The Templars
Templars – shorthand for “The Poor Knighthood of the Temple”. The Templars were founded in 1119 on the principle of chastity, obedience and poverty. They were founded as an order of Christian religious warriors by the French knight Hugh of Payns and eight of his companion.
They set up headquarters in the Holy City in the al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount (known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif).
The last Templar grand master James of Molay, who was burned in Paris in 1314.
Pilgrims 1102-1144
A Golden Basin, Filled With Scorpions
The most holy place of all was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Following a bitter and sustained war that raged between 1096 and 1099, major parts of the Holy Land had been conquered by the armies of what would come to be known as the First Crusade. Jerusalem had fallen on 15 July 1099. Jerusalem’s first crusader king was Baldwin I.
For twenty years before 1092 the Seljuq empire was ruled by Sultan Malikshah I. After his death the empire split between his four sons. Pitted against the Seljuqs was the rump of the Fatimid Caliphate, with its heartlands in Egipt.
As the crusading Christians put down roots in this new kingdom at the centre of the world, it became clear that they would need protection. That is where the story of the Templars begins.
The Defence of Jerusalem
The Knights of the Temple were founded in Jerusalem in 1119 and officially recognized at some point between 14 January and 13 September of the year 1120.
In 1118, Baldwin, the first king of Jerusalem, died.
The defeat of Sarmada was a ghastly moment not only for the Christians of Antioch, but for the Franks in general.
The notion that a churchmen might go into battle armed not only with a prayer but with deadly weapons was hardly new. Christian societies in Europe were structured around the existence of a warrior castle – knights – and churchmen had occasionally begun to engage more directly in warfare.
At the beginning of the reign of Baldwin II, Hugh of Payns came to Jerusalem.
Council of Nablus was important for Templars. Later in the 1937 they produced charter that stated that they are responsible for defence of Jerusalem and the protection of pilgrims.
A New Knighthood
Bernard (known later as Bernard of Clairvaux, and later still simply as St. Bernard) would grow up to be one of the greatest churchmen of his age. A brilliant preacher and early patron and founding father of the Knights Templar.
The Cistercian order had been formed in 1098.
Hugh de Payns was one of several high-profile ambassadors from the Holy Land to visit Europe between 1127 and 1129. Templars started to get some land and housed in Europe. In Flanders, western Champagne and other countries around Europe.
They wanted pope’s confirmation for their order’s legitimacy. In January 1129, a great ecumenical council gathered in Troyes. By the end of the council, Jean Michel had drafted in Latin a 68-point code of Templar conduct, later known as The Primitive (or Latin) Rule. Templars were killers, no women allowed and the order was to be ruled over by the master.
Hugh achieved his goal coming to Europe. He had given his nascent organization a structure and a code of conduct by which to live.
Every Good Gift
In July 1134 Alfonso the Battler, king of Aragon, set up camp outside the city of Fraga. On the other side the great Muslim army was led by the emir of Murcia and Valencia: a brave warrior by the name of Yahya ibn-Ghaniya, better known to the Christians as Abengenia.
Almoravid empire in north Africa – the real center of power in the western Islamic world, with its capital in Marrakesh.
On Friday 7 September 1134 Alfonso died and he names his principal heirs three orders based in Jerusalem, the canons of the Holy Sepulchre, the Knights Hospitalers and the Templars. Templars got the third of an entire kingdom. And for the next two centuries the Templars would have a part in the Reconquista.
On 24 May 1136 Hugh de Payns died. His successor was Robert of Craon.
In 1139 Pope Innocent II issued a bule and granted the Templars a range of extraordinary privileges. They answer only to pope. The Templars great relationship with the papacy continued also with Celestine II and Eugene III.
The donations to Templars came from four areas: the northern French territories above the Loire, the southern French counties around Provence, England and Spain.
In Spain Ramon Berrenguer IV made an agreement with Templars in 1143 and they received a formidable grant.
In the 1147 the Second Crusade was underway and the Templars were at its heart.
Soldiers 1144-1187
A Tournament Between Heaven and Hell
Iman al-Din Zengi was a difficult man to satisfy. At sixty the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo was still good-looking.
Edessa was a jewel in the Christian east. On 23 December 1144 Zengi man destroyed Edessa.
In 1147 the Templar’s house in Paris was under construction. At the centre of the Second Crusade, were two powerful men, Pope Eugene III and Louis VII, king of France. No king (except Sigurd of Norway in 1107) went to Holy Land to fight before.
Louis VIII and Conrad III, choose to march to Edessa overland. Others including lords from Flanders and England preferred to reach Levant by ship. They also took part in Alfonso Henriques conquest of Lisbon in 1147.
A templar by the name of Gilbert was given overall field command over French armies.
