ThePoor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as theKnights Templar, was amilitary order of theCatholic faith, and one of the most important military orders inWestern Christianity. They were founded in 1118 to defend pilgrims on their way toJerusalem, with their headquarters located there on theTemple Mount, and existed for nearly two centuries during theMiddle Ages.
Officially endorsed by the Catholic Church by such decrees as thepapal bullOmne datum optimum ofPope Innocent II, the Templars became a favoured charity throughoutChristendom and grew rapidly in membership and power. The Templar knights, in their distinctive whitemantles with a redcross, were among the most skilled fighting units of theCrusades. They were prominent inChristian finance; non-combatant members of the order, who made up as much as 90% of their members,[1][2] managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom.[3] They developed innovative financial techniques that were an early form ofbanking,[4][5] building a network of nearly 1,000commanderies andfortifications acrossEurope and theHoly Land.[6]
The Templars were closely tied to the Crusades. As they became unable to secure their holdings in the Holy Land, support for the order faded.[7] In 1307,King Philip IV of France had many of the order's members in France arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at the stake.[8] Under pressure from Philip,Pope Clement V disbanded the order in 1312.[9] In spite of its dissolution, however, between 1317–1319, a number of Templar knights, properties and other assets were absorbed within the PortugueseOrder of Christ,[10][11][12][13] and the SpanishOrder of Montesa;[14] the abrupt disappearance of this major medieval European institution in its original incarnation gave rise to speculation and legends, which have currently kept the "Templar" name alive inself-styled orders andpopular culture.[15]
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin:Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici andFrench:Pauvres Chevaliers du Christ et du Temple de Salomon) are also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, and mainly the Knights Templar (French:Les Chevaliers Templiers), or simply the Templars (French:Les Templiers).
The Temple Mount where they had their headquarters had a mystique because it was above what was believed to be the ruins of theTemple of Solomon.[16]
After theFranks in theFirst Crusade capturedJerusalem from theFatimid Caliphate in 1099, manyChristians madepilgrimages to various sacred sites in theHoly Land. Although the city ofJerusalem was relatively secure under Christian control, the rest ofOutremer was not.Bandits and maraudinghighwaymen preyed upon these Christian pilgrims, who were routinely slaughtered, sometimes by the hundreds, as they attempted to make the journey from the coastline atJaffa through to the interior of the Holy Land.[17]
The order, with about nineknights includingGodfrey de Saint-Omer andAndré de Montbard, had few financial resources and relied on donations to survive. Their emblem was of two knights riding on a single horse, emphasizing the order's poverty.[21]
The first headquarters of the Knights Templar, on theTemple Mount in Jerusalem. The Crusaders called it "theTemple of Solomon" and from this location derived their name of Templar.
The impoverished status of the Templars did not last long. They had a powerful advocate in SaintBernard of Clairvaux, a leading Church figure, the Frenchabbot primarily responsible for the founding of theCistercian Order of monks and a nephew ofAndré de Montbard, one of the founding knights. Bernard put his weight behind them and wrote persuasively on their behalf in the letterIn Praise of the New Knighthood,[22][23] and in 1129, at theCouncil of Troyes, he led a group of leading churchmen to officially approve and endorse the order on behalf of the church. With this formal blessing, the Templars became a favoured charity throughoutChristendom, receiving money, land, businesses, and noble-born sons from families who were eager to help with the fight in theHoly Land. At theCouncil of Pisa in 1135,Pope Innocent II initiated the first papal monetary donation to the Order.[24] Another major benefit came in 1139, when Innocent II'spapal bullOmne Datum Optimum exempted the order from obedience to local laws. This ruling meant that the Templars could pass freely through all borders, were not required to pay anytaxes and were exempt from all authority except that of the pope.[25] However, in practice, they often had to respect the wishes of the European rulers in whose kingdoms they resided, especially in their handling of funds for the local noblility in theirbanks.[26]
With its clear mission and ample resources, the order grew rapidly. Templars were often the advanceshock troops in key battles of the Crusades, as the heavily armoured knights on theirwarhorses wouldcharge into the enemy lines ahead of the main army. One of their most famous victories was in 1177 during theBattle of Montgisard, where some 500 Templar knights helped several thousand infantry to defeatSaladin's army of more than 26,000 soldiers.[a]
A Templar Knight is truly a fearless knight, and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armour of faith, just as his body is protected by the armour of steel. He is thus doubly armed, and need fear neither demons nor men.
Although the primary mission of the order was military, relatively few members were combatants. The majority acted in support positions to assist the knights and manage their financial infrastructure. Although individual members were sworn to poverty, the Templar Order controlled vast wealth even beyond direct donations. A nobleman participating in the Crusades might place all his assets under Templar management during his absence. Accumulating wealth in this manner throughout Christendom and the Outremer, in 1150 the order began to issueletters of credit for pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land: pilgrims deposited their valuables with a local Templar preceptory before embarking, received a document indicating the value of their deposit, then showed that document upon arrival in the Holy Land to claim treasure of equal value to their funds. This innovative arrangement was an early form ofbanking and may have been the first use of bankcheques; it protected pilgrims from robbery, while augmenting Templar finances.[29]
Based on this mix of donations and business dealings, the Templars established financial networks across the whole of Christendom. They acquired large tracts of land, both in Europe and the Middle East; they bought and managed farms and vineyards; they built massive stone cathedrals and castles; they were involved in manufacturing, import, and export; they owned fleets of ships; and at one point they even owned the entire island ofCyprus. The order arguably qualifies as the world's firstmultinational corporation.[30][31] By the late 12th century the Templars were also politically powerful in the Holy Land. Secular nobles in the Kingdom of Jerusalem began granting them castles and surrounding lands as a defense against the growing threat of theZengids inSyria. The Templars were even allowed to negotiate with Muslim rulers independently of the feudal lords. The Templar castles becamede facto independent lordships with their own markets, further growing their political authority. During the regency after the death of KingBaldwin IV in 1185, the royal castles were placed in the custody of the Templars andHospitallers: the grand masters of the two orders, along with thepatriarch of Jerusalem, each had a key to the crown jewels.[32]
From the mid-12th century, the Templars were recruited (jointly with theHospitallers) to fight the Muslim kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula, in addition to their campaigns in the Latin East.[33] In the kingdoms of Castile and León, they obtained some major strongholds (such asCalatrava la Vieja orCoria), but their vulnerability along the border was exposed during theAlmohad offensive.[34] In Aragon, the Templars subsumed theOrder of Mountjoy in the late 12th century, becoming an important vanguard force on the border, while in Portugal they commanded some castles along the Tagus line.[35] One of these was Tomar, which wasunsuccessfully besieged by the Almohad Caliphate in 1190.
