Templar

[Telephalsion]

what the heck is a Templar?

ive heard it in many RPG's an other but WHAT IS IT???

[Fredric]

I think it's "tempelriddare".

[Iteroth]

The first of the military orders, the Knights Templar or Poor Knights of Christ were founded in 1118 in the aftermath of the First Crusade to help the new Kingdom of Jerusalem maintain itself against its defeated Muslim neighbors, and to ensure the safety of the large numbers of European pilgrims that flowed towards Jerusalem after its conquest.


History

Their name alludes to their historical headquarters in the Mosque of Omar (a.k.a. "Dome of the Rock") on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This they renamed Templum Domini. Represented on one of their seals, the structure was believed to be a remnant of the Temple of Jerusalem, and was the model for many Templar churches in Europe, for example the Temple Church in London.

The Templars were organized as a monastic order, following a rule created for them by Bernard of Clairvaux, the founder of the Cistercian Order. The Templars were well-connected and quickly became prime movers in the international politics of the Crusades period. In time, they were endowed with several extraordinary Papal bulls (see Omne Datum Optimum) that permitted them, among other things, to levy taxes and accept tithing in the areas under their direct control, facilitating their quick rise to institutional power.

There were four divisions of brothers in the Templars:

* the knights, equipped as heavy cavalry
* the sergeants, equipped as light cavalry and drawn from a lower social class than the knights
* farmers, who administered the property of the Order
* the chaplains, who were ordained priests and saw to the spiritual needs of the Order.

At any time, there were approximately 10 people in support positions for each Knight. In addition, there were brothers devoted only to banking, as this extraordinary Order was often trusted with precious goods by participants in the Crusade - over time this grew into a new basis of money as Templars became increasingly involved in banking activities. It is some indication of their powerful political connections that the Templars' involvement in usury did not lead to more controversy within the Order and the church at large.

The Templars' political connections and awareness of the essentially urban and commercial nature of the Outremer communities naturally led the Order to a position of significant power both in Europe and the Holy Lands. Their success attracted the jealousy and greed of many other Orders and eventually that of the nobility and monarchs of Europe as well, who were at this time seeking to monopolize control of money and banking after a long chaotic period in which civil society, especially the Church and its lay Orders, had dominated financial activities. The Templars' holdings were extensive both in Europe and the Middle East, including, for a time, the entire island of Cyprus.

Besides Palestine, the order also fought in the Spanish Reconquista. They were given extensive possessions and castles in frontier land. At one point, they were to inherit the kingdom of Aragon, jointly with other military orders.

On October 13, 1307, what may have been all the Knights Templar in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of Philip the Fair (Philippe le Bel), to be later tortured into admitting heresy in the Order. A modern historical view is that Philip, who seized the treasury and broke up the monastic banking system, simply sought to control it for himself. This, and the Templars' original banking of assets for suddenly-mobile depositors, were two of many shifts towards a system of military fiat to back European money, removing this power from Church Orders. The Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, seeing the fate of the Templars, were also convinced to give up banking at this time.

Many kings and nobles supported the Knights at that time, and only dissolved the order in their fiefs when ordered so by Pope Clement V. In particular, Robert the Bruce, King of the Scots, had already been excommunicated for other reasons and was not, therefore disposed to pay any attention to Papal commands. As a result many of the order fled to Scotland and also to Portugal, where the order name was changed to "Order of Christ" and is believed to have contributed to the first naval discoveries of the Portuguese.

However, the accusation of religious heresy was not, by the standards of the time, entirely without merit. Under torture, some Templars "admitted" to homosexual acts and the worship of a "bearded head" ("Baphomet"). Their leaders later denied the admission and for that were executed. Some authors discount this as a common accusation (as it was in the Inquisition), and therefore a typical forced admission.

Conspiracy theories related to the suppression of the Knights Templar often go far beyond the simple and obvious motive of simply seizing property and consolidating political power, which was and remains an extremely common motivation for all forms of religious persecution. Ironically, it is the Catholic Church's position that the persecution was unjust, that there was nothing wrong with the Templars, and that the Pope at the time was manipulated into suppressing them.


Modern orders and claims of descent

Some Freemasons believe they were descended from Templars who fled to Scotland and that the group really did have heretical beliefs. There is a Masonic Knights Templar organization which in America and other countries is part of the York Rite. In most jurisdictions it is open only to those who profess a belief in the Christian religion. It is unknown whether or not it has historical connections with the original Knights Templar.

However, an ecumenical Christian chivalric society named the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem was founded in 1804, with the support of Napoleon, that is dedicated to charitable works and antiquarian research. This order operates on the basis of the traditions of the medieval Knights Templar. It is probably the modern organization that most effectively reclaims the spirit of, but does not assert any direct descent from the ancient order. In 2001, the United Nations granted the Order of the Temple a special consultative status.


Myths

The rapid succession of the last direct Capetian kings of France between 1314 and 1328, the three sons of Philip IV the Fair, led many to believe that the dynasty had been cursed – thus the name of "cursed Kings" (rois maudits). It is said that Jacques de Molay, the last master of the order, cursed King Philip while laying on his execution pyre.

Lately, fringe researchers and aficionados of esotericism have claimed that the order stored secret knowledge, linking them to the Rosicrucians, the Hashshashin, the Priory of Sion, the Rex Deus, the Cathars, the Hermetics, the Gnostics, the Essenes, and ultimately lost teachings or relics of Jesus, Solomon and Moses. The Order of the Solar Temple is an example of a neo-Templar group that claimed to be a recipient of this esoterica.

However the order was always surrounded by legends concerning secrets and mysteries handed down to the select from ancient times. Perhaps most well known are the those concerning the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant and secrets of building.

Some sources say the Holy Grail was found by the order and taken to Scotland during the scourging of the order in 1307 and that it remains buried beneath Rosslyn Chapel.

Perhaps the most numerous legends are those concerning the Ark of the Covenant, the chest which contained various sacred objects of ancient Israel including Aarons Rod and, most notably, the tablets of stone inscribed by Moses with the Ten Commandments (c.f. Exodus ch 25).

These myths are connected with the long occupation by the order of the temple mount in Jerusalem. Some sources record that they discovered secrets of the master masons who had built the original and second temples secreted there along with knowledge that the Ark had been moved to Ethiopia before the destruction of the first temple. Some allusion to this is made in engravings on the Cathedral at Chartres, often considered to be the first example of what came to known as the gothic style of architecture, great influence over the building of which was had by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who was also influential in the formation of the order. Further links to both the search by the order for the Ark and to its discovery of ancient secrets of bulding are suggested by existence of the monolithic Church of St George in Lalibela in Ethiopia, which stands to this day and whose construction is attributed to the Knights Templar. There is also an underground church dated to the same period in Aubeterre in France.

Lastly, there is a growing debate about the suggestion that the Knights Templar may have sponsored pre-Columbian voyages to America

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

[Telephalsion]

Iteroth give me the link to that page.. besides it's "Cogito Ergo Sum"

"Veni Vidi Vomui" btw

I came I saw I vomited

[Iteroth]

Iteroth give me the link to that page.. besides it's "Cogito Ergo Sum"

"Veni Vidi Vomui" btw

I came I saw I vomited

LOL. It's been a year and a half since I took a Latin class anyway.

The page is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templar.

[Excell]

Read The Da Vinci Code.

[Telephalsion]

LOL. It's been a year and a half since I took a Latin class anyway.

The page is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templar.

hehe I haven't even taken classes