Knights Templar

[[File:Godefrey_of_Bouillon.jpg|right|thumb|165px|And the award for stupidest looking hat goes to...]]{{Conspiracynav}}
The '''Knights Templar''', also known as the '''Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon''', or the '''Order of the Temple''', were a [[Christian]] religious and military order active during the [[Crusades]] of 12<sup>th</sup> and 13<sup>th</sup> centuries.

==History==
The Order became very wealthy and influential, not only in crusading, but in managing land and businesses, and offering loans and credit to pilgrims and crusaders - an early form of banking. Templars were subject to a vow of poverty, so all personal wealth was committed to crusading campaigns and other Order activities, and also swore vows to defend [[Jerusalem]] and Christianity, and never surrender.

[[Secular]] powers became increasingly suspicious of the Templars, due to their power and secrecy, such as the private initiation rituals. Their secretive practices prompted many speculations and rumors, as would later happen with [[Freemason]]ry and other secret societies. The Order also attracted the attentions of King Philip IV of [[France]], who was deeply in debt to them.

Consequently, the Order was suppressed in the early 14th century. The French government had arrested many Templars, and forced confessions of [[heresy]] and numerous secular crimes out of them under [[torture]]. Under pressure, [[Pope]] Clement V disbanded the Order in 1312.

In 1319, King Dinis I of Portugal created the Military Order of Christ, for those Templar knights who had survived the dissolution.  Pope John XXII granted this new order the right to inherit Templar assets and property that same year.  While a continuation of the Knights Templar in many ways, the Order of Christ was not the same organization.

==Pop culture and conspiracies==
Due to their secretive ways and the controversy surrounding the Order and its suppression, and to the general romanticisation of the medieval period, the Knights Templar have featured in numerous modern works of fiction. Examples include the films ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'', Ridley Scott's ''Kingdom of Heaven'', and [[Dan Brown]]'s ''The Da Vinci Code'' (the novel and the film).

They also figure in various [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]], most notably the one put forward in ''[[Holy Blood, Holy Grail]]'', and largely borrowed by Dan Brown for ''The Da Vinci Code'', in which the Knights Templar are claimed to have served the secret "[[Priory of Sion]]" and guarded the secret of [[Christ]]'s descendants. Oh, and they're the primary villains in the video game series ''Assassin's Creed'', where they are alive and well even into the modern era, and are pretty much behind every [[conspiracy theory]] ever made. Every... Single... One. In order to (you guessed it) take over the world. With magic mind-control [[apple]]s left over by [[ancient astronauts]].

The [[History Channel]] even put forth the 
theory
 complete speculation that the Templars crossed into the [[America|New World]], eventually reaching what is now Kensington, [[Minnesota]], almost 2 centuries before the voyage of Columbus. ''Holy Blood, Holy Grail'' made similar claims, that they followed old Viking seafaring routes to North America, and left [[Oak Island money pit|mysterious treasures on Oak Island]], Nova Scotia.<ref>{{wpa|Knights Templar in popular culture}}</ref> The Templars are also involved in stories that Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, a Scottish nobleman, crossed the Atlantic in 1398, a hundred years before Columbus, bringing the Holy Grail and other Templar artifacts.<ref>[https://www.innertraditions.com/the-knights-templar-in-the-new-world.html The Knights Templar in the New World: How Henry Sinclair Brought the Grail to Acadia, By (Author) William F. Mann], Inner Traditions bookstore</ref>

Conspiracy theorist [[Mark Dice]] argues that the Knights Templar were responsible for the advent of fiat currency and modern central banking systems, and that they worshipped [[Baphomet]].

There are even stranger claims about their religious practices, including claims that they worshipped [[John the Baptist]] rather than Jesus, and spat on a crucifix as part of their secret rituals.<ref>[http://www.ancient-origins.net/history-important-events/secrets-knights-templar-knights-john-baptist-005088 Secrets of the Knights Templar: The Knights of John the Baptist], Ancient Origins</ref> In their top secret rites that nobody was told about and which ended over 700 years ago, they supposedly worshipped a mysterious severed head which may have been John the Baptist's or Baphomet's, although an even more lurid and blasphemous theory is that it was in fact the actual head of Jesus.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/historical-notes-is-the-head-of-christ-buried-in-scotland-1171696.html Historical Notes: Is the head of Christ buried in Scotland?], Keith Laidler, The Independent, 15 Aug 1998</ref> So Jesus didn't actually ascend bodily to heaven, but was beheaded, his head taken to France, and kept there until the 13th century?

==See also==
*[[Baphomet]]
*[[Crusades]]
*[[Holy Grail]]
*[[Heresy]]
*[[Siol nan Gaidheal]], who claim descent from the Templars

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:European history]]
[[Category:Medieval history]]
[[Category:Unified conspiracy theory]]

Categories: Christianity, Conspiracy theories, European history, Medieval history, Unified conspiracy theory