Knights Templar

:For other uses of the term, see Templar (disambiguation).

History

Their popular name alludes to their historical headquarters in the Temple of Jerusalem on the Temple Mount, a shrine on the summit of Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, which they renamed Templum Domini (Temple of the Lord). The summit is sacred to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount as well as to Muslims as the Dome of the Rock and also referred to as the Mosque of Omar. The Templum Domini became the model for many subsequent Templar churches in Europe, such as the Temple Church in London and is represented on several Templar seals.

Related Topics:
Temple of Jerusalem - Mount Moriah - Temple Mount - Temple Church - London - Templar seals

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In addition to Palestine, the order fought in the Spanish and Portuguese Reconquista. The headquarters of the Templars in Tomar, Portugal was in the Convento de Cristo. They were given extensive possessions and castles in frontier land. At one point, they were to inherit the kingdom of Aragon, jointly with other military orders. The Templar Knights were identifiable by their white surcoat with distinct red cross emblazoned above the heart or on the chest, as seen in many portrayals of crusading knights.

Related Topics:
Palestine - Spanish - Portuguese - Reconquista - Tomar - Convento de Cristo - Aragon

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Banking

The Templars got into banking almost by accident. When members joined the order, they often donated large amounts of cash or property to the order since all had to take oaths of poverty. Combined with massive grants from the Pope, their financial power was assured from the beginning. Since the Templars kept cash in all their chapter houses and temples, it was natural that in 1135 the Order started lending money to Spanish pilgrims who wanted to travel to the Holy Land. The Knights' involvement in banking grew over time into a new basis for money, as Templars became increasingly involved in banking activities. One indication of their powerful political connections is that the Templars' involvement in usury did not lead to more controversy within the Order and the church at large. The charge was typically sidestepped, by a stipulation that the Templars retained the rights to the production of mortgaged property.

Related Topics:
1135 - Banking - Money - Usury

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The Templars' political connections and awareness of the essentially urban and commercial nature of the Outremer communities naturally led the Order to a position of significant power, both in Europe and the Holy Land. Their success attracted the concern of many other orders and eventually that of the nobility and monarchs of Europe as well, who were at this time seeking to monopolize control of money and banking after a long chaotic period in which civil society, especially the Church and its lay orders, had dominated financial activities. The Templars' holdings were extensive both in Europe and the Middle East, including for a time the entire island of Cyprus.

Related Topics:
Outremer - Holy Land - Civil society - Cyprus

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Ruin

The fall of the Templars may have started over the matter of a loan. Philip IV, King of France needed cash for his wars and asked the Templars for money, who refused. The King tried to get the Pope to excommunicate the Templars for this but Pope Boniface VIII refused. Philip sent his right-hand man, Guillaume de Nogaret, to "persuade" the Pope, who later died from the wounds inflicted by de Nogaret. The next Pope, Benedict XI, lifted the excommunication of Philip IV but refused to absolve de Nogaret. (Rumor has it that the Pope died of poison soon after.) The next Pope, Clement V, agreed to Philip IV's demands about the Templars, lifted the excommunications, and later moved the papacy to Avignon. On October 13 (the unlucky Friday the 13th), 1307, what may have been all the Knights Templar in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of Philip the Fair, to later be tortured into admitting heresy in the Order. The dominant view is that Philip, who seized the treasury and broke up the monastic banking system, was jealous of the Templars' wealth and power, and sought to control it for himself. These events, and the Templars' original banking of assets for suddenly mobile depositors, were two of many shifts towards a system of military fiat to back European money, removing this power from Church orders. Seeing the fate of the Templars, the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem and of Rhodes and of Malta were also convinced to give up banking at this time. Much of the Templar property outside of France was transferred by the Pope to the Knights Hospitaller, and many surviving Templars were also accepted into the Hospitallers.

Related Topics:
Philip IV, King of France - Boniface VIII - Guillaume de Nogaret - Benedict XI - October 13 - Friday the 13th - 1307 - France - Heresy - Military fiat - Money - Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem and of Rhodes and of Malta

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Many kings and nobles supported the Knights at that time, and only dissolved the order in their fiefs when so commanded by Pope Clement V. Robert the Bruce, the King of Scots, had already been excommunicated for other reasons, and was therefore not disposed to pay heed to Papal commands. In Portugal the order's name was changed to the Order of Christ, and was believed to have contributed to the first naval discoveries of the Portuguese. Prince Henry the Navigator led the Portuguese order for 20 years until the time of his death. In Spain, where the king of Aragon was also against giving the heritage of the Templars to Hospitallers (as commanded by Clement V), the Order of Montesa took Templar assets.

Related Topics:
Pope Clement V - Robert the Bruce - Excommunicated - Portugal - Order of Christ - Henry the Navigator - Spain - Aragon - Order of Montesa

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Heresy and pardon

Debate continues as to whether the accusation of religious heresy had merit by the standards of the time. Under torture, some Templars admitted to homosexual acts, and to the worship of heads and a mystery known as Baphomet. Their leaders later denied these admissions, and for that were executed. Some scholars discount these as forced admissions, typical during the Inquisition. Others argue that these accusations were in reality due to a misunderstanding of arcane rituals held behind closed doors which had their origins in the Crusaders' bitter struggle against the Saracens. These included denying Christ and spitting on the Cross three times, as well as kissing other men's behinds.

Related Topics:
Heresy - Torture - Homosexual - Worship - Mystery - Baphomet - Inquisition - Crusaders - Saracens

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According to some scholars, and recently recovered Vatican documents, these acts were intended to simulate the kind of humiliation and torture that a Crusader might be subjected to if captured by the Saracens. According to this line of reasoning, they were taught how to commit apostasy with the mind only and not with the heart. As for the accusations of head-worship and Templars trying to syncretize Christianity with Islam, some scholars argue that the former referred to rituals involving the alleged relics of Saint Euphemia, one of Saint Ursula's eleven maidens, Hughes de Payens, and John the Baptist rather than pagan idols. The latter they ascribe to the chaplains creating the term Baphomet through the Atbash cipher to mystify the term Sophia (Greek for "wisdom"), which was equated with the Logos (Greek for "Word"). This is a controversial interpretation, and is partly based on conjecture.

Related Topics:
Saracen - Apostasy - Islam - Relic - Saint Euphemia - Saint Ursula - Hughes de Payens - John the Baptist - Idol - Baphomet - Atbash cipher - Sophia - Logos

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Conspiracy theories related to the suppression of the Knights Templar often go far beyond the suggested motive of seizing property and consolidating geopolitical power. It is the Catholic Church's position that the persecution was unjust, that there was nothing wrong with the Templars, and that the Pope at the time was manipulated into suppressing them. In 2001, Dr. Barbara Frale found the Chinon Parchment in the Secret Vatican Archives, a document that shows that Pope Clement V secretly pardoned the Knights Templar in 1314.

Related Topics:
Conspiracy theories - 2001 - Chinon Parchment - Secret Vatican Archives - Pope Clement V - 1314

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As he burned at the stake, Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, cursed King Philip and Pope Clement V to meet eternal justice within the year. Pope Clement V died only one month later and Philip IV seven months after that. Commentators were extremely pleased with such a development and often featured this story in their chronicles.

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