Many Chinese learned that the Knights Templar was from the movie The Da Vinci Code, in which the Knights Templar was described as a mysterious organization that guarded Christian relics: the Holy Grail and the Holy Blood, while also possessing a huge treasure. In that famous game, Assassin's Creed, the Templars were the biggest villain, with opposing values and goals to the Assassin Order.
In fact, as the Knights Templar, founded in the early twelfth century AD, it was a very ordinary military organization in the European Middle Ages, far less mysterious than later generations imagined, and it was called the Three Knights together with the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights. However, the final outcome of the Templar Order was more tragic, and it was precisely because of this that it aroused the sympathy of later generations of artists, and after several generations of artistic processing, it became a mysterious organization that was later veiled with mystery. So, let's take a look at the past and present lives of the Templar Order.
The Three Orders
The Knights Templar were the product of the Crusades
In 1096 AD, that is, during the reign of Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty in China, at the call of the Pope, European nobles, knights and peasants formed a crusade under the banner of recovering the holy city of Jerusalem, kicking off the prelude to the 200-year Crusade. After several years of bloody fighting, the Crusaders broke through Jerusalem and recaptured the Holy City, while at the same time committing a massacre when they entered the city, and countless Muslims and Jews died under the swords of the Crusaders. Later, the remaining Crusaders established the Kingdom of Jerusalem, while Christians in Europe began a large-scale pilgrimage to the Holy City.
The Crusaders capture Jerusalem
But europe was a long and dangerous road from Jerusalem, with pagans often infested, and pilgrims were often looted or killed halfway through. In this context, in 1119, two French nobles who had participated in the crusades, Hugo de Parin and Gefred Saint-Omo, proposed the formation of a monastic congregation with sophisticated armament to protect the safety of the pilgrims, an idea supported by the king of the kingdom of Jerusalem at the time, and gave them the famous Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount as a base. Because this mosque was built on the temple of King Solomon, this organization was called "The Poor Knights of Christ and Solomon's Temple", referred to as the Knights Templar for short. If there were no Solomon's Temple under this mosque, it would probably only be called the "Halal Knights".
It's funny that this Knights of Christ is actually built on the temples of Judaism and Islam, but because everyone believes in the same God, they have to settle down.
2. Development of the Knights Templar
At the beginning of its establishment, the Templar Order actually had only 9 people, and their lives were very difficult, mainly by the patronage of the nobility. So their badge is two men riding a horse as a sign of unity and poverty. However, this also became evidence that the French king later attacked them for homosexuality, you know, at that time, homosexuality was not as tolerant as it is now, and it was possible to publicly announce their coming out. In the Middle Ages, homosexuality was a violation of religious norms, a crime that was intolerable to nature, and a major sin at the stake.
Knights Templar insignia
However, the Templars' dilemma did not last long, they were supported by the clergy class, who were vigorously promoted by the clergy, they were called "knights of God", and later the pope granted them special status, making them obedient to the pope, the local secular power had no right to command, and also exempted them from taxation, while also collecting tithes in their own territories. As a result, the various powers continued to reward them with money and land, and the Templar Order developed rapidly, and land and wealth spread throughout Europe. Later, at its peak, the Templar Order had more than 20,000 members and more than 9,000 properties in Europe.
III. The Business Of the Knights Templar
The main task of the Knights Templar was to protect the christians on the pilgrimage and the security of the holy city, while also undertaking the war against the pagans. In the war, although the number was small, but because the Knights were well-equipped, well-trained, and often the backbone of the troops, they fought with the Crusaders many times and played a decisive role. The most famous is to follow the leprosy king Baldwin IV in the Battle of Mengisa with a few thousand men to defeat the Arab god of war Saladin's 30,000 troops, the Templar Order's amazing combat strength in the battle was fully reflected, can be called the special forces of that era.
Templars
On the pilgrimage to protect the saints, the Templars were required to collect protection fees, after all, this was a relatively dangerous profession, and they had to sacrifice their lives if necessary. The Templar Order, on the other hand, had strict organizational rules: individual Templars could not own personal property; if they were found to have personal property, he would be punished; if personal property was obtained through improper means, the punishment was even more severe: after death it could not be buried in the Knights Templar's dedicated cemetery.
As a result, a big business of the Templars was inadvertently born, that is, the nobles of the European countries were willing to give their property to the Templar Order, and because the knights often traveled between Europe and the Holy City, the business of the Dart Bureau was also carried out. The Knights, who had a lot of money, also invented the note business, and with the special notes with the mark of the Knights, they could be redeemed in any branch of the Order, which was the beginning of the modern banking industry.
Later, the Knights engaged in the loan business, the king of England had to borrow money from the Knights to fight and suppress the rebellion, and the king of France owed countless loans to the Order. Since then, the Order's three major businesses: trusteeship, armed escort, and lending, have become the source of the Order's wealth, and because of the Order's neutral stance and outstanding credit, they have become the richest group of people in Europe at that time. But too much wealth may not be a good thing for a civil organization, which also lays hidden dangers for the later demise of the Knights.
Black Friday and the Fall of the Knights
The turning point of the Knights Templar began at the Battle of Harding, in which the elite of the Knights was lost, the Christian relics of the True Cross were also taken, and the holy city of Jerusalem was captured by Saladin, and since then the Christians have organized 7 crusades, but have never been able to retake the holy city. The Templar Order was reduced to the role of playing soy sauce in later wars. Later, the Templars returned to Europe and lived a blessed life, but they soon lost their ground.
As mentioned earlier, King Philip IV of France owed countless debts to the Knights Templar, and at the same time, because the Knights had huge lands and wealth, they attracted the envy and envy of the king. As a feudal monarch, there was no credibility to talk about at that time, and how to rely on this debt and rob the knights of their wealth became the heart of the King.
Philip IV
On Friday, October 13, 1307, by order of the King of France, the Templars were arrested uniformly, including the last Grand Master, Jacques de Molai, and the Order's property was frozen. That's where Black Friday came from, and 13 became an unlucky number.
Under the pressure of the French king, the pope was forced to announce the dissolution of the Templar Order, and the king also took advantage of the situation to charge the Knights Templar with heresy and sent them to the inquisition on a large scale for torture, including blasphemy, collaboration with the enemy, witchcraft, cults, and homosexuality, etc. Most of the Templars in France died under torture and burning. In other European countries, under the pressure of the French king, they also disbanded the Templar Order in their own countries.
5. Mysterious legends
Before his death, the last Grand Master of the Templars cursed the King and the Pope to face eternal judgment within a year. The results were fulfilled, and King Philip IV was killed by a wild boar while hunting, and the pope died of a violent illness a month later. Although this was most likely an assassination attempt by the remnants of the Templars.
Treasures of the Templars
It is said that after the fall of the Templar Order, the King did not recover a huge amount of wealth, which laid the groundwork for the later legend of templar treasure. It is said that many tourists who travel to European castles today explore the castles in the hope of finding the secrets of the treasure. At the same time, in later legends, with the disappearance of the Templars, the legend of the Holy Grail was forever associated with them, and it was imagined that the Templars brought the secrets of Christianity into the tomb together.