Order of Alcantara

The Order of Alcántara (Leonese: Orde de Alcántara, Spanish: Orden de Alcántara), also called the Knights of St. Julian, was originally a military order of León, founded in 1166 and confirmed by Pope Alexander III in 1177

Alcántara, is a town on the Tagus (which is here crossed by a bridge - cantara in Arabic, hence the name). The town is situated on the plain of Extremadura, a great field of conflict for the Muslims and Christians of Iberian Peninsula in the 12th century. Alcántara was first taken in 1167 by the King of León, Ferdinand II. In 1174 it fell again into the hands of Abu Yaqub Yusuf, the third of the African Almohades; and was not recovered until 1214, when it was taken by Alfonso IX of León