Knights Templar The Poor Fellow - Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon ( ) , commonly known as the Knights Templar , the Order of the Temple ( ) or simply as Templars , were among the most wealthy and powerful of the Western Christian military order s and were among the most prominent actors of the Christian finance . The organization existed for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages . Officially endorsed by the Catholic Church around 1129 , the Order became a favoured 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 fortification s across Europe and the Holy Land . The Templars ' existence was tied closely to the Crusades ; when the Holy Land was lost , support for the Order faded . Rumours 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 confession s , 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 . History . Rise . After the First Crusade recaptured Jerusalem in 1099 , many Christian pilgrims travelled to visit what they referred to as the Holy Places . However , though the city of Jerusalem was under relatively secure control , the rest of Outremer was not . Bandits abounded , and pilgrims were routinely slaughtered , sometimes by the hundreds , as they attempted to make the journey from the coastline at Jaffa into the Holy Land . In 1120 , the French knight Hugues de Payens approached King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Warmund , Patriarch of Jerusalem and proposed creating a monastic order for the protection of these pilgrims . King Baldwin and Patriarch Warmund agreed to the request , probably at the Council of Nablus in January 1120 , and the king granted the Templars a headquarters in a wing of the royal palace on the Temple Mount in the captured Al - Aqsa Mosque . The Temple Mount had a mystique because it was above what was believed to be the ruins of the Temple of Solomon . The Crusaders therefore referred to the Al Aqsa Mosque as Solomon ' s Temple , and it was from this location that the new Order took the name of " Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon " , or " Templar " knights . The Order , with about nine knights including Godfrey de Saint - Omer and André de Montbard , had few financial resources and relied on donations to survive . Their emblem was of two knights riding on a single horse , emphasising the Order ' s poverty . The Templars ' impoverished status did not last long . They had a powerful advocate in Saint Bernard of Clairvaux , a leading Church figure and a nephew of André de Montbard , one of the founding knights . Bernard put his weight behind them and wrote persuasively on their behalf in the letter ' In Praise of the New Knighthood ' and , in 1129 , at the Council of Troyes he led a group of leading churchmen to officially approve and endorse the Order on behalf of the Church . With this formal blessing , the Templars became a favoured charity throughout Christendom , receiving money , land , businesses , and noble - born sons from families who were eager to help 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 obedience to local laws . This ruling meant that the Templars could pass freely through all borders , were not required to pay any taxes , and were exempt from all authority except that of the pope . With its clear mission and ample resources , the Order grew rapidly . Templars were often the advance force in key battles of the Crusades , as the heavily armoured knights on their warhorses would set out to charge at the enemy , in an attempt to break opposition lines . One of their most famous victories was in 1177 during the Battle of Montgisard , where some 500 Templar knights helped several thousand infantry to defeat Saladin ' s army of more than 26 , 000 soldiers . Although the primary mission of the Order was military , relatively few members were combatants . The others acted in support positions to assist the knights and to manage the financial infrastructure . The Templar Order , though its members were sworn to individual poverty , was given control of wealth beyond direct donations . A nobleman who was interested in participating in the Crusades might place all his assets under Templar management while he was away . Accumulating wealth in this manner throughout Christendom and the Outremer , 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 , received a document indicating the value of their deposit , then used that document upon arrival in the Holy Land to retrieve their funds . This innovative arrangement was an early form of banking , and may have been the first formal system to support the use of cheque s ; it improved the safety of pilgrims by making them less attractive targets for thieves , and also contributed to the Templar coffers . Based on this mix of donations and business dealing , the Templars 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 . The Order of the Knights Templar arguably qualifies as the world ' s first multinational corporation . Decline . In the mid - 12th century , the tide began to turn in the Crusades . The Muslim world had become more 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 the two other Christian military order s , the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights , and decades of internecine feuds weakened Christian positions , politically and militarily . After the Templars were involved in several unsuccessful campaigns , including the pivotal Battle of the Horns of Hattin , Jerusalem was captured by Saladin ' s forces in 1187 . The Crusaders regained the city in 1229 , without Templar aid , but held it only briefly . In 1244 , the Khwarezmi Turks recaptured Jerusalem , and the city did not return to Western 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 . It was lost in 1291 , followed by their last mainland strongholds , Tortosa ( Tartus in what is now Syria ) , and Atlit in present - day Israel . Their headquarters then moved to Limassol on the island of Cyprus , and they also attempted to maintain 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 1302 or 1303 , however , the Templars lost the island to the Egyptian Mamluks in the Siege of Arwad . With the island gone , the Crusaders lost their last foothold in the Holy Land . With the Order ' s military mission now less important , support for the organisation began to dwindle . The situation was however complex , as over the two hundred years of their existence , the Templars had become a part of daily life throughout Christendom . The organisation ' s Templar Houses , hundreds of which were dotted throughout Europe and the Near East , 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 , such as by working at a Templar farm or vineyard , or using the Order as a bank in which to store personal valuables . The Order was still not subject to local government , making it everywhere a " state within a state " — its standing army , though it no longer had a well - defined mission , could pass freely through all borders . 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 . Arrests , charges and dissolution . In 1305 , the new Pope Clement V , based in France , sent letters to both the Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay and the Hospitaller Grand Master Fulk de Villaret to discuss the possibility of merging the two Orders . Neither was amenable to the idea , but Pope Clement persisted , and in 1306 he invited both Grand Masters to France to discuss the matter . De Molay arrived first in early 1307 , but de Villaret was delayed for several months . While waiting , De Molay and Clement discussed criminal charges that had been made , it seems , two years prior by an ousted Templar and had been taken up by the king of France and his ministers . It was generally agreed that the charges were false , but Clement sent King Philip IV of France a written request for assistance in the investigation . According to some historians , King Philip , who was already deeply in debt to the Templars from his war with the English , decided to seize upon the rumors for his own purposes . He began pressuring the Church to take action against the Order , as a way of freeing himself from his debts . Recent studies emphasize the political and religious motivations of the French king . It seems that , with the “ discovery ” and repression of the “ Templars ' heresy , ” the Capetian monarchy claimed for itself the mystic foundations of the papal theocracy . The Temple case was the last step of a process of appropriating these foundations , which had begun with the Franco - papal rift at the time of Boniface VIII . Being the ultimate defender of the Catholic faith , the Capetian king was invested with a Christlike function that put him above the pope : what was at stake in the Templars ' trial was the establishment of a " royal theocracy " . On Friday , 13 October 1307 ( a date sometimes spuriously linked with the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition ) Philip ordered de Molay and scores of other French Templars to be simultaneously arrested . The arrest warrant started with the phrase : " Dieu n ' est pas content , nous avons des ennemis de la foi dans le Royaume " [ " God is not pleased . We have enemies of the faith in the kingdom " ] . The Templars were charged with numerous offences ( including apostasy , idolatry , heresy , obscene rituals and homosexuality , financial corruption and fraud , and secrecy ) . Many of the accused confessed to these charges under torture , and these confessions , even though obtained under duress , caused a scandal in Paris . All interrogations were recorded on a thirty metre long parchment , kept at the " Archives nationales " in Paris . The prisoners were coerced to confess that they had spat on the Cross : " Moi Raymond de La Fère , 21 ans , reconnais que ( J ' ai ) craché trois fois sur la Croix , mais de bouche et pas de coeur " ( free translation : " I , Raymond de La Fère , 21 years old , admit that I have spat three times on the Cross , but only from my mouth and not from my heart " ) . The Templars were accused of idolatry . After more bullying from Philip , Pope Clement then issued the papal bull " Pastoralis Praeeminentiae " on 22 November 1307 , which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Templars and seize their assets . Pope Clement called for papal hearings to determine the Templars ' guilt or innocence , and once freed of the Inquisitors ' torture , many Templars recanted their confessions . Some had sufficient legal experience to defend themselves in the trials , but in 1310 Philip blocked this attempt , using the previously forced confessions to have dozens of Templars burned at the stake in Paris . With Philip threatening military action unless the pope complied with his wishes , Pope Clement finally agreed to disband the Order , citing the public scandal that had been generated by the confessions . At the Council of Vienne in 1312 , he issued a series of papal bulls , including " Vox in excelso " , which officially dissolved the Order , and " Ad providam " , which turned over most Templar assets to the Hospitallers . As for the leaders of the Order , the elderly Grand Master Jacques de Molay , who had confessed under torture , retracted his confession . Geoffroi de Charney , Preceptor of Normandy , also retracted his confession and insisted on his innocence . Both men were declared guilty of being relapsed heretics , and they were sentenced to burn alive at the stake in Paris on 18 March 1314 . De Molay reportedly remained defiant to the end , asking to be tied in such a way that he could face the Notre Dame Cathedral and hold his hands together in prayer . According to legend , he called out from the flames that both Pope Clement and King Philip would soon meet him before God . His actual words were recorded on the parchment as follows : " Dieu sait qui a tort et a péché . Il va bientot arriver malheur à ceux qui nous ont condamnés à mort " ( free translation : " God knows who is wrong and has sinned . Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death " ) . Pope Clement died only a month later , and King Philip died in a hunting accident before the end of the year . With the last of the Order ' s leaders gone , the remaining Templars around Europe were either arrested and tried under the Papal investigation ( with virtually none convicted ) , absorbed into other military orders such as the Knights Hospitaller , or pensioned off and allowed to live out their days peacefully . By papal decree , the property of the Templars was transferred to the Order of Hospitallers , which also absorbed many of the Templars ' members . In effect , the dissolution of the Templars could be seen as the merger of the two rival orders . Some may have fled to other territories outside Papal control , such as excommunicated Scotland or to Switzerland . Templar organisations in Portugal simply changed their name , from Knights Templar to " Knights of Christ " . Chinon Parchment . In September 2001 , a document known as the " Chinon Parchment " dated 17 – 20 August 1308 was discovered in the Vatican Secret Archives by Barbara Frale , apparently after having been filed in the wrong place in 1628 . It is a record of the trial of the Templars and shows that Clement absolved the Templars of all heresies in 1308 before formally disbanding the Order in 1312 , as did another Chinon Parchment dated 20 August 1308 addressed to Philip IV of France , also mentioning that all Templars that had confessed to heresy were " restored to the Sacraments and to the unity of the Church " . This other Chinon Parchment has been well known to historians having been published by Étienne Baluze in 1693 , and by Pierre Dupuy in 1751 . The current position of the Roman Catholic Church is that the medieval persecution of the Knights Templar was unjust , that nothing was inherently wrong with the Order or its Rule , and that Pope Clement was pressed into his actions by the magnitude of the public scandal and by the dominating influence of King Philip IV , who was Clement ' s relative . Organization . The Templars were organised as a monastic order similar to Bernard ' s Cistercian Order , which was considered the first effective international organization in Europe . The organizational structure had a strong chain of authority . Each country with a major Templar presence ( France , England , Aragon , Portugal , Poitou , Apulia , Jerusalem , Tripoli , Antioch , Anjou , Hungary , and Croatia ) had a Master of the Order for the Templars in that region . All of them were subject to the Grand Master , appointed for life , who oversaw both the Order ' s military efforts in the East and their financial holdings in the West . The Grand Master exercised his authority via the visitors - general of the order , who were knights specially appointed by the Grand Master and convent of Jerusalem to visit the different provinces , correct malpractices , introduce new regulations , and resolve important disputes . The visitors - general had the power to remove knights from office and to suspend the Master of the province concerned . No precise numbers exist , but it is estimated that at the Order ' s peak there were between 15 , 000 and 20 , 000 Templars , of whom about a tenth were actual knights . Ranks within the order . Three main ranks . There was a threefold division of the ranks of the Templars : the noble knights , the non - noble sergeants , and the chaplains . The Templars did not perform knighting ceremonies , so any knight wishing to become a Knight Templar had to already be a knight . They were the most visible branch of the order , and wore the famous white mantles to symbolize their purity and chastity . They were equipped as heavy cavalry , with three or four horses and one or two squires . Squires were generally not members of the Order but were instead outsiders who were hired for a set period of time . Beneath the knights in the Order and drawn from non - noble families were the sergeants . They brought vital skills and trades such as blacksmithing and building , and administered many of the Order ' s European properties . In the Crusader States , they fought alongside the knights as light cavalry with a single horse . Several of the Order ' s most senior positions were reserved for sergeants , including the post of Commander of the Vault of Acre , who was the " de facto " Admiral of the Templar fleet . The sergeants wore black or brown . From 1139 , chaplain s constituted a third Templar class . They were ordained priests who cared for the Templar ' s ' spiritual needs . All three classes of brother wore the Order ' s red cross patty . Grand Masters . Starting with founder Hugues de Payens in 1118 – 1119 , the Order ' s highest office was that of Grand Master , a position which was held for life , though considering the martial nature of the Order , this could mean a very short tenure . All but two of the Grand Masters died in office , and several died during military campaigns . For example , during the Siege of Ascalon in 1153 , Grand Master Bernard de Tremelay led a group of 40 Templars through a breach in the city walls . When the rest of the Crusader army