ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

The Templars

Updated on January 19, 2023

Introduction

The Templar Knights, (or Knights Templar) were real people.

Although seeing the Da Vinci Code or Indiana Jones one might think there existence is a myth, it is not.

From 1118 to 1314 the Knights Templar took it as their duty to protect Christians who wished to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Who They Were

The Knights Templar were Monks. Monks who could fight. They were very much like Ninjas. They were extremely effective warriors.

They claimed to have possession of the Ark of the Covenant.

As portrayed in the Da Vinci Code, the Knights believed Jesus and Mary Magdalene had married and had children. After his crucifixion she had come with their children to live in France.

The children married into French Royalty and began the Merovingian line which
the Knights swore to protect at all costs.

The Beginnings

The Templars created Inns all along the route from France to the Holy Land.

They created their own currency. This allowed travelers to deposit sums with them and were granted a letter of credit, (old fashioned credit card). The travelers would use this letter of credit as it was accepted everywhere along the route they would travel without worry or fear.

A Pilgrim could leave France, travel though what is today Germany, on through the Slavic nations, down into the Middle East without having to worry about cash.

They would stay at Templar Inns, eat their fill, then travel on.

This encouraged travel and created many side businesses, i.e. running inns and stables, growing food, etc. and made the Templars very rich.

The Down Fall

By the year 1300 they were the most popular Religious Order. The most popular, and the strongest.

There were over Seven Thousand members of the the Knights Templars and they owned more than Nine Hundred castles.

They had a great deal of gold and treasures.

They had so much wealth they could make loans.

One of them was to the King of France.

Bad Debt

Phillipe IV of France owed a great deal of money to the Knights Templar.

He did not wish to repay this money.

He decided that the Templars had become too powerful and he needed to destroy them.

Phillipe talked to the Pope. He emphasised the fact that as things were now, the Templars could overthrow both of them, unless they acted first.

As in those days the Pope was more a political figure, more of a King than a Monk.

As power was the most important item to both the King and Pope, they planned the destruction of the Knights Templar.


The Pope

The Pope, who ought have aligned with his Monks, who were spreading his religion and making travel to the Holy Land safe, instead, controlled by money and power, aligned with the French King.

He actively participated in a plot against the Templars.

The Knights Templars were very much beloved, considered great heroes. They were considered perfect Warriors in the Service of Christ.

But the King owed money he didn't want to pay, and the Pope aligned with the French King.

The Invitation

Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master of the Knights, was invited to Paris by the Pope.

Taking it as an honour, he arrived in Paris and was instantly arrested.

Then, the French King dispatched his soldiers to capture all the Knights they could find at the various castles.

Over fifteen thousand of Molay's supporters were captured. Some did escape and it is believed some reached Switzerland.

It is uncertain how many eluded the French forces but there was a number.

In France, Molay and the Knights were charged with various offenses, including Sodomy.

The Trial and Execution

In 1314 Jacques de Molay was sentenced to life imprisonment.
This was due to his confession.
As he stood in the plaza, he suddenly proclaimed he had only made the confession because he was afraid of torture.

He claimed the Knights were guilty of no offence.

At this outburst, Jacques De Molay and his second , Geoffroy de Charnay, were
sentenced to execution. They were taken to the isle of Javiaux where they were
slow roasted over a fire and took a very long time to die.

The End

The Knights Templars were dissolved.

Their property was taken by the Church, (the reason the Pope was so willing to align with the French King).

The King was freed of his debt.

Despite searches, the Ark, that it was claimed the Templars had, was never found.


working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)