2019700th Anniv. of the Founding of the Order of Christ - First Day Cover MS

The celebration of the seven hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Order of Christ, featured in this philatelic issue of the CTT, is an important moment for raising awareness of Portuguese History. Today, the Military Order of Christ is the custodian of a long history as both an Honori c Order, an Order of Nobility and a Religious and Military Order. The origins of the Order of the Templars – "the Order of Poor Fellow- Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon" – are found in the early 12th century following the 1st Crusade, when the Order was established in the medieval County of Portugal to assist in the Reconquest and help establish the border in the area north of Santarém between the Mondego and Tagus rivers. The deep crisis faced by Knights Templar in their confrontation with the King of France, Philip IV, which led to Pope Clement V abolishing the order in 1314, was overcome in Portugal by the diplomatic initiative of King Dinis, who managed to save that part of the Order located in Portugal, transforming it, with papal consent (Bull Ad ea ex quibus, 14 March 1319, Pope John XXII), into the new Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Order became strongly linked to the Monarchy by the end of the Reconquest and its support would play a fundamental role in the maritime discoveries of Prince Henry the Navigator. Nonetheless, the status of the Order would subsequently vary signi cantly until the present day.