While your host continues to heal from a recent illness, please enjoy this primer on why we see crosses from the Knights Templar and the Order of Malta on wine bottles to this day.

GIS will be back in November with a new episode in the "booze from islands" series on the wines of ... you guessed it ... Malta!

Thank you all for your healing thoughts & good wishes.

Val

What do popes, kings, and holy wars have to do with wine? Religious orders dating back to medieval times are still leaving their distinctive marks on wine bottles over a thousand years later.

This episode is an exploration of what the warrior monks of Knights Templar and Order of Malta have to do with wine, and why their crosses show up on bottles of great wines today.

This is a light, chronological nod to wine’s role in economies, cultures, and religion throughout history.

Resources from this episode:

Books:

The Rose-Croix: The Templars’ Secret Life, Fedan, (2011)

Websites:

Ancient Origins: The Incredible History of Kolossi Castle - Won by Richard the Lionheart, Home to the Knights Templar, and Birthplace of the King of Wines, Mingren, (2018) https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-europe/kolossi-castle-0011186

Atlas Obscura: How a Special Diet Kept the Knights Templar Fighting Fit, Frost (2018) https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-the-templar-knights-ate

Clarion Wines: The Three Italian Wine Estates of the Order of Malta http://www.clarionwines.co.uk/documents/Magione,%20Rocca%20Bernarda%20and%20Villa%20Giustiniani%20-%2026-10-10.pdf

Comité Champagne: https://www.champagne.fr/en/from-vine-to-wine/what-is-champagne-wine/history-of-champagne-wine

Giustiani: History of Giustiniani - http://www.giustiniani.info/english.html

History: 10 Reasons the Knights Templar Were History’s Fiercest Fighters, Gershon, (2019) https://www.history.com/news/knights-templar-facts-crusades-wealth

History: The Knights Templar Rulebook Included No Pointy Shoes and No Kissing Mom, Holland (2019) https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/the-knights-templar

Italy Magazine: Villa Giustiniani: A Family Home for over 400 years, Robinson (2019) https://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/villa-giustiniani-family-home-over-400-years

Masterclass: Brunello vs. Barolo - Discover the Differences Between These Italian Wines https://www.masterclass.com/articles/brunello-vs-barolo-discover-the-differences-between-these-italian-wines#how-to-pair-barolo-wine-with-food

Order of Malta: History https://www.orderofmalta.int/history/

Ordo Supremis Militarism Templi Hierosolymitani: https://osmth.net/index.htm

Royal-Tokaji: True Heritage - Vinum Regnum, Rex Vinorum, Wine of King, King of Wines http://www.royal-tokaji.com/wine_of_kings.php

Stambolovo Winery: http://stambolovo-winery.com/en/products/index/knights-templar-line

Templar History: Did the Templars Form Switzerland? https://templarhistory.com/did-the-templars-form-switzerland/

Templarske Sklepy: About https://www.templarske-sklepy.cz/en/about-templarske-sklepy-cejkovice

Wine Sofa: Rocca Bernarda, Ercsey (2015) http://www.winesofa.eu/articles/rocca-bernarda

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Music: Addict Sound (Jamendo.com cc_Standard License, Jamendo S.A.)