What is a Templar? (Or: The Knightly Orders of the Crusades)

(Well, only kinda. But let me explain.)

Something that has surprised me ever since I have entered the Castlevania fandom is the fact, that people do not know what the heraldry of the Knights Templar is. People know they existed, but even with them showing up in a lot of English language media (especially treasure hunting adventure stuff), a lot of folks apparently do not know that in general a red cross on white ground means Knights Templar. Maybe this is to be expected, though, because in the end of course those adventuring media does not really go into the Templars outside of the mythology and conspiracy stuff that folks later on associated with them.

So, let me talk about the Knightly Orders of the Crusades.

First on, I talked about the crusades earlier today. But a quick rundown once more: Muslims were in control of Jerusalem. But while they happily allowed Christian pilgrims to visit the city, political reasons made folks in Europe try to take Jerusalem, which created a very, very chaotic first crusade.

One of the reasons why it was so chaotic, was that there were basically three kinds of folks participating: Pilgrims, just normal folks riled up, and knights. Now, it should be kept in mind: There were few people at the time who were educated in battle. Because most kings did not have a standing military. And because those people participating in the crusades being a bunch of chaotic folks who did not know what they were doing, things... went so chaotic.

So, in came the Knights Templar. So, let me explain the five Christian Knight Orders.

Okay, let me quickly explain the picture above.

We have the Sepulchers (founded in 1099). What we have here as the "Malte", are the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St. John (founded in 1099). Then we have the Knights Templar (founded in 1119). Then the Order of Santiago (founded in 1170). And finally the Order of Teutonic Knights (founded in 1190).

It should be noted that there were some other Knight Orders associated with the Crusades, but those five are usually considered the most influencial.

But, okay, let me step back. Why were those orders founded?

Mostly to protect the crusades and the pilgrimages that followed. They provided a plethora of services to the pilgrims and crusaders, which might include fighting - but did not necessarily do so.

Let me start with the Knights Templar. Not because they were the first one or the most important one, but because they are just the ones most well known. People have all sorts of ideas, what they did. But mostly they acted as two things: Bodyguards and bankers. They arose from the monk Order of Christ. The idea was basically as following: Both those rampaging bands of crusaders and the pilgrims took a lot of risks to get to the Holy Land. Because this was the middle ages, and there were wars and bandits and all other things on the way. So, when you went to visit the Holy Land, you might actually not want to carry your valuables on you. Because they might get stolen (and you might get killed for them). So the Templars basically invented modern banking. You gave your money to the Templars where you started your journey, they gave you a ledger, on your way you could visit other Templar Monasteries and get your money from the ledger. Against a fee, of course. And if you died, the Templars kept the money. Which was part of the reason they became so rich. Now, did the Templars also pillage? Yes. Did they participate in crusading battles? Yes. But it was not their main goal. This was also the reason, why they had to get very creative when it came to making their money, after the main crusades had ended. It is also why they officially disbanded in the 14th century. Though I say officially for a reason, as the Knights Templar just merged back into with the Order of Christ, and it took a long while, until there was nobody around wearing the colors and heraldry of the Knights Templar. So, while technically disbanded, they did in fact participate in colonialism for a while. (And yes, this did include slavery. Both of white slaves from Eastern Europe, as well as later on non-white slaves from Arabia and Africa. Mostly because they had strong ties to Portugal, who were a leading force in early slavery.)

After this, let's go through the orders by years of founding.

The Knights of the Holy Sepulchre have a simple, yet complicated history. They are tied to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, where there was a monk order living. Now, in the early 11th century, there were religious conflicts within Jerusalem, that ended with the original church being destroyed. Just a bit later the Calif allowed it to be rebuild. But... then the crusades happened and religious fevor and when Jerusalem was taken, they decided they should defend some of their holy sides. As during the crusading battles some monks were knighted, they turned this... into a thing. These Knights first existed to defend the holy sides, then Jerusalem. They later participated in some of the battles. I should note, too, that a variation of them is still around today.

I talked about the Knights Hospitaller before, so I make this quick: They existed mainly to offer hospitality and medical services to crusaders and pilgrims. Like all of the knights they would, however, still participate in some battles.

