Templar

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Biography

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (), commonly known as the Knights Templar , the Order of the Temple () or simply as Templars , were among the most famous of the Western Christianity|Western Christian military order s.Malcolm Barber, The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple . Cambridge University Press , 1994. ISBN 0-521-42041-5. The organization existed for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages .

Officially endorsed by the Catholic Church around 1129, the Order became a favored charity throughout Christendom, and grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights, in their distinctive white Mantle (vesture)|mantles with a red Christian cross|cross , were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades . Non-combatant members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom , innovating financial techniques that were an early form of banking ,Martin, p. 47. #Nicholson2001|Nicholson , p. 4. and building fortification s across Europe and the Holy Land .

The Templars' existence was tied closely to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the Order faded. Rumors about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created mistrust, and King Philip IV of France , deeply in debt to the Order, took advantage of the situation. In 1307, many of the Order's members in France were arrested, tortured into giving false confession s, and then death by burning|burned at the stake .Malcolm Barber, The Trial of the Templars . Cambridge University Press, 1978. ISBN 0-521-45727-0. Under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V disbanded the Order in 1312. The abrupt disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the "Templar" name alive into the modern day.

History

Rise

After the First Crusade captured Jerusalem in 1099, many Christian pilgrims travelled to visit what they referred to as the Holy Land|Holy Places . However, though the city of Jerusalem was under relatively secure control, the rest of Outremer was not. Bandits abounded, and pilgrims were routinely slaughtered, sometimes by the hundreds, as they attempted to make the journey from the coastline at Jaffa into the Holy Land. #Burman|Burman , pp. 13, 19.

Around 1119, the French knight Hugues de Payens approached King Baldwin II of Jerusalem with the proposal of creating a monasticism|monastic order for the protection of these pilgrims. King Baldwin agreed to the request, and granted space for a headquarters in a wing of the royal palace on the Temple Mount , in the captured Al-Aqsa Mosque . The Temple Mount had a mystique because it was above what was believed to be the ruins of the Solomon's Temple|Temple of Solomon . The History Channel , Decoding the Past: The Templar Code , 7 November 2005, video documentary written by Marcy Marzuni.Barber, The New Knighthood , p. 7. The Crusaders therefore referred to the Al Aqsa Mosque as Solomon's Temple, and it was from this location that the new Order took the name of Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon , or "Templar" knights. The Order, with about nine knights including Godfrey de Saint-Omer and André de Montbard , had few financial resources and relied on donations to survive. Their emblem was of two knights riding on a single horse, emphasizing the Order's poverty.Read, The Templars . p. 91.

The Templars' impoverished status did not last long. They had a powerful advocate in Saint Bernard of Clairvaux , a leading Church figure and a nephew of André de Montbard, one of the founding knights. Bernard spoke and wrote persuasively on their behalf, and in 1129 at the Council of Troyes the Order was officially endorsed by the Church. With this formal blessing, the Templars became a favored charity throughout Christendom , receiving money, land, businesses, and noble-born sons from families who were eager to help with the fight in the Holy Land . Another major benefit came in 1139, when Pope Innocent II 's papal bull Omne Datum Optimum exempted the Order from obedience to local laws. This ruling meant that the Templars could pass freely through all borders, were not required to pay any taxes, and were exempt from all authority except that of the pope. #Burman|Burman , p. 40.

With its clear mission and ample resources, the Order grew rapidly. Templars were often the advance force in key battles of the Crusades, as the heavily armoured knights on their horses in warfare|warhorses would set out to Cavalry tactics#Tactics of heavy cavalry using lances|charge at the enemy, in an attempt to break opposition lines. One of their most famous victories was in 1177 during the Battle of Montgisard , where some 500 Templar knights helped several thousand infantry to defeat Saladin 's army of more than 26,000 soldiers.The History Channel, Lost Worlds: Knights Templar , July 10, 2006, video documentary written and directed by Stuart Elliott.

