02Knights Templar - Julian Emperor

SAINTS
down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with
him. (Book of Revelation 12:7–9)
He appears in the Book of Daniel where he is described as
being the guardian angel who will protect the Israelites. The
name Michael means ‘who is like unto God’ but, although he
carries the title of saint, he is not believed by Christians or
Jews to be a mortal. He is described as a saint in the original
sense of the word, meaning ‘holy’. St Michael is said to have
the power to rescue souls from hell and he is often depicted
in religious art holding a set of scales as he weighs the souls of
the dead. He is described in the Epistle of Jude as fighting the
devil for the body of Moses and during the struggle bellowing:
‘May the Lord rebuke you.’
The Eastern Roman Empire, later known as the Byzantine
Empire, was crucial in introducing the cult of St Michael to
theWest.The first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great,
dedicated a church close to Constantinople to St Michael and
it was believed that he could help cure health problems and
illness. Many depictions of St Michael produced during the
Byzantine period show him wearing armour and carrying a
sword identical to that of Byzantine soldiers and they have
provided often highly accurate snapshots of the appearance of
warriors of the period.
During the medieval centuries, the popularity of St
Michael reached something of a pinnacle and he became a patron
saint of knights and soldiers and orders of chivalry. The
popularity of the cult of St Michael can be observed in the
many place names dedicated to him. These include such famous
sites as St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall, Mont St
Michel in Normandy and the remains of St Michael’s Church
that stands upon Glastonbury Tor in Somerset in England.
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