02Knights Templar - Julian Emperor

SAINTS
Salome danced for Herod and his guests at a banquet, the king
was so impressed that he offered her anything that she wanted
as a reward. Herodias seized her chance and instructed
Salome to ask for the head of St John the Baptist on a plate.
The date celebrated as the day of the saint’s martyrdom is 29
August.
As previously mentioned, St John the Baptist is also a significant
figure within other religions. For the Mandaeans, who
refer to him asYaha, he is seen as the last and most important
prophet. Members of the Baha’i faith believe that an important
figure within their movement was actually St John the
Baptist returned to the world. He is referred to asYahya in the
Quran and, as in Christian teachings, he is said to be the son
of the priest Zechariah. He is described as the cousin of Jesus
Christ and is similarly seen as a great prophet.
During the Middle Ages the saint became extremely popular
and many churches were named in his honour.
Interestingly, a number of churches built in wild woodland
areas within the English county of Shropshire, such as St
John’s Church at Kenley, were dedicated in his honour because
of his reputation for preaching in the wilderness. He
was also the patron saint of the military order of the Knights
Hospitaller who are also known as the Knights of St John of
Rhodes and Malta. The original purpose of the order was to
protect pilgrims who had travelled to the Holy Land and to
care for the sick in the hospital that they founded in Jerusalem
in the latter half of the eleventh century. According to the
chronicler William of Tyre the founders of the order, who
were merchants fromAmalfi, dedicated the hospital to St John
the Almoner. However, it is now thought that, writing about
a century after the event, he was mistaken in this belief. It is
now generally accepted that it was dedicated to St John the
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