Do you know the history of the Knights Templar?

Source- Pixabay

In Virtual Variety, we like to investigate on many topics, especially when it comes to history, religions are the point of discussion in many parts of the world, however we can talk about interesting topics that arose thanks to them. Such is the case of these warriors, who undoubtedly fought on behalf of God on earth, today we will know their history.

Pope Urban II, around the year 1095, took a risky but necessary decision according to his advisors, to invade the Holy Land, in order to ensure the safety of all those pilgrims who visited this place, however there was a great dissatisfaction with the Muslims and for this reason these pilgrims were in danger, and that is when the Pope decided to start a crusade to take control of these sacred places. However, many saw this decision as more political than sacred, because with this crusade, the Byzantine Empire was being helped. The battle was arduous and lasted a long time, but in 1099, they won the victory and managed to contain the Muslims.

Due to the instability that was lived at that time, those people who were dedicated to visit the Holy Land, were attacked on the way by bandits, many died trying to get there, and also the soldiers returning to their lands, so the Church did not know how to control this terrible situation, nor how to keep such attacks at bay. The solution was given by two veterans of the first crusade, Frenchmen named Hugues de Payens and Godfrey of Saint-Omer, along with 7 other men, decided to create this new sacred force, King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, gave them permission for such creation, and even allowed them to occupy the space of the ancient Temple of Solomon.

Before calling themselves the Templars, they were called: "Order of the Poor Companions of Christ and the Temple of Solomon". Because it was so large, they reduced it to the name we know today. Already with 9 members, they began their work of defense, however they did not have many resources to recruit more members, nor had enough weapons, so they lived on what they were given or donated. Even their emblem reflected their situation, they were two knights on a horse. However, this did not limit them, nor did it make them deviate from the great commitment they had acquired, to protect the pilgrims who came from Europe, to know the places where the remains of Jesus Christ were and to safeguard lives, all this for free, the most curious thing is that this would change for the good of all.

When the year 1129 arrived at the Council of Troyes, the Church decided to officially approve the Templars, all this thanks to the great defenders that they had, who exposed the great benefits that would bring not only for the Church, but for the world, to have an Army of God, ready to defend the most helpless and defenseless. However, this was not the end of the benefits that Pope Innocent II began to receive, he made the decision that would change the Templar Order, they were exempt from local laws, with this benefit, they could move freely across borders, they would not pay taxes, and would only answer to the Pope who would be their only authority.

Undoubtedly the situation improved in a significant way, from 9 Templars, there were already more than 400 who belonged to this order, even their resources were expanded, but the real challenge came in the year 1177, when they joined in the Battle of Montgisard, where 500 Templar knights, fought tirelessly against the army of Saladin, according to historians, this had more than 25,000 men in their power. Thanks to this victory, many wanted to belong to such an order, and serve the Church, not much was required, simply take the vow of chastity, lead a healthy life, without excesses, stay proactive, and do their monk activities, because remember that when they were not fighting, they had monk work, they took care of the temples where they were, they were dedicated to instruct the novices, they made their daily prayers, among other things.

The money was increasing, to such an extent, that the Templars went from offering security services to pilgrims, fighting in great battles, to also dedicate themselves to keep money, of anyone who needed to keep safe their monetary resources, and this is how many experts agree, that the first "Bank" of Europe emerged, because their system was reliable, safe, they kept in an orderly manner each finance, and they handled the famous accounting books, to see who had an account, how much they had in it. According to the person who needed to travel to a distant place, and did not have the necessary security, he kept the amount of money that he had on him in some Territorial Property that had a Preceptor, he was given a kind of "certificate", this served to the person, to present it in some other temple or delegation of the Order there, to withdraw the money that he had stored. In this way they maintained a great way to keep at bay those unfortunate events where people were killed by highway bandits. It should be noted that not all Templars were dedicated to fight, those who did not have these great skills, but if a good mathematical logic intelligence, and great ability to write, were dedicated to carry these large finances.

Not only they dedicated themselves to create this kind of "Bank", they also built many castles and temples, with the money they collected and earned. They had their own fleet of ships, we could say that they were a kind of multinational company. These great men, who left everything to join to serve God and the Church, had unique abilities, their army was feared, many claimed that they were immortal, divine beings, because when they fought they seemed implacable, everyone would give anything to belong to the Templar Order, from the poorest to the nobles, they wanted to leave their wealth, as long as they were part of this sacred Military Elite Unit. They kept in line many people who wanted to do away with Jerusalem, and those who visited it, they also provided their services in the areas where they traveled, it is even rumored that they guarded the famous "Holy Grail". Many kings had huge debts with the Templars for borrowing money from them, including the King of France, Philip IV.

