1. The Templar Knights were formed in 1118 AD after Christian pilgrims were massacred in Jerusalem to protect pilgrims making the dangerous journey. They took quarters near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which was located near Solomon's Temple. 2. Saladin's armies defeated the Templars and reclaimed Jerusalem for Islam in 1187. The Templars amassed great wealth through donations but also went into debt to European monarchs. 3. King Philip IV of France had the Templars arrested, tortured, and killed in 1307 to avoid repaying debts and seize their wealth. While charges of heresy were leveled, there was no solid evidence and their lands and

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Written by: Lilly Cline
Alesha Packer
Comp II
10/11/2011
Word Count: 1754
Artwork created by Michael Whiteman-Jon
Used with permission
The Templar Knight Crusaders

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The Templar Knight Crusaders
These are the men of old that seem to demand access to the living realms of our
imagination. Why do historians sit at tables in heated debates to this day in wonderment of them?
This mysterious secret society lurks in our past waiting for us to unlock the enigmas that
surround them and discover their true purpose during the Crusades. They are the Templar
Knights.
The idea of the Templars came about because of the mass murder of three hundred
Christian pilgrims and the capture of sixty more on the Eve of Easter. The Knights Templar was
established in 1118 AD, (Olson 17) which at the time was coming to the close of the first
Crusade. The humble beginnings of the Templars had neither distinctive habit nor rule. It was
not until 1147 when Pope Honorius II gave the Templar Knights their white habit and affixed the
red cross, known as the Cross Patte which represents martyrdom, on them. It is little known that
there were two divisions of the Templars. The one division is as we commonly have known them
as the knights and then there were the simple monks that wore the brown habit that were not
knights. These knights were commissioned to follow the rules of an ordinary priest, praying
many times a day, but also to do battle on behalf of Pilgrims because during the time of the
Crusades venturing across Europe was exceedingly dangerous so by appointment, it was the
sworn duty of a Templar Knight to protect the pilgrim’s passage. Many historians only accept the
actual date of 1139 AD (Decoding the Past: The Templar Code), which is when Godfrey of
Saint-Omer declared the Knights Templar an official organization in the Omne Datum Optimum
(Olson 18).

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The founding fathers of the Knights Templar are recorded as being in a number of nine
men and they are, “the venerable Hugh de Payen, (a vassal of Hugh de Champagne) and Godfrey
de St. Omer. The other seven knights included Andre de Montbard (the uncle of Bernard of
Clairvaux), Payden de Montdidcier, Achambared de St. Amard, Geoffroi Bisol, and Godfroi de
Bouillon. Gondemere and Rosal also joined from the Cistercian Order of St. Bernard.”(Olson 17)
In 1125 Hugh returned to Jerusalem after he left his unfaithful wife and gave the country
to his nephew and at that time he took his vows as a Templar. Andre de Montbard was the uncle
of Bernard Clairvaux (their patron) which gave them the ties they needed to be successful and it
was he who went to Europe to persuade the Church to sanction them, at the time it was a large
controversy. Historians complain that they approached the Church with no real mission
statement in mind and some go so far as to claim the Templars had no real involvement in the
Crusades at all and were instead on a secret mission of their own means. When the Templar
Knights arrived in the Holy Land, “they presented themselves to the younger brother of Godfroi
de Bouillon (who had accepted the title King Baldwin II of Jerusalem), who provided the newly
founded Order with quarters connected with the Al-Aqsa Mosque (which was located on the site
of the famed stables of King Solomon’s Temple” (Secrets of the Knights Templar). This is a
main point of controversy, Godfroi de Bouillon (One of the original nine) were related to King
Baldwin II, the family would easily benefit from allowing this to happen and the Knights
Templars would not have been papal approved without this crucial step.
Soon after they left for Europe Hughes followed them to recruit Knights and raise funds
on their behalf. Knights were expected to already be trained warriors and be of a noble blood
line. The nine men who are the acclaimed fathers of the Templars were all related by blood or
marriage ties and were of noble birth to families in France (Secrets of the Knights Templar).

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For the crusaders, Muslims, and the Jews, Jerusalem, would be the site in 1099 A.D.
where the Holy wars began. The focus of almost all of the crusades was to seize and control the
Holy city. After a crusader took up the cross he swore to make the pilgrimage to the Holy
Sepulcher, the tomb in which Christ was laid and which He was raised. This was significant
because of the expense and difficulty of this journey, a crusader received a remission from sins
for his conquest.
The Crusades have a tendency to look like great armies organized and directed by the
church against the enemies of Christ; however, the Templar Knights were often much smaller in
number compared to their opposing military forces. The Templar armies were often spread at
great distances between each other across the desert. It was common practice for a few Templar
Knights to charge with fury in a suicidal attack with the intention of separating armies to the left
and right of them giving the opposing force disadvantage to the smaller Templar army that laid
in wait ready to attack as they passed through the channel made by the original charge (Secrets
of the Knights Templar).
The rise of Saladin created the need for the second crusade. Saladin being a devout
Muslim and fierce warrior had decided to retake Jerusalem and the Holy Land. He had amassed
an army of several thousand. As he worked his way across the desert toward Jerusalem he laid
siege to Damascus. In the fight at Damascus he was defeated by a combined force of Templars
and the Ascalon army. With this defeat he was severely humiliated and vowed revenge. And just
three years after this defeat Saladin got his chance. He took the castle of Le Chastellet and during
this battle the Templars lost eighty knights and seven hundred fifty sergeants at this point he
dismantled the castle and moved on. With the death of the Syrian king Saladin assumed the
throne of Damascus thereby creating an even larger army. During this time the Templars were

