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The first of the military orders, the Knights
Templar or Poor Knights of Christ were founded in 1118 in the
aftermath of the First Crusade to help the new Kingdom of Jerusalem maintain itself against its defeated Muslim neighbors, and to ensure the safety of the large numbers of European pilgrims that
flowed towards Jerusalem after its conquest.
History
Their name alludes to their historical headquarters in the Mosque of
Omar (a.k.a. "Dome of the Rock") on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This
they renamed Templum Domini. Represented on one of their seals, the structure was believed to be a remnant of the
Temple of Jerusalem, and was the model for many Templar
churches in Europe, for example the Temple Church in London.
The Templars were organized as a monastic order, following a rule
created for them by Bernard of Clairvaux, the founder of
the Cistercian Order. The Templars were well-connected and quickly became prime
movers in the international politics of the Crusades period. In time, they were endowed with several extraordinary Papal bulls (see Omne
Datum Optimum) that permitted them, among other things, to levy taxes and accept tithing in the areas under their direct
control, facilitating their quick rise to institutional power.
There were four divisions of brothers in the Templars:
- the knights, equipped as heavy cavalry
- the sergeants, equipped as light cavalry and drawn from a lower social class than the knights
- farmers, who administered the property of the Order
- the chaplains, who were ordained priests and saw to the spiritual needs of the Order.
At any time, there were approximately 10 people in support positions for each Knight. In addition, there were brothers devoted
only to banking, as this extraordinary Order was often trusted with precious goods by
participants in the Crusade - over time this grew into a new basis of money as Templars became increasingly involved in banking activities. It is some indication of
their powerful political connections that the Templars' involvement in usury did not lead
to more controversy within the Order and the church at large.
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 Lands. Their success attracted the jealousy and greed 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.
Besides Palestine, the order also fought in the Spanish Reconquista. 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.
On October 13, 1307, what may have
been all the Knights Templar in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of
Philip the Fair (Philippe le Bel), to be later
tortured into admitting heresy in the Order. A modern historical view is that Philip,
who seized the treasury and broke up the monastic banking system, simply sought to control it for himself. This, 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. The Hospitallers of St John of
Jerusalem, seeing the fate of the Templars, were also convinced to give up banking at this time.
Many kings and nobles supported the Knights at that time, and only dissolved the order in their fiefs when ordered so by
Pope Clement V. In particular, Robert the Bruce, King of the Scots, had already been excommunicated for other reasons and was not, therefore disposed to pay any attention to Papal commands. As
a result many of the order fled to Scotland and also to Portugal, where the order name was changed to "Order of Christ" and is believed to
have contributed to the first naval discoveries of the Portuguese.
However, there had been a debate about whether the accusation of religious heresy was not, by the standards of the time,
entirely without merit. Under torture, some Templars "admitted" to homosexual acts, the worship of "heads" and reverence for a mystery known as "Baphomet."
Their leaders later denied the admission and for that were executed. Some authors discount this as a common accusation (as it was
in the Inquisition), and therefore a typical forced admission but 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". These acts were intended to simulate the kind of humiliation and torture that a Crusader might be subjected
to by the Saracens if captured. They were taught how to commit apostacy "with the
mind only and not with the heart." As for the false accusations of head-worship and trying to syncretize Christianity with Mohammedanism, the former
referred to rituals involving the alleged relics of Saint Euphemia, one of Saint Ursula's 11 maidens, Hughes de Payens and John the Baptist
rather than pagan idols while the latter to the chaplains creating the term "Baphomet" through the Atbash cipher to mystify the term "Sophia" (Greek for "wisdom"), which was equated to the concept of
"Logos" (Greek for "Word").
Conspiracy theories related to the suppression of the
Knights Templar often go far beyond the simple and obvious motive of simply seizing property and consolidating political power,
which was and remains an extremely common motivation for all forms of religious persecution. Ironically, 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.
