MATSEC IM History key terms

Evidence produced during the period being studied, such as letters, diaries, official records, coins, or artefacts, created by people who witnessed or took part in the events.

An account written after the events by someone who did not witness them, such as a textbook or later history, usually interpreting primary evidence and other historians' work.

The study of how history has been written, including the methods, assumptions, and changing interpretations of historians over time, rather than the study of past events themselves.

A slant or distortion in a source caused by the author's interests, beliefs, or purpose, which may lead to selective emphasis, omission, or one-sided presentation of events.

The extent to which a source can be trusted as an accurate account, judged by its origin, purpose, authorship, corroboration with other evidence, and the interests of its creator.

The practice of checking one piece of evidence against independent sources to confirm or question its accuracy before relying on it in an argument.

The origin and history of a source: who made it, when, where, and for what purpose, information essential for judging its value and limitations as evidence.

The arrangement of events in the order in which they occurred, providing the basic framework historians use to explain causes, consequences, and change over time.

The analysis of why events happened, distinguishing long-term underlying causes from short-term triggers, and weighing the relative importance of different factors.

The outcomes or effects of an event, which historians assess by considering short-term and long-term impact, intended and unintended results, and significance for different groups.

The idea that historical outcomes were not inevitable but depended on particular choices and accidents, so alternative developments were always possible.

The view that events are shaped by fixed forces such as geography, economics, or class, leaving little room for individual choice or chance in producing outcomes.

The division of the past into named periods, such as the Middle Ages or the Renaissance, a convenience that reflects historians' judgements and can be debated.

The re-examination of accepted historical interpretations in the light of new evidence or new questions, often challenging established views and producing revised accounts.

The importance historians attach to an event or person, judged by criteria such as scale of impact, duration, relevance to later developments, and meaning for particular communities.

Deliberately biased information spread to promote a cause, government, or ideology, often using selective facts, emotional language, and images to influence opinion.

The suppression or control of information, writing, or images by an authority, which limits what sources survive and can distort the evidence available to later historians.

Evidence collected through recorded interviews with people recalling their own experiences, valuable for voices missing from written records but dependent on memory and interviewer influence.

A collection of documents and records preserved for research, such as government papers, parish registers, or private collections, usually catalogued and held in a dedicated institution.

The repository in Rabat responsible for preserving Maltese government and notarial records, providing essential primary evidence for the study of Malta's administration and society.

Legal documents drawn up by notaries, including contracts, wills, and property transfers, which are among the richest sources for Maltese social and economic history.

A social and political system in which land is granted by a lord in return for service and loyalty, creating hierarchies of obligation between monarchs, nobles, and peasants.

The economic organisation of medieval rural life, in which peasants worked land belonging to a lord in return for protection and rights to use some land themselves.

A condition in which peasants were legally tied to the land they farmed and owed labour and dues to a lord, limiting their freedom of movement and personal rights.

A cultural movement beginning in the Italian city-states in the fourteenth century, reviving classical learning and emphasising humanism, artistic achievement, and individual enquiry.

An intellectual movement that placed human experience and classical texts at the centre of education and thought, stressing rhetoric, history, and moral philosophy rather than purely religious study.

The support given by wealthy individuals, churches, or states to artists, writers, and scholars, which funded cultural production and tied it to the interests of the patron.

The sixteenth-century movement that challenged the authority of the Roman Catholic Church, leading to the creation of Protestant churches and to religious conflict across Europe.

The Catholic Church's response to Protestantism, including reform of clergy, the Council of Trent, new religious orders, and missionary activity aimed at renewing and defending the faith.

A church institution established to investigate and punish heresy, active in various forms across Catholic Europe and also operating in Malta under the Knights of St John.

A religious military order that ruled Malta from 1530 to 1798, building fortifications, governing the island, and shaping its institutions, economy, and relations with Europe.

The Ottoman attempt to capture Malta, defeated by the Knights and Maltese defenders after months of fighting, an event central to Maltese identity and to later fortification building.

The fortified capital city founded by the Knights after the Great Siege, named after Grand Master Jean de Valette and designed as a planned Renaissance city with bastions.

The period from 1798 to 1800 when French forces under Napoleon held Malta before being expelled with British and Maltese help, a time of reform and unrest.

The period of British rule from 1800 until Maltese independence in 1964, marked by constitutional struggles, economic change, and Malta's role as a naval base.

The achievement of sovereign statehood on 21 September 1964, ending British colonial rule, followed later by the declaration of a republic in 1974.

The process by which colonies gained political independence from European empires, especially after the Second World War, often through negotiation, protest, or armed struggle.

A political outlook that identifies a people as a nation with shared culture, language, or history and seeks self-government or independence in its name.

The shift from mainly agricultural and craft production to machine-based manufacturing in factories, bringing urban growth, new social classes, and changed working conditions.

The growth of towns and cities as people move from the countryside, typically driven by employment, trade, or population pressure, and bringing new social and public health challenges.

The movement of people between places, whether voluntary or forced, which shapes demography, labour, culture, and the relations between sending and receiving societies.

The large-scale departure of Maltese people, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, to destinations such as North Africa, Britain, Australia, and North America.

An organisation of workers formed to protect their interests, negotiate wages and conditions, and press for political and social reforms through collective action.

Warfare in which whole societies are mobilised, including civilians, industry, and propaganda, so that the distinction between combatants and non-combatants is eroded.

A network of formal agreements between states to support one another in conflict, which can deter war but also widen a local dispute into a general one.

The 1919 settlement ending the First World War with Germany, imposing territorial losses, military limits, and reparations, and creating the League of Nations.

The interwar international organisation set up in 1920 to keep peace through collective security, weakened by the absence of major powers and its lack of enforcement power.

The policy of conceding to aggressive demands in order to avoid war, associated with British and French responses to Germany in the 1930s and later much criticised.

The prolonged rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies after 1945, involving ideological conflict, arms races, alliances, and proxy wars without direct superpower fighting.

A policy adopted by states that refused to join either Cold War bloc, seeking independence in foreign policy and often cooperation among newly independent nations.