The oppression of women was rife in Malta’s past, according to a new book on the island’s history.

“We have very little knowledge about women but what we do know is that they were ruthlessly oppressed here, much more than men,” says Mark Camilleri, whose new book A Materialist Revision of Maltese History: 870-1919 will be launched next month.

While insights into Maltese women’s lives throughout history is limited, Mr Camilleri says that the little information available clearly shows they had to endure great suffering.

His study offers an analysis of people’s way of life, including that of women and children, during the roughly 1,000-year period.

Women’s sexuality was considered the property of the family, he argues in an interview with The Sunday Times of Malta. The family would then marry the woman off to the “highest bidder”.

“The family would have been happy to give birth to a daughter because when the girl grew up, they could marry her off to the person providing the largest dowry to the family.

“So the genitals and sexuality of the women were seen as an extension of the wealth of the family. This was an ideology that was not only complemented by the Church but was also openly promoted by the Church.”

He also shoots down recent efforts to glorify Strait Street, saying they paint the wrong picture of women and their suffering.

“There have been some very ridiculous ideas going around about Strait Street recently, all these dramas romanticising the area.

The sexuality of the women was seen as an extension of the wealth of the family

“Fine, it is fun to go for a drink there, but this idea that we are reviving some part of our history is wrong. We are reviving nothing.”

According to Mr Camilleri, the street was a bleak and dark place, rampant with prostitution, trafficking and exploitation of women.

The book outlines the day-to-day life of ordinary people through the ages and according to the historian, despite the political changes over the years, similar patterns were noted.

“The pattern we find seems to spread through the ages, so you had a life which was basically composed of lots of hard work and a diet of mainly bread, no meat and very little pasta.”

The book also shows how the Maltese were often financially insecure and that contributed to them being hard workers, Mr Camilleri says.

Strait Street today: It used to be a dark and bleak place, where women were trafficked and exploited. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

“I found that people worked very long hours, they worked very hard and ate mostly bread. They had no variety in their diet and the food they ate did not have a variety of nutrients.”

For the majority, he added, money was only considered as a way to make ends meet.

“It was a form of survival. Money was not actually considered as something that can be used to enjoy oneself. This again was something I noted throughout the Middle Ages, the medieval ages, the early modern age and the late modern age, where the ideology behind money remained the same.”

It was only in the 18th century that ideas about money started to slowly change slightly, Mr Camilleri claims.

Money was not meant to be used to enjoy oneself and it was only the commercial bourgeoisie of the late modern period that started to slightly change this mentality.

A Materialist Revision of Maltese History: 870-1919 will be released on August 10.