The Templar Knights/Order of The Temple: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
|||
| Line 210: | Line 210: | ||
=References= |
=References and other things= |
||
==See Also== |
|||
[[Knights Hospitaller/Order of St. John]] |
|||
[[Knights Hospitaller]] |
|||
[[teutonic nights]] |
|||
==References== |
|||
Revision as of 13:51, 3 October 2009
Also known as:Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon. They were very famous Knights of the Western Christian Orders.They were around for about two hundred years in the Middle Ages.
History
The Rise
After the Crusaders invaded Jerusalem in 1099, most Christians fled to what was called the Holy Ground.But even though the city of Jerusalem was under control, the rest of the crusaders lands wern't.Christians were killed in large numbers.So they started to all flee to the Holy Land.
Around 1117-20,the French knight Hugues de Payens and his relative Godfrey de Saint-Omer, two survivers of the Crusaders,decided to create a monastic group for the saftey of the Christians.Baldwin II,Ruler of Jeruselm at the time,gave them the Al Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount. The Temple Mount had a curious vibe,since it was above what most thought was the ruins of the Temple of Solomon.They called themselves the Knights Templar: Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon.
The concept that,for at least the first nine years of the Group, the Knights Templars consisted of only nine members. The reason is not many people liked the lifestyles of the Knights.So,the Templars had a really hard time making their order larger. About the year of 1127 the Cistercian abbot and and fellow knight,Bernard of Clairvaux,wrote a letter of order for the Knights that was a lot like his own Cistercian Order's rules.And Bernard helped alot to promote the Knights Templar.This letter turned the christians to favour the templars.
This letter went through Christendom like a virus drawing many men who joined the Knights Templar.Those who couldn't join often gave the Knights land,money,
and power.A large amount of help came from in 1139 when Pope Innocent II's papal bull Omne Datum Optimum freed them from taxes,let them freely move through borders and made them only have to obey the Pope.
The Fall
In the middle of the 1100s,Crusaders luck began to turn. The Muslim world had become more peaceful and united under leaders like Saladin, The Knights Templar were occasionally at odds with the two other Christian military orders, the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights, and years of arguing weakened Christian positions, politically and militarily. After the Templars were involved in several unsuccessful missions.Jerusalem was captured by Saladin's forces in 1187. The Crusaders recaptured the city in 1229, with no help from the Knights Templar.The Crusaders only had for a litttle while it. In 1244, the Khwarezmi Turks retook 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 change their base of operations to other cities in the north, such as the small city of Acre, which they had for about 100 years. But they lost that, too, in 1291, followed by their last HQs, Tortosa,and Atlit. Their base then moved to Limassol on the island of Cyprus, and they also attempted to create a HQ on tiny Arwad Island. 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.With the island gone, the Crusaders lost their last base in the Holy Land.
So the Templars fled to France,under the protection of Pope Clement V.
On October 13 1307,King Philip IV of France,who was deeply in debt to the Weakened Knights, hadn't wanted to repay them.So he sent out an Order to all his troops to capture the templars. Approx.89.999% of templars were captured and tortured.After confessing they were killed.
King Philip IV sent a threat to Pope Clement V saying to properly disband the Order. 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.
Timeline
-1119 AD - The most famous order of Christians arose in the year AD 1119, under Hugh de Paganas and Godfrey de St. Omer, who with seven other gentlemen formed themselves into a society to protect pilgrims visiting the Holy City against the wandering tribes.
-1127 AD - In the year 1127 the Cistercian abbot, Bernard of Clairvaux, wrote a rule of order for the Templars that was based on his own Cistercian Order's rule of conduct. Additionally, Bernard did a great deal to promote the Templars.
-In 1139, even more power was conferred upon the Order by Pope Innocent II, who issued the papal bull, Omne Datum Optimum. It stated that the Knights Templar could pass freely through any border, owed no taxes, and were subject to no one's authority exept of the Pope.