Now, the Order of Santiago is a bit of an odd one out. Because they were not founded for the crusades but rather to fight the Muslims on a different front. As their name suggests: They tie back to Spain. And as I have talked about several times before, a good chunk of the Iberian peninsula at the time was in fact under Muslim rule. And yes, this order of church ordained knights originally fought the Muslims here. But they also quickly became drawn into the crusades. Other than protecting pilgrims, they also were ordained to provide any of the religious services pilgrims might need. (And yet, they were the odd one out between the Orders, because their vows were different. But about that in a bit.)

The Order of the Teutonic Knights was also a bit of a weird one. They started out as a religious fraternity, then did a bit of crusading, founded their knightly order in Jerusalem and then... preceded to Christianize the Balcans. As the name suggests, they were German in origin. And other than the other four orders, they actually had a big focus on fighting during the crusades (and later the "misionary work" in Eastern Europe).

Something to understand about the Orders is, that they were not knights, who lived a monestary lifestyle, but rather monks, who were knighted. As such many of these knights would actually start out early as monks (again, back in those days teenagers and at times kids would already enter the monastery life for all sorts of different reasons), make their vows and then train in fighting to take up the mantle of the knight.

But as parts of those religious orders, they usually gave the three main monastic vows: A Vow of Poverty, a Vow of Chastity, and a Vow of Obedience. The one exception was the Order of Santiago, who did not give a vow of chastity and were in fact allowed to marry and have family.

And... I think that is it for now. This one turned out pretty darn long.

If you wanna know anything about the other knightly orders, just write a comment or let me know otherwise. I will... do a write down if there is any interest.

World-building prompt: Does your world have Knightly Orders?

What do they stand for?

Is there division within their ranks?

Designed some heraldic emblems and regalia for the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart, based on some background details from Baldur's Gate 2. The holy symbols and the Ilvastarr shield designs are taken from official material. All blazons composed by me.

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my one whole post contributing to the fgo attractive male discourse is that the actual appeal comes less from basic ideas of what makes someone attractive and rather the actual use of aesthetic and presentation using said characters traits. its not enough to have convenionally attractive traits but rather the characters traits combined with the aesthetic that theyre trying to achieve.

take limbo for example. limbo shows some tit and is buff sure but most of his appeal actually comes from his characterization and presentation with his buffed out look complementing those traits. the best examples of this are actually in his final ascension and his cbc ce

so itd be easy to just say that limbo flaunting what hes got is what makes him sexy here, but its actually the opposite: its what he isnt showing you. limbo isnt showing any more skin than he usually is in his regular ascensions (just his upper body and knee), but the framing and the implications of him naked and staring down at you, the licking of his lips and the juxtaposition between him standing out from the rest of the bleak colors and skeletons, especially with his contorted look are what actually make it sensual and sexy because your focus is immediately drawn to him and the implications. then in his cbc it goes the entire opposite direction, putting him in a rather standard outfit that isnt really all that different from just sticking a male servant in a suit HOWEVER the use of the clothes to show creases and movement in the actual ce lets you actually feel how much weight and muscle limbo is throwing around here. his final ascension uses everything but limbos bare physical body to make him look sexy, but in his cbc where hes fully clothed its his body shape and the use of the clothing to convey that where it makes him sexy.

now compare this to kintoki

yes laughing at raita is hip these days whatever but the genuine appeal with kintoki doesnt come fully from his buff body but instead the aesthetic surrounding it. in his final ascension hes full on manspreading sure but the most appealing thing here is his face, the way hes pulling his hair back and looking at you. its a confident and calm look, hes appealing here because of the aesthetic of him being in a club and the shirtless full on muscle bod actually enhances that because it makes him look powerful. the same thing happens in his costume as well: hes in battle, covered in blood and wounds, a storm of sakura petals surrounding him as he stands imposing, its a look that radiates cool factor in spades and the hyper muscle design actually looks more attractive because of it. again, a design that has conventional attractive features used to enhance an aesthetic and then in reverse. say what you will about raitas anatomy but his design philosophy is well thought out and his style does fit with these characters because kintoki himself (along with many other of his characters) is a half oni half god monster, and despite looking fully human the actual raita style adds that extra flavor that makes him feel inhuman.

