Originally Published October 30 2019

We Maltese pride ourselves in living on a quiet and peaceful Mediterranean Island. Despite this, we have our fair share of harrowing stories scattered around our history. Some are ingrained in our culture; others are still held in our memory; and others still have seemingly faded from our folklore. Halloween is the perfect backdrop for us to explore some chilling stories from our past. We shall be looking at two recurrent themes of horror: Murder and the Supernatural. These stories have been picked from the time periods we at Compagnia San Michele portray: the late Medieval period and Early Modern Malta.

Some murder stories have stuck with the Maltese due to the gruesome nature of the act and it being in recent memory. Few stories, however, are as dramatic and gory as the mutilation and murder of Nicola Caxaro in Siggiewi in the year 1473.

Nicola was a minor noble living in Mdina. He was renowned for being an exemplary man and a hard worker, having high positions within the Maltese municipal council or government. One night in June 1473, Caxaro decided to take three of his friends with him to a night ride to Siggiewi to court a woman named Catherine, who he fancied. Catherine, however, was a married woman, and woken up by a band of armed and mounted men outside her house in the middle of the night, she was evidently less than captivated by the presence of the Maltese nobleman. The resulting commotion spurred her neighbours and fellow villagers to gather in her defence. Stones were hurled and swords were drawn. Some of the locals even brought out spears and knives.

Caxaro and his friends chose to surrender their swords to the villagers as a token of good will and deescalate the debacle. But some of the rowdy villagers remained malcontent and resumed throwing stones, forcing the band from Mdina to withdraw. In the ensuing pursuit, Cola became separated from his retinue, and, hoping the crowd would not find him, sought refuge in a nearby cave. Alas, the locals knew exactly where to search and butchered him in the ensuing commotion.

Cola’s friends rode with haste to Mdina to report the incident. The authorities, however, were too late to halt any rash action, and were greeted with a gruesome sight. Caxaro’s neck and head had been stabbed, fingers cut off, limbs mangled and torso riddled with innumerable stab wounds. He was unrecognisable even to his own family, who could barely look at the disfigured corpse. Needless to say, a large number of the involved villagers of Siggiewi were punished for this heinous murder. Bloodshed demanded bloodshed as tortures were carried out, seeing two of the participants effectively dead before the trial was finally over.

Sources:

Wettinger, G (2015), “Honour and Shame in Late Fifteenth Century Malta” in Aspects of Daily Life in Late Medieval Malta and Gozo, edited by Mark Camilleri (Malta University Press).

**The Supernatural**

**The Inquisition’s preoccupation with witchcraft and pagan practices**

Whether through the hanging of horns in houses to prevent the dreaded ‘Għajn’, or wearing Saint Paul’s tongue amulets, or the much feared ‘magħmul’ (curse), the supernatural has always been part of Maltese folk culture, although the trend has been dying out for some time. In the 17th century curses were considered terrifying events, where a person often wished and attempted to bring a series of misfortunes upon their intended victims.

Witches and the Inquisition have a very particular relationship, becoming topics for plays and films and leading to popular misconceptions. The role of the Roman Inquisition in Malta between 1575 and 1798 was often one of dealing with accusations of sorcery or witchcraft. The primary role of the Inquisitor and his court was to contest spiritual ignorance, often seen as the cause leading individuals to superstition, sin and heresy. Prostitutes, ‘wise women’ and Muslim slaves were often marked as an ignorant portion of an ever-growing urbanised harbour society. These individuals were an alternative source of remedies to afflictions of the body, soul and mind. Minor acts by individuals deemed harmless were often tolerated and regarded as a necessary evil and the fruit of superstition, rather than of satanic inspiration that attracted the simpletons. However, this never ruled out the possibility of individuals who used magic more professionally, leading them straight to the court of the Inquisition in Birgu.

