Original: The oldest known document in Maltese is '' Il Cantilena '' ( Maltese : Xidew il-Qada ) a poem from the 15th century written by Pietro Caxaro , and the first known Maltese dictionary was written by the French Knight Francois de Vion Thezan Court in 1640 .
Simplified: The oldest known document in Maltese is '' Il Cantilena , '' a poem from the 15th century written by Pietro Caxaro . For centuries , Maltese was mainly a spoken language .