Although the primary mission of the Order was military, relatively few members were combatants. The others acted in support positions to assist the knights and to manage the financial infrastructure. The Templar Order, though its members were sworn to individual poverty, was given control of wealth beyond direct donations. A nobleman who was interested in participating in the Crusades might place all his assets under Templar management while he was away. Accumulating wealth in this manner throughout Christendom and the Outremer, the Order in 1150 began generating letter of credit|letters of credit for pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land: pilgrims deposited their valuables with a local Templar preceptory before embarking, received a document indicating the value of their deposit, then used that document upon arrival in the Holy Land to retrieve their funds. This innovative arrangement was an early form of banking , and may have been the first formal system to support the use of cheque s; it improved the safety of pilgrims by making them less attractive targets for thieves, and also contributed to the Templar coffers.

Based on this mix of donations and business dealing, the Templars established financial networks across the whole of Christendom. They acquired large tracts of land, both in Europe and the Middle East; they bought and managed farms and vineyards; they built churches and castles; they were involved in manufacturing, import and export; they had their own fleet of ships; and at one point they even owned the entire island of Cyprus . The Order of the Knights Templar arguably qualifies as the world's first multinational corporation .

Decline

In the mid-12th century, the tide began to turn in the Crusades. The Muslim world had become more united under effective leaders such as Saladin , and dissension arose among Christian factions in and concerning the Holy Land. The Knights Templar were occasionally at odds with the two other Christian military order s, the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights , and decades of internecine feuds weakened Christian positions, politically and militarily. After the Templars were involved in several unsuccessful campaigns, including the pivotal Battle of Hattin|Battle of the Horns of Hattin , Jerusalem was captured by Saladin 's forces in 1187. The Crusaders retook the city in 1229, without Templar aid, but held it only briefly. In 1244, the Khwarezmian Empire|Khwarezmi Turks recaptured Jerusalem, and the city did not return to Western control until 1917 when the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British captured it from the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks .Martin, p. 99.

The Templars were forced to relocate their headquarters to other cities in the north, such as the seaport of Acre, Israel|Acre , which they held for the next century. But they lost that, too, in 1291, followed by their last mainland strongholds, Tartus|Tortosa (in what is now Syria ), and Atlit . Their headquarters then moved to Limassol on the island of Cyprus,Martin, p. 113. and they also attempted to maintain a garrison on tiny Arwad Island , just off the coast from Tortosa. In 1300, there was some attempt to engage in Franco-Mongol alliance|coordinated military efforts with the Mongols Demurger, p.139 "During four years, Jacques de Molay and his order were totally committed, with other Christian forces of Cyprus and Armenia, to an enterprise of reconquest of the Holy Land, in liaison with the offensives of Ghazan, the Mongol Khan of Persia. via a new invasion force at Arwad. In 1302 or 1303, however, the Templars lost the island to the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk s in the Siege of Ruad|Siege of Arwad . With the island gone, the Crusaders lost their last foothold in the Holy Land. #Nicholson2001|Nicholson , p. 201. "The Templars retained a base on Arwad island (also known as Ruad island, formerly Arados) off Tortosa (Tartus) until October 1302 or 1303, when the island was recaptured by the Mamluks."

With the Order's military mission now less important, support for the organization began to dwindle. The situation was complex though, as over the two hundred years of their existence, the Templars had become a part of daily life throughout Christendom. #Nicholson2001|Nicholson , p. 5. The organization's Templar Houses, hundreds of which were dotted throughout Europe and the Near East , gave them a widespread presence at the local level. The Templars still managed many businesses, and many Europeans had daily contact with the Templar network, such as by working at a Templar farm or vineyard, or using the Order as a bank in which to store personal valuables. The Order was still not subject to local government, making it everywhere a "state within a state"—its standing army , though it no longer had a well-defined mission, could pass freely through all borders. This situation heightened tensions with some European nobility, especially as the Templars were indicating an interest in founding their own monastic state , just as the Teutonic Knights had done in Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights|Prussia and the Knights Hospitaller were doing with Rhodes, Greece|Rhodes . #Nicholson2001|Nicholson , p. 237.

