Knights of Byzantium, true or false ?

[ILLYRIAN]

There is a slim possibility that the Knights of Byzantium were a reality, what do you think ?

 

[nerd4hire]

I don't know. What are you basing the suspicion on?

I always thought it was more or less like what Wikipedia says.

Although little was revealed about the Knights of Byzantium, it is clear that they were inspired by medieval Christian military orders such as the Knights Templar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_Byzantium

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Good old Wikipedia, tee-hee.
As the city of Byzantium is a historical fact. As mercenaries were employed by the armies of the Byzantine Empire. There is a possibility that there were actual Knights of the Byzantine Empire.
The first potential to be shown being killed by the bringers was in the city that Byzantium became. Byzantium - Constantinople - Istanbul.

 

[nerd4hire]

There have been Knights Templar, Knights of Malta, even Knights of Colombus. Google any of them, and you'll get information on those specific orders. Google Knights of Byzantium, and all you'll get is Buffy references.

Yes Byzantine is a word which can refer to a specific historical era. Pergamum (Pergamon) is also a word with historical meaning. There actually was a city named Pergamum. You can find stories associated with it dealing with Hecate, and prophecies of the apocalypse. There is however, no such thing as a Pergamum Codex telling of the last days of the slayer, such as Giles describes.

Titles like Knights of Byzantium and Pergamum codex are just neat sounding words with a historical sound. Feel free to prove me wrong though by giving me a link to information on either describing something that actually exists.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Wikipedia has sites about the Empire of Byzantine, on the address bar type in HAGIA SOPHIA, as far as I'm aware thats Greek for holy wisdom. The sites are about The Church Of The Holy Wisdom that is in Istanbul, the dome of the church was only able to be built using Byzantine innovation. The church was completed aound 560 AD. Some of the sites contain history of the Byzantine Empire.

 

[nerd4hire]

Yeah, I know, and it's all very interesting, but it proves there was an actual order called the Knights of Byzantium how?

There actually was a Roman caste of families named (in the masculine) Aurelius, but that doesn't prove there was a vampire named Aurelius who founded something called the order of Aurelius, nor does it even mean there is a real order of Aurelius of any kind.

Edit

I think the closest you might come to anything like the Knights of Byzantium might be something like this

Imperial & Sovereign Order of Saint Constantine the Great

ORIGIN: A well known Byzantine custom, later copied by the Romans, was to bestow upon each Royal Guard the title of “Protector.” The collective corps of these Protectors was called “Schola Protectores Domestici.”

Upon Constantine’s great victory against Maxentius in Rome in the year 312, [after he was proclaimed Emperor by his troops in York], when the miracle of the appearance of the CROSS occurred, the title of the Guards and Protectors was converted into the rank of “Chevaliers” who were the Guards of the “Royal Lavarum,” and the Order was later confirmed into the “Sacred Order” after Constantine’s victory at Chryssopolis in the year 324.

There's also those Byzantine Novels. Aren't they sometimes grouped together under the name Byzantium? They sound like they take place in a verse where our knights of Byzantium might operate.

Hence the Byzantine stories are traditional in their plot structure and setting (featuring complex turns of events taking place in the ancient Mediterranean, complete with the ancient gods and beliefs) but are also medieval, clearly belonging to the era of the Crusades as they reflect customs and beliefs of that time

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_novel

In fact myself, if I was going to take a wild guess at where the idea for the Knights of Byzantium comes from I'd guess the novels.

 

[MLLamble]

I don't think that the Knights of Byzantium are real, but they are very reminiscent of Crusaders. They were probably meant to show the point of "There's the pure evil and there's the evil that thinks it's right."

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

I don't think that the Knights of Byzantium are real, but they are very reminiscent of Crusaders. They were probably meant to show the point of "There's the pure evil and there's the evil that thinks it's right."

Or more, "There's the pure evil and there's the 'evil' of a different point of view".