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having an issue with disunity among the groups. As Saladin moved closer to Jerusalem the
Templar groups decided to protect their Orders property making it possible for Saladin’s armies
to pass by their castles unfettered. Saladin’s army was able to decimate the country side and
move on. With all the internal strife among the Christian groups in the area Saladin was able to
forge treaties with most of them so they would not come to aid of the Templars during battle. As
the Christian army and the Templars went to meet Saladin in the attack on Jerusalem, the
Christian army was destroyed. Thousands were killed and thousands of prisoners were taken.
There were about 200 Templar Knights that survived the battle but, contrary to the medieval
tradition of ransoming captives Saladin considered the Templars more of a threat to Islam and
had them beheaded. Saladin took Jerusalem after a twelve-day siege and after the next two years
of fighting he reclaimed the Holy land (Wasserman 80-89).
By the year 1300 the Templars had made their final attempt to take back the Holy land
without a clear purpose anymore they returned to their home-base in Cyprus. During their time
of the Crusades the Templars had amassed a great wealth in such that they had loaned money to
both the King of England and the King of France. Phillip IV (Phillip the Fair) of France had
decided repaying the loans was out of the question especially when he asked for more funds to
fight the English and the Templars refused him. So Phillip attempted to get the Pope to
excommunicate them but, instead the Pope excommunicated King Phillip. Phillip’s conspiracy
was then created. Phillip amassed a list of treason charges against the Pope and the Templars.
The Templars were rounded up and tortured for years until they confessed to heresy and devil-
worshipping among several others trumped up charges. Out of 138 Templars questioned all
confessed to one form of obscenity or another. During the trial there were no witnesses and no
physical evidence of wrong-doing. What Phillip had started with his trumped up charges and

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false court trials spread across Europe and England as other monarchs saw a way to get out of the
debt they owed the Templars and by doing this they were able to take the land, castles, and
wealth of the Templars in their regions. Although King Phillip of France started his heresy trials
against the Templars in order to gain their lands and wealth, which he thought should rightfully
pass to him, the Roman Catholic Church ordered all the Templars’ wealth granted to the
hospitallers thus allowing the original purpose of the wealth to be met (Wasserman 151-169).
It is clear that, “Some historians accuse the Crusaders for hindering the cultural and
social development of Europe by locking its people in a futile struggle for religious dominance
on another continent. Others point to the expansion of European consciousness after a period of
stagnation during the so-called Dark Ages as a beneficial side effect. Certainly, the after effects
have survived for a long time, and even today the battle for the Holy Land between rival faiths
continues” (Konstam 184).
In the aftermath, “the Vatican came to recognize the state of Israel and, though it
continues to argue that Jerusalem should be placed under international jurisdiction, it no longer
advocates the Christian reconquest of the Holy City that had been a prime objective for so many
popes over so many years” (Read 323).
It is well known that the Templars had amassed a large treasury and guarded priceless
treasure(s). The Templar Knights had secretly dug under the city of Jerusalem for nine years and
suddenly the digging stopped. It is under hot debate as to what was found because no one has
discovered their true secret or unearthed the true identities of the Templars that escaped their
demise in France. After all there were thousands of them scattered throughout the country. Could
it have been the shroud of Jesus, the head of John the Baptist, an idol of Satan, could have they

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found the secret of the Holy Grail and the Grail itself, or something else? Could it be that the
Templars of today are descendants of the Templars of old and they continue the legacy and
possibly continue to keep secret that which they found? It is dismaying to know that while some
secrets are uncovered most will remain a mystery.

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Works Cited
Decoding the Past: The Templar Code. Narr. Timothy Watson. Perf. Sean Martin, Alan
Butler, Marilyn Hopkins, Karen Ralls, Edward Herrman, Timothy Wallace-Murphy.
History Channel, 7, Nov. 2005. DVD.
Konstam, Angus, Historical Atlas of the Crusades. New York, Checkmark Books an Imprint of
Facts on File, INC., 2002. Print
Olson, Oddvar, ed. The Templar Papers. New Jersey, New Page Books a Division of The
Career Press, INC., 2006. Print.
Reed, Piers Paul. The Templars. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Da Capo Press. 1999. Print.
Secrets of the Knights Templar. Dir. David Bartlett. Ed. Simon Greenwood. Narr. Reg E. Cathey.
Perf. Dr. Gibson, Dr. Adrian Boaz, Sean Martin. National Geographic Channel, 2008.
DVD.
Wasserman, James, An Illustrated History of the Knights Templar, Vermont, Destiny Books,
2006. Print.