Arrests, charges, and dissolution

On Friday, October 13, 1307 (a date sometimes spuriously linked with the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition) Philip ordered de Molay and scores of other French Templars to be simultaneously arrested. The arrest warrant started with the phrase : "Dieu n'est pas content, nous avons des ennemis de la foi dans le Royaume" . The Templars were charged with numerous offences (including apostasy , idolatry , heresy , obscene rituals and homosexuality, financial corruption and fraud, and secrecy).. Many of the accused confessed to these charges under torture, and these confessions, even though obtained coercion|under duress , caused a scandal in Paris. All interrogations were recorded on a thirty metre long parchment, kept at the "Archives nationales" in Paris. The prisoners were coerced to confess that they had spat on the Cross : "Moi Raymond de La Fère, 21 ans, reconnais que (J'ai) craché trois fois sur la Croix, mais de bouche et pas de coeur" (free translation : "I, Raymond de La Fère, 21 years old, admit that I have spat three times on the Cross, but only from my mouth and not from my heart"). The Templars were accused of idolatry.

After more bullying from Philip, Pope Clement then issued the papal bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae on November 22, 1307, which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Templars and seize their assets.Martin, p. 118.

Pope Clement called for papal hearings to determine the Templars' guilt or innocence, and once freed of the Inquisition|Inquisitors ' torture, many Templars recanted their confessions. Some had sufficient legal experience to defend themselves in Trial of the Knights Templar|the trials , but in 1310 Philip blocked this attempt, using the previously forced confessions to have dozens of Templars burned at the stake in Paris.Martin, p. 122.Barber, Trial , 1978, p. 3.

As for the leaders of the Order, the elderly Grand Master Jacques de Molay , who had confessed under torture, retracted his statement. His associate Geoffroi de Charney , Preceptor of Normandy , followed de Molay's example and insisted on his innocence. Both men were declared guilty of being relapsed heretics, and they were sentenced to burn alive at the stake in Paris on March 18, 1314. De Molay reportedly remained defiant to the end, asking to be tied in such a way that he could face the Notre Dame de Paris|Notre Dame Cathedral and hold his hands together in prayer.Martin, p. 125. According to legend, he called out from the flames that both Pope Clement and King Philip would soon meet him before God . His actual words were recorded on the parchment as follows : "Dieu sait qui a tort et a pëché. Il va bientot arriver malheur à ceux qui nous ont condamnés à mort" (free translation : "God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death"). Pope Clement died only a month later, and King Philip died in a hunting accident before the end of the year.Martin, p. 140. Malcolm Barber has researched this legend and concluded that it originates from La Chronique métrique attribuée à Geoffrey of Paris|Geffroi de Paris , ed. A. Divèrres, Strasbourg, 1956, pages 5711-5742. Geoffrey of Paris was "apparently an eye-witness, who describes Molay as showing no sign of fear and, significantly, as telling those present that God would avenge their deaths". Barber, The Trial of The Templars , page 357, footnote 110, Second edition (Cambridge University Press, 2006). ISBN 0-521-67236-8In The New Knighthood Barber referred to a variant of this legend, about how an unspecified Templar had appeared before and denounced Clement V and, when he was about to be executed sometime later, warned that both Pope and King would "within a year and a day be obliged to explain their crimes in the presence of God", found in the work by Ferretto of Vicenza, Historia rerum in Italia gestarum ab anno 1250 ad annum usque 1318 (Malcolm Barber, The New Knighthood , pages 314-315, Cambridge University Press, 1994). ISBN 0-521-55872-7

With the last of the Order's leaders gone, the remaining Templars around Europe were either arrested and tried under the Papal investigation (with virtually none convicted), absorbed into other military orders such as the Knights Hospitaller , or pensioned and allowed to live out their days peacefully. By papal decree, the property of the Templars was transferred to the Knights Hospitaller|Order of Hospitallers , which also absorbed many of the Templars' members. In effect, the dissolution of the Templars could be seen as the merger of the two rival orders. Some may have fled to other territories outside Papal control, such as excommunication|excommunicated Scotland or to Switzerland. Templar organizations in Portugal simply changed their name, from Knights Templar to Knights of Christ – see Order of Christ (Portugal) .Martin, pp. 140–142.