did not follow , the Templars , including their Grand Master , were surrounded and beheaded . Grand Master Gérard de Ridefort was beheaded by Saladin in 1189 at the Siege of Acre . The Grand Master oversaw all of the operations of the Order , including both the military operations in the Holy Land and Eastern Europe and the Templars ' financial and business dealings in Western Europe . Some Grand Masters also served as battlefield commanders , though this was not always wise : several blunders in de Ridefort ' s combat leadership contributed to the devastating defeat at the Battle of Hattin . The last Grand Master was Jacques de Molay , burned at the stake in Paris in 1314 by order of King Philip IV . Behaviour and dress . It was Bernard de Clairvaux and founder Hugues de Payens who devised the specific code of behaviour for the Templar Order , known to modern historians as the Latin Rule . Its 72 clauses defined the ideal behaviour for the Knights , such as the types of garments they were to wear and how many horses they could have . Knights were to take their meals in silence , eat meat no more than three times per week , and not have physical contact of any kind with women , even members of their own family . A Master of the Order was assigned " 4 horses , and one chaplain - brother and one clerk with three horses , and one sergeant brother with two horses , and one gentleman valet to carry his shield and lance , with one horse . " As the Order grew , more guidelines were added , and the original list of 72 clauses was expanded to several hundred in its final form . The knights wore a white surcoat with a red cross and a white mantle also with a red cross ; the sergeants wore a black tunic with a red cross on the front and a black or brown mantle . The white mantle was assigned to the Templars at the Council of Troyes in 1129 , and the cross was most probably added to their robes at the launch of the Second Crusade in 1147 , when Pope Eugenius III , King Louis VII of France , and many other notables attended a meeting of the French Templars at their headquarters near Paris . According to their " Rule " , the knights were to wear the white mantle at all times , even being forbidden to eat or drink unless they were wearing it . The red cross that the Templars wore on their robes was a symbol of martyrdom , and to die in combat was considered a great honor that assured a place in heaven . There was a cardinal rule that the warriors of the Order should never surrender unless the Templar flag had fallen , and even then they were first to try to regroup with another of the Christian orders , such as that of the Hospitallers . Only after all flags had fallen were they allowed to leave the battlefield . This uncompromising principle , along with their reputation for courage , excellent training , and heavy armament , made the Templars one of the most feared combat forces in medieval times . Initiation , known as Reception ( " receptio " ) into the Order , was a profound commitment and involved a solemn ceremony . Outsiders were discouraged from attending the ceremony , which aroused the suspicions of medieval inquisitors during the later trials . New members had to willingly sign over all of their wealth and goods to the Order and take vows of poverty , chastity , piety , and obedience . Most brothers joined for life , although some were allowed to join for a set period . Sometimes a married man was allowed to join if he had his wife ' s permission , but he was not allowed to wear the white mantle . Legacy . With their military mission and extensive financial resources , the Knights Templar funded a large number of building projects around Europe and the Holy Land . Many of these structures are still standing . Many sites also maintain the name " Temple " because of centuries - old association with the Templars . For example , some of the Templars ' lands in London were later rented to lawyers , which led to the names of the Temple Bar gateway and the Temple tube station . Two of the four Inns of Court which may call members to act as barristers are the Inner Temple and Middle Temple . Distinctive architectural elements of Templar buildings include the use of the image of " two knights on a single horse " , representing the Knights ' poverty , and round buildings designed to resemble the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem . Modern organizations . The story of the persecution and sudden dissolution of the secretive yet powerful medieval Templars has drawn many other groups to use alleged connections with the Templars as a way of enhancing their own image and mystery . There is no clear historical connection between the Knights Templar , which were dismantled in the Roll ' s of the Catholic Church in the 1309 with the martyrdom of Jacques de Molay , and any of the modern organizations , of which , except for the Scottish Order , the earliest emerged publicly in the 18th century . There is often public confusion and many overlook the 400 - year gap . However , in 1853 , Napoleon III officially recognized the OSMTH . The Order operates on the basis of the traditions of the medieval Knights Templar , celebrating the spirit of , but not claiming direct descent from the ancient Order founded by Hugues de Payens in 1118 and dissolved by Pope Clement V in 1312 . Freemasonry . Since at least the 18th century Freemasonry has incorporated Templar symbols and rituals in a number of Masonic bodies , most notably , the " Order of the Temple " the final order joined in " The United Religious , Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem , Palestine , Rhodes and Malta " commonly known as the Knights Templar . One theory of the origins of Freemasonry