This knight is depicted in his ceremonial robes; with Cistercian scarlet cross on the breast of his cloak.The Order of Alcantara was a Spanish military order established in 1176. Originally known as the Knights of St. Julian de Pereiro; after a hermit of the country of Salamanca; they are first acknowledged as a military order by a privilege of Pope Celestine III in 1197. They accepted the Cistercian rule and costume; a white mantle with the scarlet overcross. The Knights of AlcaLntara; under their new name; acquired many castles and estates; for the most part at the expense of the Moslems. They amassed great wealth from booty during the war and from pious donations.Handcolored copperplate engraving of a knight from a religious military order from Robert von Spalart's 鈥楬istorical Picture of the Costumes of the Principal People of Antiquity and of the Middle Ages' (1796).