Chinon Parchment

In September 2001, a document known as the " Chinon Parchment " dated 17–20 August 1308 was discovered in the Vatican Secret Archives by Barbara Frale , apparently after having been filed in the wrong place in 1628. It is a record of the trial of the Templars and shows that Clement absolved the Templars of all heresies in 1308 before formally disbanding the Order in 1312, as did another Chinon Parchment dated 20 August 1308 addressed to Philip IV of France , also mentioning that all Templars that had confessed to heresy were "restored to the Sacraments and to the unity of the Church". This other Chinon Parchment has been well known to historians Charles d' Aigrefeuille, Histoire de la ville de Montpellier , Volume 2, page 193 (Montpellier: J. Martel, 1737-1739).Sophia Menache, Clement V , page 218, 2002 paperback edition ISBN 0-521-59219-4 (Cambridge University Press, originally published in 1998). Germain-François Poullain de Saint-Foix , Oeuvres complettes de M. de Saint-Foix, Historiographe des Ordres du Roi , page 287, Volume 3 (Maestricht: Jean-Edme Dupour & Philippe Roux, Imprimeurs-Libraires, associés, 1778). having been published by Étienne Baluze in 1693,Étienne Baluze, Vitae Paparum Avenionensis , 3 Volumes (Paris, 1693). and by Pierre Dupuy (scholar)|Pierre Dupuy in 1751.Pierre Dupuy, ''Histoire de l'Ordre Militaire des Templiers (Foppens, Brusselles, 1751).

The current position of the Roman Catholic Church is that the medieval persecution of the Knights Templar was unjust, that nothing was inherently wrong with the Order or its Rule, and that Pope Clement was pressed into his actions by the magnitude of the public Scandal (theology)|scandal and by the dominating influence of King Philip IV.

Organization

The Templars were organized as a monasticism|monastic order similar to Bernard's Cistercians|Cistercian Order, which was considered the first effective international organization in Europe. #Burman|Burman , p. 28. The organizational structure had a strong chain of authority. Each country with a major Templar presence (France, Knights Templar in England|England , Crown of Aragon|Aragon , Order of Christ (Portugal)|Portugal , Poitou , Apulia , Jerusalem, Tripoli , Antioch , Anjou , Hungary, and Croatia)Barber, Trial , 1978, p. 10. had a Master of the Order for the Templars in that region. All of them were subject to the Grand Masters of the Knights Templar|Grand Master , appointed for life, who oversaw both the Order's military efforts in the East and their financial holdings in the West.

No precise numbers exist, but it is estimated that at the Order's peak there were between 15,000 and 20,000 Templars, of whom about a tenth were actual knights.

Ranks within the order

Three main ranks

There was a threefold division of the ranks of the Templars: the aristocratic knights, the lower-born sergeants, and the clergy. Knights were required to be of Knight#Origins of medieval knighthood|knightly descent and to wear white mantles. They were equipped as heavy cavalry , with three or four horses and one or two squires. Squires were generally not members of the Order but were instead outsiders who were hired for a set period of time. Beneath the knights in the Order and drawn from lower social class|social strata were the sergeants.Barber, New Knighthood , p. 190. They were either equipped as light cavalry with a single horseMartin, p. 54. or served in other ways such as administering the property of the Order or performing menial tasks and trades. Chaplain s, constituting a third Templar class, were ordination|ordained priests who saw to the Templars' spiritual needs.

Grand Masters

Starting with founder Hugues de Payens in 1118–1119, the Order's highest office was that of Grand Master, a position which was held for life, though considering the martial nature of the Order, this could mean a very short tenure. All but two of the Grand Masters died in office, and several died during military campaigns. For example, during the Siege of Ascalon in 1153, Grand Master Bernard de Tremelay led a group of 40 Templars through a breach in the city walls. When the rest of the Crusader army did not follow, the Templars, including their Grand Master, were surrounded and beheaded.Read, p. 137. Grand Master Gérard de Ridefort was beheaded by Saladin in 1189 at the Siege of Acre (1189)|Siege of Acre .

