Giovanni Niccolò Muscat (8 March 1735 – ) was a Maltese doctor of law, and a major philosopher. His area of specialisation in philosophy was chiefly jurisprudence.Mark Montebello, Il-Ktieb tal-Filosofija f’Malta (A Source Book of Philosophy in Malta), PIN Publications, Malta, 2001, vol. II, pp. 50-51.
Early life Muscat was born into a poor family on 8 March 1735.All biographical information, unless expressly indicated, is taken from Frans Chiappara, ‘Gio. Nicolò Muscat’, Hospitaller Malta, ed. by V. Mallia-Milanes, Mireva Publications, Malta, 1993, pp. 605-658. He was raised by his aunt after his parents died when he was young. His aunt paid for his university studies, where he studied law, likely at the Collegium Melitense in Valletta.
In 1763, he married Maria Salamone, a widow with three children who were older than him.
Career
Professional career After finishing his law degree and becoming a lawyer, Muscat was taken under the wing of one of the legal scribes (called uditore) of the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, Manuel Pinto da Fonseca. This helped Muscat build up a steady clientele which brought him a stable income.
Early writings Muscat's earliest extant writings date back to when he was twenty-three years old. A long poetic work in Italian, called Sonnetto (Sonnet),Montebello, op. cit., vol. II, p. 50. which he composed in 1758 was dedicated to Giammaria Azopardi Castelletti, Adriano Montana and Giuseppe Agius. The first was the Vicar General, and the others Assessors, to the Bishop of Malta, Bartolomé Rull. The work had never been published, and is extant in manuscript form.National Library of Malta, MS. 303. This document is evidence that Muscat did not always harbour ‘dangerous’ doctrines (as came out afterwards). During this period of his life he seems to have been quite convinced of the traditional political structures of his time and, particularly, with the supreme power exerted by the Pope.
Another early writing, this time from 1771, when Muscat had thirty-six years of age, is called Replica delli Creditori (A Creditors’ Response).Montebello, op. cit., vol. II, 138. This too is in Italian. It was published in Palermo, Sicily, at the printing press of Baron Giacomo Epir, and contains 87 pages. The work was written in response to a publication issued by a certain Giacobbe Berard, who had responded to yet another book. Muscat's book reproduced the same title of Berard's work. The subject of all three publications concerned a particular legal case of localised importance. Nevertheless, in his book Muscat touches upon a theme pertaining to political philosophy which he would go on to develop in other writings, namely the legal independence of a local government from outside interference (including the pope, his bishops or the Inquisition.
Philosophical bearing This was no transitory feeling which Muscat had expressed so boldly. His was a position emanating from the study of Enlightenment writings. Indeed, here, as elsewhere, Muscat did not go as far as rejecting religion or calling forth the establishment of a republic. That would have been not only impractical in a society such as that of Hospitaller Malta but also probably did not tally with Muscat's own beliefs. In general, he seems to have believed in the political system adhered to by the Hospitallers, albeit perhaps with a stronger dose of some egalitarian rights, and did not seem to harbour any thoughts of overturning their government. Regarding religion, his objections seem to have been directed towards ecclesiastical and clerical authoritarianism and impertinence, even though he seems to have been deeply religious himself.
Nevertheless, Muscat believed in the separation of Church and State, and in later years he succeeded in gaining the ear of the Hospitaller Grand Masters whom he served. Indeed, the Hospitallers were a religious order, and in this regard ultimately subject to the pope. Nevertheless, in matters pertaining to sovereign government, they could claim autonomy (just like other jurisdictions in Italy and elsewhere enjoyed).
Attorney General In Malta's political context such a philosophy could have been explosive. Muscat had no opportunity to put it into practice until around 1775, when newly-elected Grand Master Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc appointed him as his avvocato del principato (which more or less corresponds to the office of an Attorney General).
The potential menace did not escape the local inquisitor, Giovanni Filippo Gallarati Scotti, who said about Muscat: ‘Since some time ago, the ministers of this secular government, and especially the principality’s attorney general, seem to have changed their way of thinking. [...] The new spirit, which began to take hold of this man’s mind with the Grand Master's approval, has come out with various decisions which are offensive to the liberty of the Church’.
The ‘offensive decisions’ which Scotti referred to were the attempts made by Muscat to curb the effective authority of the pope over the jurisdiction and deliberations of the local government. Certainly, he must have had Muscat's Replica in mind. All of this of course could not please the local inquisitor or the bishop.
Corroborative works
The inquisitor was not prepared to stand idly by while such an affront was levelled against the authority of the Church, so he saw to it that his convictions became known to the authorities in Rome and to the Grand Master.
