Rising of the Priests

The Rising of the Priests (Maltese: Ir-Rewwixta tal-Qassisin), also known as the September 1775 Rebellion, was an uprising against the Knights Hospitaller which broke out in Valletta, Hospitaller Malta in September 1775. It came about after an extended period of political and economic tension following the death of Grand Master Manuel Pinto da Fonseca in 1773. The magistracy of his successor, Francisco Ximénez de Tejada, was characterised by largely unsuccessful attempts to alleviate economic problems and disputes between the Hospitallers and Bishop of Malta Giovanni Carmine Pellerano.

These tensions led to an open revolt by a small group of Maltese clergy and laymen under the leadership of the priest Don Gaetano Mannarino on 8 September 1775. The rebels successfully took control of Fort Saint Elmo and Saint James Cavalier – two key locations within the fortifications of Valletta – but their actions failed to instigate a wider Maltese uprising. The Hospitallers quickly assaulted and recaptured the cavalier, and the rebels surrendered the fort by 11 September after a series of negotiations.

Two individuals, a Hospitaller knight and a priest, were killed and some others were wounded during the uprising. 64 people were arrested and imprisoned by the Hospitallers for their role in the revolt; three of them were executed while the rest were exiled or imprisoned, many of them for life. Mannarino was among those imprisoned; he was ultimately released over two decades later in 1798, when Hospitaller rule ended with the French occupation of Malta.