“Esse malo quam videri”. Sangre y mérito en la Orden de Malta a través de la literatura de ficción (Italia, siglos XVI-XVII)

Within the framework of “The culture of blood and lineage in the literature of the Spanish Golden Age”, the project coordinated by David García Hernán, this paper aims to provide some initial results of research on the connection between the nature of nobility (blood or merit) and fiction (novels and drama) in XVI and XVII century Italy. In particular, the paper focuses on representations of the image of nobility offered by individuals in literature related to the Order of Malta (both characters as well as authors), which in the Italy of the time was the reference point of noble and religious-chivalric ideals. Especially in XVI and XVII centuries, the Order of Malta goes through a phase of inner renewal with the admission of hundreds of knights. It therefore makes its “proofs of nobility” much more demanding. That is clearly cause and effect of the fact that wealth and power (the “other side of merit”) produce remarkable social mobility within the aristocracy and become conditiones sine quibus non for admission to the Order. To what extent does literature reflect all this? Is it more important “to be” noble (of blood) than “to appear” noble (of merit)?