Carnival
Maltese carnival has been celebrated since the 1400s.[3] The general awakening for carnival tradition has been since 1535, five years after the arrival of the Order of St John,[2] during the reign of Piero de Ponte.[4] It started taking place officially in Birgu. where a number of knights played games and displayed their skills in various pageants and tournaments.
Grand Master Piero de Ponte complained that some knights had exaggerated in their banquets and masquerades, and there were numerous abuses and brawls. At the general assembly of knights a week later, De Ponte made it clear that he would no longer tolerate any wild excesses, especially since they came from members of a religious community. He limited himself to approving tournaments and other military exercises necessary to Christian knights to train themselves for battle against the Turks.
In 1560, Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette, felt he had to reprimand his knights for going overboard with their festivities. He had allowed the wearing of masks in public (which was forbidden in Malta for the rest of the year). The knights decorated the ships of the Order’s fleet in the harbour and there was music, dance and rivalry as never seen in Malta before. La Valette was not amused at the number of people wearing masks, who had been invited to celebrate Carnival aboard the vessels and held up at the Grand Harbour in unfavourable weather conditions.[4]
