Here is an excerpt from the 1615 edition of A Relation of a Journey begun An: Dom: 1610 by George Sandys. The excerpt covers the days around Sunday, June 2, 1611 when Sandys approached Malta and then landed there. I like to think that it's possible Christopher Marlowe, who may have been living in exile on Malta at the time, met George Sandys, and then wrote The Tempest by direct inspiration from this chance encounter. The purpose of the storm scene in the play may have been twofold: (1) to suggest Malta by alluding to St. Paul's shipwreck on Malta as described in Acts 27-28 of the New Testament, and (2) to suggest the tempest which brought George Sandys into Malta. The following description by Sandys of his initial contact with Malta would be like Ferdinand telling a tale of his initial contact with the island in The Tempest. [above is taken from my HLAS post on April 30, 2003(edited)] Notes: excerpt:
But no intreatie could get me aboard; choosing rather to undergo all hazards and hardnesse whatsoever, then so long a voyage by sea, to my nature so irksome. And so was I left alone on a naked promontorie right against the Citie, remote from the concourse of people, without provision, and not knowing how to dispose myself. At length a little boate made towards me, rowed by an officer appointed to attend on strangers that had not Pratticke, lest others by coming into their companie should receive the infection: who carried me to the hollow hanging of a rocke, where I was for that night to take up my lodging; and the day following to be conveyed by him unto the Lazaretta, there to remaine for thirtie or fortie daies before I could be admitted into the Citie. But behold an accident, which I rather thought at the first to have bene a vision, then (as I found out) reall. My guardian being departed to fetch me some victuals, laid along, and musing on my present condition, a Phalucco arriveth at the place. Out of which there stept two old women; the one made me doubt whether she were so or no, she drew her face into so many formes, and with such anticke gestures stared upon me. These two did spread a Turkie carpet on the rocke, and on that a table-cloth, which they furnished with a varietie of the choisest viands. Anon another arrived, which set a Gallant ashore with his two Amarosaes, attired like Nymphs, with lutes in their hands, full of disport and sorcery. For litle would they suffer him to eate, but what he received with his mouth from their fingers. Sometimes the one would play on the lute whilest the other sang, and laid his head in her lap; their false eies looking upon him, as if their hearts were troubled with passions. The attending hags had no small part in the comedie, administring matter of mirth with their ridiculous moppings. Who indeed (as I after heard) were their mothers; borne in Greece, and by them brought hither to trade amongst the unmarried fraternitie. At length the French Captaine (for such he was, and of much regard) came and intreated me to take a part of their banquet; which my stomacke perswaded me to accept of. He willed them to make much of the Forestier: but they were not to be taught entertainment; and grew so familiar, as was to neither of our likings. But both he and they, in pitie of my hard lodging, did offer to bring me into the Citie by night (an offence, that if knowne, is punished by death,) and backe againe in the morning. Whilest they were urging me thereunto, my guardian returned; with him a Maltese, whose father was an English man: he made acquainted therewith, did by all meanes dehort them. At length (the Captaine having promised to labour my admittance into the Citie) they departed. When a good way from shore, the curtizans stript themselves, and leapt into the sea; where they violated all the prescriptions of modestie. But the Captaine the next morning was not unmindfull of his promise; soliciting the Great Maister in my behalfe, as he sate in councel; who with the assent of the great Crosses, granted me Pratticke. So I came into the Citie, and was kindly entertained in the house of the aforesaid Maltese where for three weekes space, with much contentment I remained.
So, who was this "Maltese, whose father was an English man" and in whose house Sandys was "entertained" for a space of three weeks? Was the Maltese a young female like Miranda? And, was the father a bookish man like Prospero, possibly William Watts (known to have been a resident of Malta at the time)? Fascinating questions that some hard research may answer.
The first known performance of The Tempest was November 1, 1611. If this was indeed the very first performance of the play, it is consistent with it being written in the time frame of June and July of 1611 during and after Sandys visit to Malta. The play is one of the shortest in the canon.
Finally, The Impact of George Sandys' Travel Journal of 1610 is an excellent essay about George Sandys written by Phyllis Howard while a student at the University of Southern Colorado. She provides many good details, especially the dates, which are absent from some full-length books on Sandys.
I’ve chosen to include two separate excerpts of Sandys’ visit to Malta. The first excerpt, in the original old spelling, is part of a post I made to HLAS in 2003. My notes on the first excerpt focus on factual information, historical context, visualizations, and word meanings. The second excerpt, yet to be posted, will be in modernized spelling. My notes on the second excerpt will be more along the lines of literary criticism, and will focus on personal observations about parallelisms, allusions, and Sandys’ choice of language.
