Knights Templar
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The school crest (red cross) is a replica of the cross which was once on the flag/standard of the Knights Templar.At one time,the Knights Templar owned much of the land in the Ballintemple area and the association with this group of soldiers/monks was continued when a school uniform was introduced in 1990. But who were the Knights Templar?
The Order of The Knights Templar was founded around 1119 by French nobleman Hughes de Payens. He gathered eight other knights, their stated misson to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land. Pilgrims are people who go on a holy journey. Going to the Holy Land (the birthplace of Jesus) was popular at the time. This was a dangerous journey and many pilgrims were attached and killed on their way to Jerusalem. Jerusalem needed protection as well,as other religions wanted to destroy the city and the Christian faith. King Baldwin II of Jerusalem gave Hughes de Payens a headquarters on the Temple Mount, above what was believed to be the ruins of the Temple of Solomon. It was from this location that the Order took its name of Templar.
The Order grew rapidly because of support from church leaders and was exempt from all authority except that of the Pope. Because of this, the order received massive donations of money and land. From this mixture of donations and shrewd business dealing, during the 12th and 13th centuries the Order acquired large tracts of land both in Europe and the Middle East, built churches and castles, bought farms and vineyards, was involved in manufacturing and import/export, had its own fleet of ships, and for a time even owned the entire island of Cyprus.
However,after Jerusalem was captured by the Muslim King, Saladin, in the late 1100s, the Crusades gradually came to an end and the Order lost much of its support. In the early 1300s the Knights Templar had a "financial dispute" with King Philip IV of France. On Friday, October 13th (origin of the Friday the 13th legend), Philip had hundreds of Templars arrested and tortured until they "confessed " to stealing money and land titles. In 1312 under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V officially disbanded the Order of the Knights Templar.
The
Seal of the Knights - the two riders have been interpreted as a sign of poverty
or of the two roles of monk/soldiers.