The Mill of War
Coming into Holy Land in 1148, Louis was broke and he got the funds from Templars.
Conrad III also looked for help from Templars. He spend a lot of time with Templars in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem had a new king. Baldwin III, succeeded his father Fulk I on the latter’s death in 1143. The idea was that king together with the emperor and Templars would lead the army to Damascus. To change the goal of crusade from Edessa to Damascus was also Templars idea.
Zengi died in 1146. He was succeeded by his two suns. They youngest one Nur al-Din, married Unur’s daughter, and the rulers of Allepo and Damascus began to present an increasingly united front against the Franks.
On Thursday 24 June 1148 the town of Palmarea, near Acre was filled with King Conrad, Louis and Baldwin III and masters of the Hospitalers and the Templars Raymond de Puy and Robert of Craon.
The Templars had invested a great deal in the Second Crusade. After Damascus the Frankish kings briefly considered an assault on Ascalon, but it came to nothing. Conrad left the Holly Land in September 1148. Louis stayed for seven more months.
The God-Forsaken Tower
Robert of Craon died on 13 January 1149, and in his place was elected Everard of Barres. His hear lay in France. He returned to Paris and left in charge Andrew of Montbard.
Om 29 June 1149 Prince Raymond of Antioch’s forces were obliterated by Nur al-Din, the atabeg of Aleppo.
Templars were asked to protect the Christian lands and they started to build new castle at Gaza.
Ascalon was an important fortified town still loyal to Fatimids. Templars presence in Gaza isolated Ascalon from Egipt.
On 25 January 1153 Baldwin III was before Ascalon with his army.
Templars fourth master was Bernard of Clairvaux, but he died quickly on 20 August 1153 and new master Bernard of Tremelay took over. He actually died in the battle of Ascalon, but the battle was won by Christians.
In 1154 the Templars remained a vital component in the kingdom of Jerusalem’s military capability.
Power and Riches’
The vizier’s son Nasr al-Din had killed Fatimid caliph, al-Zair, as revenge for his attempt to remove his father Abbas from his post. He fled Cairo on Friday 29 May 1154.
Templars killed Abbas and capture Nasr al-Din. The release him to ibn Ruzzik’s agents for money.
La Feve, taken over around 1172, was one of the biggest castles raised in the twelfth century. In the country of Tripoli, the Templars manned of their mightiest castles Tortosa.
In the Aragon, Castile-Leon, Navarre and Portugal the Templars were settling in. Their biggest patron in the region was Alfonso Henriques, count of Portugal.
By 1143 Ramon Berenguer IX, Alfonso’s eventual successor agreed with Templars regarding their third of the kingdom.
Troubles in the Two Lands
King Amalric of Jerusalem was a struggler. He was crowned king on 18 February 1163. That unsettled some barons in the Holly Land. Reynald of Chatillon was one of them.
Throughout the 1140s and 1150s Nur al-Din has extended his authority out of Aleppo. The connection of Egypt and Syria was worrying a prospect for the Christians.
In 1163 the master of the Temple was Bertrand of Blancfort.
The Templars joined Amalric’s second march against Egypt in July 1164.
In 1167 Amalric marched out of Ascalon once more on his way to Egipt. An inconclusive battle, known as the Battle of al- Bebein, was fought on 18 March.
Egipt had fallen into Nur al-Din’s hands. Within months, the resurgent forces of Islam would have a new leader. His name was Saladin.
Tears of Fire
Saladin was the leader of the Ayyubids dynasty. His full name was Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub.
Saladin take control on 22 march 1169. Between 1169 and 1177 he expanded his influence from Egypt to Aleppo, Damascus and Mosul. In 1171, on the death of al-Adid, the Fatimid caliphate was finally abolished.
Nur al-Din, died in 1174. Saladin secured Damascus. He was granted the title sultan of Egypt and Syria in 1175. Aleppo fell to him in 1182 and Mosul.
In 1169 leader of the Templars become Philip of Nabulus. But he was quickly succeeded by Odo of Saint Amand in 1171.
Islam had similar type of warriors like Templars. They were called Assassins. Probably due to their love for hashish. Their headquarters were at Alamut Castle in Persia. Their chief man was the Old Man of Mountain.
Amalric died and his son Baldwin IV was only thirteen and suffering from leprosy.
The battle of Mont Gisard was the first major armed showdown between Saladin and a Christian army. The leper king Baldwin IV and Reynald Chatillon took eighty of the Gaza Templars to Mont Gisard when Saladin’s armies were spotted there in the winter of 1177. Mont Gisard saw a great slaughter of Mamluks.