Sunday, June 2, 1611:
The date in England when Sandys’ ship sailed into the harbor at Valletta, Malta was Sunday, June 2, 1611, a Julian calendar date. The same date in Malta was Sunday, June 12, 1611, a Gregorian calendar date. For more details, see the note below entitled “the second of June being Sunday.” Also, see the calendar offered by the Anglican Diocese of Ely (UK).
alluding to St. Paul's shipwreck:
In his introduction to The Tempest (1969), Northrop Frye comments on the apparent suggestion of St. Paul’s shipwreck on Malta within the play’s opening storm scene: “Echoes from the shipwreck of St. Paul (Ariel’s phrase “Not a hair perished” recalls Acts xxvii, 34) … are appropriate enough in such a play” (1371).
Peter Moore (1996), although he is not a Marlovian, argues persuasively that the New Testament’s short account of St. Paul’s shipwreck on the island of Malta contains many more parallels to The Tempest than are present in William Strachey’s much longer account, which was first published in 1625, of a shipwreck on Bermuda in 1609. Moore presents a list of 13 parallels between The Tempest and St. Paul’s shipwreck on Malta (online).
the second of June being Sunday:
the haven … East side of the Citie of Valetta:
See the following images: harbor-1
every ship had a neat Patent:
During this time period, preventing the spread of communicable diseases was a major public health concern for most European countries. Sailing ships entering a port were often required to undergo quarantine procedures. The length of a ship’s quarantine could be mitigated by the presentation of an official certificate of health, known at that time as a patent—either clean, suspect, or foul. See The Pamphleteer’s article from 1822 on British quarantine laws. Also, to gain some insight into the dangers that ship-borne diseases posed to the population of Malta, see Paul Cassar, Medical History of Malta (London: Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 1964), pp. 165-170. Cassar has a chapter entitled “Plague Epidemics” in which he provides a detailed account of the severe plague outbreak of 1592-93 on Malta which was introduced to the island by Tuscan gallies. This plague outbreak, 18 years before Sandys’ visit to Malta, killed nearly 10% of the island’s entire population.
gallies of the Religion:
The term “the Religion” refers to the Knights of Malta. Regarding “the Religion,” Schermerhorn (1978) notes: “The term generally used for the Military and Religious Order of the Knights of St. John, formerly of Jerusalem and Rhodes, now of Malta” (2n).
A beautifully illustrated book by Sire (1994) has a chapter entitled “The Navy of the Religion” with several images of the Religion’s ships. Sire writes: “The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were the golden age of galley warfare, and in this the ‘Navy of the Religion’, to use the name under which the fleet of Malta won renown throughout the Mediterranean, made its special contribution” (88). Sire also comments that in 1600 the Knights of Malta had seven galleys in their fleet (93).
See the following images:
galley-1 ● gallley-2 ● galley-3
Tripoly, Tunis, or Argiere:
frigot:
long-boates:
A longboat (also long-boat, or long boat) was usually the largest boat carried on a sailing ship; it looked similar to a giant canoe. Jamieson (1829) provides a good definition (s.v. “boats”). Cf. Shakespeare, 2H6, 4.1.68-9: “and on our longboat’s side / Strike off his head.”
See the following images:
longboat-1 ● longboat-2
great Maister:
his galley:
The Grand Master’s ceremonial galley was very different from the galleys routinely used by The Knights of Malta on their seafaring missions into the Mediterranean.
Pratticke:
Pratticke is an obsolete English spelling-variant of the French word pratique meaning: “Permission or licence granted to a ship to hold intercourse with a port after quarantine, or on showing a clean bill of health. Especially used in connexion with the South of Europe” (OED 1989, s.v. “pratique”).
Lazaretta:
Lazaretta is a spelling-variant of the Italian word lazaretto meaning: “A building, sometimes a ship, set apart for the performance of quarantine” (OED 1989, s.v. “lazaretto”). Note that lazaretto is present in the 1828 edition of Webster’s dictionary, but not in the 1913 edition. See Cassar, chapter 32, “The Lazaretto and Isolation Hospitals” (1964, 298-308). Also, see Port Health in Malta”.
Phalucco:
Phalucco is an “erroneous form of felucca” (OED 1989, s.v. “phalucco”). Felucca is a word of likely Arabic origin meaning: “A small vessel propelled by oars or lateen sails, or both, used, chiefly in the Mediterranean, for coasting voyages” (OED 1989, s.v. “felucca”).