Due to the expense of sending a third of their revenues to the East, Templar and Hospitaller activities in the Iberian Peninsula were at a disadvantage to the Hispanic military orders which expended all their resources in the region.[36]
KingBaldwin II presiding over a council with the Templars
Accounts of the Order's early military activities in the Levant are vague, though it appears their first battles were defeats, because the Seljuk Turks and other Muslim powers used different tactics than those in Europe at that time. The Templars later adapted to this and became strategic advisors to the leaders of the Crusader states.[37] The first recorded battle involving the Knights Templar was in the town ofTeqoa, south of Jerusalem, in 1138. A force of Templars led by their grand master,Robert de Craon (who succeeded Hugues de Payens about a year earlier), was sent to retake the town after it was captured by Muslims. They were initially successful, but the Muslims regrouped outside the town and were able to take it back from the Templars.[38]
The Order's mission developed from protecting pilgrims to taking part in regular military campaigns early on,[37] and this is shown by the fact that the first castle received by the Knights Templar was located four hundred miles north of the pilgrim road fromJaffa to Jerusalem, on the northern frontier of thePrincipality of Antioch: the castle ofBagras in theAmanus Mountains.[37][39] It may have been as early as 1131, and by 1137 at the latest, that the Templars were given the mountainous region that formed the border of Antioch andCilician Armenia, which included the castles of Bagras,Darbsak, andRoche de Roissel. The Templars were there whenByzantine emperorJohn II Komnenos tried to make theCrusader states of Antioch,Tripoli, andEdessa his vassals between 1137 and 1142. Templar knights accompanied Emperor John II with troops from those states during his campaign against Muslim powers inSyria from 1137 to 1138, including at thesieges of Aleppo andShaizar.[40] In 1143, the Templars also began taking part in theReconquista inIberia at the request of thecount of Barcelona.[41]
In 1147 a force of French, Spanish, and English Templars[42] leftFrance to join theSecond Crusade, led by KingLouis VII. At a meeting held in Paris on 27 April 1147 they were given permission byPope Eugenius III to wear the red cross on their uniforms. They were led by the Templar provincial master in France,Everard des Barres, who was one of the ambassadors King Louis sent to negotiate the passage of the Crusader army through theByzantine Empire on its way to the Holy Land. During the dangerous journey of the Second Crusade throughAnatolia, the Templars provided security to the rest of the army from Turkish raids.[43] After the Crusaders arrived in 1148, the kings Louis VII,Conrad III of Germany, andBaldwin III of Jerusalem made the decision tocapture Damascus, but their siege in the summer of that year failed and ended with the defeat of the Christian army.[44][45] In the fall of 1148 some returning Templars took part in the successfulsiege of Tortosa inSpain, after which one-fifth of that city was given to the Order.[42]
Robert de Craon died in January 1149 and was succeeded as grand master by Everard des Barres, one of the few leaders at the siege of Damascus whose reputation was not damaged by the event.[44] After the Second Crusade, Zengid forces underNur ad-Din Zengi ofAleppo attacked thePrincipality of Antioch, and in June 1149 his army defeated the Crusaders at theBattle of Inab, where PrinceRaymond of Antioch was killed. King Baldwin III led reinforcements to the principality, which led Nur ad-Din to accept a truce with Antioch and not advance any further.[46] The force with King Baldwin included 120 Templar knights and 1,000 sergeants and squires.[47]
In the winter of 1149 and 1150, King Baldwin III oversaw the reconstruction of the fortress atGaza City, which had been left in ruins.[48][49] It was part of the ring of castles that were built along the southern border of the Kingdom of Jerusalem to protect it from raids by the EgyptianFatimid Caliphate, and specifically from the Fatimid troops at the fortress ofAscalon, which by then was the last coastal city in the Levant still under Muslim control.[49][50] Gaza was given to the Knights Templar, becoming the first major Templar castle.[49] In 1152 Everard stepped down as grand master for unknown reasons, and his successor wasBernard de Tremelay.[51] In January of the following year, Bernard led the Templars when King Baldwin III led a Crusader army tobesiege Ascalon. Several months of fighting went by until the wall of the city was breached in August 1153, at which point Bernard led forty knights into Ascalon. But the rest of the army did not join them and all of the Templars were killed by the Muslim defenders. Ascalon was captured by the rest of the army several days later,[52][53] and Bernard was eventually succeeded byAndré de Montbard.[54]
After the fall of Ascalon, the Templars continued operating in that region from their castle at Gaza. In June 1154 they attackedAbbas ibn Abi al-Futuh, the vizier of Egypt, when he tried to flee from Cairo to Damascus after losing a power struggle. Abbas was killed and the Templars captured his son, who they later sent back to the Fatimids.[54] In the late 1150s the Egyptians launched raids against the Crusaders in the areas of Gaza and Ascalon.[55]