now lets rock the boat a little bit

obviously people like to meme on hajime enjoyers because he isnt bishe/conventionally attractive, but this is the one exception that proves the rule where a suit/basic look actually compliments the character. hajime looks like a scruffy overworked goblin whose lived off cigarette butts and beer for the past year, and it works because its actually part of his character that hes always tired. obviously hajime has so much more character to him that actually makes him more attractive but ill be bold and fully say the same appeal for hajime is the exact same appeal that izo has

izo in all his ascensions is a full on messy unwashed murderous hobo who is consistently one of the most popular male characters as well as one of if not the most popular 3* around and its fully because of his hobo look and personality. hes one of the only servants where a suit look actually works because he looks out of place in it, izo here looks so damn proud of himself like hes made his first paycheck and is about to lose all of it on gambling, and much like hajime the appeal comes from the factors surrounding him.

now lets look at siegfried and talk about most cbc designs

this is where a suit ultimately fails, because its taking a basic presentable 'attractive' look and putting it on a character who was already attractive where it doesnt enhance his look whatsoever. sure siegfried has his tits out but siegfried always has his tits out, however there isnt the appeal that limbo has with a full on outfit because its entirely uncreative. they just stuck him in a suit, gave him glasses and called it a day. his suit could have so easily been improved too by making it backless to conform with his legend, but it doesnt even have that and just feels lazy overall. this costume fails because it rides entirely on siegfriend looking good to make the outfit look good, so the outfit is functionally worthless in making him look attractive, because siegfried is already attractive. and the same trend follows with many of the cbc ces, theyre just uncreative.

these are all incredibly homogeneous: they always have a ce where the round table is just hanging out, a ce where gil and ozy and maybe sometimes iskander or qsh are just stuck together on basic premise, a ce with the kids, some type of office setting, a male idol, maybe a bakery sometimes, so many cbcs fail because of simple uncreativity in using their characters and giving them a costume to enhance the character, so instead its the character that enhances the costume, and most times, this is done by just sticking them in a suit and calling it a day.

so yeah fgo men are fine and well and attractive, the devs are just so unsure of how to make them look attractive with costumes.

twig and lily found family actually means sm to me especially since canonically shes her foster parent and recognizes lily as her mother in squirrels book so even if its not canon here they somehow still find each other,, in my head bonefall!lily is the arbitrary role model that got attached to this random kid (think lin and korra from LOK)

I always try to preserve the "emotional core" between characters with my reduxes! Even if they stop being related or don't end up as the foster or mentor, I try to shuffle in a way where they're at least friends.

BB!Lily is getting some odd differences, because I am swinging a machete at canon's tendency to set "nice mom" as the default personality of background women. So instead, my Lilyheart has no kits, and she has a personality that's more reserved.

She's a bit "sharp." Aloof, seems cold, but under that, it's because she has a tendency to blame herself. Lilyheart never really got over how Seedpaw died saving her.

If she'd been stronger, hadn't gotten tangled up, if she'd said something about retrieving stupid, useless shit from the camp, Seedpaw would still be here. Her dad Dustpelt had just died saving them. Seedpaw died helping her. Ferncloud's holding her tighter and it's all her fault.

(Changes: Jay's stick is a living tree so they were not fetching the stick of the fallen. Lily's parents got swapped because Bracken died in BB!Po3)

But she's not as ruthless as her sharp eyes suggest. Lily is actually very sweet and cares a lot about people. I'm coming to view all the Dustfern kits as having a bit of a "safety crew" vibe because of their dad, and a "sit up straight dear" one from their mom.

So! Lilyheart being Alderheart and Twigbranch's buddy is very fitting for her. The poor, anxious guys can hide behind her and she stick up for them.

@nightbringer24 why did we have to have that conversation about knights being nobility and standard soldiers being called men-at-arms? It’s going to bother me now while reading my light novels. Especially when I know with this one light novel in particular that the crown prince recruited some of his “knights” from the “slums” of his capital. Like. They are called imperial guard. But are also called knights a lot. And now I want them to be called guardsmen, soldiers, or men-at-arms instead. Woof this is going to eat at my brain.

And lo! He is finished! 

