History UsefulNotes / TheKnightsTemplar

** Their original mission was to protect Christian pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades after the First Crusade]], and its initiates were the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ, {{Warrior Monk}}s dedicated to the vow of poverty they took. But in the course of time, the Templars' facilities became respected stopping points where travelers could store their cash and reclaim it at another branch, and they slowly became bankers. They received exemptions from paying taxes from the Church, owned land in various European nations and gradually expanded their operations from their original mission as time passed and their duties became complex.

The '''[[OverlyLongName Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon]]''' a.k.a. '''The Order of the Temple''' a.k.a. '''The Knights Templar''' were a Christian [[TheOrder religious order]] founded during UsefulNotes/TheCrusades. Despite the title of ''poor'' fellow soldiers, the Order eventually became renowned for being the wealthiest ChurchMilitant, especially renowned for its banking prowess.

!Tropes associated with the Templars:

* TheAlliance: Frequently, with various nations in Europe, but defied when it came to uniting with the Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights. They scrupulously refused the idea, possibly because they would have to operate under the control of the King of France.

The Rise and Fall of the Templars, seen in retrospect, is a case of classic [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_creep Mission Creep]]. The Order's original purpose was to protect pilgrims but it gradually expanded to serving as a voluntary Crusader army and peacekeeping force. From there it expanded into infrastructure and finance. This expansion was inversely proportional to the gradual waning of the Crusader mentality in the 1200s, at which point the presence of an organization subsidized by the nobility and the Church, free of any regulation from secular authority, and possessing considerable prestige, raised the eyebrow of both royal Kings and their fellow Christian orders. In the wake of the Fourth Crusade, where the Crusaders sacked the Byzantine Empire instead of the Outremer, and the fall of Acre in 1291, many argued that the Templars no longer had any purpose. Their rival Church organization, the Hospitallers, wanted to merge with the Templars and access their infrastructure. By the dawn of the 1300s, the Templars were without a clear purpose and their failure to attract royal and church aid for another Crusade signaled that the Order was now nothing more than a financial institute. The Templars did appear to entertain hopes of starting an actual Kingdom in Languedoc, in imitation of the The Teutonic Knights (who set up shop in Prussia), but this in turn merely aroused the further suspicion of [[UsefulNotes/LEtatCestMoi King Philip IV of France]].

* GondorCallsForAid: Averted in one notable instance in 1300. After being forced out of the Holy Land the Templars reached out to the Mongols to arrange an alliance agains the Mamluks. Setting sail from Cyprus, they began by raiding the Egyptian and Syrian coast until they arrived at the arranged meeting spot... but the Mongols didn't show. They tried again several times, all with the same result, until they finally ran out of possible meeting places.

* {{Pirate}}: After losing their foothold in the Holy Land and taking up residence in Cyprus they turned to raiding the coast of Mamluk territory for awhile, so, like their brother order the Hospitallers, they were for a time [[NinjaPirateRobotZombies ''Pirate'' Warrior Monks]].

* GondorCallsForAid: Averted. After being forced out of the Holy Land the Templars reached out to the Mongols to arrange an alliance agains the Mamluks. In 1300 they left Cyprus and began by raiding the Egyptian and Syrian coast until they arrived at the arranged meeting spot... but the Mongols didn't show. They tried again several times, all with the same result, until they finally ran out of possible meeting places.

* David Eddings had a series (''Literature/TheElenium'' and ''Tamuli'') with an order of knights based loosely on the historical Knights Templar.

[[caption-width-right:350: Templar on Horseback, mounted with lance ]]

* WorthyOpponent: According to reports by Western chroniclers, anyway, they were seen as this by UsefulNotes/TheHashshashin cult, aka the ''original'' "Assassins", and vice versa - yes, [[AssassinsCreed Templars versus Assassins]]. The stated reason for this was actually quite pragmatic: the Assassins devoted a lot of time and training into sending out a single agent, whose task was to kill the enemy army's leader, even at the cost of his own life. This worked because most medieval militaries were [[KeystoneArmy Keystone Armies]], and killing their commander made the entire force unravel. In contrast, the Templars were much better organized and regimented, close to the fashion of a modern military - according to the reports, the Assassins hated fighting the Templars because if they killed one Templar commander, he would simply be replaced by the next highest ranking officer, and the Templar force would maintain unit cohesion instead of just collapsing. So the Assassins ended up wasting a lot of agents and resources for limited results.

