Auberges, Posts and Gates

It is hard to separate the history and architecture of Birgu from the influence of the Knights of St. John. So in this post, and probably in others throughout the year, I am going to write about a particular feature of Birgu and use it to describe something about the Knights, be that their history, their purpose, or in this case their organisational structure.

Walking around the city, it is impossible to miss references to several different countries and regions of medieval Western Europe: Provence, France, Auvergne, Castille, Léon, Portugal, Aragon, Italy, Germany and England.  It is worth considering how these map onto 21^stcentury nation states.  Modern France is made up of the medieval regions of France, Auvergne and Provence; and Castille, Léon and Aragon eventually united to form modern Spain. Italy refers approximately to the same geographical area that is modern Italy, but that country did not exist as a political entity in the medieval period, rather being made up of various kingdoms, principalities, duchies and city-states.  In the case of Germany, the reference is to the Holy Roman Empire, an area that stretched much further north and east than the modern German state.  Predictably, England refers to the whole British Isles, including Ireland: plus ça change!

Much as I find pre-modern geo-politics interesting, the names that can be seen on the buildings and fortifications of Birgu do not refer to countries or regions, but more specifically to languages.  This is because the Knights of St. John, drawn from across the whole of Christian Western Europe, were organised into ‘langues’ or ‘tongues’, groups of Knights who each spoke a common language.  Knights of the Order held a common purpose, that is the defense of Western Christendom, but they also recognised that they came from different backgrounds, and used this to their advantage.

There were a number of practical benefits to organisation by language.  Firstly, each langue had its own ‘auberge’.  These hostels were places where new recruits were given temporary lodgings until they found homes of their own.   Similarly, Knights stationed in commanderies, properties belonging to the Order on the European mainland, might stay in them when visiting Malta. Within the auberges, the language of everyday usage was the language of home.

Most of the auberges were built close together in the network of winding streets behind the main square, known as the ‘Collachio’.  Some have long since disappeared, but side-by-side on Triq Hilda Tabone are three buildings that served as auberges in the 1500s.   First are the Auberges of Provence and Auvergne. Both are now private dwellings and their façades have been altered, but internally they maintain some of the features of the original auberges.

Next is the Auberge of France. This building was partially destroyed by bombs in the Second World War, but has recently been painstakingly restored by Birgu Local Council and now serves as the Council offices.

The advantages for the Knights of being organised by language went beyond the domestic.  Each langue was assigned its own stretch of Birgu’s fortifications, which they should defend in case of attack.  Each Knight could take his post confident that he would be fighting alongside somebody who spoke the same language.  Many place names reflect this, for example during the Great Siege of 1565 the bastions overlooking Kalkara were assigned to the langue of Castille.  The area is still known today as the Post of Castille, and to many locals as Il-Prexxja (from the Italian ‘breccia’ meaning ‘breach’), as this is the one place in the defensive lines that the Ottomans briefly managed to break through into the city.

The strategy of assigning langues to defend particular stretches of the fortifications continued throughout the Knights’ era, even after they had moved their main base from Birgu to Valletta. Take for example the Couvre Porte, the complex of three gateways that became the main entrance to Birgu. The Couvre Porte was not built until the 1720s, but even at this late date langues were assigned to defend its different sections: the outer or Advanced Gate is also known as the Gate of Aragon; the inner gate is the Gate of Provence; and between is the Post of France.

Language played a further role in the Order’s military organisation, as each langue was given a particular function within the overall structure.  For example, the head of the Auberge of France had responsibility for the hospital (about which I will write more at a future date).  The head of the Auberge of Italy was the Admiral of the galley fleet.  As the Italians were primarily responsible for the Order’s Navy, their Auberge was built not in the Collachio but closer to the waterfront.  It was destroyed by bombing in World War Two.

The head of the English langue was the Turcopolier of the Order, commander of the Knights’ infantry. The Auberge of England remains in its original state, having suffered no significant damage in either the Great Siege or the bombing of World War Two.  It’s longevity, however, contrasts with the fragility of the English langue when the Knights took residence in Birgu.

At the time of the Great Siege, England was already largely Protestant and the number of English speaking Knights had diminished to only a handful.   Whilst the head of the English langue, Sir Oliver Starkey, served as Latin Secretary for the Order’s Grand Master, de Valette, it is unlikely that there were enough English Knights to defend the fortifications that they had been assigned (probably those nearest to Fort St. Angelo on the Kalkara side).  

Furthermore, even following the Knights’ victory over the Ottomans, and the widespread recognition of the Order as the saviour of Christian Europe, England offered no support to the Knights as they built their new capital.  A new English Auberge was not built in Valletta, and as a result, the Auberge of England in Birgu symbolises the last English contribution to the medieval Knights of St. John.

I will leave it to others to draw contemporary comparisons about the place of England within institutions of European cooperation.