Breastplate with embossed Templar seal

Suppressed in 1312, the Knights Templar did not disappear altogether. In Portugal, King Dinis pleaded their strategic usefulness and obtained from John XXII the recognition of a "substitute" order: the Order of Christ, with the bull Ad ea ex quibus of March 14, 1319; in 1323, a new pontifical decision allowed the former Templar assets to be transferred to it. While settlement began in Castro Marim, the heart of the Order settled in Tomar in the mid-14ᵉ century, in the former Templar complex. In the XVᵉ century, Henry the Navigator became administrator of the Order of Christ; his network and revenues supported Atlantic explorations... The famous red cross, heir to Templar iconography, then adorned the sails of the caravels. This Portuguese "renaissance" illustrates the plasticity of medieval institutions and the way in which a military and spiritual heritage was redirected towards the sea and discovery.