* The WorldWarII AdventurerArchaeologist, warrior (he was too independent in his style to be called a "soldier"), spy, nobleman, and general {{Badass}} László Ede Almásy de Zsadány et Törökszentmiklós apparently was involved in an arcane cult that claimed descent from The Knights Templar. He worked for the Hungarians, which qualifies him as a WorthyOpponent of the Allies.

* In the ''{{GURPS}} Fantasy'' setting, the Templars existed as an order on the world of Yrth; a world populated by fantasy creatures and humans accidentally transported from the era of UsefulNotes/TheCrusades on Earth. The Templars were rumored to be the only humans to have deliberately transported themselves there by magic.

** Historians have speculated whether there was any basis in reality concerning "Baphomet". One theory argues that it was a misinterpretation of Templar trials to preserve faith in "Heathen" lands, a simulation of real-and-imagined apostasy and how to fake it. Another theory suggests that as a result of trade and contact with the Arab world, some parts of the Templars began exchanging ideas with Islamic scholars [[note]]Some suggest that Baphomet is either a corruption of "Mahomet" the French word for the Prophet, or alternatively a derivation of "Abu fihamat" which means "Father of Understanding"[[/note]] and became syncretized. Which naturally was blown out of proportion during ThePurge.

King Philip "le Bel"[[note]]The Handsome - [[HotGuysAreBastards He was said to be exceptionally goodlooking]][[/note]] was a monarch who was interested in reforming finances and centralizing his kingdom under one rule. Like most medieval monarchs, his kingdom teetered on bankruptcy and he was perennially strapped for cash. Initially Philip IV was friendly with the Templars, having taken hospitality at the Temple Fortress fleeing a riot in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}. Gradually, the Templars considerable presence as a "state within a state", papal authority to travel across all borders without any dues or regulation to secular authority, in addition to their considerable stores of wealth caught his attention. In addition, Philip IV had claims on Templar territory in Champagne, France and was troubled with their petition to form a Kingdom in Languedoc and later in Cyprus. On top of this, Philip IV was conducting his own campaign to expand royal authority and limit Papal Authority, succeeding in deposing Pope Boniface VIII and installing a Frencman as Pope Clement V and moving the papacy to Avignon from Rome. This coincided with the King's persecution of the Templars, their mass arrests on October 1307, Friday, the 13th. The Templars were arrested, accused of blasphemy (worship of crypto-Musim and neo-pagan MysteryCult) and sodomy, tortured into confessions and burned at the stake. Overnight, the nearly 200 year old organization ceased to function, with Templar initiates, lapsing from the Order, joining rival orders and generally heading for the hills. These arrests ended the role of Church military orders in finance, and strengthened royal authority who once again became the centers of economy. It also became an endpoint for UsefulNotes/TheCrusades whose enthusiasm had already ebbed, with the Templars serving as TheRemnant. The dramatic fall from grace, from Poor Brothers venerated for their devotion to Christ to blasphemers and neo-pagans associated with usury, cemented the rise of the Templar legend.

* The Temple area in the [[OneLondonThirtyThreeBoroughs City of London]] is indirectly named for the Knights: their "house" and church (Temple Church, still standing) in London were located there beginning in the 12th century.

* ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'' gives the Knights Templar some historical [[TheKnightsHospitallers Hospitallier]] holdings. And they're the closest thing the film has to actual villains....

* David Eddings had a series (''{{Elenium}}'' and ''Tamuli'') with an order of knights based loosely on the historical Knights Templar.

* ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}'': The Protoss warrior caste are called the Templars.

