Infirmities and invisible ink: enslaved Muslims and magic in Malta, c.1598–c.1608

Abstract

This article examines accusations of magic made against enslaved Muslims in Malta over the period 1598-1608. In this period numerous enslaved Muslims were accused of magic before the Roman Inquisition, and the surviving records describe these accusations and magical practices in detail. This article explores the types of magic Muslims were accused of, and why they seem to have been attractive to Christians as magical practitioners. It employs a statistical analysis to outline patterns of accusation, and uses the detail from individual cases to discuss these patterns. We argue that accusations against enslaved Muslims had several distinctive features. Muslims were believed to be particularly good at curing illnesses caused by magic, which was linked to wider early modern stereotypes about Islam. They were also more likely to use books and writing in the Arabic language. Finally their practice of love magic for Christian women crossed gender boundaries in a way male Christian practitioners did not, although this should be seen in the context of a wide variety of types of magic practised for both men and women. However, despite these differences their services were not seen as completely distinct from those of Christian practitioners. Magic was thus an area where people of different faiths interacted, especially in certain circumstances. This picture corresponds to some degree to patterns identified in recent studies of enslaved and non-Christian healers who came before the Inquisition in Latin America and Africa and the article thus offers suggestions for comparison with these studies.