See the following images:
felucca-1 ● felucca-2 ● felucca-3
Amarosaes:
Amarosaes is an erroneous spelling of the plural form of the Italian word amorosa meaning: “a female lover; a wanton, a courtesan” (OED 1933, s.v. “amorosa”) or, from another source, “an amorous or wanton woman. ‘I took them for amorosas, and violators of the bounds of modesty.’ Sir T. Herbert, Travels, p. 191” (Century Dictionary 1906, s.v. “amorosa”).
Bates (1912) edits the spelling to “Amorosaes” when quoting from George Sandys’ Relation (91). However, Purchas (1905) retains “Amarosaes” when excerpting from Sandys’ book (222). Finally, note that a few lines after Sandys calls the two women Amarosaes, he refers to them as “curtizans.”
attired like Nymphs:
So, how is a nymph usually attired? Depictions of nymphs in fine art are usually nude, or very nearly nude. However, in this case, the Amarosaes were indeed wearing something, since Sandys writes a few lines later that they “stript themselves, and leapt into the sea.”
See the following images:
nymph-1 ● nymph-2 ● nymph-3 ● nymph-4 ● nymph-5
lutes:
A lute is a Renaissance guitar. See Caravaggio’s painting The Lute Player to see something of what Sandys may have seen when one of the women started playing a lute nearby.
moppings:
grimaces, facial expressions.
Mopping derives from mop which is often used in tandem with mow: see Shakespeare’s King Lear (4.1.60) and The Tempest (4.1.53), also see Beaumont and Fletcher’s The Pilgrim (4.2).
Sandys’ use of moppings to describe the mothers here, echoes his words a few lines earlier where he writes: “Out of which stept two old women; the one made me doubt whether she were so or no, she drew her face into so many formes, and with such anticke gestures stared upon me.”
He willed them to make much of the Forestier:
Forestier is an Italian word derived from forestiero meaning: 1. stranger—2. foreigner—3. guest, visitor. Gautier (1900) uses forestier in Jettatura (27), a book written in French with an excellent gloss in English by Schinz (128). Here is a paraphrase of the entire line by Sandys: The French Captain urged the women to treat the foreign visitor [Sandys himself] with much kindness and attention.
he made acquainted therewith, did by all meanes dehort them:
Dehort is an obsolete word meaning: to dissuade, to advise someone against an action. The entire line is somewhat vague. Here is an amplified paraphrase: My guardian—the quarantine officer who had earlier left to get me some food, and who had just now returned to this hollow hanging of a rock where he had left me—knew nothing of the French Captain, his two Amarosaes, and their Greek mothers. He made himself acquainted with everyone there, and soon discovered that these five Sunday picnickers wanted to secretly take me into the city of Valletta by night, thus avoiding standard quarantine procedures. The quarantine officer did by all means dissuade the Captain and his companions from taking such an illegal and dangerous action.
labour my admittance:
Somewhat unusual language meaning: work on my behalf to gain the official permission which allows my entry [into the the city of Valletta]. Such official permission was necessary when overriding standard quarantine procedures.
Sandys, Malta, and The Tempest
… We past by the South side of Sicilia, and left Malta on the left hand; when out of hope to be set ashore (for it was the purpose of our Merchant before he met with these consorts, to have touched at Messina) and sadded with the apprehension of so tedious a voyage, on the sodaine the wind came about, and blowing fiercely West and by North, did all the night following exercise his fury; our ships rather losing then gaining of their way, and exceedingly tossed, the weather not likely to alter, they resolved to put in to Malta. So on the second of June being Sunday, we entred the haven that lies on the East side of the Citie of Valetta, which we saluted with eighteene peeces of ordnance: but we were not suffered to come into the Citie, (though every ship had a neat Patent to show that those places from whence they came were free from the infection) nor suffered to depart when the wind blew faire; which was within a day or two after. For the gallies of the Religion were then setting forth, to make some attempt upon Barbarie. The reason thereof, left being taken by the Pirats, or touching upon occasion at Tripoly, Tunis, or Argiere, their designes might be by compulsion or voluntarily revealed: nor would they suffer any frigot of their owne, for feare of surprisall, to go out of the haven, untill many dayes after that the gallies were departed. But because the English were so strong (a great ship of Holland putting also in to seeke companie) and that they intended to make no more ports; on the sixt of June they were licensed to set saile: the Maisters having the night before in their several long-boates attended the returne of the great Maister, (who had bin abroad in his gally to view a Fort that then was in building) and welcomed him home with one and twentie peeces of ordnance.
(Sandys 1973, 226-27)
