Rayelan and I were chatting about the interesting similarity of the rampant lions on the Gold Club logo and those on the shield depicted in the graphic for the Royal House of Stewart.

She mentioned someone I hadn't thought about in years and years: Haille Sellassie, last Emperor of Ethiopia - so I went off searching for info on him, and found out he's the HIM mentioned by Rastafarians (HIM standing for His Imperial Majesty, referring to Sellassie). His birth name was Tafari; "Ras" is an official designation he acquired later, making him "Ras Tafari".

Why did his name come up? Because he was known, among other things, as "The Conquering Lion of Judah". (There's a core connection I don't understand yet, between those following along behind Ras Tafari, and the Twelve Tribes of Israel.)

A Lion logo was found on most of the sites I've visited, so far - not a rampant lion, but one standing his ground and growling or roaring, with one paw up, holding something.

Then I wondered about Richard the Lion-Hearted and went looking for info about him. Here's an excerpt from an online encyclopedia entry I found - one gets the immediate impression there was _way_ more going on than the encyclopedia is sharing with us, here:

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Soon after his coronation, Richard set out (1190) on the Third Crusade (see Crusades). En route he captured Messina and Cyprus and married (1191) Berengaria of Navarre. With Philip II of France, he stormed Acre. Philip then returned to France, where he began plotting against Richard with the latter's brother John. Richard remained but had to abandon his attempt to seize the strongly fortified city of Jerusalem.

After concluding a treaty with Saladin that allowed Christians access to the holy places of Jerusalem, he too started home. However, he was captured (Dec., 1192) by Leopold V of Austria, with whom Richard had quarreled on crusade, and was imprisoned in the castle of Dürnstein, where the troubadour Blondel de Nesle is supposed (by legend) to have found him. Leopold delivered Richard to Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, who released him (1194) only after Richard paid an enormous ransom, raised by his English subjects, and surrendered his kingdom, receiving it back as a fief of the empire.

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Wh-ooa...! That's a lot going on, there. :) And didn't it end by saying essentially, "England was given to, not exactly the Pope, but the Holy Roman Emperor"...? (Was it ever given back...?) What was the quarrel about, between Richard and Leopold? And why did Philip and John want to plot against Richard...?

And where were the Knights Templar during all this? And what did they think of Richard's interest in storming Jerusalem, or of his agreement with Saladin to let Christians visit the place?

I believe my high school World History class omitted a few important details.... :)