Maximilian Balzan (1637–1711) was a minor Maltese mediaeval philosopher who specialised mainly in physics and art. He was also an accomplished theologian. He had a very successful administrative career, both in the civil as well as the ecclesiastical sphere, and he further gave a significant share in academic circles.

Life

Unfortunately, it is still not known where Balzan was born in Malta. He must have married young, though details of this marriage are yet historically unidentified. It is only known that he had at least one son, John Baptist Balzan, who later became a diocesan priest. Balzan’s initial higher studies were almost certainly undertaken in view of his future service to the Order of

Knights Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

. He studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, and canon and civil law. He thus became a lawyer, then judge, and later an ''uditore'' (a sort of minister) to the Order of

. He served under four Grand Masters: Nicolas Cotoner, Gregorio Carafa (1680–90), Adrien de Wignacourt (1690–97), and Ramon Perellos y Roccaful. Appointed ambassador to the German Emperor, Leopold I, Balzan accomplished his duties so well that he was appointed a knight of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. During Gregorio Carafa’s watch, he was instrumental in drawing up a new code of penal law. When his wife died, Balzan became a priest. Thus, he was made Commendatory of the Jerusalemite clergy of the Order of

, and advanced to being appointed a deacon at the Bishop’s Cathedral at

Mdina Mdina ( ; ), also known by its Italian epithets ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdina, fortified city in the Western Region, Malta, Western Region of Malta which served as the island's former capital, from antiquity ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. It was during this period that Balzan gave his full contribution to teaching philosophy at the Cathedral ''studium''. This was around 1699. When Balzan died (1711), he was buried in St. John’s Co-Cathedral,

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

. The inscription over his tomb was composed by his son John Baptist, who by that time was, like his father, Commendatory of the Jerusalemite clergy of the Order of

Known work

Only one work of Balzan seems to have survived. It is in Latin, and bears the following title: * 1699 - ''Tractatus Physicæ'' (A Study of Physics). The manuscript is held at the Dominican Archives at

Rabat, Malta Rabat ( ) is a town in the Western Region of Malta, with a population of 11,497 as of March 2014. It adjoins the ancient capital city of Mdina, and a north-western area formed part of the Roman city of Melite until its medieval retrenchment. ...

, marked as MS. A106. Its sub-title is ''In Universam Hippocratis et Aristotelis Physicam'' (''A Study of the Physics of

Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; ; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician and philosopher of the Classical Greece, classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referr ...

and of

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

''). No other works of Balzan are known to have existed accept this. Unfortunately, the manuscript has never been transliterated, much less translated into any modern language, or even freshly read and studied. This is indeed a pity. For, as can be gauged from details given below, Balzan seems to be a mind worthy of serious consideration. His manuscript is made up of 135 back to back folios, and full of interesting surprises.

The transcribers and custodian

The manuscript itself was not inscribed by Balzan but by two of his students, both clerics. They were John Francis Zammit and Dominic Zammit, who of course attended Balzan’s lectures and took down his teachings word for word. The transcription might have been endorsed by Balzan himself. Whatever the case, the document was conserved to posterity by Balzan’s own son, John Baptist, who later must have made a donation of it to the

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

Contents and originality

Balzan’s manuscript is an interesting piece of scholarship. In a way its content might also be considered quite original. For instance, the fact that Balzan took into consideration ancient medical theories, such as those by

, is indeed out of line with mainstream Scholastic treatises. However, there is even more to Balzan’s mind. He investigates subject matters which no Scholastic generally would. All of this seems to indicate that Balzan was not content to repeat, mechanically, the method and doctrines of Scholastic academics. Though the style of Balzan’s work is basically Scholastic in nature and methodology, however he frequently leaves the beaten track and roams, almost freely, into uncommon spheres of thought. The work is composed of an introduction and (in the Scholastic style) three ‘Questions’. All of these four sections are further divided into ‘Disputations’. In the introduction, Balzan explains the principles of physics (Disputation 1), and the principles of matter (Disp. 2). The first part (Question I) deals with metaphysics. It has an introduction on the nature of metaphysics, and two further sections (also called ‘Questions’, though they are clearly ‘Disputations’) dealing with two minor aspects of metaphysics. The second part of Balzan’s work (Question II) explores nature and art, which in itself is quite exceptional for any Scholastic. In Dispute I, he examines the relationship between nature and art; in Dispute II, the natural causes in general; and in Dispute III, the four Aristotelian causes in particular. The third part of the work (Question III) goes into the concepts of movement and rest. Balzan assigns to this subject the lion’s share of his manuscript. After a short introduction, he examines the concept of the infinite (Disputation 1); two qualities of movement: space (Disp. 2) and time (Disp. 3); the concept of a continuum (Disp. 4); the skies and the earth (Disp. 5); and the nature of the heavens (Disp. 6).

References

Sources