THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR
The Poor knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, commonly known as the Knights Templar or the Order of the Temple, Founded in the consequences of the First Crusade of 1096 to ensure the safety of the many Europeans who made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The first centre of operations of the Knights Templar was what The Crusaders called the Temple of Solomon, as it was built on top of the ruins of the original Temple, and it was from this location that the Knights took the name of Templar.
At the beginning with about nine knights, had few financial resources and relied on donations to survive. Their emblem was of two knights riding on a single horse, emphasizing the Order's poverty. There poor status did not last long. They had the support of Bernard Clairvaux, a leading Church figure and a nephew of one of the founding knights.
Who spoke influentially on their behalf, and in 1129 the Church officially endorsed the Order. With this formal blessing, the Templars became a favored charity across Europe, receiving money, land, businesses from all in support of their crusade, and noble-born sons from families who were eager to help were pledged to join with the fight in the Holy Land.
Another major benefit came in 1139, when Pope Innocent II's papal bull Omne Datum Optimum exempted the Order from compliance to local laws. This ruling meant that the Templars could go freely across all borders and were not required to pay any taxes, thy were exempt from all authority except that of the Pope.
With its clear mission and ample resources, the Order grew rapidly. The Templar was often the advance force in key battles of the Crusades. One of their most famous victories was in 1177 during the Battle of Montgisard, where some 500 Templar Knights helped to defeat Saladin's army of more than 26,000 soldiers
The Order in 1150 began generating letters of credit for pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land: pilgrims deposited their valuables with a local Templar preceptory before embarking, at this time they received an encrypted document indicating the value of their deposit. Upon arrival in the Holy Land this document was used to retrieve their funds. This innovative arrangement may have been the first formal system to support the use of cheques; it improved the safety of pilgrims by making them less attractive targets for thieves, and also contributed to the Templar treasury
Based on this mix of donations and business dealings, the Templar established financial networks across the whole of Christendom. They acquired large tracts of land, both in Europe and the Middle East; they bought and managed farms and vineyards; they built churches and castles; they were involved in manufacturing, import and export; they had their own fleet of ships; and at one point they even owned the entire island of Cyprus.
In the mid-1100s, the tide began to turn in the Crusades. The Muslim world had become united under effective leaders such as Saladin , and dissension arose among Christian factions in and concerning the Holy Land. The Knights Templar were occasionally at odds with two other Christian orders, the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights, and decades of feuds weakened Christian positions, politically and militarily. After the Templars were involved in several unsuccessful campaigns, Jerusalem was captured by Saladin's forces in 1187. The Crusaders retook the city in 1229, although without Templar aid, but held it only briefly. In 1244, the Khwarezmi Turks recaptured Jerusalem, and the city did not return to Christian control until 1917 when the British captured it from the Ottoman Turks.
The Templars were forced to relocate their headquarters to other cities in the north, such as the seaport of Acre, which they held for the next century. However they lost that too in 1291, followed by their last mainland strongholds, Tortosa (in what is now Syria), and Atlit. Their headquarters moved to Limassol, Cyprus, and a garrison on tiny Arwad Island, just off the coast from Tortosa. In 1300, there was some attempt to engage in coordinated military efforts with the Mongols via a new invasion force at Arwad. In September 1302, however, the templar lost at the Siege of Arwad, losing their last foothold in the Holy Land to a Mamluk fleet
With the Order's military mission now less important, European support for the organization began to dwindle. The situation was complex—over the two european daily life. The Templar Houses, hundreds of which were dotted around Europe, gave them a widespread presence at the local level. The Templars still managed many businesses, and many Europeans had daily contact with the Templar network. The Order continued to not be subject to local government, it had a standing army that could pass freely through all borders, but that no longer had a well-defined mission. This situation heightened tensions with some European nobility, especially as the Templars were indicating an interest in founding their own monastic state, just as the Teutonic Knights had done in Prussia, and the Knights Hospitaller were doing with Rhodes.
Rumors about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created mistrust, and King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, began pressuring Pope Clement V to take action. In 1307, Pope Clement condemned the Order's members, having them arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and burned at the stake. In 1312, Pope Clement who was under continuing pressure from King Philip,disbanded the Order. The abrupt disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the "Templar" name alive until the present.
