Grand Holy Order of the Temple of Cato

This Arcticle is on the Jingdaoese military organisation. For the continuation of the ancient Order, see:Holy Order of the Temple of Cato

Grand Holy Order of the Temple of Cato
Coat of arms
Country	Jingdao
Founded	1586 AN
Headquarters	Citadel, Zhaoqin
Leadership
Grand Master	Siwu Ersan
Manpower
Available for military service	5,000
Active personnel	100

The Grand Holy Order of the Temple of Cato is a militaristic and monastic order founded to preserve and protect the Catologian Faith. The Order was founded over 200 years ago in lands of Aragon, in the Empire of Jingdao and Southbatavia. It moved to Zhaoqin when the Great Jing Dynasty established control over the Apollonian mainland. In 1666 an offshoot of the order founded the Abbey of Sinon in Leylstadt, the first time the order ventured outside the borders of the Jingdaoese Empire.

History

The Order was founded by Jack Mounford (or Montfort), former Prince of Calbion and Grand Master of the order. After the schism caused by the Calbain independence war, the Order has seized to be a prominent factor in Jingdaoese society. Montfort later moved to the isle of Ynys Corrach, where the Order surfaced for a brief period but then withered away following the Storm of Swords.

Shortly after his arrival on the island, de Montfort died, bestowing the title of Grand Master on his cousin, Michail de Montfort. The Montfort family has kept the office since then.

It was only a few years ago that Josephat de Montfort, heir to the family, received a vision from the Goddess Germania, in which she let him know that the way the Order had gone was not according to the will of the Gods. The Heavenly Light needed to be served once again. Josephat saw this as a sign and restored the Order, this time once again in Jingdao.

In the years after the death of the last Montfort Grandmaster, the order became more isolated. Knighthood was seen as somewhat of an anachronism in Jingdaoese society at the time, and without clear figurehead, the order could no longer gain recruits interested in swinging swords. The Citadel remained in existence but no longer had active knights remaining. During the reign of the Mingshi Emperor, some of the audiutors of the order joined the emperor in his self-imposed exile to Nandao. During the reign of the Chidao Emperor the order the was revived under the guidance of Grandmaster Siwu Ersan, who previously acted as special Jingdaoese envoy to Shireroth. Grandmaster Siwu Ersan was appointed by direct order of the Heavenly Light, bringing an end to the tradition that the order was tied to the Montfort family. Siwu Ersan ordered the construction of several libraries, teaching halls and tea houses in the Citadel, in line with the architecture of the Imperial Palace of Daocheng. In the vision of Grandmaster Ersan, the Citadel had no real remaining military value. Instead he wished to refurbish the order as a retreat for bureaucrats who needed to develop their spiritual life in accordance with the Tianchaodao. The order did not do away with its military heritage and would still retain a small force to defend its premises. In total 5,000 men are still required to take up the arms should the Grandmaster order them to. Few expected this to happen unless a major war arrived, and the military aspect of the order was most often seen as a relic from the past.

Former Structure

The Order was divided into two classes: Audiutor and Knight. The Audiutor were the serving class, they were often taken from among the lower clergy. Audiutor could function in many different roles, such as teachers, priests or farmers.

Grand Masters

No.	Jingdaoese name	South-Batavian name	Reign (AN)	Note
1	Jieke Qiangweicheng	Jack de Montfort	1593 - 1600
2	Michail Qiangweicheng	Michail de Montfort	1600 - 1601
3	Baolian Qiangweicheng	Balian de Montfort	1601- 1605
4	Jieke-liang Qiangweicheng	Jack II de Montfort	1605- 1606
5	Yalishanda Qiangweicheng	Alejandro de Montfort	1606- 1606
6	Yalishanda-liang Qiangweicheng	Alejandro II de Montfort	1606 - 1608
7	Baolian-liang Qiangweicheng	Balian II de Montfort	1608 - 1609
8	Baolian-san Qiangweicheng	Balian III de Montfort	1609 - 1610
9	Jieke-san Qiangweicheng	Jack III de Montfort	1610 - 1612
10	Makeximilian Qiangweicheng	Maximilian de Montfort	1612 - 1613
11	Baolian-si Qiangweicheng	Balian IV de Montfort	1613 - 1614
12	Yuehan Qiangweicheng	Jehan de Montfort	1614 - 1614
13	Jieke-si Qiangweicheng	Jack IV de Montfort	1614 - 1615
14	Jieke-wu Qiangweicheng	Jack V de Montfort	1615 - 1616
15	Jieke-liu Qiangweicheng	Jack VI de Montfort	1616 - 1617
16	Sidifen Qiangweicheng	Stephan de Montfort	1617 - 1617
17	Sidifen-liang Qiangweicheng	Stephan II de Montfort	1617 - 1618
18	Balian-wu Qiangweicheng	Balian V de Montfort	1618 - 1619
19	Jieke-qi Qiangweicheng	Jack VII de Montfort	1619 - 1622
	Position vacant		1622 - 1666
20	Siwu Ersan		1666 - present	Appointed by the Chidao Emperor