-1153 AD - There are many instances of the way in which the Templars ever proved their valour, both as men, and as an Order; as at the capture of Ascalon by the Saracens in the year 1153, when two hundred Templars, and their standard-bearer, an English Knight, Sir Reginald ...There are many instances of the way in which the Templars ever proved their valour, both as men, and as an Order; as at the capture of Ascalon by the Saracens in the year 1153, when two hundred Templars, and their standard-bearer, an English Knight, Sir Reginald de Argentine, refused as one man to surrender, and were cut down. But I think there is no instance known to history of a Templar who turned his back upon a fight.
-May 1, 1187 AD - On 1 May 1187, a few hundred brother knights of the Templars and Hospitallers attacked a Muslim force estimated at 7000 strong.' This was an ill-judged assault in which the Christians were heavily defeated, but one man came out of the encounter with credit, 'for ...On 1 May 1187, a few hundred brother knights of the Templars and Hospitallers attacked a Muslim force estimated at 7000 strong.' This was an ill-judged assault in which the Christians were heavily defeated, but one man came out of the encounter with credit, 'for he was not afraid to die for Christ'.
-At the battle of Gaza., 1244 AD, the losses of both the Knights Hospitallers and the Knights Templars were so great that they nearly suffered a common extinction.
-May 1291 - When Acre, which was the last stronghold of the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller, fell in May, 1291, the Hospitallers, like the Templars, retired to the Island of Cyprus. Their influence increased and their wealth grew hy leaps and bounds.
-1306 - Seemingly, all the religious leaders appear now to take the same line as the Knights Templar in 1306, just before their dissolution.
-The Templars, perhaps overconfident of their prestige, did not maneuver very capably in this situation. On the morning of Friday the 13th, in April of the year 1307 AD, just before dawn, the King of France had all his constables descend at once on all Templar centers in France.
-In May, 1307, the Pope and the King met at Poictiers, and, it is supposed, discussed thoroughly the question of the Templars: about the same time the Templars informed the Pope of the dangers that threatened them.
-In Nov. 1307, Pope Clement V issued a Bull dissolving the Templars & seizing their vast properties.
Myths
Many myths have been made about the Knights Templar, including
-The holy Grail
-The piece of Eden
-connections to the freemasons
-de Molay killed King Philip IV & Pope Clement V from the grave
Grand masters
| 1. | Hugues de Payens | 1118-1136 | |
| 2. | 
|
Robert de Craon | 1136-1147 |
| 3. | 
|
Everard des Barres | 1147-1149 |
| 4. | 
|
Bernard de Tremelay † | 1149-1153 |
| 5. | 
|
André de Montbard | 1153-1156 |
| 6. | 
|
Bertrand de Blanchefort | 1156-1169 |
| 7. | 
|
Philippe de Milly | 1169-1171 |
| 8. | 
|
Odo de St Amand (POW) | 1171-1179 |
| 9. | 
|
Arnold of Torroja | 1181-1184 |
| 10. | 
|
Gerard de Ridefort † | 1185-1189 |
| 11. | 
|
Robert de Sablé | 1191-1193 |
| 12. | 
|
Gilbert Horal | 1193-1200 |
| 13. | 
|
Phillipe de Plessis | 1201-1208 |
| 14. | 
|
Guillaume de Chartres | 1209-1219 |
| 15. | 
|
Pedro de Montaigu | 1218-1232 |
| 16. | 
|
Armand de Périgord (POW) | 1232-1244 |
| 17. | Richard de Bures (Disputed) | ||
| 18. | 
|
Guillaume de Sonnac † | 1247-1250 |
| 19. | 
|
Renaud de Vichiers | 1250-1256 |
| 20. | 
|
Thomas Bérard | 1256-1273 |
| 21. | 
|
Guillaume de Beaujeu † | 1273-1291 |
| 22. | 
|
Thibaud Gaudin | 1291-1292 |
| 23. | 
|
Jacques de Molay | 1292-1314 |
References and other things
See Also
Knights Hospitaller/Order of St. John
References
Other Sites
http://www.templarhistory.com/who.html
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Knights_Templar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Masters_of_the_Knights_Templar
--AssassinsCreedRocks (talk) 20:37, 1 October 2009 (UTC)