The+Order+of+the+Knights+Templar

The **Order of the Knights Templar** was an established order from 1118 to 1307 that provided **Christendom** with its first Military Order.[1] This long term brethren outstretched its charitable beginnings to attain ecclesiastical, fiscal and political supremacy throughout Christendom from the eleventh to fourteenth century. Historically the Templars are of political significance that reflected the struggle between State and Church during the Middle Ages, blurring the boundaries of ecclesiastical and military rule during the **Crusades.**
 * [[image:hist2615/knights_templar.jpg width="298" height="239"]] ||
 * Knights Templar attire ||

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** Emergence **
The foundation of the Order can be placed to two veteran knights of the First Crusade, **Hugues de Payens** and **Godfrey of Saint-Omer**, after problems arose in the protection of pilgrims travelling from Jaffa to Jerursalem.[2] As recorded through **William of Tyre**’s, //Foundation of the Order of Knights Templar//,[3] it was recorded that **King Baldwin II** of Jerusalem labelled the Order the ‘Poor Knights of Christ,’ due to their humble attire. It was also he who granted the brethren a southern wing of the palace, the **mosque of al-Aqsa**, thought to be once **Solomon's Temple**, which birthed the name, ‘The Order of the Knights Templar,’ and the origins to many of the **legends** that surround them.[4] The Templars did not however receive papal recognition till 1129 at the Council of Troyes where the document, //Rules of the Templar,//[5] outlined 76 policies regarding issues of dress, prayer, excommunication, charity and obedience among many others.[6]
 * [[image:hist2615/knight_templar_2.jpg width="281" height="197"]] ||
 * Council of Troyes ||

** Banking **
The Templar’s largest success over the period was found not only in protection but in commerce.[7] After receiving ecclesiastical approval donations rolled in from all over Christendom allowing the brethren to begin a financial program to safeguard pilgrim’s assets while they travel to the Holy Land.[8] The Order developed this simple network banking system by adding interest on large sums and by the 1130’s were granting money loans to the entire region of **Aragon**.[9]. Assets were acquired by the Templar’s through churches, private land alongside the estates and assets of the deceased.[10]

** Decline **
The decline of the Templars was parallel to Christendom's gradual decline due to continuous sieges by Eastern forces.[11] After losing gains previously made at the Templars headquarters in **Arce** in 1291 and multitudes of failed campaigns including **Alexandria, Tortosa** and **Syria**, support for the Templar’s presence was diminishing.[12] The immediate end to the Order came about by way of **King Philip IV** "the fair" of France. After decades of losing support, rumours broke out of a rouge member amongst the order, conducting unfathomable acts of idol worship, spitting on the cross and sodomy during his incitation to the religious order.[13] King Philip informed **Pope Clement V** of these allegations ordering an inquiry in 1305 and a lack response led the King to push for an accelerated arrest on 14th September 1307.[14] The swift capture of members resulting in executions, permanently disbanded the organisation except for in neighbouring nations of Portugal and Spain.[15]

** Political Instrument **
The intentions of King Philip’s hasty arrest of the Templar’s is questionable, as to whether it was due to his personal debt to the Templar’s or his whether if his anti-clerical motives included the Templars as collateral damage.[16] Attitudes towards the Templars varied from admiration with protecting of pilgrims to loathing though accounts of monopolistic control over the church; which ultimately fuelled their vulnerability to be politically abused.[17],[18].
 * [[image:hist2615/templar03.jpg]] ||
 * Persecution of Templars ||

** References **
[1]Reiley-Smith, 1995:36 [2]Ibid., 36 [3]Seward, 1972:20  [4]Ibid., 20; William of Tyre, ‘The Foundation of the Order of Knights Templar,’ 1962:70-73 //Internet Medieval Sourcebook//. [5]Henri de Curzon, ‘La Régle du Temple,’ 1886, //Internet Medieval Sourcebook// [6]William of Tyre, 1962:70-73 [7]Reiley-Smith, 1995:36-9 [8]Seward, 1972:38 [9]Reiley-Smith, 1995:198-9. [10]Henri de Curzon, 1886:57. [11]Heer, 1962:155 [12]Seward, 1972:197; Baber, 1978:241. [13]Baber, 1978:178; Barber,1970:242; Gilmour-Bryson, 1996:127. [14]Barber, 1970:242 [15]Ibid., 242 [16]Heer, 1962:343. [17]Ibid., 134. [18]Barber, 1970:303; William of Newburgh, 1861, Cannon XXXIII, Book3.

** External Sources **

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 * Baber, Malcolm. ‘The Trial of the Templars,’ Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, (1978).
 * Barber, Richard. //The Knight and Chivalry//, the Boydell Press, Ipswich, (1970).
 * Gilmour-Bryson, Anne. ‘Sodomy and the Knights Templar,’ //Journal of the History of Sexuality//, Volume 7, No. 2. (October 1996) p. 151-183
 * Heer, Friedrich. //The Medieval World, Europe 1100-1350,// George Weidenfeld and Nicolson Ltd., New York, (1962).
 * Henri de Curzon, ‘La Régle du Temple,’ as a Military Manual, Translation, Upton-Ward, Judith. //The Primitive Rule of the Templars, //based on edition (1886) //Internet Medieval Sourcebook.//
 * Riley-Smith, Jonathan. //The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades//, Oxford University Press, New York, (1995).
 * Seward, Desmond. //The Monks of War, The Military Religious Orders,// Eyre Methuen, London, (1972).
 * William of Newburgh, ‘History,’ Translation by Joseph Stevenson, //The Church Historians of England//, Volume IV, Part II; Seeley’s, London (1861) //Internet Medieval Source Book//.
 * William of Tyre, ‘The Foundation of the Order of Knights Templar,’ or ‘//Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum//, Volume XII, Part 7, Translated by James Brundage, //The Crusades: A Documentary History//, Marquette University Press, Milwaukee (1962), p.70-73 //Internet Medieval Source book//.