Christianity: Details about 'Knights Templar Military Order'
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The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin: paupers commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici), popularly known as the Knights Templar, was one of the most famous of the Christian military orders. It existed for about two centuries in the Middle Ages, created in the aftermath of the First Crusade of 1096 to ensure the safety of the large numbers of European pilgrims who flowed towards Jerusalem after its conquest. The Templars were an unusual order in that they were both monks, and yet also soldiers, making them in effect some of the earliest "warrior monks" in the Western world. Members of the Order played a key part in many battles of the Crusades, and the Order's infrastructure innovated many financial techniques that could be considered the foundation of modern banking. The Order grew in membership and power throughout Europe, until it ran afoul of a French King and was suddenly and forcibly disbanded in the early 1300s.
OrganizationThe Templars were organized as a monastic order, following a rule created for them by their patron, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a member of the Cistercian Order. Each country had a Master of the Order for the Templars in that region, and 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. There were four divisions of brothers in the Templars:
At any time, each knight had some ten people in support positions. Some brothers were devoted solely to banking, as the Order was often trusted with precious goods by participants in the Crusades, but the primary mission of the Knights Templar was warfare. The Templars used their wealth to construct numerous fortifications throughout the Holy Land and were probably the best trained and disciplined fighting units of their day. They were also famous and easily recognized, with a white surcoat with distinct red cross emblazoned above the heart or on the chest, as seen in many portrayals of crusading knights. Initiation into the Order was a profound commitment, and involved a secret ceremony. Few details of the rituals were known at the time, fueling the suspicions of medieval inquisitors, but initiates, at least in the early days of the Order, had to be of noble birth, of legitimate heritage, and had to be willing to sign over all of their wealth and goods to the Order. Further, joining the Order required vows of poverty, chastity, piety, and obedience. For the warriors of the Order, there was a cardinal rule of never surrendering, with the understanding that if they died in battle, their entry into Heaven was assured. This fearless uncompromising nature of the Templars, along with excellent training and heavy armament, made them a feared and elite fighting force in medieval times. History
The order was founded around 1119 by French nobleman Hughes de Payens, a veteran of the First Crusade. He gathered nine of his knight relatives, their stated mission to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land. King Baldwin II of Jerusalem gave them a headquarters on the Temple Mount, above what was believed to be the ruins of the Temple of Solomon. It was from this location that the Order took its name of Templar. The Order grew rapidly because of support from key church leaders such as Saint Bernard de Clairvaux, and were exempt from all authority except that of the Pope. Because of this official sanction, they received massive donations of money, land, and noble-born sons from families across Europe, who were encouraged to donate support as their way of assisting with the fight in the Holy Land. Templar Knights also fought alongside King Louis VII of France, King Richard the Lion-Hearted, and in battles in Spain and Portugal.Though the primary mission of the Order was a military one, only a small percentage of its members were actually at the front lines, while many others were involved in developing a financial infrastructure to support the warrior branch. The Order also innovated ways of generating letters of credit for pilgrims who were journeying to the Holy Land, which involved pilgrims depositing their valuables with the Order before setting off on the journey. This may have been the first form of checking put into use. From this mixture of donations and shrewd business dealing, during the 12th and 13th centuries the Order acquired large tracts of land both in Europe and the Middle East, built churches and castles, bought farms and vineyards, was involved in manufacturing and import/export, had its own fleet of ships, and for a time even owned the entire island of Cyprus. After Jerusualem was lost to Saladin in the late 1100s, the Crusades gradually wound down, and European support for the Order began to falter. In the early 1300s, a financial dispute with King Philip IV of France (also known as "Philip the Fair") contributed to the official disbandment of the Order. On October 13, 1307, Philip had hundreds of French Templars simultaneously arrested, charged with over 100 crimes, and tortured by Inquisitors until they "confessed". In 1312, under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V officially disbanded the Order at the Council of Vienne, and in 1314 the remaining Templar leaders in France were executed, some by being burned at the stake. Remaining Templars around Europe were either arrested and tried, absorbed into other organizations such as the Order of Christ and Knights Hospitaller, or fled to other territories outside of Papal control such as excommunicated Scotland. But questions still remain as to what happened to the thousands of Templars across Europe, or to the entire Templar fleet of ships which vanished on Friday the 13th. Also, the extensive archive of the Templars, with detailed records of all of their business holdings and financial transactions, was never found, though it is unknown whether it was destroyed, or moved to another location. In modern times, it is the Roman Catholic Church's position that the persecution was unjust; that there was nothing inherently wrong with the Order or its Rule; and that the Pope at the time was only pressured into suppressing them by public scandal, and royal influence. Grand Masters from 1118 to 1314
Starting with founder Hughes de Payens in 1118, the Order's highest office was that of Grand Master, a position which was held for life, though considering the warrior nature of the Order, this could be a very short period of time. The Grand Master oversaw all of the operations of the Order, including both the military operations in the Holy Land and eastern Europe, and the financial and business dealings in the Order's infrastructure of western Europe. Grand Masters could also be active military commanders, though this was not always a wise choice, as seen by the embarrassing blunders made by the 12th century Gérard de Ridefort, who ended up beheaded by Saladin in 1189. Places associated with the Knights Templar
Legends
The Knights Templar have become surrounded by legends concerning secrets and mysteries handed down to the select from ancient times. Most of these legends are connected with the long occupation by the order of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and speculation about what relics the Templars may have found there, such as the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, or fragments of the True Cross from the Crucifixion. Other legends have grown around the suspected associations of the Templars. Many organizations claim traditions from the original Order. For example, the Freemasons began incorporating Templar symbols and rituals into their own history in the 1700s. And still more stories were started by fictional embellishments upon the Templar history, such as by Hollywood movies or bestselling novels such as The Da Vinci Code. For more information, see Knights Templar legends and Knights Templar and popular culture. Sources
See also
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