The Order of the Temple - The Knights Templar

I. Introduction

In December 2007 a group called the Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ challenged the Papacy in a Spanish court concerning seized Templar property in 1312. This, of course, is no genuine Templar organisation, although they claim to be descended from the original order. It was founded in 1804 by Bernard-Raymond Fabre-Palaprat, inspired by the traditions of the real Knights Templar. A court in Madrid dismissed the lawsuit, claiming it to be the jurisdiction of historians. Spanish papers suggested psychiatrists instead! According to their own information, the group has appealed the dismissal in 2008. Have we heard the last of this story?

The action was a result of the Vatican's decision in 2007 gradually to release the early 14th century records from the trials leading to the abolition of the Knights Templars in 1312 [Processus Contra Templarios (Papal Inquiry into the Trial of the Templars)]. The records showed that the Pope, Clement V, who abolished the Order, absolved it from heresy and clearly stated that the reason for its dissolution was political.

Rehabilitation or not, the real order was legally dissolved by the Pope, Clement V, who had indisputable jurisdiction over the case. Whether it was a fair judgement or not, its validity cannot possibly be questioned. Consequently, there has never been and can never be an organisation legally descending from the original Knights Templar. There can be inspirational descent, even organic descent in a few cases, but no legal descent. The order was abolished...

"by an irrevocable and perpetually valid decree, and we subject it to perpetual prohibition with the approval of the Holy Council, strictly forbidding anyone to presume to enter the said Order in the future, or to receive or wear the habit, or act as a Templar. Which, if anyone acts against this, he will incur the sentence of excommunication ipso facto." (Clement V, Vox in excelsio, 1312)

As fuel for the imagination, however, the Templars are very much alive. The legends and mysteries continue to fascinate and inspire speculative thought and creative art. The borderline between history and myth can no longer be distinguished. Simple soldiers, or keepers of arcane and ancient secrets; the embodiment of chivalric ideals, or arrogant bandits; whatever they were, legends now conceal the truth.

"Myths do not necessarily disappear with the circumstances that first produced them. They sometimes acquire an autonomy, a vitality of their own, that carries them across the continents and down the centuries."

(Norman Cohn, Warrant for Genocide, 1967)

The Knights Templar were the military elite of Medieval Europe. They were superior soldiers, and they were bankers, probably nothing more. Yet they gave birth to innumerable legends, and admittedly there are some puzzling mysteries about them that can possibly point at something more than history reveals. Once it had taken root in imagination, however, the Templar myth grew out of all proportion, and it still grows. The lore came to associate them with the Grail, the Shroud of Turin, the bloodline of Christ, the embalmed head of Christ, the Cathar heresy, Alchemy and occultism, Freemasonry, and the list goes on. A small part of the lore can possibly contain a seed of truth, but most of it is preposterous.

II. The Beginning - And the End

There are many different myths about the beginning of the Order of the Temple, but comparatively little is really known. That, of course, is why there is so much room for speculation. Established history holds that Hugh de Payns and eight other men founded the "The Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon" in 1119. They were recognised by King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and by the Patriarch, Garmund, and their task was to protect pilgrims. First in 1129, at the Council of Troyes, they got general church recognition, and in 1139 the Pope, Innocent II, issued the bull "Omnie datum optimum". It made the order subject only to direct papal jurisdiction. Two more bulls followed: "Milites Templi" (1144) and "Militia Dei" (1145), further adding to the order's privileges.

An order of monks who were also soldiers was not uncontroversial. After all, did not Christ teach that one should turn the other cheek? That this was accepted is much a result of the eloquence, energy, and charisma of one single man: Bernard of Clairvaux (later St. Bernard). This Cistercian abbot is central for the establishment of the Order of the Temple, so central that some writers have been wondering about its purpose - if somewhere a hidden agenda existed.

We will not concern ourselves with the crusades at this point; the many battles, victories, defeats, political and diplomatic intrigues, etc., during the Order's existence. It would take us too far into details. Let us look at the dissolution instead.

The Order of the Knights Templar was dissolved, or abolished, by papal bull "Vox in excelso" in 1312. But why? It appears to be the result of several factors having to do with Philip IV of France, a king who passionately sought its destruction. He managed to get the Templars accused of a number of crimes, and in spite of an almost universal reluctance and long delays, he finally forced the Pope to abolish the order.

The accusations almost certainly were invented, and even if a few knights confessed, they did it under torture only. Anyone knowing anything about psychology knows that an effectively tortured person can be pushed to say anything just to get rid of the pain. Such a confession has no value.

We will not discuss the nature of the accusations here, but we will examine Philip's motives to crush the Templars.

First, he owed them a lot of money. Apart from their military functions, The Knights Templar were international bankers - indeed, they contributed to the development of modern banking. It was rational for Philip to get rid of his debts by getting rid of his creditor.

Second, they had refused him an honorary knighthood, although the English king, Richard the Lionheart, had got one almost a century earlier. Obviously Philip was very offended.

Third, Philip coveted the order for himself. He had suggested a merger of the Templars and the Hospitallers, with himself as Grand Master. With this military power, he wanted to create a French empire in the East by taking Constantinople and placing his brother on the Byzantine throne.

Fourth, Philip - as well as other kings who were finally persuaded to accept the fall of the Temple - envied it its wealth, real or imagined, and wanted to lay his hands on it. The Pope partly cheated him by - to Philip's surprise - transferring the Templar holdings to the Hospitallers.

III. After the Dissolution - People and Property

What happened to the Templar holdings and possessions? A papal bull, Ad providem, transferred it to the Hospitallers, except for the holdings on the Iberian peninsula, about which was to be decided later.