claims direct descent from the historical Knights Templar through its final fourteenth - century members who took refuge in Scotland whose King , Robert the Bruce was excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church at the time , or in Spain who for a time were called Knights of Christ Cross , other members having joined Knights of St . John . There have even been claims that some of the Templars who made it to Scotland contributed to the Scots ' victory at Bannockburn . This theory is usually deprecated on grounds of lack of evidence , by both Masonic authorities and historians . The Roman Catholic Church has historically opposed Freemasonry since it began to emerge , under the belief the group is a " Secret Society " and has a deeply hidden agenda that opposes the church and its beliefs . Members of the Church found to be Freemasons were in the early 20th Century , commonly excommunicated . This has often led to the misguided belief that the Church somehow also opposed the Knights Templar , however the Church makes distinction between the Templars , a public monastic order , and " Secret Societies " . Excommunication as an action taken against Catholics who were found to be Freemason , was lifted by Pope John Paul II in the 1980s , however in the same Papal Bull he reiterated his predecessors strong opposition to Freemasonry , stating that any person who is involved in a secret society and takes communion is putting their soul in grave danger . Legends and relics . The Knights Templar have become associated with legend s concerning secrets and mysteries handed down to the select from ancient times . Rumors circulated even during the time of the Templars themselves . Freemasonic writers added their own speculations in the 19th century , and further fictional embellishments have been added in popular novels such as " Ivanhoe " , " Foucault ' s Pendulum " , " The Lost symbol " , and " The Da Vinci Code " ; modern movies such as " National Treasure " and " Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade " ; and video games such as " Assassin ' s Creed " , " The Secret World " and " Broken Sword " . Many of the Templar legends are connected with the Order ' s early occupation of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and speculation about what relics the Templars may have found there , such as the Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant . That the Templars were in possession of some relics is certain . Many churches still display holy relics such as the bones of a saint , a scrap of cloth once worn by a holy man , or the skull of a martyr ; the Templars did the same . They were documented as having a piece of the True Cross , which the Bishop of Acre carried into battle at the disastrous Horns of Hattin . When the battle was lost , Saladin captured the relic , which was then ransomed back to the Crusaders when the Muslims surrendered the city of Acre in 1191 . The Templars were also rumored to possess the head of Saint Euphemia of Chalcedon , and the subject of relics came up during the Inquisition of the Templars , as several trial documents refer to the supposed worship of an idol of some type , referred to in some cases as a cat , a bearded head , or in some cases as Baphomet . This accusation of idol worship levied against the Templars has also led to the modern mistaken belief by some that the Templars practiced witchcraft . However , modern scholars generally explain the name Baphomet from the trial documents as simply a French misspelling of the name Mahomet ( Muhammad ) . The Holy Grail quickly became associated with the Templars , even in the 12th century . The first Grail romance , " Le Conte du Graal " , was written around 1180 by Chrétien de Troyes , who came from the same area where the Council of Troyes had officially sanctioned the Templars ' Order . Perhaps twenty years later " Parzival " , Wolfram von Eschenbach ' s version of the tale , refers to knights called " Templeisen " guarding the Grail Kingdom . Another hero of the Grail quest , Sir Galahad ( a 13th - century literary invention of monks from St . Bernard ' s Cistercian Order ) was depicted bearing a shield with the cross of Saint George , similar to the Templars ' insignia : this version presented the Holy Grail as a Christian relic . A legend developed that since the Templars had their headquarters at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem , they must have excavated in search of relics , found the Grail , and then proceeded to keep it in secret and guard it with their lives . However , in the extensive documents of the Templar inquisition there was never a single mention of anything like a Grail relic , let alone its possession by the Templars , nor is there any evidence that a Templar wrote a Grail Romance . In reality , most mainstream scholars agree that the story of the Grail was just that , a literary fiction that began circulating in medieval times . Another legendary object that is claimed to have some connection with the Templars is the Shroud of Turin . In 1357 , the shroud was first publicly displayed by the widow of a nobleman known as Geoffrey of Charney , described by some sources as being a member of the family of the grandson of Geoffroi de Charney , who was burned at the stake with De Molay . The shroud ' s origins are still a matter of controversy , but in 1988 , a carbon dating analysis concluded that the shroud was made between 1260 and 1390 , a span that includes the last half - century of the Templars ' existence . The validity of the dating methodology has subsequently been called into question , and the age of the shroud is still the subject of much debate References . Notes Bibliography Further reading