The Knights Templar in Spain

The Knights Templar had a significant presence in Spain with magnificent castles and fortresses. The Templars were in the front line of the so-called ‘Reconquista’ – pushing back Islamic rule in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. This is the often forgotten crusade where Christianity won the day – unlike what happened in the Holy Land.

When the Templars existed, modern Spain did not yet exist. The map below shows you what the Iberian Peninsula looked like in the year 1200 CE – very different from today. In the year 711CE, an Islamic army invaded from Morocco and took all what is now Spain and Portugal, even pushing deep in France.

By slow degrees, Christian crusader kingdoms emerged in the north of the peninsula – Leon, Castile, Aragon, and Navarre – and began eating into Muslim-controlled Iberia. Portugal split from Leon to create yet another Christian realm. By 1200, the Almohads had become the Muslim rulers of southern Iberia and they had to fight hard to retain their European empire.

This process of Christian kingdoms pushing back Muslim rule came to be known as the ‘Reconquista’ Just as in the Holy Land, Catholic military orders like the Templars and Hospitallers came to play a role in the process – alongside military orders that only operated in Iberia. The pope encouraged knights to remain in Spain and fight. In his view, the frontline in this religious war between Islam and Christianity extended from the Atlantic through to the deserts of the Middle East.

It fell to the Knights Templar to hold the line between the Muslim and Catholic worlds. They were the shock troops of the crusades. Their properties included:

• Castillo de los Templarios in Ponferrada – The castle was commissioned by King Ferdinand II in 1178 CE to protect pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. This was the route across northern Spain to the shrine of Saint James the Apostle – one of the most important pilgrimage routes in medieval Europe.
• Castle of Montalbán – built by the Templars in the 13th century on the ruins of an Islamic citadel. It stands majestically above the Torcón River.
• Castle of Villalba in Cebolla – this was located in central Spain, near Toledo, and had big strategic importance. It had been a Roman then Muslim fortress before being taken over by the Templars.
• Castle of San Servando in Toledo – this Templar castle was located in Toledo, which became the capital of the united kingdoms of Castile and Leon in 1230. But when Spain was fully united after 1492, the decision was eventually made to move the capital to Madrid. Before being occupied by the knights, it was a Benedictine monastery but in the 12th century, with the Muslim threat still very real, the Templars were invited to convert the buildings into an imposing castle that still stands.
• Castle of Peñíscola – previously this was the Moorish fortress of Baniskula but when the crusaders took Valencia, King James II of Aragon gave the castle to the Templars in 1294, along with nearby castles at Polpís and Xivert. This was a very late bequest to the order and the Templars set about remodelling the castle, only finishing it in the same year they were arrested – in 1307.

If you would like to know more about the Knights Templar, then get your hands on a copy of my book: The Knights Templar – History & Mystery. Published by Pen & Sword and available on Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, and WHSmith. Don’t miss out on your copy!