Saviour Montebello (9 June 1762 – 18 April 1809) was a Maltese Doctor of Theology, a professor of philosophy at the University of Malta, and a Parish priest of Bormla.Mifsud Bonnici (1960), 368; Abela (1999); Montebello (2001), vol. II, 102. After Napoleon took over the Maltese islands in 1798, Montebello took an active part in the resistance of the Maltese against the French around his home-town at Żejtun. Afterwards, when the French Napoleonic forces had been ousted, and the British set up a provisional government in Malta, he was the first to be appointed to the Chair of Philosophy at the University of Malta. He held the office for almost four years, mainly teaching logic and metaphysics. He relinquished the Chair because he was appointed parish priest of Bormla, the last to hold the office under this title because subsequently the parish was promoted to a Collegiate led by Archpriests. He held the office of parish priest for only five years due to his premature death at age 46.No portrait or contemporary image of Montebello seems to exist.
Biography
Birth and formation
Saviour Montebello,Contemporary records give the surname in various forms: Montebello, Montibello or Mongibello, interchanging from one to the other indiscriminately. The latter two correspond to the dialect pronunciation of the former, and not (as Cassar 2003, under 'Montebello') claims, that they are three different surnames altogether. son of Joseph (1730APZ, Registrum Baptizatorum [Reg. Bapt.], MS 515, fol. 11v. Joseph was born on 3 April. His parents were Victor and Theresa Montebello.–1768Ibid., Registrum Defunctorum [Reg. Defun.], MS 565, fol. 150. He died on 22 April at 38 years of age.) and Catherine (née; 1731Ibid., Reg. Bapt., MS 515, fol. 17r. Catherine was born on 9 April. Her parents were Joseph and Mary Caruana.–?Attempts to locate her death records have unfortunately proved futile.), was born at Żejtun, Malta, on 9 June 1762.Ibid., Reg. Bapt., MS 518, fol. 128v. His parents had married at Żejtun parish church of St. Catherine of Alexandria on 26 September 1752.Ibid., Registrum Matrimonium [Reg. Matrim.], MS 573, fol. 5. and Saviour was their fourth child out of six.His siblings were Grace (born on 27 December 1754), Mary (5 September 1756), Michelangelo (17 December 1758), Vincentia (9 December 1764) and Elizabeth (8 July 1767). See, respectively: Ibid., Reg. Bapt., MS 518, fols. 71r, 89r and 105v, and MS 516, fols. 5 and 42. He was baptised on the same day of his birth at Żejtun's parish church by the deputy parish priest, Joseph Saliba, and given the names Saviour, Francis Xavier and Anthony. His godparents were Joseph Buttigieg, son of Luke, and Rose, wife of Francis Bugeja, both from the Żejtun parish.Ibid., fol. 128v.
At the age of 19, in 1781, Montebello entered the bishop's seminary at Floriana to study for the priesthood.Ibid. As was required at the time, his family donated him with a patrimony which could pay for his seminary expenses. This consisted of four properties: two partitions of grasslands around Tas-Silġ (limits of Żejtun), and two edifices at Żejtun's village centre. The patrimony was temporarily entrusted to the administration of Michael Pulis,Ibid. the husband of Montebello's older sister, Mary.They had married on 11 January 1778. See APZ, Reg. Matrim., MS 574, fol. 104.
Montebello was ordained a priest in 1787, six years after entering the seminary,Abela (1999), 49. most probably by the then Bishop of Malta, Carmelo Scicluna (bishop between 1875 and 1888). Thereafter, Montebello seems to have been stably assigned to pastoral work within and around the parish of Żejtun. Such work does not appear to have hindered him from studying for his Doctorate in Theology. This seems to have been done in Malta (and not abroad). In this case his studies would probably have been pursued, as was normally done, at the Collegium Melitense in Valletta. By 1797, that is ten years after his ordination, he had already acquired his S.T.D.Abela (1999), 49.
Family relations
Montebello was well connected through his family. His cousin, Giuseppe Montebello (1713APT, Reg. Bapt., vol. 3, fol. 108. He was born on 11 June.–1833Ibid., Reg. Defun., vol. 5, fol. 107r. He died on 18 February, not on the 8th, as many contend, including http://www.tarxienlocalcouncil.org/?module=content&id=490), from Tarxien, was the son of Montebello's uncle, Peter,Battistino (1992, 156). and a well-heeled merchant.Battistino (1992), 150, after Vella (1932), 186. He was Capo di Casal Tarxien (Head of Tarxien),Mifsud (1907), 243; Vella (1932), 187. elected by the gentry thereMifsud (1907), Deed before Notary Alexander Peter Spiteri, 243-4. to represent them in all administrative matters.Ibid., Deed before Notary Gregorio Mifsud, 251. During the French presence in Malta (1798), he was chosen to be part of the committee administering one of the twelve municipalities created by Napoleon, that which included Tarxien, Żejtun, Żabbar and Għaxaq.Battistino (1992), 150 Only three months later, however, Montebello was very much involved in the organised resistance of the Maltese against the French between 1798 and 1800. As head of the local provisional government at Tarxien,Mifsud (1907), 251. he was appointed capo battaglione (battalion leader) with operational responsibilities around that locality.Ibid. Together with others, he contributed financially to the two-year war effort,Battistino (1992), 201. and also donated (on 24 December 1798) a considerable part of his wealth to procure wheat and other supplies from Sicily to ease the food shortage that ensued from the revolt.Testa (1980), Deed before Notary Gregorio Mifsud, 194–198 When the British provisionally took over the government of the Maltese islands instead of the French Republican Commission, Giuseppe was elected by the gentry at Tarxien (18 February 1799) to be head of their locality, and thus part of the National Congress created by the representative of the British provisional government, Alexander Ball.Castagna (1985), vol. II, 381. Later, Giuseppe was appointed Logotenente di Governo (Government Lieutenant) of Tarxien.Ibid., vol. III, 44. Afterwards, when the British officially became lords of the land, and partitioned the Maltese islands into six districts, Giuseppe was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of the district comprising Tarxien, Paola, Żejtun, Żabbar, Gudja and Luqa (28 June 1815).Battistino (1992), 156, 269. Giuseppe's house at Tarxien, built by government funds as recompense for his share in the revolt,Ibid., 201. still stands unto this day, and is a tourist attraction.
