by Erin Caslavka

Who’s to say what sparked Dashiell Hammett’s imagination when he first conjured up the tale of “The Maltese Falcon”? In the famous fictional story, murderous mayhem is fueled by a jeweled statue given by the Knights of St. John, residents of the island of Malta, to Charles V. Bloodthirsty and conniving treasure hunters cross paths with San Francisco Detective Sam Spade in an effort to get their hands on the legendary sculpted bird, and the rest, of course, is celluloid history…

While the statue itself never did exist, the basis of the tale is factual: in 1530, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, agreed to allow the Knights of St. John to rent the island of Malta. In payment, he asked for one live falcon a year.

But who were the Knights of St. John, how did they come to be on the island, and just how influential was their power over this tiny stretch of limestone (approximately 17 x 9 miles) dropped into the heart of the Mediterranean? Much like Sam Spade in the aforementioned detective yarn, I relished the opportunity to discover for myself the answers to the questions I had about the Knights of St. John while visiting Malta on a two-day excursion.

The largest of the three main islands of the nation of the same name (the others being Gozo and Comino), Malta is situated at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea – making it extremely advantageous militarily. Some have speculated that the reason the Maltese are so adaptable is due to their relentless history of occupation. To get a handle on what that looks like, I took note of the island’s chronology of invasions as delivered by my tour guide at the President’s Palace. The most important building in the capital city of Valletta, the palace was originally built as the residence of the Grand Masters of the Knights of St. John.

As the guide lectured to our small group, like any good detective I took notes. My hand flew over the page as I wrote, “Around 5000 B.C., Neolithic farmers arrived. From 700-550 B.C. the islands are colonized by the Phoenicians. Then comes a 300-year period of Carthaginian rule; then the Romans annex Malta. In the 6th century the Byzantine Empire gains control, and in 870 the Arabs show up. At the end of the 11th century it falls into Norman hands; then German, then French. Sacked by the Muslims in 1429, the island is finally ‘given’ by Charles V to the Knights in 1530…and that’s not even taking into account the next 475 years the island’s history!”

As a result of this melting pot of multiethnic occupation, Malta might at first glance appear somewhat schizophrenic. After my tour of the palace, I wandered the streets of the fortressed city of Valletta and noted obvious evidence of Arabic, Italian and British influences in its architecture, culinary offerings and local language. But it all melds together seamlessly, for the Maltese have taken the best of a variety of cultural styles and blended them into an intriguing combination.

An example of this presents itself in the form of the stunningly beautiful St. John’s Co-Cathedral, which - like the President’s Palace - was also built on orders of the Grand Master of Malta. Entering the cathedral, I was instantly transported to a time when the power and wealth of the Catholic Church lent itself to the commissioning of some of the world’s most magnificent edifices.

Though the building was originally completed at the end of the 16th century, the interior is actually a redecoration from the 17th century - an explosion of Baroque that trumpets the glory of God, and the Knights’ place in history. The prolific Italian artist Mattia Preti was commissioned to transform the space, and what a remarkable accomplishment it is: carved walls, hand-painted ceilings, gilded altars and inlaid marble tombstones (many containing the remains of the Knights) work together to push the opulence over the top. Clearly, money was no object in its construction.

Many consider the piece de resistance to be Caravaggio’s commanding chiaroscuro painting “The Beheading of St. John,” which hangs in the oratory. But what intrigued me the most were the tombstones at my feet that contained the bodies of fallen Knights. To be so honored and revered as to be provided a burial place inside the church made me consider just how the Knights’ came to be on Malta in the first place.

The Order of the Knight Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem (as they were officially known), were warrior monks who had sworn vows of chastity, poverty and obedience to the Church. Founded as a religious brotherhood tasked with defending Christianity, the Knights were noblemen from the most important families of Europe. Originally based in Jerusalem, they later relocated to the Greek island of Rhodes, and then were “given” the island by Charles V in 1530 as a safe haven. But their influence increased exponentially when they withstood a 4-month siege by the Ottoman Turks in 1565 who were seeking control of Malta to use it as a base from which to attack Southern Europe.

After the victory, referred to as the “Great Siege of 1565,” the Knights set about developing the fortressed city of Valletta - named in honor of Grand Master Jean Parisot de la Valette. {place St. John’s photo here} As many of the Knights came from the richest families in Europe, they could well afford the best craftsmen, finest materials and most talented artists of their time. Further examples of their contributions to the island’s cultural and architectural heritage are the auberges – or “national inns” that housed many of the Knights and acted as clubhouses of sorts for each of the different languages represented within the Order. Everywhere I looked within the fortified walls of Valletta, it was obvious why Sir Walter Scott once pronounced it “the city built by gentlemen for gentlemen.”

Though I could have spent many more hours probing the mysteries of the Maltese and the Knights’ place in their history, I too had to leave the island. (The Knights were eventually driven off Malta by Napoleon in 1798 when he was on his way to Egypt.) Nevertheless, my self-styled sleuthing had proved to be intriguing…

So while I may never know exactly what it was that led Hammett to pen his famous tale, I do know that I’ve been inspired to return to the fabled island of Malta to continue my own treasure hunt into this multifaceted gem set into the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

FAST FACTS:

As a former British Crown Colony (1814-1964), not surprisingly English is one of two official languages in Malta; the other is Malti, a complex language formed from a variety of linguistic influences.

The famous oceanographic research ship the Calypso was once a U.S. Navy minesweeper used in the Mediterranean during WWII. After the war (and before its association with Jacques Cousteau), the Calypso served as a ferryboat between Malta and Gozo.

Although the Maltese Falcon was a literary creation, several copies of it were made for publicity stills to promote John Huston’s movie version of the tale. One of the falcon replicas was given by actor Elisha Cook, Jr. (who played Wilmer the Gunsel) to John Konstin, owner of San Francisco’s John’s Grill on Ellis Street. But sometime in February 2007, a thief broke into his restaurant and stole the statue from inside a locked cabinet. It’s never been recovered...

Maltese Tourism Authority - www.visitmalta.com
St. John’s Co-Cathedral - www.stjohnscocathedral.com

Photo credits: Erin Caslavka; iStockphoto.com; St. John’s Co-Cathedral