In the mid-12th century, the tide began to turn in the Crusades. TheIslamic world had become more united under effective leaders such asSaladin, and thereborn Sunni regime in Egypt. Dissension arose among Christian factions in and concerning the Holy Land. The Knights Templar were occasionally at odds with the two other Christianmilitary orders, theKnights Hospitaller and theTeutonic Knights, and decades of internecine feuds weakened Christian positions, both politically and militarily. After the Templars were involved in several unsuccessful campaigns, including the pivotalBattle of Hattin, Jerusalem wasrecaptured by Muslim forces under Saladin in 1187. The Holy Roman EmperorFrederick II reclaimed the city for Christians in theSixth Crusade of 1229, without Templar aid, but only held it for a little more than a decade. In 1244, theAyyubid dynasty together withKhwarezmi mercenaries recaptured Jerusalem, and the city did not return to Western control until 1917 when, duringWorld War I, theBritish captured it from theOttoman Empire.[56]
The Templars were forced to relocate their headquarters to other cities in the north, such as the seaport ofAcre, which they held for the next century. It was lost in 1291, followed by their last mainland strongholds, Tortosa (Tartus in present-daySyria) andAtlit (in present-dayIsrael). Their headquarters then moved toLimassol on the island of Cyprus,[57] and they also attempted to maintain a garrison on tinyArwad Island, just off the coast from Tortosa. In 1300, there was some attempt to engage incoordinated military efforts with the Mongols[58] via a new invasion force atArwad. In 1302 or 1303, however, the Templars lost the island to the EgyptianMamluk Sultanate in thesiege of Arwad. With the island gone, the Crusaders lost their last foothold in the Holy Land.[59]
With the order's military mission now less important, support for the organization began to dwindle. The situation was complex, however, since during the two hundred years of their existence, the Templars had become a part of daily life throughout Christendom.[60] The organization's Templar Houses, hundreds of which were dotted throughout Europe and theNear East, gave them a widespread presence at the local level.[2] The Templars still managed many businesses, and many Europeans had daily contact with the Templar network, such as by working at a Templar farm orvineyard, or using the order as a bank in which to store personal valuables. The order was still not subject to local government, making it everywhere a "state within a state" – itsstanding army, although it no longer had a well-defined mission, could pass freely through all borders. This situation heightened tensions with some European nobility, especially as the Templars were indicating an interest in founding their own monastic state, just as theTeutonic Knights had done inPrussia and the Baltic and theKnights Hospitaller were doing inRhodes.[61]
The Templars were accused of enablingcorruption in their ranks which often allowed them to influence the legal systems of Europe to act in their favor and gain influence over local rulers' lands at the expense of the rulers.[26]
In 1305, the newPope Clement V, based inAvignon, France, sent letters to both the Templar Grand MasterJacques de Molay and the Hospitaller Grand MasterFulk de Villaret to discuss the possibility of merging the two orders. Neither was amenable to the idea, but Pope Clement persisted, and in 1306 he invited both grand masters to France to discuss the matter. De Molay arrived first in early 1307, but de Villaret was delayed for several months. While waiting, de Molay and Clement discussed criminal charges that had been made two years earlier by an ousted Templar and were being discussed by KingPhilip IV of France and his ministers. It was generally agreed that the charges were false, but Clement sent King Philip a written request for assistance in the investigation. According to some historians, Philip, who was already deeply in debt to the Templars from hiswar against England, decided to seize upon the rumours for his own purposes. He began pressuring the church to take action against the order, as a way of freeing himself from his debts.[62]
At dawn on Friday, 13 October 1307, King Philip IV had de Molay and scores of other French Templars to be simultaneously arrested. The arrest warrant started with the words:"Dieu n'est pas content, nous avons des ennemis de la foi dans le Royaume" ("God is not pleased. We have enemies of the faith in the kingdom.").[64]
Claims were made that during Templar admissions ceremonies, recruits were forced to spit on the Cross, deny Christ, and engage in indecent kissing; brethren were also accused ofworshipping idols, and the order was said to have encouraged homosexual practices.[65] Many of these allegations contain tropes that bear similarities to accusations made against other persecuted groups such as Jews, heretics, and accused witches.[66] These allegations, though, were highly politicised without any real evidence.[67] Still, the Templars were charged with numerous other offences such as financial corruption, fraud, and secrecy.[68] Many of the accused confessed to these charges under torture, and their confessions, even though obtainedunder duress, caused a scandal in Paris. The prisoners were coerced to confess that they had spat on the Cross. One said:"Moi, Raymond de La Fère, 21 ans, reconnais que [j'ai] craché trois fois sur la Croix, mais de bouche et pas de cœur" ("I, Raymond de La Fère, 21 years old, admit that I have spat three times on the Cross, but only from my mouth and not from my heart"). The Templars were accused ofidolatry and were charged with worshipping either a figure known asBaphomet or a mummified severed head they recovered, amongst other artefacts, at their original headquarters on the Temple Mount. Some have theorised that this head might have been believed to be that ofJohn the Baptist, among other things.[69]
Relenting to King Phillip's demands, Pope Clement then issued the papal bullPastoralis praeeminentiae on 22 November 1307, which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Templars and seize their assets.[70] Clement called for papal hearings to determine the Templars' guilt or innocence, and once freed, many Templars recanted their confessions.
