I agree that the colours of the habits of Saint-John's knights could have impress Breton people who gave them the surname of "red monks" ; but I wrote in a previous message (n° 026144) that this tradition is maybe as late as the 17th or the 18th century. The reason why the Templar knights bore the same surname is obviously because people didn't make any difference in Brittany between the two Orders as St John knights have inherited all the possessions of the Templars : the surname "Red Monks" has been given "retrospectivally" [hope this word will be understandable for my dear mailing-list friends ?] to Templars. An old Breton complaint told the story of a young girl who has been rap(t)ed by monks : one of the version of this complaint is linked with Red Monks ; but another one mentions Franciscans. In any case, the story should be reported to the last 3 centuries before French Revolution.