Their power grew in a gigantic way, not to mention their monetary resources, the fortune they had was so great that many monarchs felt overwhelmed, because the Order that one day began with 9 knights, by 1220 had more than 30,000 soldiers of God, and had become the first economic force in Europe. This undoubtedly caused a discomfort in many great Kings, because somehow they wanted those riches, and to have those men under their power, many thought that if the church, decided to go against any kingdom, this could not do anything, before such a force, and is that remember that the Templars expanded throughout Europe, thus having a greater influence in Spain and Portugal, imagine the magnitude of this.

Having problems to maintain control of Jerusalem, was the perfect excuse to say that the Templars were becoming weak, and that they had deviated from their commitments to God and the Church, these events triggered something that would undoubtedly change the history of the world. The King of France, Philip IV, began a campaign to demoralize the Knights Templar, insinuating that they were sinning, and that they were not going in the same direction of the church, obviously this caused a stir, and more for saying it an "ally" of the church. However, some experts comment that while this was happening, the Templars had an internal problem, the Grand Master, Fray Jacques de Molay, argued with Pope Clement V, for a project that he presented, where he wanted to unite all the orders, as a single army, under the mandate of a single king or widower, before continuing to tell you, we want to make a parenthesis to not confuse them, when we talk about other orders, remember that there was not only the Templar Order, others also made life: "The Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights, among others".

This simply made the fire was stoked, and Pope Clement V, decided to listen to the accusations made by the King of France, whether they were lies or not, the Pope had to make a decision, or defend his brave Knights, and became an enemy of France, thus initiating a rather peculiar war, or supported the King of France, and saw how to punish these "sinners". On June 6, 1306, Grand Master Molay was called by the Pope to recapitulate his attitude and accept this new project, but he did not change his position, and without knowing it or thinking it, the end of the Templars was just beginning. On November 22, 1307, the Christian Kings in Europe received a message that would undoubtedly initiate a tragic event, the Pope's order was to arrest all the Knights Templar and confiscate their goods.

The main office of the Order of the Templars was in Paris, where all their treasures and great fortunes were stored. The King of France threatened Pope Clement V with military action if the Templars were not "unmasked" and the Order dissolved. And it was in 1312 that the Pope officially dissolved the Order of the Templars, citing to the public that they had abused the Papal trust and committed acts of heresy, from satanic rites to pedophilia, among other nefarious things that were alleged for their dissolution. The defenders of the Order sought support in many places, including the Pope, and tried to reach a solution with King Philip IV, because he owed a lot to the order, even still maintained a debt of a large sum of money. But all this was in vain, nobody supported them or listened to them. Everything was already decided, most of the Templars had to die, and so it was, in the month of March, 1314 in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, in the middle of Paris Square, a large bonfire was built, where many Knights Templar were burned alive, one of the last was the Grand Master Jacques de Molay, who before dying, dedicated some harsh words to Pope Clement V and Philip IV: "Today you end my life, but the Order will live forever.... You will pay for the blood of the innocent, Philip, blasphemous king! And you, Clement, traitor to your church! God will avenge our death, and you will both be dead within a year!". Already 706 years have passed, from that tragic condemnation, and terrible situation.

But something happened, nobody knows if it was a Prophecy or a Curse, but curiously, a Month after what happened, Pope Clement V died, and in the month of November, the King and his 3 sons, died, in this way without having any male heir, it was the end of this Dynasty that remained in the power of France, for more than 300 years. Many allege that the end of this Monarchy, and the beginning of the French Revolution, was due to the unjust and cruel murders, which suffered these great warriors, who left everything to protect, watch and care for the most helpless, to fight on behalf of the Church, who turned his back, many historians agree that it was greed, ambition and greed, which led many Kings to unite to kill these Templars, these unfounded accusations was an excuse to justify such acts. And we culminate this extensive post with the words of another great man: "A Templar knight is really a brave knight and safe everywhere, because his soul is protected by the armor of faith, just as his body is protected by the armor of steel. He is therefore doubly armed, and need fear neither demons nor men". - Bernard of Clairvaux. We hope you enjoyed this reading, and learned something new, but we encourage you to comment: What do you think about what happened to the Templars?, did they really commit those terrible acts?, were they killed unjustly?. If you like the Templars, and want to know a little more or learn in another way, we invite you to watch this series dedicated to tell a little about their life, and how they ended: KNIGHTFALL.

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This text was translated from Spanish to English thanks to the translator Deepl.