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  • The Knights Templar

    From Wikipedia:

    The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin: pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici), popularly known as the Knights Templar, was one of the most famous of the Christian military orders. It existed for about two centuries in the Middle Ages, created in the aftermath of the First Crusade of 1096 to ensure the safety of the large numbers of European pilgrims who flowed towards Jerusalem after its conquest.

    The Templars were an unusual order in that they were both monks and soldiers, making them in effect some of the earliest "warrior monks" in the Western world. Members of the Order played a key part in many battles of the Crusades, and the Order's infrastructure innovated many financial techniques that could be considered the foundation of modern banking. The Order grew in membership and power throughout Europe, until it was charged with heresy and other crimes by the French Inquisition under the influence of the French King Philip IV (Philip the Fair)and assisted by Pope Clement the V was forcibly disbanded in the early 1300s.

    I have read and heard about this historic military order since 4-5 years now. On 13th October, 1307, several hundred Knights from the order were tortured to death.

    As known, the order was a major military and political force in its time.

    What my question is that how come an order that had fought for Christians in the Crusades for the almost 300 years, suddenly declared heretic, and how did the Templar's fall came about?
    Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage.

  • #2
    They were powerful enough to threaten the established order at the time, king and pope. They were rounded up on trumped up charges and executed to protect the guys at the top. Politics, my friend. These things still happen every day.
    "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by gunnut
      They were powerful enough to threaten the established order at the time, king and pope. They were rounded up on trumped up charges and executed to protect the guys at the top. Politics, my friend. These things still happen every day.
      Actually true only in part. The Knights Templar were extremely powerful and rich, but also not mainstream. Their organization practiced many secret rituals that left them open for charges of heresy, and they were no longer protected as a religious organization because their usefulness to the Pope had come to an end.

      The French king needed funds... the Knights Templar could provide those funds, and destroying them would not create many enemies (not to mention the fact that they were no longer useful, unlike the Jews who were periodically slaughtered for money). And so they became a target of the French king (even though the grandmaster, who was tortured and executed, was a close friend of the king and godfather of one of his children).

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      • #4
        Originally posted by lwarmonger
        Actually true only in part. The Knights Templar were extremely powerful and rich, but also not mainstream. Their organization practiced many secret rituals that left them open for charges of heresy, and they were no longer protected as a religious organization because their usefulness to the Pope had come to an end.

        The French king needed funds... the Knights Templar could provide those funds, and destroying them would not create many enemies (not to mention the fact that they were no longer useful, unlike the Jews who were periodically slaughtered for money). And so they became a target of the French king (even though the grandmaster, who was tortured and executed, was a close friend of the king and godfather of one of his children).

        Secret rituals such as...?

        Care to shed any light on them?

        Also, why couldn't the knights resist the French King's forces, when they had the military power. Could Mobilisation of forces at short notice had been the problem.
        Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Maximus

          Secret rituals such as...?

          Care to shed any light on them?


          Well, one of the problems of medieval history is even the stuff that was documented was uncertain enough. The fact that their rituals (most orders, both religious and lay had them) were secret make it nearly impossible to determine what they actually did. However, at the trials they were accused of everything from idol worship to bestiality. Selling their souls to the devil and worshiping him in a form of a large cat were among the many charges. Now while I seriously doubt that they did any of those things, these charges against such a large organization were only really made possible by the fact that nobody really knew what they did.

          Also, why couldn't the knights resist the French King's forces, when they had the military power. Could Mobilisation of forces at short notice had been the problem.
          The Templars were seized in surprise attack. Philip (the king of France) took "the Temple" (the Templar's headquarters in Paris) in a surprise assault, and on the same night the kings forces arrested most of the Templars throughout France in probably one of the best thought out (and largest) coups of the century.
          Last edited by lwarmonger; 13 May 06,, 09:26.

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          • #6
            Keep your eyes open for History Channel rerun of the Knights Templar. I think that will answer most if not all of your questions includng the tale that they were the guardians of the Holy Grail and/or the guadians of the Holy Ark of the Covenant.
            Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by lwarmonger
              The Templars were seized in surprise attack. Philip (the king of France) took "the Temple" (the Templar's headquarters in Paris) in a surprise assault, and on the same night the kings forces arrested most of the Templars throughout France in probably one of the best thought out (and largest) coups of the century.
              The day was 13 October, 1307, Friday. The legend of Friday the 13th is said to be associated with that day.
              Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage.

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              • #8
                The Knights Templar were not completely disabled throughout Europe. In Portugal they merely changed the name to the Order of Christ & kept most of their wealth etc.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Apache
                  The Knights Templar were not completely disabled throughout Europe. In Portugal they merely changed the name to the Order of Christ & kept most of their wealth etc.
                  How come did they survive in Portugal? May be because it was a Moslems also lived in that region where the Catholic Church's writ did not run too well?
                  Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage.

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                  • #10
                    The Templar Knights are known to have fought bravely against the Mongols
                    sigpic

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                    • #11
                      They survived because the Kings of Portugal were grateful for the help the Knights provided during the Reconquista.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by DC Katoch
                        The Templar Knights are known to have fought bravely against the Mongols
                        It was the Teutonic Knights that fought the Mongols, not the Templars

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                        • #13
                          Facing the Mongols were the Poles of Boleslas. To his north were the remaining Poles under his cousin Henry of Silesia who had been joined by the Bavarians, the Teutonic Knights, and the Templar Knights from France. Behind these two forces stood Henry’s brother-in-law Wenceslas, the King of Bohemia, joined by contingents from Austria and Saxony. Against this northern grouping Batu and Subotia sent two divisions under Kaidu and Baibars.

                          The discovery of Europe
                          sigpic

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                          • #14
                            There may have been some Templars present, granted, but given the nature of the order I would have thought most of them would have been in Outremer at the time. There presence would have been a "moral" boost. Even in the Holy Land, their numbers werent great but swelled by other forces.

                            There was an armed neutrality in the Holy Land between the various Knightly orders and the Mongols - although interestingly the Mongols sought an alliance between themselves and the Christians...

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by PubFather
                              There was an armed neutrality in the Holy Land between the various Knightly orders and the Mongols - although interestingly the Mongols sought an alliance between themselves and the Christians...
                              Well by this point in time the Christians as an independent power were primarily limited to the island of Cyprus.

                              And while the templars were present in many other areas, the center of their power was in France. Once the Templars were destroyed in France, the rest of their organizations fractured into different groups.

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