Several Templars are listed as having come fromGisors to defend the Order on 26 February 1310: Henri Zappellans or Chapelain, Anceau de Rocheria, Enard de Valdencia, Guillaume de Roy, Geoffroy de Cera or de La Fere-en-Champagne, Robert Harle or de Hermenonville, and Dreux de Chevru.[71][72][73] Some had sufficient legal experience to defend themselves inthe trials, but in 1310, having appointed thearchbishop of Sens, Philippe de Marigny, to lead the investigation, Philip blocked this attempt, using the previously forced confessions to have dozens of Templars burned at the stake in Paris.[74][75][76]
With Philip threatening military action unless the pope complied with his wishes, Clement finally agreed to disband the order, citing the public scandal that had been generated by the confessions. At theCouncil of Vienne in 1312, he issued a series of papal bulls, includingVox in excelso, which officially dissolved the order, andAd providam, which turned over most Templar assets to the Hospitallers.[77]
As for the leaders of the order, the elderly Grand Master Jacques de Molay, who had confessed under torture, retracted his confession.Geoffroi de Charney, Preceptor ofNormandy, also retracted his confession and insisted on his innocence. Both men, under pressure from the king, were declared guilty of being relapsed heretics and sentenced to burn alive at the stake in Paris on 18 March 1314. De Molay reportedly remained defiant to the end, asking to be tied in such a way that he could face theNotre Dame Cathedral and hold his hands together in prayer.[78] According to legend, he called out from the flames that both Pope Clement and King Philip would soon meet him beforeGod. His actual words were recorded on the parchment as follows:"Dieu sait qui a tort et a péché. Il va bientôt arriver malheur à ceux qui nous ont condamnés à mort" ("God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death").[64] Clement died only a month later, and Philip died while hunting within the same year.[79][80][81]
The remaining Templars around Europe were either arrested and tried under the Papal investigation (with virtually none convicted), absorbed into other Catholic military orders, or pensioned off and allowed to live out their days peacefully. By papal decree, the property of the Templars was transferred to the Knights Hospitaller except in the Kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, and Portugal. Portugal was the first country in Europe where they had settled, occurring only two or three years after the order's foundation in Jerusalem and even having a presence during Portugal's conception.[82]
The Portuguese king,Denis I, refused to pursue and persecute the former knights, as had occurred in some other states under the influence of Philip & the crown. Under his protection, Templar organizations simply changed their name, from "Knights Templar" to the reconstitutedOrder of Christ and also a parallelSupreme Order of Christ of theHoly See; both are considered successors to the Knights Templar.[83][84][85]
In September 2001, a document known as theChinon Parchment dated 17–20 August 1308 was discovered in theVatican Archives byBarbara Frale, apparently after having been filed in the wrong place in 1628. It is a record of the trial of the Templars and shows that Clement absolved the Templars of all heresies in 1308 before formally disbanding the order in 1312, as did another Chinon Parchment dated 20 August 1308 addressed toPhilip IV of France, also mentioning that all Templars that had confessed toheresy were "restored to the Sacraments and to the unity of the Church". This other Chinon Parchment has been well known to historians,[86][87][88] having been published byÉtienne Baluze in 1693[89] and byPierre Dupuy in 1751.[90]
The current position of theCatholic Church is that the persecution of the Knights Templar was unjust, that nothing was inherently wrong with the order or its rule, and thatPope Clement V was pressed into his actions by the magnitude of the publicscandal and by the dominating influence of King Philip IV.[91]
Templar chapel from the 12th century inMetz, France. Once part of the Templar commandery ofMetz, the oldest Templar institution of theHoly Roman Empire.
The Templars were organised as amonastic order similar to Bernard'sCistercian Order, which was considered the first effective international organization in Europe.[92] The organizational structure had a strong chain of authority. Each country with a major Templar presence (France,Poitou,Anjou, Jerusalem,England,Spain,Portugal,Italy,Tripoli,Antioch,Hungary, andCroatia)[93] had a master of the Order for the Templars in that region.
All of them were subject to the grand master, appointed for life, who oversaw both the order's military efforts in the East and their financial holdings in the West. The grand master exercised his authority via the visitors-general of the order, who were knights specially appointed by the grand master and convent of Jerusalem to visit the different provinces, correct malpractices, introduce new regulations, and resolve important disputes. The visitors-general had the power to remove knights from office and to suspend the master of the province concerned.[94][unreliable source?]
