Tribute of the Maltese Falcon

The Grand Master of the Order of St John of Jerusalem had to pay an annual tribute to the Emperor Charles V and his mother Queen Joanna of Castile as monarchs of Sicily, for the granting of Tripoli, Malta and Gozo. There were also other conditions. The annual tribute payable on All Saints day (1 November) was one falcon. The grant was made at Castel Franco and is dated "the 23rd day of the month of March, Third Indiction, in the Year of Our Lord 1530; in the 10th year of our reign as Emperor, the 27th as King of Castile, Granada etc., the 16th of Navarre, the 15th of Aragon, the Two Sicilies, Jerusalem and all our other realms".
Text of the grant.
The grant says:
Conditions.
The investiture had to be renewed in every case of a new succession, and completed according to the dispositions of common law. Other conditions included:
The order and grand master paid the annual falcon until 1798 when the Order was expelled from the Maltese islands by the French Directory.
In popular culture.
The Knights of Malta's tribute of a falcon is referenced in the 1930 Dashiell Hammett novel "The Maltese Falcon", as well as in the 1941 film adaptation.