* The World Bank in the CarlBarks & Creator/DonRosa continuity of ''DonaldDuck'' is a front of the Templars. One epic arc focused on Scrooge's quest for their hidden treasure [[spoiler:which was hidden under his family castle. Scrooge himself is a Templar descendant]].

* In the Literature/GemmaDoyleTrilogy, Kartik tells Gemma that some of the KnightsTemplar were members of the Rakshana.

* ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'' and its sequel feature them (albeit not as playable factions) alongside their fellow crusading orders once the Catholics get the Crusades up and running.

[[folder:Web Orginal]]

The Templars in Jerusalem claimed the Al Aqsa mosque as their base of operations, believing that the lost Temple of Solomon was buried beneath it. This association with Solomon and their occupation of religious buildings during the Crusades formed the seed of their later legend, as well as provide the Temple of their title. But for the most part, the Templars served as a military order of exceptional versatility. Templars had proper ranks between Knights, Chaplains and Sergeants. The Knights were the elite fighting force, while the Sergeants, also known as brothers were the poorer recruits. Only Knights, recruited from the noble aristocracy, wore the iconic Templar regalia of White Surcoat over Chain Mail emblazoned with a Red Cross on its chest. The sergeants, drawn from the lower classes and so the majority, wore black habits and served as infantrymen or servants. Chaplains wore green and were responsible for religious services. They were famous during the Crusades for their discipline, their refusal to retreat from battle and their religious devotion. The Templars played a key role in the Third Crusade, thwarting a few victories for Saladin and fighting alongside King Richard I and King Louis VII. They also served with the Spanish and Portuguese monarchs during the Reconquista. The Templars gradually constituted a sort of Kingdom unto itself. They built castles, fortresses, as well as garrisoned towns, they had a proper organization with a Grand Master, elected for life and based in Jerusalem. Templar territories in various regions were organized into provinces with commanders and preceptors manning these posts, most of whom were appointed by vote. The Templars by the mid-1200s, possessed property across Western Europe, the Mediterranean and the Holy Land. For a time, the Templars "owned" the island of UsefulNotes/{{Cyprus}}. Their military strength and noble vows and renunciation of titles, gave them credibility to collect, store and transport bullion and other valuables across a wide region. Storehouses holding reserve currency and their general bureaucratic efficiency, command of land and sea trade routes made them attractive to bankers and kings, in addition to pilgrims. From this skill with banking and finance, the association of Templars and treasure entered the conspiracy legend.

The '''[[OverlyLongName Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon]]''' a.k.a. '''The Order of the Temple''' a.k.a. '''The Knights Templar''' were a Christian [[TheOrder religious order]] founded during TheCrusades. Despite the title of ''poor'' fellow soldies, the Order eventually became reknowned for being the wealthiest ChurchMilitant, especially reknowned for its banking prowess.

The Templars in Jerusalem claimed the Al Aqsa mosque as their base of operations, believing that the lost Temple of Solomon was buried beneath it. This association with Solomon and their occupation of religious buildings during the Crusades formed the seed of their later legend, as well as provide the Temple of their title. But for the most part, the Templars served as a military order of exceptional versatility. Templars had proper ranks between Knights, Chaplains and Sergeants. The Knights were the elite fighting force, while the Sergeants, also known as brothers were the poorer recruits. Only Knights, recruited from the noble aristocracy, wore the iconic Templar regalia of White Surcoat over Chain Mail emblazoned with a Red Cross on its chest. The sergeants, drawn from the lower classes and so the majority, wore black habits and served as infantrymen or servants. Chaplins wore green and were responsible for religious services. They were famous during the Crusades for their discipline, their refusal to retreat from battle and their religious devotion. The Templars played a key role in the Third Crusade, thwarting a few victories for Saladin and fighting alongside King Richard I and King Louis VII. They also served with the Spanish and Portuguese monarchs during the Reconquista. The Templars gradually constituted a sort of Kingdom unto itself. They built castles, fortresses, as well as garrisoned towns, they had a proper organization with a Grand Master, elected for life and based in Jerusalem. Templar territories in various regions were organized into provinces with commanders and preceptors manning these posts, most of whom were appointed by vote. The Templars by the mid-1200s, possessed property across Western Europe, the Meditteranean and the Holy Land. For a time, the Templars "owned" the island of UsefulNotes/{{Cyprus}}. Their military strength and noble vows and renunciation of titles, gave them credibility to collect, store and transport bullion and other valuables across a wide region. Storehouses holding reserve currency and their general bureaucratic efficiency, command of land and sea trade routes made them attractive to bankers and kings, in addition to pilgrims. From this skill with banking and finance, the asssociation of Templars and treasure entered the conspiracy legend.