Another influential close relative, Giuseppe Pulis Montebello (1783–1855), was Montebello's nephew.He was the son of Montebello's sister, Mary (APZ, Reg. Bapt., MS 519, f. 84r). Some sources―including Farrugia Randon (1991, 116–7, 142–3), the archives of the University of Malta, and the National Library of Malta―give Giuseppe's surnames in reverse form (as Montebello Pulis), which is evidently mistaken. He was from Żejtun and resided in Valletta together with his Italian wife Carlotta Bertelli.Abela (2008), 55–6; Frendo (2004), 164–5. Giuseppe lived for many years in Livorno, Italy, where he married.Abela (2008), 54–5. They had at least five children.They were Amelia, Angelo, Alfredo, Gratiulla and Olderigo. Ibid., 55–7. He and his wife settled in Malta for just a decade or so, and returned to Livorno a few months before Giuseppe's death in 1855.APZ, Liber Solidalità dell'Agonia, MS 191, fol. 309, and MS 124, fol. 7, cited by ibid., 56–7. Giuseppe died on 17 July. He was a well-off and self-sufficient merchant.Ibid. He too was elected to the National Assembly (1849–54).Farrugia Randon (1991), 143. He was very popular with voters, obtaining the largest number of popular votes.Frendo (2004), 165. Three publications of his are known. In 1824 he published Chtieb il Kari Yau Dahla'al ilsien Malti (A Book of Maltese Reading or An Introduction to the Maltese Language);Cachia (2000), 147. in 1826 Trattat Fuq l'Obblighi Tal-Bniedem (A Treatise on the Duties of Man);Ibid.; Debono J. (1996), 67. and in 1847 Rendiconto pratico del Campo Esperimentale dell'Est (A practical Statement on the Experimental Camp in the East).Società Economico-Agraria. Tipografia Anglo-Maltese: Malta. The first two are credited to be the first books written entirely in the Maltese language.They are reviewed by Cachia (2000), 148–51 and 151–5 respectively. See also www.akkademjatalmalti.com/page.asp?p=9023 (1924; in Maltese).
Resistance Together with many others, including his uncle Giuseppe, between 1798 and 1800 Montebello was part of the resistance of the Maltese against the French.Mifsud (1907), Document 40, 268. Following G. Fabri, Archive of the family of A.E. Caruana. He was stationed at Żejtun (at Tal-Borg),Battistino (1992), 201. and gave his share within a team of resistance fighters. The team's job was to intercept any manoeuvring by or to the French troops blockaded in Valletta through the road leading to Cottonera from the east, and to organise and manage supplies around that area. Despite some skirmishes―which had even left some casualties on both sidesIbid., 151–2.―Montebello's involvement does not seem to have been military, as some suggested,Abela (2008), 54. but rather of a logistical nature. In fact, together with two others (Luigi Agius, a doctor of canon and civil law, and Vincenzo Borg, later a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George) Montebello served as consultore legale (legal adviser) under the command of Giuseppe Abela.Mifsud (1907), 268. The team's General Headquarters was situated at San Giuseppe (Hamrun), under the general command of Francesco Saverio Caruana.Ibid., 267. Caruana was a MonsignorNaudi (1848), 17. who had studied philosophy under Michael Xerri.Ibid. He was professor of philosophy and mathematics at the bishop's seminary at Mdina,Ibid., 18. and later appointed Bishop of Malta (1831–47).
Professor of Philosophy
Following the French capitulation on 5 September 1800,Frendo (2004), 10. Montebello was appointed professor of the chair of philosophy at the University of Malta. The chair had been suspended by Napoleon on 18 June 1798,Zammit (1913), Document 9; Vella (1979), 222–3. but then reinstated by the British by Alexander Ball. On 5 November 1800,Cassar Pullicino (1958), 144–5. Montebello was chosen to be professor of logic and metaphysics,AAM, vol. I, 11; vol. II, 3–4; Zammit (1913), 6. For a review of AAM, see Laferla (1938). with an honorarium of 200 scudi per annum.AAM, vol. I, 12; vol. II, 3–4; Cassar Pullicino (1958), 144–5. He was chosen for this office by the newly appointed rector, Saverio Caruana,AAM, vol. I, 8–9; vol. II, 1–2; Ibid., 144. Montebello's former 'priest-in-arms'. This was done with the approval of Malta's provisional government (which included Montebello's cousin, Giuseppe).Mifsud (1907), 280–1.