The Knights Templar
The Knights Templar have been portrayed as evil knights and only concerned with their glory in video games (i.e. Assassins Creed) and movies (i.e. Kingdom of Heaven). What happened to them and their treasure has been much speculation ever since their fall in 1314. They have become such a huge part of popular fiction that a lot of people do not know what to believe when it comes to the Knights Templar.
So who were the Knights Templar and what really did happen to them. Sometime between the years 1100 and 1122 the Poor Knights (or Fellow Soldiers) of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, more commonly known as the Order of the Temple or The Knights Templar, were founded in Jerusalem by nine original Knights. These nine original Knights came together to protect pilgrims as they made their way to and from the different holy places in Outremer. Prior to their existence the Christians that visited the holy lands would be robbed and sometimes killed by the Saracen bandits that lived in and around these lands. Hugues de Payen from Champagne and Godfrey de St. Omer from Picardy were granted an audience with King Baldwin II, the ruler of Jerusalem at the time. Was at this is meeting that Hugues and Godfrey suggested they and seven other Knights form an organization to protect the pilgrims that were coming to the holy lands. They also told the king that they wanted to do this not as regular Knights. They wish to do so living under the role of St. Augustine in a small monastic community. King Baldwin like the idea and gave them quarters at the site of the former Temple, now the al–Aqsa. This was the birth of the Knights Templar.
Not much is known about the first years of their existence. Between the time of their c...
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... the Knights Templar were innocent of heresy.
Works Cited
Innocent | The Knights Templar. (n.d.). The Knights Templar. Retrieved May 10, 2014, from http://www.theknightstemplar.org/templars-innocent/LastName, First, Middle. "Article Title." Journal Title (Year): Pages From - To. Print.
Harrap, C. (2007, January 1). Knights Templar. . Retrieved May 11, 2014, from http://libproxy.troy.edu/login?url=http://literati.credoreference.com.libproxy.troy.edu/content/entry/chambun/knights_templar/0
Knights Templar." In Philip's Encyclopedia. London: Philip's, 2008, Retrieved May 9, 2014, http://libproxy.troy.edu/login?url=http://literati.credoreference.com.libpro
xy.troy.edu/content/entry/philipency/knights_templar/0
Martin, Sean. The Knights Templar. Harpenden, Herts., UK: Pocket Essentials, 2004, Retrieved May 5, 2014, from eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost
The Catholic Church has many influences on King Arthur and the rest of his Knights of the Round Table. The knights depended on the church for its teachings and the great power the church held in society. The Knights of the Round Table pledged great loyalty to the church. Also the knights held the teachings of the church in great reverence and were never disloyal to the church. There are many links between the Catholic Church and the way that Camelot (the land of King Arthur and his Knights) was ruled.
- - - The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History. London, England, Penguin Books, no publication
The First Crusade was called in 1096 by Pope Urban II. The reasons for the First Crusade was to help obtain Jerusalem known as the holy land. During this time period the Muslims were occupying Jerusalem. First Crusade contained peasants and knights’ whose ethnicities consist of Franks, Latin’s, and Celts which were all from the western part of Europe. To get peasants and knights to join Pope Urban II objectives in return of a spiritual reward called “remission of all their sins” which was to be redeemed of any sins the individual has committed. When sins are redeemed Crusaders believed that they will escape the torment of hell. When lords and knights joined the crusade they were known as military elites. Crusaders were known as soldiers of Christ.
Kings often struggled with the Church over power and land, both trying desperately to obtain them, both committing atrocities to hold onto them. Time and time again, the Popes of the postclassical period went to great extremes to secure the Church’s position in the world. Both the Crusades and the Inquisition are examples of this. D...
