Popular Healing: Christian and Islamic Practices and the Roman Inquisition in Early Modern Malta

1 September 2019 - 31 December 2022

PI/s in Exeter: Professor Dionisius A. Agius FBA

Research partners: Catherine Rider (History, University of Exeter)

Funding awarded: (total funding of £ 7,924)

Sponsor(s): British Academy

Project webpage(s)

About the research

This project uses the Roman Inquisition records in Malta to explore Christian-Muslim relations and magical healing in the early modern Mediterranean. The Inquisition records include many detailed testimonies relating to ‘magical’ cures for illness, including many cures performed by Muslim slaves on behalf of Christian clients. These testimonies allow us to see how Christian-Muslim relations and perceptions of Islam affected healing choices and beliefs about magic more broadly.