:56:02
...later known as the Knights of Rhodes?
:56:04
-Crusaders or something, weren't they?
-Very good. Sit down.
:56:10
In 1539, these crusading Knights...
:56:12
...persuaded Emperor Charles V
to give them the lsland of Malta.
:56:16
He made but one condition:
:56:17
That they pay him yearly
the tribute of a falcon...
:56:20
...in acknowledgement that Malta
was still under Spain.
:56:23
Do you follow me?
:56:26
Have you any conception of the extreme...
:56:28
...the immeasurable wealth
of the Order of that time?
:56:30
They were pretty well fixed.
:56:32
"Pretty well" is putting it mildly.
They were rolling in wealth, sir.
:56:35
For years they'd taken from the East
nobody knows what spoils of gems...
:56:39
...precious metals, silks, ivory, sir.
:56:41
We all know the Holy Wars to them
were largely a matter of loot.
:56:46
The Knights were profoundly grateful
to the Emperor Charles...
:56:49
...for his generosity toward them.
:56:51
They hit upon the thought of sending...
:56:53
...for his first year's tribute,
not an insignificant live bird...
:56:57
...but a glorious golden falcon...
:56:59
...crusted from head to foot...
:57:01
...with the finest jewels in their coffers.
:57:04
Well, sir...
:57:05
-...what do you think of that?
-I don't know.
:57:08
These are facts, historical facts...
:57:10
...not schoolbook history, not Mr. Wells'
history, but history, nevertheless.
:57:14
They sent the foot-high jeweled bird
to Charles in Spain.
:57:16
They sent it in a galley commanded
by a member of the Order.
:57:21
It never reached Spain.
:57:23
A famous admiral of buccaneers...
:57:25
...took the Knights' galley and the bird.
:57:28
In 1713 it turned up in Sicily.
:57:32
In 1840 it appeared in Paris.
:57:34
It had, by that time,
acquired a coat of black enamel...
:57:37
...so that it looked nothing more
than a fairly interesting black statuette.
:57:42
In that disguise, sir, it was,
as you may say, kicked around Paris...
:57:46
...for over three score years
by private owners too stupid...
:57:49
...to see what it was under the skin.
:57:51
Then...
:57:52
...in 1923 a Greek dealer...
:57:55
...named Charilaos Konstantinides found it
in an obscure shop.