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The above illustrates a shield, great helm and
broadsword such as a Templar might have carried in the mid-to-late 13th
century AD. The design on the shield appears to have been common to all
Templars, who forsook family heraldry along with other family ties on joining
the Order. This picture is based on an illustration of some Templars that
appears in the Chronicle of Matthew Paris, (a monk of St Albans, from that
time). Other sources, it may be noted, have the Templars' shields coloured
black below and white above, sometimes with a red cross on the white section,
while some show the shield as entirely white with a red cross. Whatever
is the case, the black and white device featured on the Temlars' war banner,
which was called Beauseant. Knights Templar wore a white mantle, representing
purity, with a simple red cross, representing sacrifice. ('Servant/Sergeant
brothers', who were common-born brethren, wore brown mantles instead.) |
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