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This symbol can be seen on Templar Knights fortresses in Northern Spain, Cathedral of Pisa, Italy, and gravestone slabs of Knights in Scotland.
The Crusades
During the first Crusade a group of Knights became known as the Knights of the Morning Star because they reportedly recovered the tomb of Jesus and brought it to Europe. This story can be found in the Carroll Valley Newspaper, Taneytown Maryland, on July 28 1940.
The photographs below are of the Cathedral of Pisa, Italy, created between the years 1060A.D. to 1118A.D., during the Crusades. The symbol honors the Crusaders who departed for war and never returned. It beckons the resurrection of Christ and the afterlife, providing a guiding light for the spirits of lost Crusaders. Nobiscum Deus, Deus Vult. This design can also be seen on Crusader fortresses in Spain near the French border.
Cathedral of Pisa Italy, built between 1060A.D. and 1118A.D.
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The symbol is seen again, seventy miles east of Pisa, inside the mountain fortress of Volterra, Italy. The citadel of Volterra was first built by the Etruscan's and then controlled by the Roman Empire in the year 300B.C.
During the time of the Crusades, in 1110A.D., at the behest of the Norman Crusaders, the Holy Roman Church began construction on a Cathedral and Basilica within the citadel of Volterra. The Basilica is adorned with the same symbol as the Cathedral in Pisa.
The Crusades began in the year 1095A.D.; an assembly of churchmen called by Pope Urban II met at Clermont, France. On November 27, 1095A.D. the Pope addressed the assembly and asked the warriors of Europe to liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims. The word "crusade" literally means "going to the Cross." Deus vult means God's will. Nobiscum Deus means God is with us.
In the year 1096A.D., an army of Crusaders, the chivalry of Medieval Europe, set out for the Holy Land under Godfried van Bouillon (Holland), Hugh of Vermandois (Vermand France), and Stephen of Blois (Norman English). Guther der Benner was a Knight of the Morning Star under Godfried. These Knights were familiar with the design as religious and funerary art. When they arrived in Jerusalem they found religious and funerary object with this design carved upon them.
The Photograph below is a gravestone from St. Magnus Cathedral in Scotland. The Normans built the Cathedral and this Knight was buried in the Cathedral. Is this Knight a Templar?
St Magnus Cathedral, founded by Earl Rognvald in 1137 and dedicated to his kinsman St. Magnus who had been executed at Egilsay in 1116. Although it is the most considerable monument erected in the Norse occupation, there is nothing distinctly Norse either in its technique or its design, and the original work may be confidently assigned to masons of the Durham school. The material used is the local flagstone used as rubble, with dressings of freestone from the Head of Holland, less than 3 miles away.
The Crusades lasted from 1096A.D. to 1270A.D. and were comprised of the Teutonic Knights, Knights of the Morning Star, Knights Templar and Knights of St. John (Hospitaliers). During this time many of the Cathedral fortresses where built throughout Europe. The Cathedral of Pisa and Volterra are marked with this symbol. Use of the symbol during the Crusades and corresponding construction of cathedrals shows a direct relationship between the warring Knights and their God. The Normans ruled the whole of Europe at the time of the Crusades, and they were the guiding force behind cathedral building in Europe.
The Low Country of Europe
Danish Church wall paintings from 1400A.D., (below). The design is identical to the motif on the Cathedral of Pisa built 300 years earlier.
Courtesy of and permission from James Mills, Mills-Kronborg Collection of Danish Church Wall Paintings.
Visit: Princeton University, Index of Christian Art
The Morning Star
In the year 1380, John Wyclif, wrote a book called, "About the Eucharist." The book questioned the dogma practiced by the Holy Roman Church at the time. John Wyclif became known as the "Morning Star" of reformation. Is this symbol called the Morning Star? It was used by the Dutch and German Reformed Church to distinguish their religious sect. Wyclif was a forerunner to later reform leaders like Martin Luther, John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli.
Medieval 13th Century AD
Byland Abbey, the creation of mosaic floors by combining different shapes and colours of tiles was a common practice in medieval English religious houses. The Cistercian order in particular favoured this type of floor and used it to spectacular effect in abbeys such as Rievaulx and Byland, both in Yorkshire. The tiles were made locally, probably at the tilery from Old Byland which is referred to in 1197 in the chronicle of Philip, third abbot of Byland.
Courtesy of and permission from the British Museum
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Byland Abbey, Medieval from the 13th Century AD, from North Yorkshire, England
Morning Star of Reformation
Kilmartin Church in the Argyll province of Scotland has beautiful examples of the symbol, used as it was during the Crusades, an iconography of one's culture. The photograph below demonstrates carved into the gravestone slab is an identical geometric design to the Crusader, Knight of the Morning Star, gravestone slab pictured above. Additionally, it is identical to the gravestone designs in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Courtesy of and permission from www.Darkisle.com
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Gravestone slabs from 1707 and 1712 in Kilmartin Church, Scotland
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