ABSTRACT
The early origins of Malta's medical and social services may be traced back to the Hospitaller philosophy. Until the end of the Order's stay on Malta, the poor continued to receive food, shelter, medical care and mended clothes and shoes to wear. On early modern Malta, too, the Hospitallers succeeded in securing the local inhabitants' loyalty and confidence by extending protection to them, under different shapes and forms. On Hospitaller Malta the award of an old-age pension was one such deed of State generosity, a remarkable act of charity. Hospitaller dedication to communal care and social welfare was among the major forces behind the consistently steady increase in early modern Malta's population. Hospitaller manifested itself in a wide range of social benefits that included all forms of security, the diversification of the economy, the expansion of the local market, the creation of new sources of employment and the consolidation of old ones.
