Who Were The Knights Templar? (Sunday History Read)

www.templarhistory.com ^ | undated | Stephen Dafoe and Alan Butler

[Hacksaw]

The Knights Templar were a monastic military order formed at the end of the First Crusade with the mandate of protecting Christian pilgrims on route to the Holy Land. Never before had a group of secular knights banded together and took monastic vows. In this sense they were the first of the Warrior Monks.

From humble beginnings of poverty when the order relied on alms from the traveling pilgrims, the order would go on to have the backing of the Holy See and the collective European monarchies.

Within two centuries they had become powerful enough to defy all but the Papal throne. Feared as warriors, respected for their charity and sought out for their wealth, there is no doubt that the Templar knights were the key players of the monastic fighting orders. Due to their vast wealth and surplus of materials the Templars essentially invented banking, as we know it. The church forbade the lending of money for interest, which they called usury. The Templars, being the clever sort they were, changed the manner in which loans were paid and were able to skirt the issue and finance even kings.

They were destroyed, perhaps because of this wealth or fear of their seemingly limitless powers. In either case, the order met with a rather untimely demise at the hands of the Pope and the King of France in 1307 and by 1314, "The Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon" ceased to exist.

Although originally a small group of nine knights, they quickly gained fame largely due to the backing of Bernard of Clairvaux and his "In Praise of the New Knighthood". Bernard at that time was often called the Second Pope and was the chief spokesman of Christendom. He is also the one responsible for helping to draw up the order's rules of conduct.

In European political circles, they became very powerful and influential. This was because they were immune from any authority save that of the Papal Throne. (Pope Innocent II exempted the Templars from all authority except the Pope.) After the crusades were over, the knights returned to their Chapters throughout Europe and became known as moneylenders to the monarchs. In the process many historians believe they invented the Banking System. The Templars fought along side King Richard I (Richard The Lion Hearted) and other Crusaders in the battles for the Holy Lands.

The secret meetings and rituals of the knights would eventually cause their downfall. The King of France, Philip the Fair used these rituals and meetings to his advantage to destroy the knights. The real reason for his crushing the Templars was that he felt threatened by their power and immunity. In 1307, Philip, who desperately needed funds, to support his war against England's Edward I made his move against the Knights Templar.

On October 13th, 1307, King Philip had all the Templars arrested on the grounds of heresy, since this was the only charge that would allow the seizing of their money and assets. The Templars were tortured and as a result, ridiculous confessions were given. These confessions included:

Trampling and spitting on the cross

Homosexuality and Sodomy

Worshipping of the Baphomet

Philip was successful in ridding the Templars of their power and wealth and urged all fellow Christian leaders to do the same thing. On March 19th, 1314 the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake. De Molay is said to have cursed King Philip and Pope Clement as he burned asking both men to join him within a year. Whether he actually uttered the curse or if it is simply an apocryphal tale what remains as fact is that Clement died only one month later and Philip IV seven months after that.

[Hacksaw]

Looks like no good deed goes unpunished.

Templar BUMP

[Pharmboy]

Did they not give rise to the Scottish Rite side of Freemasonry?

[gargoyle]

...I have read a couple of books my stepson owns on freemasonry. I believe you are correct...By the way, thanks, the history is an absolutly fascinating read...

[drjoe]

Read all about it in Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto [Name of the Rose] Eco. Fascinating!!

[nutmeg]

bump

[per loin]

How important were they in the founding of Switzerland?

[catonsville]

Like another religious group, The Cathars, goodness, love of God and service were no protection against the corruption of men.

[curmudgeonII]

Would you care to opine on any possible connection between the medieval Knights Templar and the current organization with same name [I belong to this].

[afraidfortherepublic]

ping

[curmudgeonII]

The Scottish Rite is a series of masonic degrees brought to this country [from France], originally in Charleston, SC in 1802. There is some thought that it might have been transferred to France from Scotland by some of the court officials of Mary Stuart. [The unfortunate Queen who was beheaded by Queen Elizabeth.]

[Hacksaw]

Would you care to opine on any possible connection between the medieval Knights Templar and the current organization with same name [I belong to this].

Never heard of the current org - they could use some Templars in Sudan...

I'd like to hear about your org.

[McGavin999]

Very difficult book to read, but you're right, it was facinating.

[another cricket]

The moral of the story is never loan money to the powerful. They usually find it easier to kill you rather then repay you. The kings of Europe were pulling these kinds of stunts on their Jewish bankers long before the Templars came along.

a.cricket

[contessa machiaveli]

thank you for mentioning the cathars. along with the templars, history tells us very little about the them. they dared to oppose the kings of france and the church hierarchy. southern france whispers secrets from aigues morte where the ships of the crusade set out for the holy land to albi and narbonne which were cathar strongholds.

[weikel]

I love these kinds of histories.

[weikel]

Good lesson I wonder what will happen to the bankers when the government here in the US finally decides they can't pay( and they can't the national debt will never be paid off in a billion years).

[Pharmboy]

Yep--exactly what Edward I (Longshanks of Braveheart) did to the Jews. In order to finance all of his wars, he borrowed heavily from the English Jews. He decided it would be much easier to expel them from the country, not pay them back, and confiscate their stuff to boot! Whatta plan!

[jonatron]

For Great Justice BUMP!

[Katya]

Switzerland had already been founded before their persecutions began....however most of the monasteries, not all of them Templar, but certainly Templar friendly and already active money lenders were built on trade routes that looped around southern germany, austria, switzerland and italy. One of the mysteries that remained after the Templars were shut down, was the disappearance of all their apparent wealth...ie. "Show me the money". Switzerland seems like a good bet to me as well, particularly since they have always been independant.