A Day with the Knights!

The  Knights of St. John’s Co-Cathedral were a group of Christian Soldiers. These guys got together back in the day of the Crusades. I wanna say the 11th century or so. Starting out as more armed escorts than pastors, these Knights worked tirelessly, all in the name of the Big Dog upstairs.

GR: The “Big Dog Upstairs?”

ECH: Okay, okay you know me! I tend to oversimplify everything with my explanations! There is a TON more detail on the Knights out there you can find about protecting the pilgrims, defending Christian territories, etc.

GR: Gotcha…Getting ALL of my info from a guy who says “Big Dog Upstairs” might not be my best course of action…

ECH: Wow! No need to be harsh! Just saying if you want details…

GR: You’re not really a details guy.

ECH: AHEM…anyway…As I was saying, as the Knights were a band of soldiers,  if you ever visit this “Cathedral” it looks like a vault! For reals! It looks very military fortress-ey on the outside. I was walking specifically there…online maps in place and still I nearly missed it! (I thought it was a bank or something. I nearly requested a short term loan.)

GR: So what does it look like on the inside?

ECH: Oh yeah..that? Now that is crazy business…Ornate as all get out! I mean the outside looks like a concrete fortress..by design I understand.

But the inside? This is where “Cathedral” loses the air quotes and becomes the genuine article. It’s almost an assault on the eyes! Granted, the interior has been updated and changed over the years…but yeah…beautiful cathedral, you would never know from the outside. It’s their secret.

GR: Wow! Sweet! Got any pix?

ECH: BAM!

 GR: Holy Frijoles!

ECH: I know, right? Beautiful. Oh! Hey! Remember our man Caravaggio? He was still laying low in Naples, Italy when he received a letter from the Knights?

GR: Oh my gosh! I almost forgot! How’s he doing? I was reading about the Knights…then I got a snack…I lost track of time…

ECH: Well at this point Caravaggio had...Caravaggio had a…a…what kind of snack did you get?

GR: Come again now?

ECH: The snack? What did you have?

GR: I dunno…they’re like corn dog poppers?

ECH: Is that a spicy dipping sauce?

GR: OMG exactly! Have you tried these? They are the bees knees! I mean total garbage food...but still...yum.

ECH: Save me some for after…I have more Caravaggio-ing to do.

More Caravaggio-ing

Word of the great painter Caravaggio was getting around! However his popularity for brilliant artwork was nearly outshined by his reputation for a short temper. It was known that he had an incident and was looking for options while laying low in Naples.

It was at this point that our Knights in Malta realized they had an opportunity to get this genius to work for them! Caravaggio, understandably had limited options. While in Naples, he was still in Italy and the Pope and his armies would have no problem tracking him down and shortening his lifespan.

So what would YOU do?

STAY? The Pope wants to kill you and has armies at his disposal to make you less alive.

GO? If you leave, a group of adoring fans want to house you, shower you with gifts and affection, and pay you handsomely to do what you do best. They will even give you a whole part of the Cathedral to place your masterpiece.

Yeah…tough call…not much of a decision to be made.

So Mr. C. bought a one-way cruise from Italy to Malta to meet his new adoring fan base! And they loved him. I mean what’s not to love? I mean aside from the murder?

I mean all was good. But he had work to do.