The central headquarters of the Templars had several offices that answered to the grand master. These were held as temporary appointments rather than for life. The second-in-command of the Order was theseneschal. The highest ranking military official was themarshal, while thepreceptor (who was also sometimes called the commander) was responsible for the administration and provisions. Thedraper was responsible for their uniforms, thetreasurer was in charge of finance, theturcopolier commanded auxiliary forces, and theprior was the head of the church at the headquarters.[95] The headquarters and its most senior officials were known as theconvent[96][97] and its role was to assist and advise the grand master with running the administration of the Order.[98]
No precise numbers exist, but it is estimated that at the order's peak, there were between 15,000 and 20,000 Templars, of whom about a tenth were actual knights.[1][2]
There was a threefold division of the ranks of the Templars: the noble knights, the non-noble sergeants, and the chaplains. The knights wear white mantles to symbolise their purity and chastity.[99] The sergeants wore black or brown. All three classes of brothers wore the order's red cross.[100] Before they received their monastic rule in 1129 at the Council of Troyes, the Templars were referred to only as knights (milites in Latin), and after 1129 they were also called brothers of their monastic order. Therefore the three main ranks were eventually known as knight brothers, sergeant brothers, and chaplain brothers. Knights and chaplains were referred to as brothers by 1140, but sergeants were not full members of the Order until the 1160s.[101]
The knights were the most visible division of the order. They were equipped asheavy cavalry, with three or four horses and one or twosquires. Squires were generally not members of the order but were instead outsiders who were hired for a set period of time. The Templars did not perform knighting ceremonies, so anyone wishing to become a knight in the Templar had to be a knight already.[102]
Beneath the knights in the order and drawn from non-noble families were the sergeants.[103] They brought vital skills and trades fromblacksmiths and builders, including administration of many of the order's European properties. In theCrusader states, they fought alongside the knights aslight cavalry with a single horse.[104] Several of the order's most senior positions were reserved for sergeants, including the post of Commander of the Vault of Acre, who also served as the Templar fleet's admiral. But he was subordinated to the Order's preceptor instead of the marshal, indicating that the Templars considered their ships to be mainly for commerce rather than military purposes.[105][106]
From 1139,chaplains constituted a third Templar rank. They wereordained priests who cared for the Templars' spiritual needs.[107] These Templar clerics were also referred to as priest brothers or chaplain brothers.[108]
The Templars also employed lightly armed mercenaries as cavalry in the 12th century that were known asturcopoles (a Greek term for descendants of Turks). Its meaning has been interpreted as either referring to people of a mixed Muslim-Christian heritage who became Christians, or members of the local population inSyria. Sometime in the 13th century, turcopole became a formal rank held by Templar brothers, including Latin Christians.[109]
Templar building at Saint Martin des Champs, France
Starting with founder Hugues de Payens, the order's highest office was that of grand master, a position which was held for life, though considering the martial nature of the order, this could mean a very short tenure. All but two of the grand masters died in office, and several died during military campaigns. For example, during theSiege of Ascalon in 1153, Grand MasterBernard de Tremelay led a group of 40 Templars through a breach in the city walls. When the rest of the Crusader army did not follow, the Templars, including their grand master, were surrounded and beheaded.[110] Grand masterGérard de Ridefort was beheaded by Saladin in 1189 at theSiege of Acre.
The grand master oversaw all of the operations of the order, including both the military operations in the Holy Land andEastern Europe and the Templars' financial and business dealings inWestern Europe. Some grand masters also served as battlefield commanders, though this was not always wise: several blunders in de Ridefort's combat leadership contributed to the devastating defeat at the Battle of Hattin. The last grand master wasJacques de Molay, burned at the stake in Paris in 1314 by order of King Philip IV.[76]
Representation of a Knight Templar (Ten Duinen Abbey museum, 2010 photograph)Depiction of two Templars seated on a horse (emphasising poverty), withBeauséant, the "sacred banner" (orgonfanon) of the Templars,argent a chief sable (Matthew Paris,c. 1250)[111]
Bernard de Clairvaux and founder Hugues de Payens devised a specific code of conduct for the Templar Order, known to modern historians as theLatin Rule. Its 72 clauses laid down the details of the knights' way of life, including the types of garments they were to wear and how many horses they could have. Knights were to take their meals in silence, eat meat no more than three times per week, and not have physical contact of any kind with women, even members of their own family. A master of the Order was assigned "four horses, and one chaplain-brother, and one clerk with three horses, and one sergeant brother with two horses, and one gentleman valet to carry his shield and lance, with one horse".[112] As the order grew, more guidelines were added, and the original list of 72 clauses was expanded to several hundred in its final form.[113][114]
The daily schedule of the order adhered to the canonical hours in theRule of Saint Benedict, with communal prayers designated at specific hours throughout the day. Members unable to participate must recite theLord's Prayer at the same hours.
The knights wore a whitesurcoat with a red cross, and a white mantle also with a red cross; the sergeants wore a black tunic with a red cross on the front and a black or brown mantle.[115][116] The white mantle was assigned to the Templars at the Council of Troyes in 1129, and the cross was most probably added to theirrobes at the launch of theSecond Crusade in 1147, whenPope Eugenius III, KingLouis VII of France, and many other notables attended a meeting of the French Templars at their headquarters near Paris.[117][118][119] Under the Rule, the knights were to wear the white mantle at all times: They were even forbidden to eat or drink unless wearing it.[120]
The red cross that the Templars wore on their robes was a symbol of martyrdom, and to die in combat was considered a great honour that assured a place in heaven.[121] There was a cardinal rule that the warriors of the order should never surrender unless the Templar flag had fallen, and even then they were first to try to regroup with another of the Christian orders, such as that of theHospitallers. Only after all flags had fallen were they allowed to leave the battlefield.[122] This uncompromising principle, along with their reputation for courage, excellent training, and heavy armament, made the Templars one of the most feared combat forces in medieval times.
Although not prescribed by the Templar Rule, it later became customary for members of the order to wear long and prominent beards. In about 1240,Alberic of Trois-Fontaines described the Templars as an "order of bearded brethren"; while during the interrogations by the papal commissioners in Paris in 1310–1311, out of nearly 230 knights and brothers questioned, 76 are described as wearing a beard, in some cases specified as being "in the style of the Templars", and 133 are said to have shaved off their beards, either in renunciation of the order or because they had hoped to escape detection.[123][124]
Initiation,[125] known as "reception" (receptio) into the order, was a profound commitment and involved a solemn ceremony. Outsiders were discouraged from attending the ceremony, which aroused the suspicions ofmedieval inquisitors during thelater trials. New members had to willingly sign over all of their wealth and goods to the order andvow to "God and Our Lady" (mother of Jesus) poverty, chastity, piety, obedience to the master of the order, and to conquer the Holy Land of Jerusalem.[126] They were then promised "the bread and water and poor clothing of the house and much pain and suffering".[127]
Most brothers joined for life, although some were allowed to join for a set period. Sometimes a married man was allowed to join if he had his wife's permission,[116] but a married brother was not allowed to wear the white mantle.[128]
Temple Church, London. As the chapel of the New Temple in London, it was the location for Templar initiation ceremonies. In modern times it is the parish church of theMiddle andInner Temples, two of theInns of Court, and a popular tourist attraction.