The castle at Jacob’s Ford was a fortress build by Templars and seen as provocation from Saladin. On 27 May 1178, he prepared to compel the Templars to abandon it by force. They captured master Odo. On August 30 the castle fall.
Woe to You, Jersualem!
In the spring of 1180 a two-year truce was agreed.
Odo died in prison in 1180. Robert Frasinel assumed the title of grand preceptor when Odo was in prison. And then Arnold of Torolla took over the leadership.
After truce ended in 1182, small fights continue. Reynald of Chatillon was not any more the prince of Antioch but was now a lord of Kerak.
Another Baldwin son of Sibila was named king by now dying king Baldwin IV. But this did not stabilize the situation since on side was Guy of Lusignan and on the other Raymond, count of Tripoli.
Baldwin IV died in May 1185 at the age of just twenty-four.
Arnold of Torolla dies and Gerard of Riderfort was named his successor. He was a soldier. He was not on a good terms with Raymond.
In late 1186 King Baldwin V died at Acre. The battle for succession between Raymond and Guy was fierce. Templars were with Guy.
Gerard took some knights together with some Hospitalers and they went against Saladin. The battle fought at Cresson (in 1185) would live long in crusader mythology. They were heavily defeated.
On Friday 27 June 1187, Saladin crossed the River Jordan again. On 2 July 1187 Saladin marched his army to Tiberias. Guy marched with the whole army to the Horns of Hattin. It was a big defeat of the crusaders.
On 20 September Saladin arrived before the Holy City. He entered it on Friday 2 October.
Bankers 1189-1260
The Pursuit of Fortune
The internation headquarters of the Order was now a tent on Mount Toron. Acre was the capital of the Frankish cities in Syria. In 1189 it was in the hands of the armies of Islam. Christians tried to get it back.
At the end of August 1189 two big armies, Christian and Saladin’s were before Acre. On the 4 October the battle raged. And it was another dreadful day for the Latin warriors. Gerard was executed on the battlefield.
After that great man had been arriving in Acre. One of them was Richard the Lionheart. He was a great boost to Templars. He helped Robert of Sable to become Templars new master. Also King Philip II. was there. They returned Acra.
Richard marched forward all the way to Jaffa. In 1192 he agreed to a three-year truce with Saladin. And he returned home in England. But his way home was another story.
In 1193 Robert of Sable died. In that period Templars were given land in Cyprus.
Nowhere in Poverty
Templars were strong in England. Especially under Fitz Stephen. Originally, they occupied the Old Temple in the London suburb of Holborn. In 1161 it was sold, and the New Temple was built on Fleet Street.
In 1185 Henry II begun to use the New Temple as a treasury, relying on the order as a bank.
Richard died in 1199. But the connection between the Plantagenet kings and the kings of the Temple continued.
Templars were also close with popes and with French kings. Their traditional heartland was Champagne. They owned the property and land, and they collect rents and tolls.
In Aragon the Templars peaked in 1213 when a new king, James I, came to the throne. He grew up to be one of the most successful of the Reconquista kings. With Templars help he conquer Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza from semi-independent Almohad ruler Abu-Yabya. All that during 1229-1235. In 1238 je drove out the Moors of Valencia.
Saladin died at dawn on 3 March 1193.
In 1202-1204 Innocent launched the Fourth Crusade. But if was not success.
Girbert Eral succeeded Robert de Sable.
By the time Innocent died in 1216 the Templars were stronger, richer and better connected than at any time in their history.
Damietta
Chateau Pelerin was a huge Templar’s castle sitting on a rock not far from Haifa.
In 1200 William of Charters was Templar’s master. He came to Holly Land in 1218.
The new king of Jerusalem was John of Brienne. He was administering the eastern kingdom on behalf of his infant daughter Queen Isabella II.
The Fifth crusade was called in 1213.
On 16 July 1212 Peter of Montaigu fought the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa against a huge north African army led by the Almodah caliph Muhammad al-Nasir.
Damietta was a rich and prosperous city according to the German churchman and historian Oliver of Paderbron. In 1218 Damietta was a crucial first step in the Fifth crusade to regain Jerusalem.
The Teutonic Order had their origins in Acre, where they were established as a German branch of the Hospitallers during the great siege of 1190-1.
The big orders like Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic order served to move impressive sums of money for the church and the crown.
The pope blamed Frederick II. Hohenstaufen for the failure of the Fifth crusade, since he didn’t join it as was expected.
Animosity and Hatred
Frederick II. arrived to Acre in September 1228.
He had not had much to do with the Templars and the Holy Land before. One of Frederick’s chief advisors was the master of the Teutonic Order, Hermann of Salza.
Frederick feud with Templars just grew. He knew Saracens from Sicily and he was able to secure a peace on more favorable terms than others. On 18 February 1229 al-Kamil formally agreed to hand over the Holy City and Holy Sepulchre to Christians in exchange for ten year peace.
