A recent Ceremonial Photo from the Order of Saint John Today. Once Knights of the Battlefield, to Knights of the Boardroom – enjoy some of their history!
With absolutely nothing to do with Marketing in this article, I wanted to talk to a different topic and arc of my life that has totally come alive for me in recent times.
As a Proud Christian I was very lucky earlier in the year to be recognized for my charitable contributions and be invited to be a ‘Knight’ in the Order of Saint John (“OSJ”). In modern terms, you could say it’s part Priest / Pastor, part Charity Worker and part Influencer to help the poor & disadvantaged as well as influence public policy to improve things for everyone.
The Team at Condon Associates (including Schon Condon & Richard Abela) were two fine characters to invite me to join the order (which I technically incorrectly nickname ‘The Templars’ as most people know who they are).
Right now I am busy writing tons of Marketing Content for them and one of the interesting battles I have come across is called ‘The Siege of Malta’.
It’s quite an interesting part of history that I have really started to get my head around and this is often a key battle understood by anyone from Malta, people across Europe and those with an interest in this time of the world.
In short, the Siege of Malta is this really cool battle which in very simple terms goes like this (apologies in advance for any key parts I have missed out – I still have much to learn here):
1. The Island of Malta was a Key Strategic Location of the Mediterranean which both Christians & Islam fought for. It made a perfect naval base and whoever held it would have a massive tactical advantage.
2. It was held at the time by the Knights Hospitaller (the OSJ – my ancestors so to speak) – about 2,000 soldiers.
3. The Ottoman Empire sent a massive fleet to drive the Knights & Christian Allies from the land (at least 10,000 soldiers from what I can tell – this may be an underestimate).
4. There were massive battles in which a small but elite force of Knights & Allies fought off the 10,000 attackers.
5. It cost the Ottoman’s that much, they withdrew and found easier targets to conquer.
6. There were stories of the Ottoman’s decapitating Knights and floating their bodies across the bay on mock Crucifixes. The Knight’s answer was to execute many Ottoman Prisoners and fire their heads from cannons into enemy lines.
7. The Turks and us Aussies are massive friends today. Which shows how great both cultures are considering the history of war between us (phew!).
This I found to be a fascinating story of something medieval (that we can see still being fought today in different ways) and it makes me reflect on what we are seeing in our world today and how we can use history to enlighten us against future mistakes.
What I like about the OSJ and being a Knight today is that they are about helping people and often use some of their middle ages history as part of what forged them – but not define them. I trust you enjoyed this non-marketing read from myself on some of the OSJ history. Enjoy, hope it inspired some thought and of course – Stay Awesome!
P.S. If you are from Sydney, there is an event coming up which is about the Siege of Malta >> Download the PDF Here for more details.
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