A multinational army was raised for the Crusade, led by several of Europe's monarchs and nobility. The Crusaders succeeded in capturing not only Jerusalem but also much of the region. Related: Crusader battlefield is unearthed in Israel.
After most of the Crusaders returned to Europe, there remained a need to defend the Holy Land, as well as govern its population, which included Christians, Jews, Muslims and new settlers from Europe. Another problem they had is that a certain number of places they controlled were very easy for an enemy to infiltrate, and there was nothing really to keep law and order.
So, it was these circumstances that produced the Templars. The Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem, abbreviated to the Knights Templar, was created by Hugues de Payens, a French nobleman who had remained in Jerusalem after visiting sometime between and The name came from the Templar headquarters, located on the Temple Mount , in a wing of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which, at the time, served as a royal palace, rumored to be built on top of the ruins of the Temple of King Solomon, Discover magazine reported in The Templars were first organized as a charity, acting as bodyguards to pilgrims traveling to and from the Holy Land.
The king assigned tax revenues to the group to keep them clothed and fed. Before this, the knights were supported by donations from the Order of St. John of the Hospital in Jerusalem, also known as the Knights Hospitaller , which the pope approved in Despite this charitable support, the knights were not from poor backgrounds, Jones said. The Council of Nablus established 25 laws for the members of the Knights Templar to obey.
These included a declaration regarding the use of violence, according to Jones. This set out regulations governing how the Templars should conduct themselves at all times and was designed to promote and showcase their piety and zeal.
The rules covered everything from clothing, the types of horses they could ride, the length of their hair, the style of their beards and how much meat they could eat each week. In particular it forbade members from any contact with women, even female family members. Related: Crusader hospital reconstructed in Jerusalem. However, according to Barber, many of these rules were eventually bent or even broken in order to attract new followers.
But in , the group received the formal endorsement of the Catholic Church and support from Bernard of Clairvaux, a prominent French abbot. The Knights Templar set up a prosperous network of banks and gained enormous financial influence. Their banking system allowed religious pilgrims to deposit assets in their home countries and withdraw funds in the Holy Land.
Members swore an oath of poverty, chastity and obedience. Prayer was essential to their daily life, and the Templars expressed particular adoration for the Virgin Mary. As the Knights Templar grew in size and status, it established new chapters throughout Western Europe. At the height of their influence, the Templars boasted a sizable fleet of ships, owned the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, and served as a primary bank and lending institution to European monarchs and nobles.
Though its original purpose was to protect pilgrims from danger, the Knights Templar progressively expanded its duties. They became defenders of the Crusader states in the Holy Land and were known as brave, highly skilled warriors. The group developed a reputation as fierce fighters during the Crusades, driven by religious fervor and forbidden from retreating unless significantly outnumbered.
The Templars built numerous castles and fought — and often won — battles against Islamic armies. Their fearless style of fighting became a model for other military orders. In the late 12th century, Muslim armies retook Jerusalem and turned the tide of the Crusades, forcing the Knights Templar to relocate several times. The Fall of Acre in marked the destruction of the last remaining Crusader refuge in the Holy Land.
European support of the military campaigns in the Holy Land began to erode over the decades that followed. By , the Knights Templar lost its foothold in the Muslim world and established a base of operations in Paris. There, King Philip IV of France resolved to bring down the order, perhaps because the Templars had denied the indebted ruler additional loans. Many of the knights were brutally tortured until they confessed to false charges , which included heresy, homosexuality, financial corruption, devil-worshipping, fraud, spitting on the cross and more.
A few years later, dozens of Templars were burned at the stake in Paris for their confessions. De Molay was executed in The Catholic Church has acknowledged that the persecution of the Knights Templar was unjustified. The church claims that Pope Clement was pressured by secular rulers to destroy the order.
While most historians agree that the Knights Templar fully disbanded years ago, there are some people who believe the order went underground and remains in existence in some form to this day. While they were meant to be enemies of Muslims, they seemed to have ample knowledge of their rituals. This familiarity was the result of the Templars living near Muslims in the east.
There are different theories about the relations between the Templar and those Muslim sects known as Assassins and Druze. They paid tribute to the Templar to keep peace with them. Others, like Idries Shah, a scholar of Islamic mysticism, has argued that it was a subsidy paid by Assassins to the Templars, who had turned into a Christianized version of the Assassins.
Whatever the nature of the relation, the Templar received a lot of help from Assassins to fight their enemies. Learn more about the Islamic Assassins. He was the grandmaster of the Templar and led the nine original knights in protecting Christian pilgrims.
According to the history of Knights Templar , the Templar lasted for two centuries. It was founded in the 12th century and disbanded in the 14th century by the execution of their last grandmaster. The Templars were catholic.
In the history of Knights Templar , it is clear that they were supported by the Catholic Church. It was the Catholic Church and the pope that gave them extreme power and influence.
During the history of knight Templars , they had various sources of wealth. They engaged in different business activities including banking. They acquired properties in Jerusalem and Europe amounting to preceptories. By Richerd Spence Ph. It is one of the most intriguing secret societies and there have been a lot of rumors circulating it since its inception. Their grandmaster was eventually treated and executed along with some of his associates as heretics. Read on to learn about the origins of the Knights Templar.
The Knights Templars wore long robes with a red cross and full body armor. A Castle of Knights Templars in Portugal.
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