Seminarium Missionum Malta S. Teresiae, 1625-1940

In 11 folders. Records pertaining to the foundation and activity of the Missions Seminary (1632-ca. 1790), the local novitiate (ca. 1790-), and the internal governance of the Convent of Santa Teresa in Cospicua (Malta). Records include church records, legal documents, account books, correspondence, inventories, historical and hagiographical works, and petitions.

The General Curia of the Discalced Carmelites is composed of the members of the Definitory (governing body formed by the Superior General and the Definitors) but also by other religious members called from different Circumscriptions to perform various tasks in the service of the whole Order.  Over the course of time the composition of the General Curia has changed considerably: from a very basic governing structure - Superior General, Definitors, Procurator-General -, following the expansion of the Order, it has gradually been enriched with new houses. A convent of the Discalced Carmelites in Malta was authorized by the Definitorio Generale on 18 December 1624. Property for the friars was purchased in Cospicua by Bishop Baldassare Cagliares (1575?-1633) on 11 December 1625, which the friars populated in 1626. Shortly after the Convent of Santa Teresa de Jesús opened, the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide proposed the creation of a seminary for training missionaries and the study of Arabic in Malta. Marzio Ginetti, Cardinal Protector of the Discalced Carmelites, made the proposal on behalf of the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide at the General Chapter of the Discalced Carmelites of 1632. The Definitorio Generale of March 1 to April 5 separated the convent from the Province of Sicily, and put it back under Roman jurisdiction, giving legal status to the new Seminary. By 1790, the Seminarium Missionum assumed the role of a local novitiate.

General House in Santa Maria della Scala in the Trastevere neighbourhood (1600-1735); Palazzo Barberini in via dei Giubbonari, 41 (1735-1759); Missions Seminary at St. Pancrazio Convent (1759-1761); Rocci Palace (now Ricci Palace) at Via di Monserrato 25 (1761-1857); unknown location (1857-1860); house located between via della Panetteria, 45 and vicolo dello Scalone, 12 (1859/1860-1897); Archivio Generale, Corso d’Italia, 38 (1897-)

Antonio Fortes, Las misiones del carmelo teresiano 1584-1799. Documentos del Archivio General de Roma, Monumenta Historica Carmeli Teresiani Subsidia 6 (Rome: Teresianum, 1997); Antonio Fortes, Las misiones del carmelo teresiano 1800-1899. Documentos del Archivio General de Roma, Monumenta Historica Carmeli Teresiani Subsidia 7 (Rome: Teresianum, 2008).