But Frederick quickly left back to Italy in May 1229.
In 1241 Muslim access to the city was restricted. That lasted until the arrival of marauding Khwarizmian Turks in August 1244.
Peter of Montaignu died and new master was elected, Armand of Perigord.
Unfurl and raise Our Banner
Al-Kamil sultan died in 1238. His son Al-Salih fought with his uncle, and had joined forces with the new force the Khwarizmians Turks. They stormed the Holy City on July 11 in 1244.
On 17 October the Christian-Damascene army confronted the Khwarizmian-Egyptian at La Forbie (Al-Harbiyya). For Christians it was a disaster almost the equal of Hattin.
In December 1244 Louis IX lay on his deathbed. He took the crusader’s cross and he revived. He set sail to Holly Land and land in Cyprus in mid-September 1248. He and his army set out to Egypt on Saturday 13 May 1249.
The crusaders had come to al-Mansurah and been crushed, much as they had been thirty years earlier.
A major upheaval in the leadership of the Islamic world had begun, which would end with the Mamluks of Bahriyya seizing outright control of Egypt, overturning nearly eighty years of Ayyubid rule.
On 13 May 1250 Louis IX arrived in Acre, chastened but not defeated. Frederick II died on 13 December 1250. His son Conrad was killed by Charles I of Naples, and the Hohenstaufen line ended.
Louis IX supported the election of Reynald of Vichiers to the position of master of the Templars. Louis sail back in 1254 and the defence of the Holy Land was now the orders thing.
Templars realized they have two enemies – Mamluks and Philip IV, king of France.
Heretics 1260-1314
A Lump in the Throat
Al-Malik al-Zahir Ruko al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari, the Lion of Egypt, or just Baybars ruled between 1260 and 1277 over a resurgent Sunni empire in eastern Mediterranean.
Mongols sacked Baghdad in 1258. But the were defeated by the Mamluks at ‘Ayn Jalut in Galilee on 3 September 1260.
In February 1265 Baybars’ real assault on Christians began. He marched into kingdom of Jerusalem and attacked Caesarea. He than took on Templars and won at Safad.
Mamluks and Templars were very much alike and all the more hateful to one another for their excellence. Both were elite warrior castes and outsiders in the Near East. The great difference was that the Templars had no become the state.
By 1268 Baybars had wiped out the principality of Antioch and the kingdom of Jerusalem’s holdings in Palestine. Only the country of Tripoli remained along with the Christian kingdom of Cyprus.
In 1273 Thomas of Berard died and William of Beaujeu, was elected to lead the order.
The City Will Fall
On Friday 18 May 1291 the Mamluk army had finally forced its way into Acre. The army was commanded by the new Mamluk sultan al-Ashraf Khalil.
New Templar master was Theobald Gaudin. Next was James of Molay in 1292.
In the Rome the idea of a merger of the military orders was floating around. It was already talked about in 1274 at the Second Council of Lyon.
In the beginning of the fourteenth century, the Templars reoccupied part of the Holy Land. But it didn’t go as planned. In 1306 James was summoned by a new pope.
At the Devil’s Prompting
In 1305 half of Christendom seemed to have descended on the city of Lyon.
On 29 December 1305 Philip IV promised Clement that he would take the cross and lead a new crusade. One of the request he had was that Templars and Hospitallers unite and he lead them.
Philip first expelled Jews and took their belonging. But Templars also had extensive treasuries in Aragon, England and Cyprus, as they did in the Paris Temple.
William of Nogaret was Philip’s minister and he started preparing a dossier on the Templars.
On Friday 13 October 1307 the round-ups of Templars began.
Heretical Depravity
James was also among the ones arrested. The interrogation and probably torture continued for some months and James was a broken man.
Clement V was of poor health, but he still was shocked by Philip move and he was fighting against house of Capet to destroy Templars.
On 7 January 1308 every Templar in England was arrested.
God Will Avenge Our Death
In France the transfer of responsibility for the Inquisition from king to pope had done nothing to improve conditions for the brother.
On 5 July 1311 the commissioners were called to Pontoise for an audience with Philip IV. He told them to stop work: they had quite enough material. The paperwork was forwarded to Clement V, to be considered on the Council of Vienne in October.
The Council of Vienne issued judgment on 22 March 1312. The order was abolished. In May 1312 it was decided that Templars property would be granted to the Hospitallers.
On 18 March 1314 James and Geoffrey of Charney was set to flame.
The Holy Grail
Between 1200 and 1210 Eschenbach wrote a poem called Parzival. The Templars were transformed into the guardians of the mythical Holy Grail.
The Templars legend will live on.