The Grand Master oversaw all of the operations of the Order, including both the military campaign|military operations in the Holy Land and Eastern Europe and the Templars' financial and business dealings in Western Europe . Some Grand Masters also served as battlefield commanders, though this was not always wise: several blunders in de Ridefort's combat leadership contributed to the devastating defeat at the Battle of Hattin . The last Grand Master was Jacques de Molay , burned at the stake in Paris in 1314 by order of King Philip IV.

Behaviour and dress

It was Bernard de Clairvaux and founder Hugues de Payens who devised the specific code of behaviour for the Templar Order, known to modern historians as the Latin Rule . Its 72 clauses defined the ideal behaviour for the Knights, such as the types of garments they were to wear and how many horses they could have. Knights were to take their meals in silence, eat meat no more than three times per week, and not have physical contact of any kind with women, even members of their own family. A Master of the Order was assigned "4 horses, and one chaplain-brother and one clerk with three horses, and one sergeant brother with two horses, and one gentleman valet to carry his shield and lance, with one horse." #Burman|Burman , p. 43. As the Order grew, more guidelines were added, and the original list of 72 clauses was expanded to several hundred in its final form. #Burman|Burman , pp. 30–33.Martin, p. 32.

The knights wore a white surcoat with a red cross and a white mantle; the sergeants wore a black tunic with a red cross on front and back and a black or brown mantle.Barber, New Knighthood , p. 191. #Burman|Burman , p. 44. The white mantle was assigned to the Templars at the Council of Troyes in 1129, and the cross was most probably added to their Religious habit|robes at the launch of the Second Crusade in 1147, when Pope Eugene III|Pope Eugenius III , King Louis VII of France , and many other notables attended a meeting of the French Templars at their headquarters near Paris.Barber, The New Knighthood , page 66: "According to William of Tyre it was under Eugenius III that the Templars received the right to wear the characteristic red cross upon their tunics, symbolising their willingness to suffer martyr dom in the defence of the Holy Land." (WT, 12.7, p. 554. James of Vitry, 'Historia Hierosolimatana', ed. J. ars, Dei gesta per Francos|Gesta Dei per Francos , vol I(ii), Hanover, 1611, p. 1083, interprets this as a sign of martyrdom.)Martin, The Knights Templar , page 43: "The Pope conferred on the Templars the right to wear a red cross on their white mantles, which symbolised their willingness to suffer martyrdom in defending the Holy Land against the infidel."Read, The Templars , page 121: "Pope Eugenius gave them the right to wear a scarlet cross over their hearts, so that the sign would serve triumphantly as a shield and they would never turn away in the face of the infidels': the red blood of the martyr was superimposed on the white of the chaste." (Melville, La Vie des Templiers , p. 92.) According to their Rule , the knights were to wear the white mantle at all times, even being forbidden to eat or drink unless they were wearing it. #Burman|Burman , p. 46.

The red cross that the Templars wore on their robes was a symbol of martyr dom, and to die in combat was considered a great honor that assured a place in heaven. #Nicholson2001|Nicholson , p. 141. There was a cardinal rule that the warriors of the Order should never surrender unless the Templar flag had fallen, and even then they were first to try to regroup with another of the Christian orders, such as that of the Knights Hospitaller|Hospitallers . Only after all flags had fallen were they allowed to leave the battlefield.Barber, New Knighthood , p. 193. This uncompromising principle, along with their reputation for courage, excellent training, and heavy armament, made the Templars one of the most feared combat forces in medieval times.

Initiation,Martin, p. 52. known as Reception ( receptio ) into the Order, was a profound commitment and involved a solemn ceremony. Outsiders were discouraged from attending the ceremony, which aroused the suspicions of Medieval Inquisition|medieval inquisitors during the later Knights Templar Trial|trials .

New members had to willingly sign over all of their wealth and goods to the Order and take religious vows|vows of poverty, chastity, piety, and obedience . Most brothers joined for life, although some were allowed to join for a set period. Sometimes a married man was allowed to join if he had his wife's permission, but he was not allowed to wear the white mantle.Barber, Trial , 1978, p. 4.