Despite the prevalence of Catholicism at the time, people often turned towards pagan practices in times of turmoil. They believed that the supernatural could ultimately right all the wrongs that they were experiencing. The Cathedral Archives in Mdina curates a collection of not only precious written material, but also a number of items collected as evidence during such cases involving sorcery and witchcraft, amongst which are locks of hair, flower petals, written spells, and magical hats. People believed that the Oriental and African peoples had special healing powers. One case was Didacus Mifsud, who was accused of turning towards witchcraft in response to migraines that he was experiencing. He procured a ‘magical’ paper hat with Arabic scripture, which was said to be able to cure his headaches.

**The magical hat is seized from Didacus Mifsud, now housed at the Mdina Cathedral Archives.**

In 1625, Inquisitor Visconti was taken up by a witch hunt that led to the arrest of 40 witches and a case that lasted for three whole years. The women were all accused of love magic, attempting to entice partners through supernatural intervention. This is very much reflective of the immediate effects of the hand of the inquisitor, where one ‘witch’ accused another, thus leading to even more arrests. The case ended with public flogging, exile, regular forced confessions and the receiving of sacraments. Of particular interest during this case is the attention given to the Maltese spells used by these women, written down as evidence during the hearing of the case, such as the following:

Jannar Jannar jachnin je giabbar
Chihed fuch siggiu mennte en nar
Jhet Zarbunu nar,
Calzettich nar,
Calzitu nar,
Chamistu nar,
Zachtu nar,
Teuchu nar,
Cappellu nar,
Col me fuchu nar,
Ihaiad Jannar Jannar jachnin je giabbar
Enfachhet tebhitu
Mezhutu mezhuttu
Ihaiad Jannar jannar jachnin je giabbar
Jexibich jebni f’idi el hayta fidi el chrara
Jommi me hu quact el him hu le uact esehem;
Chidhe N. F’esermhi fuch fahme endiana
T’hahrachni, t’hahrachni
T’leblibni t’leblebni
Hu rmit tahmilni
Jebni t’mur beslime darha
Hu ahmel el chalhe
Wuid wiehed wuid thnein

Though highly uncommon, demonic visitation was itself an occasional highlight in the court of the Inquisition. One woman called Betta Coleiro from Bormla experienced a long trial and eventual condemnation for her intimate relationship with a supernatural creature called Farfarello, who used to visit her at night since her tender age of 6. Farfarello roughly translates to ‘goblin’ or ‘Xifajk’, or as one of the Malebrache demons from the eight circles of Hell, in Dante’s La Divina Commedia. In her earlier encounters, Betta regularly set a table and prepared food for Farfarello and his band of demons, in an attempt to free herself from them. She stated, however, that by time following the siege of 1565, her encounters with the demon became more intense and intimate and she would regularly invoke him at night with the words O Farfarello Salomone vieni. Her neighbours attempted to dissuade her by claiming that these demons were in fact only fairies, but the situation dragged on until it was reported to Inquisitor Verallo after the turn of the 17th century. The Inquisition in Malta kept her in prison, so as to keep a close eye on her recovery through prayer and confession, however one of the guards kept hearing her invoke Farfarello with the words Merchiba merchiba bich harusi ma tigix taranti ena hauni carcerata haij chasara (“Merħba merħba bih għarusi, ma tiġiex tarani minn hawnhekk karċerata jħassarha.)

Correspondence from Rome dating to 1608 indicates a suggestion to the Inquisitor to set Betta Coleiro free and let her live the rest of her days at home, but there is also evidence of a sad ending to her story, that she died of old age in the Inquisitor’s prison and was subsequently buried on unconsecrated ground.

Sources:

Mdina Cathedral Archives. AIM Proc Crim Vol 109B f463

Mdina Cathedral Archives AIM Proc Crim Vol 44B ff620-937

Mdina Cathedral Archives AIM Proc Crim Vol 19B f477

Cassar C., Witchcraft, Sorcery and the Inquisition (Malta, Mireva Publications, 1996)

Brincat J., A Maltese incantesimo in Azzopardi J. & Gauci M., Archivum Cathedralis Melitæ Fons Historiæ (Malta, Mdina Cathedral Archives, 2018)