# Malta 1670: The Slaves Who Built Valletta

An episode of [The Story of Malta: The Fortress Island of the Mediterranean — Fexingo History](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1895465859), 15 Jul 2026, 7:46.

Audio: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-story-of-malta/episode-0158.mp3

In this episode of The Story of Malta, Lucas and Luna explore the untold story of the enslaved people who built Valletta and powered the economy of the Knights of St. John. Drawing on recent scholarship, they discuss the Piazza degli Schiavi slave market, the labor gangs that raised the Sacre Infermeria and the fortifications, and the lives of individual slaves like the Ottoman navigator who became a galley master. They examine the legal codes that governed slavery, the role of the corso (licensed piracy) in supplying captives, and the contrast between the Knights' crusading rhetoric and their reliance on unfree labor. The episode also touches on the Revolt of the Slaves in 1749 and the gradual decline of slavery in Malta. The conversation is a humane and unflinching look at a hidden foundation of Maltese history. #Malta #KnightsOfStJohn #Slavery #Valletta #PiazzaDegliSchiavi #Corso #SacreInfermeria #OttomanEmpire #BarbaryCorsairs #EarlyModernHistory #Mediterranean #LaborHistory #RevoltOfTheSlaves #Fortifications #MalteseHistory #History #FexingoHistory #HiddenHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

## Transcript

Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the Knights as rulers, as corsairs, as builders — but there's a whole other population that lived and worked in their shadow, and we haven't really touched on them yet.
Luna: You mean the slaves?
Lucas: Exactly. And I don't just mean the galley slaves you see chained to oars in paintings — I mean the thousands of enslaved men, women, and children who built Valletta, worked in the Sacre Infermeria, served in private homes, and were bought and sold in the Piazza degli Schiavi. By the 1670s, maybe a third of Malta's population was enslaved.
Luna: Wait — a third? That's enormous.
Lucas: It really is. And it's a part of the island's story that tends to get glossed over because it's uncomfortable. But the economy of the Order of St. John ran on slave labor — and on the corso, the licensed piracy that supplied that labor.
Lucas: And if you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, you might have noticed how often the corso comes up. It's the engine behind so much of what we've discussed. And a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these conversations going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them.
Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference. And it keeps the show ad-free, which I love.
Lucas: So back to the slaves. The corso — basically state-sanctioned privateering — was the Knights' main source of income and of slave labor. Captains would sail out from the Grand Harbour, seize a Muslim ship, and bring back the crew and passengers to be sold at auction.
Luna: Were all of them Muslims? Or did they take Christians too?
Lucas: In theory, only Muslim vessels. But in practice, the corso captains could be pretty flexible — if a ship had valuable cargo, they might claim the crew were renegades or find some other excuse. The Roman Inquisition, which had a presence on Malta, actually prosecuted some knights for enslaving Christians. But the line was blurry.
Lucas: Once the captives arrived in Malta, they were taken to the Piazza degli Schiavi — that's Slave Square — in Valletta, right near the Auberge de Castille. There they'd be stripped, examined, and sold to the highest bidder.
Lucas: The slaves were divided into two main categories: the public slaves, owned by the Order itself, and private slaves, owned by individual knights or Maltese nobles. The public slaves did the heavy labor — building fortifications, working in the galleys, hauling stone for the Sacre Infermeria.
Luna: So the Sacre Infermeria — that huge hospital we've talked about — was built by slaves?
Lucas: Partially, yes. The skilled stonework was done by free Maltese masons, but the brute labor — digging foundations, carrying blocks, mixing mortar — that was slave work. And the same was true for most of Valletta's great buildings. The city is literally built on the backs of enslaved people.
Lucas: Private slaves had a slightly different life. They might work as domestic servants, artisans, or even clerks — some were highly educated. There are records of slaves who could read and write in multiple languages, who served as interpreters or scribes for their masters.
Luna: That's a huge range. From skilled professionals to galley oarsmen.
Lucas: Exactly. And the law reflected that. There were detailed codes governing how slaves could be treated — what punishments were allowed, what happened if a slave was injured, how they could be manumitted, or freed. In theory, killing a slave was a crime. But enforcement was spotty.
Lucas: One of the most fascinating records comes from the Castellania — the law courts. There are cases where slaves sued their masters for mistreatment, and sometimes they won. Not often, but it happened.
Luna: Wait, a slave could sue their owner?
Lucas: It sounds incredible, but yes — under certain conditions. A slave could petition the court if they were being starved or beaten excessively. The court might order the master to sell the slave to someone else, or even grant the slave a degree of independence. Of course, they couldn't just walk free — but they could improve their situation.
Lucas: And there were other paths to freedom. Some slaves converted to Christianity, which was encouraged by the Order. A converted slave could be freed after a certain period, though in practice many remained in servitude. Others bought their freedom — they were allowed to work for wages in their spare time and save up.
Luna: That's still a long road. But at least there was a possibility.
Lucas: Yes. But the majority never achieved it. And the conditions, especially on the galleys, were brutal. A galley slave might serve for years, chained to an oar, exposed to sun and sea, fed barely enough to survive. The mortality rate was high.
Lucas: There was also a constant fear of rebellion. The most famous is the Revolt of the Slaves in 1749 — we touched on it in episode 148. But there were smaller uprisings too, and conspiracies that were uncovered before they could be carried out. The Knights were always nervous.
Luna: And with good reason — they were outnumbered in their own city.
Lucas: Exactly. So they kept a tight grip. Slaves had curfews, they couldn't gather in groups, they had to wear identifying badges. The Inquisition also kept an eye on them — any sign of plotting or religious non-conformity could lead to harsh punishment.
Lucas: But despite all that, there was also a kind of underground economy and social life among the slaves. They formed their own communities, often based on shared origins — Turkish slaves, North African slaves, Greek slaves. They had their own markets, their own meeting places.
Luna: So even in slavery, they found ways to maintain some identity.
Lucas: Yes. And that identity sometimes survived even after they were freed. There are records of freed slaves who stayed on Malta, married, had children, and became part of the island's fabric. Their descendants might have blended into the Maltese population entirely.
Lucas: The slave trade to Malta declined in the late 18th century, as the corso faded and the Order's power waned. By the time the French took over in 1798, the institution was already shrinking. But for nearly 300 years, slavery was a central fact of life on the island.
Luna: It's one of those things that's right there in the archives, but easy to overlook when you're focused on the knights and the battles.
Lucas: Exactly. And I think it's important to acknowledge it — not to condemn the past from a modern perspective, but to understand the full complexity of what Malta was. The same knights who built hospitals and fought corsairs also owned slaves. It's a contradiction, but it's a human one.
Luna: It makes you wonder about the Maltese people today — how much of that history is in their DNA, literally and culturally.
Lucas: It's a good question. And one that scholars are only beginning to explore in depth. For a long time, the slave history of Malta was treated as a footnote. But recent work is bringing it to the surface, and it changes how we see the whole story.
Luna: I'm glad we talked about it. It adds a whole new layer.
Lucas: Me too. And it's a reminder that every grand narrative has a hidden underside — and that's often where the most interesting stories are.

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