The preceptor of the Knights of the Griffon’s Outer Circle, mount on his trusty and sturdy charger, its plumes the colours of the knightly order itself, its barding festooned with votive and protective writs to Taal and Sigmar to protect them against Chaos. His helmet bears a pair of griffon feathers, denoting his rank and ability to ride one of the famed Drakwald demigryphs. The preceptor bears around his helmet a band of blue cloth, signifying his home state of Middenland.

I’m definitely going to use the same colours for all my other knights since I love it so much.

Thanks for the tag, @musewrangler!!

A book I want to reread:

Oh god, there’s plenty of them, buuuut... Ivanhoe!

Any books you reread every two to five years:

I used to do this with The Silmarillion/The Hobbit/LOTR when I was 14-17, but I don’t have the energy for this anymore :’)

Any books you reread once a year:

Not anymore.

The book you reread within the shortest turnaround time:

The Teutonic Knights - A Military History, Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, Chronicle of the Land of Prussia :’)

The book you've reread the most times:

The Rule of the Templars and The Rule and Statutes of the Teutonic Knights (but I’ve had the one about the Templars since I was 13 so I guess the Templars win)

Tagging nobody, feel free to steal this!

Lakana: how do I reach heaven through violence?

Owyn: it's called a crusade and you need permission from the pope

Lakana, fighting Umaril: instructions unclear, dick stuck in headlock

Okay, let's go a bit more into Mizrak's probable origins

Okay, after my post-yesterday I saw in the reblogs and comments a couple of things where people get their history a bit mixed up. So let me try to clear this one up.

The world did not look like it does today in 1792!

As I said, there is quite a bit of dialogue that implies that he comes from Jerusalem. Which makes sense, because the Knights Hospitaller are from there. (For a quick explanation about what's up with the Knights Hospitaller, have a look here.) It also makes sense with his name.

Now, his name is a bit more complicated as some people make it out to be. While the name Mizrak today is most common in Turkey, it is actually a bit controverse where it originates from. There is some argument saying it came from the Slavic name Mizlav, but there can also be an argument made that it comes from the Ethopian name Misrak. Both still kinda make sense with it being so common in Turkey these days, because... Welp, the Ottoman Empire was freaking giant.

And in the late 18th century, Jerusalem was in fact part of the Ottoman Empire.

(This is the closest date in maps I have found to the setting of the show, but the bigger changes would not come until Napoleon did his thing in the late 1790s.)

Now, the show also mentions Malta in relation to the Abbot and his knight-monks. So how does that fit in?

Fairly simple.

There was a bit of a conflict happening between the religions in Jerusalem in the late 1770s. Now, please keep in mind, that in general Muslims were for most of history a lot more chill about other religions being around, than Christians historically were. But never the less: Some of the Knightly Orders and the local Kalif got into issues, there was fighting. It ended up with a lot of the Knightly Orders leaving Jerusalem.

The Knights Hospitaller moved their headquarters from Jerusalem to Malta in 1779.

We do not quite know how old Mizrak is. But I assume he is in his early 30s. So, yeah, good chance he joined the order in Jerusalem and then accompanied them to Malta and from Malta to France.

i haven’t done it yet but someday i want to do a deep dive into the teutonic order and explore a thesis about it, its relationship to “feudalism” and republicanism, and its state formation.

Oh gods, I'm looking at my old original WIP for the first time in ages and... I don't hate it? I've spent a lot of time and energy on this story and its (shoddy) worldbuilding, and I'd love to actually finish it. It's just it'd take such a lot of effort and time that I don't really have right now to kick myself back into the headspace for it. Plus I need to relearn to write decently in Swedish, lol. But... I want to. Hm.

*shows up after a month of radio silence* hey. yeah. sorry i'm back. it still hasn't warmed up enough for me to attempt Tris's faceup(+i am scared af) so. i still feel weird posting him. i made him a new shirt so if i ever actually catch a moment when the suns out will try and take pics -_-)

anyway. i was stalking imomo/s weibo and this product photo has me so tilted. I should have ordered a Tiamat head instead of an Apsu. fuck it looks so good. posting it just for like. reference. if things really don't work out with his current head i will get a Tiamat next time.

Oh the Swords of the Lady . . . I'm just gonna snap them up for my worldbuilding.

me @ me hey are you good? you’ve been listening to your post-campaign healing playlist for the last five hours

me, every time I’m playing an area with a lot of red templars: why do every single one of these bastards share names with someone in my family