The Knights Templar

I had to bring here once again the NRP Sagres III of the Portuguese Navy and a brief history of the Knights Templar.

So much has been written about the Knights Templar, the books, the movies, the all-shrouded history of the Holy Grail, the disappearance of an Order that so many admire. Many get surprised when I tell them, the Order is alive and well, maybe its purpose changed only to accommodate a new era.

The church condemned the Knights Templar all over Europe with the exception of Portugal. King Dinis, (Denis), of Portugal, negotiated with the Pope John XXII after the institution name was changed in 1318 to Order of Christ , the pope approved the institution in March 14 1319 by Papal bull. The stronghold of the Templar in Portugal is the Convent of Christ and its castle in the city of Tomar, Portugal. With that change, no Templar in Portugal was condemned or prosecuted, and the Order lived well and long under the protection of the Portuguese kings. The cross of the Knights Templar is also alive and well to the present day.

When the organization was renamed to Order of Christ by king Dinis of Portugal, the cross suffered little change. You can see it on the Portuguese Navy training barque NRP Sagres III.

Today, in the 21^st Century a ship, the Sagres III, travels all over the world with brave men and women, carrying with her the history, the soul, the spirit, and the descendants of the Knights Templar. Unknown to so many people, who think the Knights Templar are only History on written books, a thing from the past… how mistaken they are.

   

  

A brief History:

Suppression of the Templars – the birth of the Order of Christ

After the Templar order's suppression by Pope Clement in 1312, King Denis set about creating a new order for the displaced knights in his realm. He instituted the "Christi Militia" under the patronage of Saint Benedict in 1317 (some sources say August 14, 1318), and Pope John XXII approved this order by a Papal bull on 14 March 1319 "AD EA EX QVIBVIS".^[3]

After four years of negotiations, Pope John XXII passed another bull authorizing Denis to grant the Templar's property to the Order of Christ in 1323. The knights of the order were committed to vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to the king. It is unclear how many Templars continued in the new order; some historians would claim the Order of Christ was essentially the Templars under a new name; while others see it as a mostly original formation. The first Grand Master, Dom Gil Martínez, had been a knight of Saint Benedict in the Order of Aviz.

The Order of Christ was first seated at Castro Marim, in the Algarve (in the Diocese of Faro). In 1357, the order was moved to the town of Tomar, near Santarém, the former seat of the Order of the Knights Templars in Portugal. (Other sources give the movement date 1366 under the sixth Grand Master, Dom Nuno Rodrigues.)

Source, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Order of Christ (Portugal)

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For papal order of knighthood, see Supreme Order of Christ.
Order of Christ (Portugal) Military Order of the Knights of Christ
Real Ordem dos Cavaleiros de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo
 

A Cross of the Order of Christ
Active
1318–present
Allegiance
Papacy
Type
Western Christian military order
Nickname
Order of Christ
Attire
White mantle with a red cross
Battle honors
Crusades
Reconquista

The Military Order of Christ (previously Real Ordem dos Cavaleiros de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo) was the heritage of the Knights Templar in Portugal, after the suppression of the Templars in 1312. It was founded in 1318.

Under heavy influence from Philip IV  of France, Pope Clement V had the order annihilated throughout France and most of Europe on charges of heresy, but King Denis of Portugal, forced by the Pope who found that the Order's assets should for their nature stay in any given Order instead of being taken by the King, re-instituted the Templars of Tomar as the Order of Christ, largely for their aid during the Reconquista and in the reconstruction of Portugal after the wars. King Denis negotiated with Pope Clement's successor John XXII for the new order's recognition and right to inherit the Templar assets and property.

Source, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

City of Tomar Portugal, Heraldic Symbol.


The photos: The NRP Sagres III in Boston, Massachusetts, 2009.