Modern orders and claims of descent
Some Freemasons believe they were descended from Templars who fled to
Scotland and that the group really did have heretical beliefs. There is a Masonic Knights
Templar organization which in America and other countries is part of the York
Rite. In most jurisdictions it is open only to those who profess a belief in the Christian religion. It is unknown whether or
not it has historical connections with the original Knights Templar.
However, an ecumenical Christian chivalric society named the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem was founded in
1804, with the support of Napoleon, that is
dedicated to charitable works and antiquarian research. This order operates
on the basis of the traditions of the medieval Knights Templar. It is probably the modern organization that most effectively
reclaims the spirit of, but does not assert any direct descent from the ancient order. In 2001, the United Nations granted the Order of the Temple a
special consultative status.
Myths
The rapid succession of the last direct Capetian kings of France
between 1314 and 1328, the three sons of Philip IV the Fair, led many to believe that the dynasty had been
cursed – thus the name of "cursed Kings" (rois maudits). It is said that
Jacques de Molay, the last master of the order, cursed King Philip while laying on his execution pyre.
Lately, fringe researchers and aficionados of esotericism have claimed
that the order stored secret knowledge, linking them to the Rosicrucians,
the Hashshashin, the Priory of Sion, the Rex Deus, the Cathars, the Hermetics, the Gnostics, the Essenes, and ultimately lost teachings or relics
of Jesus, Solomon and Moses. The Order of the Solar
Temple is an example of a neo-Templar group that claimed to be a recipient of this esoterica.
However the order was always surrounded by legends concerning secrets and mysteries handed down to the select from ancient
times. Perhaps most well known are the those concerning the Holy Grail, the
Ark of the Covenant and secrets of building.
Some sources say the Holy Grail was found by the order and taken to Scotland during the scourging of the order in 1307 and
that it remains buried beneath Rosslyn Chapel.
Perhaps the most numerous legends are those concerning the Ark of the Covenant, the chest which contained various sacred
objects of ancient Israel including Aaron's rod and, most notably, the
tablets of stone inscribed by Moses with the Ten Commandments.
These myths are connected with the long occupation by the order of the temple mount in Jerusalem. Some sources record that
they discovered secrets of the master masons who had built the original and second temples secreted there along with knowledge
that the Ark had been moved to Ethiopia before the destruction of the first temple. Some allusion to this is made in engravings
on the Cathedral at Chartres, often considered to be the
first example of what came to known as the gothic style of
architecture, great influence over the building of which was had by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who was also influential in the
formation of the order. Further links to both the search by the order for the Ark and to its discovery of ancient secrets of
building are suggested by existence of the monolithic Church of St George in Lalibela in Ethiopia, which stands to this day and
whose construction is attributed to the Knights Templar. There is also an underground church dated to the same period in Aubeterre in France.
Lastly, there is a growing speculation surrounding the possibility that the Knights Templar may have undertaken pre-Columbian voyages to America.
Grand Masters from 1118 to 1314
- Hughes de Payens (1118-1136)
- Robert de Craon
(1136-1146)
- Everard des
Barres (1146-1149)
- Bernard de
Tromelai (1149-1153)
- Andre de Montbard
(1153-1156)
- Bertrand de
Blanchefort (1156-1169)
- Philip de Milly
(1169-1171)
- Odo de St Amand
(1171-1179)
- Arnold de Toroga
(1179-1184)
- Gerard de Ridefort (1185-1189)
- Robert de Sable
(1191-1193)
- Gilbert Erail
(1193-1200)
- Philip de
Plessiez (1201-1208)
- William de
Chartres (1209-1219)
- Pedro de Montaigu
(1219-1230)
- Armond de
Perigord (???-1244)
- Richard de Bures
(1245-1247)
- William de Sonnac
(1247-1250)
- Reynald de
Vichiers (1250-1256)
- Thomas Berard
(1256-1273)
- William de
Beaujeu (1273-1291)
- Tibauld de Gaudin
(1291-1293)
- Jacques de Molay (1293-1314)
Places associated with the Knights Templar
Related articles
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