Why were the Knights Templar founded? Who were the original Templars? What was their underlying mission? These are questions that anybody interested in the Templars inevitably poses. The answers seem straightforward…until you take a closer look.
The mainstream account of their origin can be found in the writings of William of Tyre – a contemporary chronicler – who wasn’t actually much of a fan of the Templars. He was the Archbishop of Tyre and a leading figure in crusader politics.
According to William, nine knights came together in the Holy Land and decided to form a new kind of brotherhood. This was twenty years after Jerusalem had been taken by the crusader forces in 1099. So the year of origin is either 1118 or 1119.
These knights were – if William is to be believed – very aware of establishing a new kind of military unit. The Templars would combine the prayerful activities of a monk with strict military drills. And unlike secular knights, they would remain in the Holy Land all year round – not leaving to return to their estates and wives. Because they would have no such commitments.
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Why were they set up? Because despite Christian control of Jerusalem, the roads into the city were perilous and the flood of pilgrims from Europe were getting robbed and even murdered as they made their way – on the religious trip of a lifetime – to the Holy Sepulchre and other holy sites. As William explains:
Their primary duty, one which was enjoined upon them by the Lord Patriarch and the other bishops for the remission of sins, was that of protecting the roads and routes against the attacks of robbers and brigands. This they did especially in order to safeguard pilgrims.
Where were they based? William explains:
Since they had no church nor any fixed abode, the king, gave them for a time a dwelling place in the south wing of the palace, near the Lord’s Temple. The canons of the Lord’s Temple gave them, under certain conditions, a square near the palace which the canons possessed. This the knights used as a drill field.
Being based in what is now the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (and had been a mosque before the crusader invasion) was important because the knights believed this was site of the biblical Temple of Solomon. They took the name: the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon. Or in Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici Hierosolymitanis. Mercifully for you – this was shortened to “Templar”.
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After nine years, William writes that there were still only nine Templars. This is the kind of curious detail that makes you begin to suspect the veracity of this origin tale. Then in 1129, after a decade of genuine poverty and struggle, the order exploded on to the scene. Backed by the prominent Cistercian abbot and scholar (and later saint), Bernard of Clairvaux, the Templars had papal privileges showered on them and bequests from wealthy nobles and monarchs.
Shabby, borrowed clothes gave way to pristine white mantles, later emblazoned with a red cross. The hand-to-mouth existence of the early years was replaced by a vast network of wealth-creating hubs from Scotland to Jerusalem.
William wrote that all trace of humility disappeared and every hand that had fed them was bitten:
Although they maintained their establishment honorably for a long time and fulfilled their vocation with sufficient prudence, later, because of the neglect of humility (which is known as the guardian of all virtues and which, since it sits in the lowest place, cannot fall), they with drew from the Patriarch of Jerusalem, by whom their Order was founded and from whom they received their first benefices and to whom they denied the obedience which their predecessors rendered. They have also taken away tithes and first fruits from God’s churches, have disturbed their possessions, and have made themselves exceedingly troublesome.
Very soon, chroniclers were suggesting that the Templars had always operated to their own agenda. But what was that – beyond enriching themselves? The problem with the contemporary criticism of the Templars is it just reads like the jealous ravings of Catholic clerics – priests and bishops – annoyed that the Knights Templar were getting so much attention…and money.
In subsequent centuries, there has been an avalanche of theories about why the Templars really were set up. Here are some of those theories explored in greater depth in other posts on this site – so do use the search button for more details:
- The Templars were set up by the Priory of Sion, a clandestine organisation dedicated to protecting the bloodline of Jesus Christ – the descendants born from his secret marriage to Mary Magdalene.
- A network of the descendants of the High Priests of the Temple of Jerusalem, termed the Rex Deus, set up the Knights Templar as their military wing.
- The Freemasons may have predated the Templars by thousands of years and brought them into being. Today, the Templars have been fully absorbed back into Freemasonry.
- The mission of the Knights Templar was to excavate under the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem and find the holiest of relics including the Ark of the Covenant, Holy Grail, shroud of Jesus, spear of destiny, etc. They succeeded and the church was terrified of them because of this.
- The Templars were Catholics who had absorbed older versions of Christianity – such as gnosticism – while on crusade in the Holy Land. With this knowledge, they blackmailed successive popes into showering them with privileges.
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!
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