With their military mission and extensive financial resources, the Knights Templar funded a large number of building projects around Europe and the Holy Land. Many of these structures are still standing. Many sites also maintain the name "Temple" because of centuries-old association with the Templars.[129] For example, some of the Templars' lands in London were later rented tolawyers, which led to the names of theTemple Bar gateway and theTemple Underground station. Two of the fourInns of Court which may call members to act asbarristers are theInner Temple andMiddle Temple – the entire area known asTemple, London.[130]
Distinctivearchitectural elements of Templar buildings include the use of the image of "two knights on a single horse", representing the Knights' poverty, and round buildings designed to resemble theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.[131]
The Knights Templar were disbanded in 1309. Following the suppression of the Order, a number of Knights Templar joined the newly establishedOrder of Christ, which effectively reabsorbed the Knights Templar and its properties in AD 1319, especially in Portugal.[13][132]
The story of the persecution and sudden dissolution of the Templars has drawn many other groups to use alleged connections with them as a way of enhancing their own image and mystery.[133] Apart from the Order of Christ andOrder of Montesa in Spain,[13][132][14] there are no historical connections between the Knights Templar and any other modern organization, the earliest of which emerged publicly in the 18th century.[134][135][136][137]
Following the dissolution of the Knights Templar, the Order of Christ was erected in 1319 and absorbed many of the Knights Templar into its ranks, along with Knights Templar properties in Portugal.[13][132] Its headquarters became a castle in Tomar, a former Knights Templar castle.[13]
TheMilitary Order of Christ consider themselves the successors of the former Knights Templar. After the Templars were abolished on 22 March 1312,[138][85] the Order of Christ was founded in 1319[139][84] under the protection of the Portuguese kingDenis, who refused to persecute the former knights. Denis revived the Templars ofTomar as the Order of Christ, grateful for their aid during theReconquista and in the reconstruction of Portugal after the wars. Denis negotiated with Clement's successorJohn XXII for recognition of the new order and its right to inherit Templar assets and property. This was granted in the papal bullAd ea ex quibus of 14 March 1319.[12] The Portuguese brought the Order of Christ with them to Kongo and Brazil, where the Order of Christ continues to be awarded; the Vatican additionally has awarded theSupreme Order of Christ.[140][141][142]
Manytemperance organizations named themselves after the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, citing the belief that the original Knights Templar "drank sour milk, and also because they were fighting 'a great crusade' against 'this terrible vice' of alcohol".[15] The largest of these, theInternational Order of Good Templars (IOGT), grew throughout the world after being started in the 19th century and continues to advocate for theabstinence from alcohol and other drugs; other Orders in this tradition include those of theTemplars of Honor and Temperance (Tempel Riddare Orden), which has a large presence in Scandinavia.[15][144]
Freemasonry has incorporated the symbols and rituals of several medieval military orders in a number ofMasonic bodies since at least the 18th century. This can be seen in the "Red Cross of Constantine," inspired by theMilitary Constantinian Order; the "Order of Malta," inspired by the Knights Hospitaller; and the "Order of the Temple", inspired by the Knights Templar. The Orders of Malta and the Temple feature prominently in theYork Rite. Though some have claimed a link between the historical Knights Templar of the 14th century through members who allegedly took refuge inScotland and aidedRobert the Bruce, this theory has been rejected by both Freemasons and historians.[145][146]
Neo-Templarism is a term used to describe movements that claim to be direct continuations of the original Templars. The Templar degree system in Freemasonry built off an idea that Templars had embedded themselves within Freemasonry; however, some Freemasons believed the Templar degrees were not subordinate to masonry and were their own system. This culminated in 1805, whenBernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat, a physician who refused to acknowledge the authority of the Catholic Church, created a revivalist Templar movement, claiming he had discovered a document that revealed an unbroken history of Templar grand masters to the present day. Fabré-Palaprat declared himself the grand master of his revivalist order. This began a long series of revival orders involving various schisms, which Fabré-Palaprat is usually regarded as the originator of; Fabré-Palaprat's organization eventually evolved into theSovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem. The idea that these orders have legitimate descent from the Templars has been criticized by scholars of Templar history as dubious and tied to false claims.[147][148]
The Templars were the subject of many conspiracy theories and legends. A legend is that whenLouis XVI was executed, a freemason dipped a cloth in the king's blood and said, "Jacques de Molay, you are avenged.", the idea being that the king of France was responsible for destroying the Knights Templar back then. A theory states that they are still existent and running a secret conspiracy to preserve the bloodline of Jesus.[151]
There have been speculative popular publications surrounding the order's early occupation of theTemple Mount in Jerusalem as well as speculation about whatrelics the Templars may have found there. The association of theHoly Grail with the Templars has precedents even in 12th-century fiction;Wolfram von Eschenbach'sParzival calls the knights guarding the Grail Kingdomtempleisen, apparently a conscious fictionalization of thetemplarii.[152][153][154]
^The Latin estimates of Saladin's army are no doubt greatly exaggerated (26,000 in Tyre xxi. 23; 12,000 Turks and 9,000 Arabs in Anon.Rhen. v. 517).[27]
By Molay's time the grand master was presiding over at least 970 houses, including commanderies and castles in the east and west, serviced by a membership which is unlikely to have been less than 7,000, excluding employees and dependents, who must have been seven or eight times that number.
