September 1775 Rebellion - Maltagenealogy

Reassessing the September 1775 Rebellion List.

Online: 28-05-2026.

The Hospitallers charged the rebels with illegally taking possession of the cavalier and fort and raising flags other than that of the “Sacred Religion”, thus constituting an act of rebellion against the Order.The 64 people who were punished for their role in the revolt are known from the records of the Magna Curia Castellania; only one third of them were priests or clerics and the remaining two thirds were laymen. These consisted of;

4 laymen who had been captured inside St. James Cavalier and were subsequently imprisoned at the Castellania. Three of them (Pasquale Balzan, Michele Tonna and Claudio Chircop) were executed by strangling. The fourth man was given a life sentence as a rower on the Order’s galleys, but this was commuted to exile.
11 laymen who had been captured inside Fort St. Elmo and were subsequently imprisoned at the Castellania. Five of them were exiled for life while six were pardoned and released.
3 priests and 4 clerics who were held at the Episcopal Prisons before being exiled for life.
3 priests and 3 clerics who were held at Fort St. Elmo before being exiled for life.
8 priests and 28 laymen who are believed to have been imprisoned for life at Fort St. Elmo.

The three executions were carried out in violation of the promised amnesty on Ximénez’ direct orders, reportedly after Castellania judges had declined to sign decrees for their executions. The sentences were meted out on 13 September, and after strangulation their bodies were decapitated and the heads were displayed on pikes along the cavalier’s walls on 14 September. On 20 October, the trial of the 11 laymen began in Fort St. Elmo and a trial of 5 other laymen was held at the Castellania. Ximénez died on 4 November and was succeeded as Grand Master by de Rohan; the latter ordered the removal of the severed heads from the cavalier and continued the trials until 25 November.

The revolt’s leader Don Gaetano Mannarino was the most prominent figure among the 36 people imprisoned for life; also imprisoned with him were two of his brothers, the priest Don Antonio Mannarino and the cleric Gio. Battista Mannarino, along with other individuals from a variety of social classes. A certain Don Michele from Casal Zebbug is also included in this list, possibly a reference to Dun Mikiel Xerri. Gaetano Mannarino was released from prison in June 1798, after Malta was occupied by France during the French Revolutionary Wars.

List: (a handful not recognisable).

Fabrizio sives Fabiano Felici.

Andrea Antonurso.

Vincenzo Cassar;

Calcecondio Azzopardi;