The island Malta was generally known for its military, religious knight order of the Johanniters who had established themselves on the island. After the Crusades during which they distinguished themselves as hospital helpers, the Johanniters took care to secure the Mediterranean Sea against the Turks.

Malta is an island country in the Southern Europe, located in the central Mediterranean Sea between Sicily and North Africa. The archipelago’s main inhabited islands are Malta, Gozo and Comino, with the capital at Valletta. It has a population of 574,250, spread over an area of 316 km2 (122 sq mi). Malta has been inhabited since prehistoric times and has been ruled by many powers, including the Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Normans, the Knights Hospitaller and the British Empire. It played an important strategic role during World War II and was awarded the George Cross in 1942. The country gained its independence in 1964 and became a republic in 1974. Malta is a parliamentary republic and a member of the European Union and Commonwealth of Nations. The official languages are Maltese and English and it is predominantly Catholic. The country is known for its strategic location, tourism industry, and its architectural and historical monuments, several of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Author: Nicolaes Visscher II

  • Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyzEnglish
    0·
    4 hours ago

    Some cool stuff there:

    • That “Novissima Delineatio” (extra-new delineation). In a three centuries old map. Okay, fine, it was new back then!
    • Taking the Latin name “Melita” as normative, but listing “Malta” as a popular name.
    • The old French spelling in “Le Chasteau de Gozo” (Gozo’s Castle) and “Pour la foy” (for the faith). Modern spelling would be “château” and “foi”.
    • That old… German? Dutch? orthography. It’s giving me mixed signals; that “Italiaensche” (Italian) looks German, but “Duytse” (German) looks Dutch. Modern German for that would be “gemeine deutsche Meilen”, I think.
    • Scales showing both Italian and German miles. The worst part of those primitive measurement units wasn’t even the arbitrary divisions and multiples, it’s they varied wildly from place to place and time to time.
    • “Golfo di Venetia”. It’s mostly in Italian, but they used “T” as in Latin. (Modern Italian: “Venezia”; modern Venetian: “Venexia” or “Venesia”.)
    • Bottom left map makes sure to include “pars” (part) for anything partially clipped, even if contextually obvious nowadays.
    • kunegis@mander.xyzEnglish
      0·
      2 hours ago

      “Italiaensche” also looks Dutch. Many endings -s in modern Dutch were -sch previously.