Legacy

With their military mission and extensive financial resources, the Knights Templar funded a large number of building projects around Europe and the Holy Land. Many of these structures are still standing. Many sites also maintain the name "Temple" because of centuries-old association with the Templars.Martin, p. 58. For example, some of the Templars' lands in London were later rented to lawyer s, which led to the names of the Temple Bar, London|Temple Bar gateway and the Temple tube station . Two of the four Inns of Court which may call members to act as barrister s are the Inner Temple and Middle Temple .

Distinctive architecture|architectural elements of Templar buildings include the use of the image of "two knights on a single horse", representing the Knights' poverty, and round buildings designed to resemble the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.Barber, New Knighthood (1994), pp. 194–195

Modern organizations

The story of the secretive yet powerful medieval Templars, especially their persecution and sudden dissolution, has been a tempting source for many other groups which have used alleged connections with the Templars as a way of enhancing their own image and mystery. There is no clear historical connection between the Knights Templar, which were dismantled in the 14th century, and any of the modern organizations, of which the earliest emerged publicly in the 18th century, and are referred to as Neo-Templars by some authors. John Roberts (historian)|J.M. Roberts , The Mythology Of The Secret Societies (London: Secker and Warburg, 1972). ISBN 0-436-42030-9Peter Partner, The Murdered Magicians: The Templars And Their Myth (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982). ISBN 0-19-215847-3John Walliss, Apocalyptic Trajectories: Millenarianism and Violence In The Contemporary World , page 130 (Bern: Peter Lang AG, European Academic Publishers, 2004). ISBN 3-03910-290-7Michael Haag, ''Templars: History and Myth: From Solomon's Temple To The Freemasons (Profile Books Ltd, 2009). ISBN 978-1-84668-153-0A brief history of Neo-Templarism is given in James R. Lewis (editor), The Order of The Solar Temple: The Temple of Death , pages 20-28 (Ashgate Plublishing Ltd, 2006). ISBN 978-0-7546-5285-4 However, there is often public confusion and many overlook the 400-year gap.

Freemasonry

Since at least the 18th century Freemasonry has incorporated Templar symbols and rituals in a number of Masonic bodies , most notably, the " Knights Templar (Freemasonry)#The Degree of Knight of the Temple (Order of the Temple)|Order of the Temple " the final order joined in "The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta" commonly known as the Knights Templar. One theory of the origins of Freemasonry claims direct descent from the historical Knights Templar through its final fourteenth-century members who took refuge in Scotland , or other countries where the Templar suppression was not enforced. This theory is usually deprecated on grounds of lack of evidence, by both Masonic authorities, accessed January 10, 2007. and historians.

Legends and relics

The Knights Templar have become associated with legend s concerning esotericism|secrets and mysteries handed down to the select from ancient times. Rumors circulated even during the time of the Templars themselves. Freemasonic writers added their own speculations in the 19th century, and further fictional embellishments have been added in popular novels such as Ivanhoe , '' Foucault's Pendulum , The Lost symbol , and The Da Vinci Code ; modern movies such as National Treasure and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ; and video games such as Assassin's Creed and Broken Sword ''.

Many of the Templar legends are connected with the Order's early occupation of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and speculation about what relic s the Templars may have found there, such as the Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant .Sean Martin, The Knights Templar: The History & Myths of the Legendary Military Order , 2005. ISBN 1-56025-645-1.Louis Charpentier, Les Mystères de la Cathédrale de Chartres (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1966), translated The Mysteries of Chartres Cathedral (London: Research Into Lost Knowledge Organisation, 1972). That the Templars were in possession of some relics is certain. Many churches still display holy relics such as the bones of a saint, a scrap of cloth once worn by a holy man, or the skull of a martyr; the Templars did the same. They were documented as having a piece of the True Cross , which the Bishop of Acre carried into battle at the disastrous Horns of Hattin .Read, p. 91. When the battle was lost, Saladin captured the relic, which was then ransomed back to the Crusaders when the Muslims surrendered the city of Acre, Israel|Acre in 1191.Read, p. 171. The Templars were also known to possess the head of Saint Euphemia of Chalcedon ,Martin, p. 139. and the subject of relics came up during the Inquisition of the Templars, as several trial documents refer to the worship of an idol of some type, referred to in some cases as a cat, a bearded head, or in some cases as Baphomet . This accusation of idol worship levied against the Templars has also led to the modern belief by some that the Templars practiced witchcraft. However, modern scholars generally explain the name Baphomet from the trial documents as simply a French misspelling of the name Mahomet ( Muhammad ).Barber, Trial of the Templars , 1978, p. 62.