^Selwood, Dominic (2002).Knights of the Cloister. Templars and Hospitallers in Central-Southern Occitania 1100–1300. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press.ISBN978-0-85115-828-0.
^Barber, Malcolm (1995).The new knighthood : a history of the Order of the Temple (Canto ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. xxi–xxii.ISBN978-0-521-55872-3.
^Enciclopédia dos Lugares Mágicos de Portugal, vol. 11, pp. 79
^Pinho Leal, Augusto Soares d’Azevedo Barbosa de (1875).Portugal Antigo e Moderno - Diccionario - "Mogadouro". [S.l.]: Livraria Editora de Mattos Moreira & Companhia. pp. 355
^abF. A. Dutra, "Dinis, King of Portugal", inMedieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia (Routledge, 2003), p. 285.
^abcdeRalls, Karen (2007).Knights Templar Encyclopedia: The Essential Guide to the People, Places, Events, and Symbols of the Order of the Temple.Red Wheel Weiser Conari. p. 53.ISBN978-1-56414-926-8.Founded in Portugal and approved by papal bull in 1319, after the suppression of their Order in 1312, a number of Templars joined the newly established Order of Christ. The knights of this Order became known as the Knights of Christ. They wore a white mantle with a red cross that had a white twist in the middle, which also has been translated as a double cross of red and silver in some medieval documents. Initially, the Order of Christ was located at Castro Marim; later, its headquarters was relocated to Tomar, the location of the castle of the Knights Templar.
^Selwood, Dominic (1996). "'Quidam autem dubitaverunt': the Saint, the Sinner and a Possible Chronology".Autour de la Première Croisade. Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne. pp. 221–230.ISBN978-2-85944-308-5.
^Demurger, p. 139. "During four years,Jacques de Molay and his order were totally committed, with other Christian forces of Cyprus and Armenia, to an enterprise of reconquest of the Holy Land, in liaison with the offensives of Ghazan, the Mongol Khan of Persia."
The Templars retained a base on Arwad island (also known as Ruad island, formerly Arados) off Tortosa (Tartus) until October 1302 or 1303, when the island was recaptured by the Mamluks.
^Alain Demurger (2019)."Templars".The Persecution of the Knights Templar: Scandal, Torture, Trial. Simon and Schuster.ISBN978-1-64313-089-7. Retrieved12 July 2023.Seven of these nine Templars are also on the list of brothers who came from Gisors on 26 February 1310: Henri Zappellans or Chapelain, Anceau de Rocheria, Enard de Valdencia, Guillaume de Roy, Geoffroy de Cera or de La Fere-en-Champagne, Robert Harle or de Hermenonville, and Dreux de Chevru; the two others, Robert de Mortefontaine and Robert de Monts-de-Soissons, perhaps appear under different names. We don't know the reasons why those nine Templars were not taken back to Gisors. They are catalogued as 'non-reconciled': that is, they had not been absolved and reconciled with the Church by a diocesan commission. They attended neither the Council of Sens nor that of Reims in May 1310. They were from different dioceses: Toul, Sens, Chalons-en-Champagne, Treves but also Soissons (Guillaume de Roy), Laon (Geoffroy de La Fere) and Senlis (Robert Harle).
^De Philippe Antoine Grouvelle (1805)."Les Templiers".Mémoires historiques sur les Templiers, ou Éclaircissemens nouveaux sur leur histoire, leur procès, les accusations intentées contr'eux, et les causes secrètes de leur ruine. Retrieved12 July 2023.Noms des Frères rassemblés le 28 mars 1310, devant les Commissaires charges par le Pape de l'Enquête sur les griefs imputés à l'Ordre du Temple en général... 184. Guillaume De Roy
^Société académique de Laon (1864)."Bulletin de la Société académique de Laon".Bibliothèque nationale de France. Retrieved12 July 2023.Procès des Templiers" "Nicolas de Celles; Gauthier de Villesavoye; Etienne de Compiègne; Robert de Montreuil-aux-Lions, pètre; Guillaume de Roy; Geoffroy de Cère; Eloi de Pavant; Raoul et Pierre de Compiègne, Pierre d'Anizy défendront tous l'Ordre.
^Malcolm Barber has researched this legend and concluded that it originates fromLa Chronique métrique attribuée àGeffroi de Paris, ed. A. Divèrres, Strasbourg, 1956, pp. 5711–5742. Geoffrey of Paris was "apparently an eye-witness, who describes de Molay as showing no sign of fear and, significantly, as telling those present that God would avenge their deaths".Barber 2006, p. 357, footnote 110
^InThe New Knighthood, Barber referred to a variant of this legend, about how an unspecified Templar had appeared before and denounced Clement V and, when he was about to be executed sometime later, warned that both Pope and King would "within a year and a day be obliged to explain their crimes in the presence of God", found in the work byFerreto of Vicenza,Historia rerum in Italia gestarum ab anno 1250 ad annum usque 1318 (Barber 1994, pp. 314–315).
^Charles d'Aigrefeuille,Histoire de la ville de Montpellier, Volume 2, p. 193 (Montpellier: J. Martel, 1737–1739).
^Sophia Menache,Clement V, p. 218, 2002 paperback editionISBN0-521-59219-4 (Cambridge University Press, originally published in 1998).
^Germain-François Poullain de Saint-Foix,Oeuvres complettes de M. de Saint-Foix, Historiographe des Ordres du Roi, p. 287, Volume 3 (Maestricht: Jean-Edme Dupour & Philippe Roux, Imprimeurs-Libraires, associés, 1778).
