Slavery, Treason and Blood: The 1749 Plot of the Slaves in Malta

The elaborately organised rebellion of the slaves, planned for Sunday 29th June 1749, constitutes one of the most remarkable episodes of physical protest, in early modern Malta.

It was in essence the only attempt at overthrowing the entire status quo prevailing on the island. It would have happened through a most sudden takeover by an over-trusted and underrated enemy from within: the hundreds of Muslim and neophyte slaves who toiled silently yet resentfully under the yoke of their Catholic masters.

The main protagonists of 1749 remain the slaves themselves, albeit mostly silent and with their limited recorded discourse uttered only under duress. In few other instances have actions spoken louder than words.

Their quest for liberty, strong enough to make them take terrible risks, remains an indelible testimony of the innate human yearning for freedom. Condemned to an atrocious death, their captors proceeded to extend the hapless slaves’ bondage even to their souls.

Many succumbed, but others resisted that last onslaught.. Subjugated in body, but not in spirit, theirs was the final act of defiance and a public assertion of the tenacity and determination of the human spirit.