A company under the control of the French Government, formed about 1767 to keep up the price of breadstuffs. The company took advantage of the scarcity to make enormous profits, and it seems clear that Louis XV was pecuniarily interested in its transactions. About 1774 it became known as the Pacte de Famine.
Malta, Knights of.
An order of religious chivalry, established in Malta in 1104. In 1310 they captured Rhodes, and were known as the Knights of Rhodes until they were expelled from that island by the Turks in 1503, when they returned to Malta. They are now known as the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, and have become an English order, interesting themselves specially in ambulance work.
Malus Intercursus.
The name given by the Dutch to the Treaty of Commerce between England and Philip of Burgundy signed in 1506. By this instrument British ships were admitted free of harbour dues to the Ports of Antwerp, Bruges, Berghem and Middelburg, and English merchants were permitted to sell cloth throughout the Netherlands. In return Henry VII. agreed to surrender to Philip all rebels and fugitives from the Burgundian States captured in his dominions, a provision which was of no benefit to the Dutch.
Mamelucos.
Bands of half-breeds who raided the missions of the Jesuits in Paraguay in the seventeenth century, carrying off the converts as slaves. The word is generally applied in Brazil to those of mixed Indian and Negro blood.
Mamelukes.
The bodyguard of the Egyptian Sultans, chiefly composed of Circassian and Georgian slaves. In 1250 they mutinied, murdered the Sultan, and founded a dynasty of their own, nominating and removing the Sultans at their will. The Mameluke Dynasty lasted till 1517, when they were finally suppressed by the Sultan Selim.