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[[File:Knights Templar.png|thumb|right|250px]] |
[[File:Knights Templar.png|thumb|right|250px]] |
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| − | '''Knights Templar''' |
+ | '''Knights Templar''' or the Order of the Temple, the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders. The organization existed for approximately two centuries in the Middle Ages. |
Officially endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church around 1129, the Order became a favored charity throughout Christendom, and grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, innovating financial techniques that were an early form of banking, and building many fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land. |
Officially endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church around 1129, the Order became a favored charity throughout Christendom, and grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, innovating financial techniques that were an early form of banking, and building many fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land. |
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The Templars' existence was tied closely to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the Order faded. Rumors about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created mistrust, and King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, took advantage of the situation. In 1307, many of the Order's members in France were arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at the stake. Under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V disbanded the Order in 1312. The abrupt disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the "Templar" name alive into the modern day. |
The Templars' existence was tied closely to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the Order faded. Rumors about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created mistrust, and King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, took advantage of the situation. In 1307, many of the Order's members in France were arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at the stake. Under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V disbanded the Order in 1312. The abrupt disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the "Templar" name alive into the modern day. |
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| − | ==History== |
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| − | Knights from the first crusade discovered the [[Templar Treasure|treasure]] in the secret vaults beneath the Temple of Solomon. They decided that the treasure is too much for any one man not even a king. The knights took the treasure to Europe, and took the name "The Knight Templar". They smuggled the treasure out of Europe over a century to the new world. The Knight Templar formed a new brotherhood, the [[Freemasons]]. They hid the treasure and devised a series of clues to lead to the location of the treasure. But over time the clues were lost or forgotten. |
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[[Category:Organizations]] |
[[Category:Organizations]] |
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| − | [[Category:National Treasure]] |
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