The Holy Grail quickly became associated with the Templars, even in the 12th century. The first Grail romance, Perceval, the Story of the Grail|Le Conte du Graal , was written around 1180 by Chrétien de Troyes , who came from the same area where the Council of Troyes had officially sanctioned the Templars' Order. Perhaps twenty years later Parzival , Wolfram von Eschenbach 's version of the tale, refers to knights called "Templeisen" guarding the Grail Kingdom.Martin, p. 133. Another hero of the Grail quest, Sir Galahad (a 13th-century literary invention of monks from St. Bernard's Cistercian Order) was depicted bearing a shield with the cross of Saint George , similar to the Templars' insignia: this version presented the "Holy" Grail as a Christian relic. A legend developed that since the Templars had their headquarters at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, they must have excavated in search of relics, found the Grail, and then proceeded to keep it in secret and guard it with their lives. However, in the extensive documents of the Templar inquisition there was never a single mention of anything like a Grail relic, let alone its possession by the Templars, nor is there any evidence that a Templar wrote a Grail Romance.Karen Ralls, Knights Templar Encyclopedia: The Essential Guide to the People, Places, Events and Symbols of the Order of the Temple , page 156 (The Career Press, Inc., 2007). ISBN 978-1-56414-926-8 In reality, most mainstream scholars agree that the story of the Grail was just that, a literary fiction that began circulating in medieval times.

Another legendary object that is claimed to have some connection with the Templars is the Shroud of Turin . In 1357, the shroud was first publicly displayed by a nobleman known as Geoffrey of Charney,Barber, The New Knighthood , p. 332 described by some sources as being a member of the family of the grandson of Geoffroi de Charney , who was burned at the stake with De Molay.Newman, p. 383 The shroud's origins are still a matter of controversy, but in 1988, a radiocarbon dating|carbon dating analysis concluded that the shroud was made between 1260 and 1390, a span that includes the last half-century of the Templars' existence. The validity of the dating methodology has subsequently been called into question, and the age of the shroud is still the subject of much debateRelic, Harry Gove (1996) Icon or Hoax? Carbon Dating the Turin Shroud ISBN 0-7503-0398-0. despite the existence of a 1389 Memorandum by Bishop Pierre D'Arcis to the Avignon Antipope Clement VII mentioning that the image had previously been denounced by his predecessor Henri de Poitiers (Bishop of Troyes 1353-1370), stating "Eventually, after diligent inquiry and examination, he discovered how the said cloth had been cunningly painted, the truth being attested by the artist who had painted it, to wit, that it was a work of human skill and not miraculously wrought or bestowed."English translation of the Memorandum in Ian Wilson, The Turin Shroud , p. 230-235 (Victor Gollancz Ltd; 1978 ISBN 0-575-02483-6)

Notes

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ka:???????????
la:Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici
lv:Templiešu ordenis
lb:Templeruerden
lt:Tamplieriai
hu:Templomosok
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ms:Knight Templar
nl:Tempeliers
nds-nl:Tìmpelders
ja:???????
no:Tempelridderordenen
nn:Tempelriddarordenen
oc:Òrdi deu Temple
pl:Templariusze
pt:Ordem dos Templários
ro:Ordinul Templierilor
ru:?????????
sq:Tempullarët
simple:Knights Templar
sk:Rád templárov
sl:Templjarji
sr:????????
sh:Templari
fi:Temppeliherrain ritarikunta
sv:Tempelherreorden
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tr:Tapinak Sövalyeleri
uk:?????????
vi:Hi?p si dòng Ð?n
wa:Ôre des Timplîs
vls:Tempeliers
bat-smg:Tampleire
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