Greedy kings tried to grasp as much as they could and the Hospitallers did not receive everything. In Scotland, however, they did not only receive it, they kept the Templar holdings separately for several centuries, as Terrae Templariae, within the Order of St.John.

On the Iberian peninsula, new orders were sometimes created to take care of Templar property, and (in some cases) to provide a refuge for ex-Templars: The Order of Christ in Portugal; and in Aragon, Montesa, which got possessions in Valencia. otherwise the Hospitallers, other existing orders, or greedy kings and barons took the rest.

But what about the knights? Except for a few who were executed, the majority lived on as retired, at the cost of Templar assets, or at the cost of those who had taken over Templar assets. They still were monks and the dissolution of their order did not release them from their vows.

Some knights joined orders on the Iberian peninsula, and a few disappeared - probably to Scotland or the Middle East.

There is a legend about a disappearing Templar treasure, and it is a fact that a large part of their fleet vanished. Nobody knows for certain if there was a treasure, but given the order's wealthy past, it is not unlikely. Did it vanish with the fleet? We will never know, but there is one clue to where some ships might have gone. There are signs suggesting that Knights Templar took part in, even determined the outcome of, the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, where - against all odds - the Scots won a great and decisive victory over the English.

IV. The Templar Legacy

The Templars were the first military order; all other military orders were modelled after them.

They also inspired to Pseudo-Military Honorary Orders of Chivalry. The first to be created was the Order of the Garter in 1348. It was soon followed by others and new ones appeared for centuries; several are still alive. These orders had/have no autonomy, no military activity, and no holdings; they were/are linked to a king or other potentate, and are ultimately a matter of prestige only.

When Ignatius Loyola created the Jesuit Order in 1540, his model was the Templar warrior-monk, although fighting with words, not swords; and even the Salvation Army with its military titles shows Templar influence.

Templar legends associating the knights with secret or occult knowledge inspired to occult orders, as the Order of New Templars, Ordo Templi Orientis, the Order of the Golden Dawn, and many others.

But what about Freemasonry? There is an inspirational link, yes, but is it more?

There are several Masonic systems, so-called rites; Freemasonry is not to be considered as a single order. What is relevant in the Templar context is the Scottish Rite, which is the genuine original order. Introduced into an extension of the Scottish Rite, The German Baron Karl Gottlieb von Hund claimed to restore the Order of the Temple, which he did, he said, on the orders of unknown superiors. This Templar Freemasonry came to be called "Strict Observance".

In "Templar Strict Observance" (1750), von Hund claims "by way of uninterrupted transmission, the succession of the Knight Templars [sic], whose existence has been carried on secretly up to that date."

Was this just a way to increase the prestige of Freemasonry by providing it with an illustrious pedigree, or might it be based on something real? We will refrain from that discussion here and now - it would grow too long.

The Teutonic Knights, followed the rule of the Templars. For a short time they held land north of the Transylvanian Alps, but lost it in 1225, whereafter they concentrated their activity to northeastern Europe, where they created a territorial state (Ordensstaat). The last Grand Master, Albert (Albrecht), of the House of Hohenzollern transformed the state to a secular, inheritable duchy, Prussia. With Brandenburg (already a possession of the Hohenzollern family, since 1415) and Prussia as their power base, this house created the kingdom of Prussia in 1701 and held the German imperial throne 1871-1918.

Seeing Himmler's SS in this context might surprise some of you, but it is an often overlooked fact that Nazism at heart was a religion. Without that perspective, understanding it is impossible.

"[…] this idea of himself as the German Messiah was the source of his personal power. It enabled him to become the ruler of eighty million people - and in the space of twelve short years to leave his incredible mark on history."

(Schellenberg, about Hitler)

"The hierarchical organisation and the imitation through symbolic rites, that is to say, without bothering the brain but by working on the imagination through magic and the symbols of a cult, all this is the dangerous element, and the element I have taken over."

(Adolf Hitler, quoted in Hermann Rauschning: Hitler Speaks, 1939)

Himmler based SS on the structure of the Jesuit Order, but it is quite obvious that Templar legends inspired him too, and that the Teutonic Knights were counted among the forebears. SS was a "modern" pagan religious order of knighthood with an elaborate ritual, centred at the castle of Wewelsburg, Himmler's Grail castle.

Charles G. Addison, in his "The Knights Templars" (1842) describes how the lawyers came to take over the Templar premises in London, The Temple, inheriting the servants, continuing the customs, and adopting several aspects of Templar structure into The Law Society. This, he claims, makes the Society a continuation of the Order of the Temple. He writes:

"It is evident that the lawyers were the immediate successors of the Knights Templars, in the occupation of the Temple, as the lessees of the earl of Lancaster.

Now it is worthy of remark, that many of the rules, customs, and usages of the society of Knights Templars are to this day observed in the Temple, naturally leading us to conclude that these domestics and retainers of the ancient brotherhood became connected with the legal society formed therein, and transferred their services to that learned body."

V. Appendix: On the Order's Name

To avoid confusion when reading about the Knights Templar, some knowledge about the different names the order has in historical literature may be useful. There probably are more, but the most common are:

-The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Jesus Christ and the Temple of Solomon

-The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Jesus Christ

-The Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon

-The Order of the Temple

-The Order of the Temple of Solomon

-The Knights Templar

-The Templars

-The Temple

It is worth mentioning that the forms Knight Templars or Knights Templars, although sometimes seen, are entirely incorrect. The correct plural form is Knights Templar.

Read my whole series of articles about the Knights Templar. I list the articles here, in the best order for reading; it is not the order in which they were published.

1. The Order of the Temple - The Knights Templar

2. The Mysteries of the Knights Templar

3. Symbols of the Knights Templar & Templars in Fiction: Literature and Film

4. The Knights Templar & The Circular Number Nine

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