'Knights Templar' in War & Religion (2017)

Parergon, 2004

History Compass, 2010

Although French, German and British scholars of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries did much to lay the foundations of scholarly study of the Knights Templars, until the 1970s there were few good general histories of the Templars. Over the last three decades, there has been enormous growth in scholarly research and publication on the history of the Templars, although the mushrooming myths about the order make it difficult for non-experts to distinguish between good and bad history. The Templars were a religious order, protected by the pope. They were also a military order, which fought against Islam in defence of Christian pilgrims and Christian territory and played a key role in the crusades. Their leading members were knights, but most of their members were not warriors, and included priests and women, who served God through prayer rather than by fighting. As well as castles and estates in the Middle East, they had property throughout Europe; they served kings and popes as diplomats and advisors. Far from being secretive-as the mythmakers claim-they opened their churches to local people and lodged travellers in their houses. They were pious men who shared the same faith as the Christians they protected. Historians disagree over where the initiative for the order came from-was it the idea of the first Templars themselves, or did Churchmen suggest it to them? The significance of the Templars' operations in the 'crusader kingdoms' in Palestine and Syria has been much discussed. Historians also disagree over the causes of the trial of the Templars (1307-1312), and how far the Templars were innocent victims of a struggle for supremacy between the papacy and the monarchy of France.

Dr Tibble's work is a refreshing take on a subject that, despite being well-covered in academic literature, has the enduring tendency to encourage misunderstanding and 'pseudo-history' outside of scholarly circles. It can be a challenge to combine academic rigour with popular appeal, but the two are excellently balanced in this book. Writing in an engaging and highly readable style, Tibble charts the history of an organisation that, from its humble beginnings, rose rapidly to become a hugely powerful and influential corporation across Europe and the Near East, before its dramatic suppression and dissolution in the early fourteenth century. The Order of the Knights Templar was formed in Jerusalem, around twenty years after the armies of the First Crusade had conquered the city and its surrounding territories (the 'Latin East') from the Muslims. Created to assist in the defence of these territories, this 'military order' combined an elite military vocation with the fierce spirituality, discipline and unity of a monastic lifestyle. Though their beginnings were limited to protecting Christian pilgrims, extensive support from the Papacy, the wider Church and lay society allowed the Templars to grow and extend their remit considerably, participating in crusades, garrisoning castles and acting as financiers, diplomats and tax collectors.

OMS - Complete CBCS Vol. 1, 2015

The Knights Templar have been the subject of nearly a millennium of myth and legend. Esoteric societies such as Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Martinism, and other less known and more hidden bodies are recount numerous legends of these crusader Knights. Here, we will recount a brief summary of the Order’s history and attempt to fill in so-called secret or esoteric history passed down through the Strict Observance, Rite Écossais Rectifié, C.B.C.S., EASIE-EASIA, and other rites.

History Today, vol. 44.12, 1994

In October 1307, by order of Philip IV of France, all the Knights Templar within the French domains were arrested. In November, Pope Clement V sent out orders for the arrest of the Templars throughout Europe. The brothers were accused of a variety of crimes, which were said to be long-established in the order. There were, it was claimed, serious abuses in the admission ceremony, where the brothers denied their faith in Christ. The order encouraged homosexual activity between brothers. The brothers worshipped idols. Chapter meetings were held in secret. The brothers did not believe in the mass or other sacraments of the church and did not carry these out properly, defrauding patrons of the order who had given money for masses to be said for their families' souls. What was more, it was alleged that the Templars did not make charitable gifts or give hospitality as a religious order should. The order encouraged brothers to acquire property fraudulently, and to win profit for the order by any means possible. During the trial of the Templars witnesses claimed that the order's abuses had been notorious far many years and under interrogation, including torture, many brothers confessed to at least some of these crimes. In March 1312, Pope Clement dissolved the Order of' the Temple, giving its property of the Order of the Hospital, and assigning the surviving brothers to other religious orders. Despite this, the question of the order's guilt has never been settled. Just what were the accusations made against the Templars before 1300, and were these related to the trial? What did contemporaries think about the other military orders, such as the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights? This article argues that, from the evidence, the famous, shocking charges brought against the Templars in 1307 were unknown before 1300. The order was certainly guilty of Fraud and unscrupulous greed, but so too were other religious orders. The brothers' real crime was their failure to protect the Holy Land after claiming to be solely responsible for its defence.