^Hourihane, Colum (2012)."Flags and standards".The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture. OUP USA. p. 514.ISBN978-0-19-539536-5.the Knights Templar ... carried white shields with red crosses but [their] sacred banner,Beauséant, was white with a black chief
According toWilliam of Tyre it was under Eugenius III that the Templars received the right to wear the characteristic red cross upon their tunics, symbolising their willingness to suffermartyrdom in the defence of the Holy Land.
(WT, 12.7, p. 554. James of Vitry, 'Historia Hierosolimatana', ed. J. ars,Gesta Dei per Francos, vol I(ii), Hanover, 1611, p. 1083, interprets this as a sign of martyrdom.)
The Pope conferred on the Templars the right to wear a red cross on their white mantles, which symbolised their willingness to suffer martyrdom in defending the Holy Land against the infidel.
Pope Eugenius gave them the right to wear a scarlet cross over their hearts, so that the sign would serve triumphantly as a shield and they would never turn away in the face of the infidels': the red blood of the martyr was superimposed on the white of the chaste." (Melville,La Vie des Templiers, p. 92.)
^abcGourdin, Theodore S. (1855).Historical Sketch of the Order of Knights Templar. Walker & Evans. p. 22.Upon the suppression of the Order of Templars in Portugal, their estates were given to this equestrian militia. The name of the Order was changed to that of the Order of Christ. The Templars in Portugal suffered little persecution, and the Order of Christ, since its foundation in 1317, has always been protected by the sovereigns of that country, and also by the Popes of Rome.
^The Mythology Of The Secret Societies (London: Secker and Warburg, 1972).ISBN0-436-42030-9
^Peter Partner,The Murdered Magicians: The Templars And Their Myth (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982).ISBN0-19-215847-3
^John Walliss,Apocalyptic Trajectories: Millenarianism and Violence In The Contemporary World, p. 130 (Bern: Peter Lang AG, European Academic Publishers, 2004).ISBN3-03910-290-7
^Michael Haag,Templars: History and Myth: From Solomon's Temple To The Freemasons (Profile Books Ltd, 2009).ISBN978-1-84668-153-0
^Ammerman, Robert T.; Ott, Peggy J.; Tarter, Ralph E. (1999).Prevention and Societal Impact of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. Psychology Press.ISBN978-1-135-67215-7.
^Napier, Gordon (2011).A to Z of the Knights Templar: A Guide to Their History and Legacy. History Press. p. 424.ISBN978-0-7524-7362-8.
^The History Channel,Decoding the Past: The Templar Code, 7 November 2005, video documentary written by Marcy Marzuni.
^Magy Seif El-Nasr; Maha Al-Saati; Simon Niedenthal; David Milam."Assassin's Creed: A Multi-Cultural Read". pp. 6–7. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 6 November 2009. Retrieved1 October 2009.we interviewed Jade Raymond ... Jade says ... Templar Treasure was ripe for exploring. What did the Templars find
^Martin 2005, p. 133. Helmut Brackert, Stephan Fuchs (eds.),Titurel, Walter de Gruyter, 2002,p. 189Archived 1 July 2017 at theWayback Machine. There is no evidence of any actual connection of the historical Templars with the Grail, nor any claim on the part of any Templar to have discovered such a relic. See Karen Ralls,Knights Templar Encyclopedia: The Essential Guide to the People, Places, Events and Symbols of the Order of the Temple, p. 156 (The Career Press, Inc., 2007).ISBN978-1-56414-926-8
^Louis Charpentier,Les Mystères de la Cathédrale de Chartres (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1966), translatedThe Mysteries of Chartres Cathedral (London: Research Into Lost Knowledge Organization, 1972).
Barber, Malcolm (1993).The Trial of the Templars (1st ed.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-45727-9.
Barber, Malcolm (2006).The Trial of the Templars (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-67236-8.
Barber, Malcolm (1992). "Supplying the Crusader States: The Role of the Templars". In Benjamin Z. Kedar (ed.).The Horns of Hattin. Jerusalem and London. pp. 314–326.
Burgtorf, Jochen (2008).The Central Convent of Hospitallers and Templars: History, Organization, and Personnel (1099/1120–1310). Leiden: Brill Publishers.ISBN978-90-04-16660-8.
Fulton, Michael S. (2022).Contest for Egypt: The Collapse of the Fatimid Caliphate, the Ebb of Crusader Influence, and the Rise of Saladin. Leiden:Brill Publishers.ISBN978-90-04-51227-6.
Sobecki, Sebastian (2006)."Marigny, Philippe de".Biographisch-bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (26th ed.). Bautz: Nordhausen. pp. 963–64.
Runciman, Steven (1951).A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100–1187. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN0-521-06162-8.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Smail, R. C. (1956).Crusading Warfare 1097–1193. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN1-56619-769-4.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Malcolm Barber, Keith Bate (2002).The Templars: Selected Sources Translated and Annotated by Malcolm Barber and Keith Bate. Manchester University PressISBN0-7190-5110-X
Brighton, Simon (2006).In Search of the Knights Templar: A Guide to the Sites in Britain. London: Orion Publishing Group.ISBN978-0-297-84433-4.
Jochen Burgtorf, Shlomo Lotan, Enric Mallorquí-Ruscalleda (eds.) (2021).The Templars: The Rise, Fall, and Legacy of a Military Religious Order, RoutledgeISBN978-1-138-65062-6
Upton-Ward, Judith Mary (1992).The Rule of the Templars: The French Text of the Rule of the Order of the Knights Templar. Ipswich: Boydell Press.ISBN978-0-85115-315-5.
.svg)
