1398-1420 and Monroy Period
During the period of 1398-1420 control of the Islands fell to the early Universita, a local government elected by the local nobility to safe gourd their rights in the islands and maintain day to day management. They maintained the lobby to remain part of the Crown of Aragon which they were until 1420. Alfonso V, King of Aragon, was following various campaigns in the Mediterranean and was in need of both money and support. Therefore he granted the islands to Gonsalvo Monroy, but the contract of payment was signed and the payment made through Viceroy of Sicily Antonio de Cardona on behalf of Monroy. This caused great trouble in Malta and Gozo since they pledged allegiance to Cardona and not Monroy, after the transfer of jurisdiction to Monroy on the 7th of March 1421. Little is known about the period from 1421 to 1425. The rebellion of the Maltese and Gozitan populations of 1425-1428 is well known in Malta although it was not the first. The initial violence erupted in Gozo and spilled into Malta by 1426, finally control of the islands fell in the hands of the rebelling populations with Monroy’s garrison and wife Lady Constance de Monroy were encircled in the Castrum Maris. The tension remained until 1427 when Alfonso V decided that the Universita could buy the fief if they could pay the fee that Monroy paid in 1421, that of 30,000 Aragonese Florins over 4 months, an effectively impossible task for the poor population of the island and the relatively wealthy local nobility. By the end of 1427 they had not collected the money and had to bargain for a new deal wherein Viceroy Muntayans held onto 15,000 Aragonese florins worth of seized Maltese assets in Sicily, 400 uncie was given by Francesco Gatto and Marciano Falco local noble men. The Univarsita were to pay 5000 florins within a month while the remaining 10,000 florins were to be paid by October 1428. By the deadline the Universita still had to pay 10,000 florins this led to a stall in negotiations until April 1429 when Gonsalvo Monroy was on his deathbed decided to pardon the remaining debt of 10,000 florins.
Read more about this topic: Count Of Malta
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