The full title of this order is the United, Religious, Military and Masonic Order of the Temple of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta.
Knight Templar or the Order of the Temple, were among the most famous of the Christian military Orders.
European pilgrims rich or poor, noble or peasant, male and female flowed towards Jerusalem under the guidance of the Knight Templars easily recognizable in their white mantle with a distinct red cross rapidly became known as the best equipped, trained, and disciplined fighting units of the Crusades.
The difficulties facing Pilgrims were numerous; routes were menaced by Saracen raiders and Christian bandits, the Pilgrims were at risk of being cheated by merchants through towns they passed. In 1119, French Knight Hugues de Payens and Godfrey de Saint-Omer, veterans of the first Crusade proposed to King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, the new Order for the protection of Pilgrims, King Baldwin agreed to their request and gave them headquarters in Jerusalem on Temple Mount which is believed to be above the ruins of the Temple of Solomon. It was from these headquarters that the order took the name of Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, or Knights of the Temple.
This small Order of nine Knights had to survive on donations as they had little financial resources; displaying their emblem of two knights on a single horse, showing their poverty. In 1129 at the Council of Troyes, the church officially endorsed the Order. With this blessing the Order received money, land, and businesses swiftly grew as a favored charity across Europe along with noble-born sons from families who were eager to help in the fight of the Holy Land.
In 1139, Pope Innocent II exempted the Order from taxation in local laws, which meant that the Knight Templar could pass freely through different borders. The Order became a banking house assisting Nobleman and Kings, who could deposit monies and valuables at one preceptory and with an encrypted document of credit retrieve their monies and valuables at another without incurring the risk of robbery during their journey.
The Templars Order established themselves with a financial network all across Christendom, building churches, castles, bought farms and vineyards manufacturing and importing and exporting, having their own fleet of ships.
In 1305, Pope Clement V had written to King Philip IV of France to help in an investigation into the Templars. King Philip decided to seize upon the Templar rumors as he was deeply in debt to the Templars as a result of his war with the English.
On Friday 13th October 1307, King Philip simultaneously had arrested the Grand Master of the Templars Jacques de Molay and many of the Templars in France, also persuading every country other than Portugal to follow suit, charging the Templars with various types of blasphemy under torture.
Even after retracting their confessions, King Philip wouldn’t allow it, and in 1310 used their previous confessions and had the Templars burned at the stake in Paris.
In 1312 at the Council of Vienna the Pope issued papal bulls, which officially dissolved the Order.
The Grand Master Jacques de Molay and his associate Geoffrey de Charnay who had retracted their statements of guilt were declared guilty of being relapsed heretics and sentenced to death to burn alive at the stake in Paris on March 18th 1314, Jacques de Molay remained defiant to the end, asking to face Notre Dame Cathedral and be allowed to hold his hands in prayer, his request was granted (according to legend) Jacques de Molay called out from the flames that both Pope Clement and King Philip would meet him before God. Pope Clement died one month later, and King Philip died in a hunting accident before the end of that year.
Knight Templars have become subject with many legends concerning Secrets and mysteries handed down from ancient times, and have been brought to the forefront by the “Da Vinci Code” and scores of other series. The Templars were known to be in possession of some relics is certain. Other rumors are the Templars had found the Holy Grail or even the Ark of the Covenant.
In modern times, The Roman Catholic Church’s position that the persecution was unjust, that there was nothing inherently wrong with the Order or its Rule has been proved that Pope Clement had been pressured by King Philip into his actions.
There are many references to Knight Templars in both Spain and Iberia with many Castles showing the signs of the Knight Tempalrs and those of the Knights of Malta.
The Gran Campamento de Caballeros Templarios de España e Iberia or The Grand Encampment of Knight Templars of Spain and Iberia, has confidence in its purity and steadfastness, we respect and support the name of honour, we trust our modern Order of Templars is found wanting and free.
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Chancery of the Orders:
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03730 Jávea (Alicante),
Spain.
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The Gran Campamento de Caballeros Templarios de España e Iberia, accepts no liability for the accuracy of the information contained in our web pages, - it is, to the best of our knowledge, accurate at the time of publication.
Grand Encampment of Knight Templars of Spain and Iberia
Gran Campamento de Caballeros Temparios de España e Iberia
