Knights Templars

The Crusades gave rise to three great Orders of Knighthood. The oldest of these religio-chivalric orders was the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, known also as Knights Hospitallers (q. v.), and subsequently as Knights of Rhodes and Knights of Malta (1043-1798).

The second of the great Orders was originally known as the Knights of the Temple of Solomon, and afterwards as Knights Templars, or Knights of the Red Cross (1117-1312).

The third was a German Order, known as the Teutonic Knights (q. v.), or Knights of Saint Mary of Jerusalem (1119-1809). The three Orders were based on a union of monastic and military service. The monastic vow was the same for the three Orders, and embraced the trinity of mediaeval virtues, obedience, chastity and poverty. But the military vow to bear arms in defence of Christ and His cause, to defend from insult and wrong the Christians of all lands and languages, was taken with greater enthusiasm. During the Crusades the Knights (at first all of noble blood) fought bravely the battles of Christendom. While each Order had its distinctive dress and its special line of work, yet, in time of great danger, these brotherhoods united and gave their best blood in defence of the Cross. At the battle of Gaza, 1244 A. D., the losses of both the Knights Hospitallers and the Knights Templars were so great that they nearly suffered a common extinction.

The Knights of the Temple of Solomon (afterwards Knights Templars, or Knights of the Red Cross) took their original name from the fact that a portion of the Mosque el-Aksa, which was built on the supposed site of Solomon's Temple, had been assigned to them after the taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders. The Mosque was converted into a Christian temple and was vaguely called the Temple of Solomon, the Palace, the Porch. These names were retained down to the sixteenth century.

This Order dates from the year 1117 A.D. Two French Knights, Hugues des Paiens and Geoffrey of Saint Omer, took upon themselves the duty of conducting and protecting pilgrims on the way between Jerusalem and the Jordan. Hugues and Omar, having but one horse between them, rode together on their first mission of benevolence; the great seal of the Order perpetuates this fact of its humble origin in the figure of a horse with two riders. As the Christian traveler was exposed to many hardships, this charitable work soon won a reputation for the humble warrior guides, and they were joined by seven other brethren. A regular organization was soon effected, and the members bound themselves by the triple monastic vow. To this vow two more were added--to defend the Holy Sepulchre, and to protect the wayfaring pilgrims in Palestine. Such was the beginning of an Order which, in two centuries, became more powerful than any government in Europe. The Order made its headquarters at Jerusalem until 1187, when it was transferred to Antioch, and thence to Acre in 1191. After the capture of Acre in 1291, and the overthrow of the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem by the Saracens, the Templars retired to the island of Cyprus, which they had purchased from Richard, Coeur de Lion, for thirty-five thousand marks, $14,000. But, while they had their headquarters on this island, the Order spread all over Europe, being especially strong in France. In every country where they existed, immense donations of money and land were showered upon them, and the most distinguished men thought themselves honored by being enrolled as members of the Order. The Templars were at first all laymen and of noble birth, but Pope Alexander III., in 1162, appointed chaplains for the Order from among the clergy, who were not required to adopt the military vows. Eventually many new members were added who did not take the vows of the Order, but joined it simply for the protection it afforded them. During the Crusades the Knights fought nobly and endured even unto death.

After one of Saladin's victories, he offered the Knights Templars and Hospitallers their choice between embracing Mohammedanism and dying like dogs. Not a man of them blanched in the presence of his fate; to them the prophet was antichrist, and his religion the gateway to hell. Two hundred and thirty captive Knights stood fast in their integrity and were beheaded. In the course of time the Knights Templars became one of the most powerful organizations in the world, and for greater convenience the states of Christendom were divided into provinces, with a Master over each. This sovereign body owed no allegiance to any potentate, except, in spiritual matters only, to the Pope. The Grand Master of the Templars was more independent than any sovereign of Europe. The houses of the Knights could not be invaded by a civil officer. Their churches and cemeteries were exempt from the interdict of the Pope. Their property was free from taxation. They enjoyed the patronage of the great benediction of the Church. But, like most of the mediaeval institutions that began in poverty and humility, the Order ended in luxury and crime. The majority of the Templars were French; it was estimated in the thirteenth century that nine thousand manors in France were held by Knights Templars. Society became alarmed by this independent monopoly of the wealth and honors of the kingdom. Their exemption from all burdens of the State, their pride, arrogance, and consequent licentiousness, all conspired to excite against them the hatred of the people and of the king. Philip IV. (the Fair) of France determined to free the realm from this brotherhood, and took counsel with Pope Clement V. The Pope was loth to give his sanction to the extermination of the Order, but Philip was inexorable, and without any warning all the Templars in France were simultaneously seized and imprisoned (October 13, 1307).

A Grand Council was called in Paris on the 10th of May, 1310, and three days after fifty-four of the Templars were condemned and burned at the stake, being charged with heresy and immorality. This example was imitated in other parts of the kingdom. Two years later, by the Council of Venice, it was decided that the Order of Knights Templars should be abolished and its property confiscated. Everywhere in Christendom, excepting Portugal, where they assumed the name of the Knights of Christ, the Templars, as an organization, were suppressed, having been a great power for nearly two hundred years. (See Knights Hospitallers.)