraps. They’d go out shrouded from head to toe and God forbid if the Maltese man tried to take a closer peak at, say, their eyes or their lips.
But then the knights landed, and suddenly… hello! Off came the veil, the lashes fluttered and why, isn’t that a bit of koxxa showing? “Finally,” the Maltese girls of the 1530s whispered to themselves, “Tall, handsome, non-furbi men.”
Of course, this means that we really have to be thankful to the knights, and the fact that they were erm, flexibile with their chastity rules as otherwise you and I won’t be here at all. For, by the looks of it, Maltese women were on the verge of boycotting the local fare.
I happily discovered all this at this year’s Qarcilla, penned by Immanuel Mifsud. For the uninitiated, the Qarcilla is a burlesque play for centuries traditionally held in the streets during Carnival – and luckily it’s been revived three years ago, complete with wit, innuendos and ħammallati of the time.
I say luckily, because thanks to the discovery of these centuries-old plays, we have an idea what people of the 16th and 17th centuries looked like – slim, for example, was already fashionable, although many battled with obesity. We also know what they wore; their humour; what they ate; and their passion for politics.
I am not sure we’ve changed all that much. This week I met two photographers who for the past year have been documenting the people of Malta in pictures and I asked them what they make of the Maltese character after a year of photographing us.
There was laughter, followed by a: “Il-Malti veru jħobb jiekol” (We definitely love to eat). After a slight pause, they also added: “And we’re obsessed with politics.”
Thanks to history, we can compare and contrast trends of social behaviour. Take today, it’s Valentine’s day and we’re all celebrating romance. But a look at the history books points at a rather dismal scenario. Up to the 18th century in Malta, there wasn’t much love in the air.
History is nothing but a time machine that makes us reflect on the circle of life
While in the UK, the village of Gretna Green in Scotland was becoming synonymous with illicit marriages – with the local priest publishing his bestselling memoirs, full of daring coach rides across the border, and the wrath of unconsulted fathers who reach the runaway children too late – in Malta, according to historians Frans Ciappara and Carmel Cassar, all that women hoped for was that their “husbands were kind to them and spoke to them”.
And while in Europe, there was a growing belief that marriage should be the consequence of love, and that income and social class were irrelevant if two people loved each other, in Malta we were still stuck to the old system of marrying for political or economic reasons. Also, the same historians show us how relationship break-up was the order of the day in Maltese villages and that what today we refer to as ‘taħwid tal-llum’ was way worse in the 18th century.
History is nothing but a time machine that makes us reflect on the circle of life. A friend the other day passed on to me her favourite Maltese poem about time and the circle of life of a poor old worm: ‘Fis-siegħa twieled dudu. Fis-sagħtejn beda jitwal. Fit-tlieta kellu mara. Fl-erbgħa kellu t-tfal. Fil-ħamsa miet. Fis-sitta ħaduh. Fis-sebgħa difnuh. Fid-disgħa qalgħuh. Fl-għaxra sajruh. Fil-ħdax kiluh. F’nofsillejl għadduh.’
In a way, it tells you that no matter what age we live in, the circle of life repeats itself, therefore let’s make the best of the time we have between one and four o’clock.
Which brings us to today, the day when we are all meant to celebrate love. Here’s an idea: instead of going for lunch or dinner with your loved one, in a restaurant draped in red, with balloons and candles and bruschettas in the shape of a heart, and everywhere around you there’s self-conscious couples on tables waiting for conversation to flow naturally to a Richard Clayderman CD in the background, instead of this, why not pay homage to history?
Palazzo Falson in Mdina is running an exhibition on watches and clocks from bygone eras. It’s the last day today and it’s free. Looking at the centuries-old gold encrusted pocket watches with philosophical inscriptions at the back is the perfect way to be aware that the little time we have on earth, we’d better spend it happily with our loved ones.
As the history books tell us: tempus rerum imperator – time is the commander of all things… even love. Happy Valentine.
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Twitter: @KrisChetcuti