the oldest known literary text in the maltese language is pietru caxaro's poem, "il-kantilena" (c. 1470 to 1485) (also known as "xidew il-qada"), followed by gian francesco bonamico's sonnet of praise to grand master nicolas cotoner, "mejju gie' bl'uard, u zahar" "(the month of may has arrived, with roses and orange blossoms"), c. 1672. the earliest known maltese dictionary was written by francois de vion thezan court (c. 1640). in 1700, an anonymous gozitan poet wrote "jaħasra mingħajr ħtija" "(unfortunately innocent)". a maltese translation of the lord's prayer appeared in johannes heinrich maius's work "specimen lingua punicæ in hodierna melitensium superstitis" (1718), demonstrating the formerly wide-held belief that the language had a punic heritage. a collection of religious sermons by a certain dun ignazio saverio mifsud, published between 1739 and 1746, is regarded as the earliest known example of maltese prose.