The Rise and Fall of the Templars, seen in retrospect, is a case of classic [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_creep Mission Creep]]. The Order's original purpose was to protect pilgrims but it gradually expanded to serving as a voluntary Crusader army and peacekeeping force. From there it expanded into infrastructure and finance. This expansion was inversely proportional to the gradual waning of the Crusader mentality in the 1200s, at which point the presence of an organization subsidized by the noblility and the Church, free of any regulation from secular authority, and possessing considerable prestige, raised the eyebrow of both royal Kings and their fellow Christian orders. In the wake of the Fourth Crusade, where the Crusaders sacked the Byzantine Empire instead of the Outremer, and the fall of Acre in 1291, many argued that the Templars no longer had any purpose. Their rival Church organization, the Hospitallers, wanted to merge with the Templars and access their infrastructure. By the dawn of the 1300s, the Templars were without a clear purpose and their failure to attract royal and church aid for another Crusade signalled that the Order was now nothing more than a financial institute. The Templars did appear to entertain hopes of starting an actual Kingdom in Languedoc, in imitation of the The Teutonic Knights (who set up shop in Prussia), but this in turn merely aroused the further suspicion of [[UsefulNotes/LEtatCestMoi King Philip IV of France]].

King Philip "le Bel"[[note]]The Handsome - [[HotGuysAreBastards He was said to be exceptionally goodlooking]][[/note]] was a monarch who was interested in reforming finances and centralizing his kingdom under one rule. Like most medieval monarchs, his kingdom teetered on bankruptcy and he was perennially strapped for cash. Initially Philip IV was friendly with the Templars, having taken hospitality at the Temple Fortress fleeing a riot in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}. Gradually, the Templars considerable presence as a "state within a state", papal authority to travel across all borders without any dues or regulation to secular authority, in addition to their considerable stores of wealth caught his attention. In addition, Philip IV had claims on Templar territory in Champagne, France and was troubled with their petition to form a Kingdom in Languedoc and later in Cyprus. On top of this, Philip IV was conducting his own campaign to expand royal authority and limit Papal Authority, succeeding in deposing Pope Boniface VIII and installing a Frencman as Pope Clement V and moving the papacy to Avignon from Rome. This coincided with the King's persecution of the Templars, their mass arrests on October 1307, Friday, the 13th. The Templars were arrested, accused of blasphemy (worship of crypto-Musim and neo-pagan MysteryCult) and sodomy, tortured into confessions and burned at the stake. Overnight, the nearly 200 year old organization ceased to function, with Templar initiates, lapsing from the Order, joining rival orders and generally heading for the hills. These arrests ended the role of Church military orders in finance, and strengthened royal authority who once again became the centers of economy. It also became an endpoint for TheCrusades whose enthuasiasm had already ebbed, with the Templars serving as TheRemnant. The dramatic fall from grace, from Poor Brothers venerated for their devotion to Christ to blasphemers and neo-pagans associated with usury, cemented the rise of the Templar legend.

* Throughout the ''Requiem'' series of books by Robyn Young, which follows the fall of the Templars, we see the fall of Acre and the attempts of the Templar Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, and Pope Clement V to get another [[TheCrusades crusade]] going. They never do.

* In the ''{{GURPS}} Fantasy'' setting, the Templars existed as an order on the world of Yrth; a world populated by fantasy creatures and humans accidentally transported from the era of TheCrusades on Earth. The Templars were rumored to be the only humans to have deliberately transported themselves there by magic.