Meanwhile, in the years which followed Muscat intensified his assault by penning down other noteworthy works. The first seems to have appeared in 1779, called La Giurisprudenza Vindicata (A Reprisal for Jurisprudence).Ibid., vol. I, 205. This is a 19-page booklet written in old Italian, and it was published at the Hospitaller printing press under the direction of Giovanni Mallia. Its subtitle is simply Apologia (A Defence). The work is an unbroken discourse in twenty paragraphs dedicated to the Grand Master de Rohan. Muscat's writing is elaborate and sometimes difficult to follow, but his message is clear enough. Muscat takes on his adversaries by insisting that they are calumnious and misrepresented his intentions, even though they had not. In fact, Muscat goes on to confirm and further substantiate the claims he had upheld in favour of the sovereignty and independence of Malta’s government in all decisions within his jurisdiction. While retracting not a single point of his philosophy, Muscat provides a long presentation on the origin of Roman law, and even presents the philosophical basis of his position.
Four years after this work, in 1783, Muscat went on to publish Apologia a Favore dell’Inclita Nazione Maltese (A Defence in Favour of the Renowned Maltese Nation).Ibid., 24. The very words ‘Maltese nation’ must have sent shivers down the spines of both the local inquisitor and the bishop. These were definitely words with feared and hated Enlightenment overtones. Muscat's book, written in old Italian, has 124 pages, and it was published in Rome at the printing press of the Lazzarini family.About this printing press, see http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/lazzarini_res-88a8c43e-87ee-11dc-8e9d-0016357eee51_%28Dizionario_Biografico%29/ (in Italian) The above-mentioned title continues with the words ‘... Suoi Tribunali, Segnatura, e Legisti’ (... its Tribunals, its Secretariat of State, and its Law Consulates). The work is divided in three parts, each containing a number of chapters. Muscat composed it in response to a book, called Ragionamenti (Reasonings), by Giandonato Rogadeo, who sustained that the jurisdiction of Malta's government was limited by the supreme authority of the pope and by his institutions. With frank and candid language, and also with conviction and philosophical clarity, Muscat left no doubt on which side of the fence he stood.
Imposing works If this was not enough to make both the inquisitor and the bishop anxious, the year after the appearance of Muscat's Apologia a publication of great consequence was issued by Grand Master de Rohan in which Muscat's hand surely had a part. This was in 1784, and the publication was the Diritto Municipale di Malta (Malta's Domestic Law).
Usually called simply the Codice De Rohan, this book was basically a revision of the entire corpus of laws and legal customs of Malta. For its time it was a masterpiece of jurisprudence. However, in it not only was the Catholic Church not given the absolute authority it expected to have, but reasons were brought forward to retract some of the authority it still retained.
A second publication, issued two years later, in 1786, under the title Bando e Prammatica da Valere in Perpetuo (A Law and Procedure to Stand in Perpetuity), was even more explicit than the Diritto Municipale. It acknowledged that the prince had the right to sanction or abolish the execution of any legal instrument issued by a foreign authority, including the pope, the congregations of the Holy See, and the Inquisition.
Inquisitor Scotti identified Muscat as the one responsible for such pernicious doctrines. According to him, Muscat was one of "those modern philosophers of Malta" "cui il nome pur solo, e l’ombra della Chiesa, e delle Ecclesiastiche preprogative e invidioso e odiosissimo" (for whom the very name and the shadow of the Church, and of ecclesiastical prerogatives, is detestable and hateful).
Collision with the Church To defend himself from such accusations, in 1788 Muscat published a tract entitled Memoria (A Memo).Montebello, op. cit., vol. II, p. 50. However, this did little to dissipate the opposition which had been building up against him. This was exacerbated a year later, in 1789, when de Rohan demanded the suspension of the notorious papal bull In Cœna Domini, and Muscat personally went to stop Bishop Vincenzo Labini from publicly reading the bull. Though such a slur was not heeded by the bishop, the incident certainly did not improve things.
Muscat was determined to put into practice his philosophy. A little after the confrontation with the bishop, he informed the inquisitor that henceforth he would not submit any case before the pope, even those related to the faith, without first tendering them to the Grand Master for his approval. This sent the inquisitor up the wall.
First removal from office Muscat was unrelenting in his attack. A few years after clashing with the inquisitor, in 1791, he became involved in another incident which tipped the scales. Muscat maintained that the Church could exert its jurisdiction solely in matters pertaining to the sacraments, the faith, morals, and ecclesiastical discipline.
This seemed to go over the top. Pope Pius VI threatened de Rohan that, if Muscat was not immediately removed from Attorney General, the Holy See will disband the Hospitaller order.
Though this was no light warning, Muscat defended himself most vigorously. He avowed to have been, was, and always will be, a true and faithful son of the Church. Of course, neither his faith nor his faithfulness was the point of the issue. Nevertheless, the inquisitor did not flinch from twisting the knife in the wound. He reminded the pope that, some time back, Muscat himself had declared that ‘This is no longer the century of the Church!’, and ‘If it were in my power I would leave the bishop with only the crosier and the mitre!’ The inquisitor went as far as to inform the pope that (as he had it from his spies), on receiving the news of his requested removal from office, Muscat stated: ‘Puh, as if this would make me lose my appetite!’
Muscat was removed from office in January 1792, and sent to live outside the walls of the capital city, Valletta.
Reinstatement and second removal