[[caption-width-right:350: Templar on Horseback, mounted with lance [[/note]]]]

[[quoteright:270:[[VideoGame/EmpireEarth http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knightstemplar.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:270:You know better than to mess with them.[[note]][[Franchise/AssassinsCreed Unless you have a blade or two mounted under your inner forearms. Then bathe in their flowing blood.]][[/note]]]]

The Templars in Jerusalem claimed the Al Aqsa mosque as their base of operations, believing that the lost Temple of Solomon was buried beneath it. This association with Solomon and their occupation of religious buildings during the Crusades formed the seed of their later legend, as well as provide the Temple of their title. But for the mast period, the Templars served as a military order of exceptional versatility. Templars had proper ranks between Knights, Chaplains and Sergeants. The Knights were the elite fighting force, while the Sergeants, also known as brothers were the poorer recruits. Only Knights, recruited from the noble aristocracy, wore the iconic Templar regalia of White Surcoat over Chain Mail emblazoned with a Red Cross on its chest. The sergeants, drawn from the lower classes and so the majority, wore black habits and served as infantrymen or servants. Chaplins wore green and were responsible for religious services. They were famous during the Crusades for their discipline, their refusal to retreat from battle and their religious devotion. The Templars played a key role in the Third Crusade, thwarting a few victories for Saladin and fighting alongside King Richard I and King Louis VII. They also served with the Spanish and Portuguese monarchs during the Reconquista. The Templars gradually constituted a sort of Kingdom unto itself. They built castles, fortresses, as well as garrisoned towns, they had a proper organization with a Grand Master, elected for life and based in Jerusalem. Templar territories in various regions were organized into provinces with commanders and preceptors manning these posts, most of whom were appointed by vote. The Templars by the mid-1200s, possessed property across Western Europe, the Meditteranean and the Holy Land. For a time, the Templars "owned" the island of UsefulNotes/{{Cyprus}}. Their military strength and noble vows and renunciation of titles, gave them credibility to collect, store and transport bullion and other valuables across a wide region. Storehouses holding reserve currency and their general bureaucratic efficiency, command of land and sea trade routes made them attractive to bankers and kings, in addition to pilgrims. From this skill with banking and finance, the asssociation of Templars and treasure entered the conspiracy legend.

King Philip "le Bel"[[note]]The Handsome - [[HotGuysAreBastards He was said to be exceptionally goodlooking]][[/note]] was a monarch who was interested in reforming finances and centralizing his kingdom under one rule. Like most medieval monarchs, his kingdom teetered on bankruptcy and he was perennially strapped for cash. Initially Philip IV was friendly with the Templars, having taken hospitality at the Temple Fortress fleeing a riot in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}. Gradually, the Templars considerable presence as a "state within a state", papal authority to travel across all borders without any dues or regulation to secular authority, in addition to their considerable stores of wealth caught his attention. In addition, Philip IV had claims on Templar territory in Champagne, France and was troubled with their petition to form a Kingdom in Languedoc and later in Cyprus. On top of this, Philip IV was conducting his own campaign to expand royal authority and limit Papal Authority, succeeding in deposing Pope Boniface VIII and installing a Frencman as Pope Clement V and moving the papacy to Avignon from Rome. This coincided with the King's persecution of the Templars, their mass arrests on October 1307, Friday, the 13th. The Templars were arrested, accused of blasphemy (worship of crypto-Musim and neo-pagan MysteryCult) and sodomy, tortured into confessions and burned at the stake. Overnight, the nearly 200 year old organization ceased to function, with Templar initiates, lapsing from the Order, joining rival orders and generally heading for the hills. These arrests ended the role of Church military orders in finance, and strengthened royal authority who once again became the centers of economy. It also became an endpoint for TheCrusades whose enthuasiasm had already ebbed, with the Templars serving as TheRemnant. The dramatic fall from grace, from Poor Brothers venerated for their devotion to Christ orders to blasphemers and neo-pagans associated with usury, cemented the rise of the Templar legend.