On the 18 of May 1906 the army of the crusaders under the rule of the Emicho of Flonheim reached the walls of Mainz and demanded to open the city’s gates. After three days of invasions the archiepiscop of the city opened the gates and the knights entered the city, and started to attack Jewish district. In several days the whole Jewish diaspora of the city Mainz was buried in this bloody slaughter - Mainz had the biggest Jewish district in Europe with the population of more than 1000 people (counting the fact that hardly every other city of Medieval Europe had a population of more than 5000 citizens). All the symbols of the Jewish faith were destroyed, the synagogue in which were held yearly meetings of the heads of the jewish faith was set up in flames. The same fate crushed upon cities like Ruan, Reims, Trier, Prague, Metz and others. Crusades started with military campaigns and massive robberies, which were not the major purpose. Eventually, robberies were daily basis for the knights , and Jews were killed for the ridiculous reason like "Their grandparents crucified Jesus". The Emicho of Flonheim himself before starting his military campaign to Jerusalem roberred several churches. Other leaders of the First Crusade like Godfrey of Bouillon and Duke of Lower Lorraine were regularly devastating monasteries in their own la...
The Knights listed their principal aims as to bring within the folds of organization every department of productive industry, to secure to the toilers a proper share of the wealth that they create, to educate wo...
God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark, will cause readers to question much of what they know about the Crusades, the Crusaders themselves, and the formidable Muslim forces they encountered along the way in liberation of the Holy Land. Stark gives compelling reasons for the Crusades, and argues that readers should not be too quick in following the lead of historians who cast the Crusaders in less than positive light. Stark makes his case supported by evidence that vindicates the valiant struggles of the Crusaders who accomplished the task of keeping Christianity alive through troubled times.
During the Medieval Times, knights hold high status and are seen as sovereign, yet their actions are contradicting. Knights stand for loyalty, justice, and chivalry; however, most are liars, cheaters, and foolish. Throughout medieval literature, authors create characters that contain both attributes and utilize literary elements to highlight this medieval crisis. Many Knights maintain a loyal and noble character because chivalry outlasts hypocrisy.
The epic poem, “The Lay of the Nibelungs” (1200’s), set to practice the major pillars in the code of chivalry that the Duke of Burgundy in the 14th century eventually condensed and ascribed to the Burgundian Knights: Faith, Charity, Justice, Sagacity, Prudence, Temperance, Resolution, Truth, Liberality, Diligence, Hope, and Valor. Though values bear merit, “The Lay of the Nibelungs” teaches that true worth and longevity comes from assessing the situation and applying intellect to the code, from submitting to God, and from not cheating the system (the laws and cultural norms of the time that be).
700 C.E.(1,2,5). These were a people of nature. At the height of their society at around
Throughout the ten-century, particularly in France, the world had become an extremely violent place. Feudal Knights were often quarreling over land possession, looting, and looking to lay people to provide them with sustenance . Likewise, the power of these knights and the extent of violence flourished due to the increasingly lacking power and authority of the kings . The Church, in an attempt to halt the violence and anarchy attempted to take control and issued such concepts as “the Peace of God” . Similarly, at this time other movements for peace by the Church were underway, and one of the commonly held ideas was the need to transform the world to more “monkish ideals”. From these ideals also sprouted the concept of the laity having “God-given functions to perform, functions that could include fighting to protect the Church”. Pope Leo IX (1049-1054) is an example of this idea; he often used militia to fight against his opponents. In the early eleventh century, there came a pivotal figure in the ideas of Church sanctioned war, Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085). Pope Gregory was involved in the Investiture Contest, and soon turned to scholars to seek out “justification for his conviction that violence could be used in defense of the Church and could be authorized by it”. The movements generated by Pope Gregory, as well as the results of the Inve...
To rid of aggressive knights, to earn money, and to receive fame, were purposes which spurred every crusade. However, the Children’s Crusade had only the desire of saving the Holy Land (Beck, et al 346-344). The kids would chant "Lord God, exalt Christianity. Lord God, restore to us the true cross" (Alchin). True faith of these children is evident. By the chant, the children put their lives in god’s hands. Children involved in the Children’s Crusade never made it back; they earned no fame. The children were not kings, nobles, or knights, so they had no support. As powerful leaders kings, nobles, and knights were able to get the support of the Church and people, one feat the children could not achieve. The Children's...
"The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies." Secret Teachings of All Ages: , Part Three. N.p., 30 June 2007. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.
...sult in the collapse of the society to which he belongs. After the dark ages the church grew into power and the clerks decided they should become “knights of Christ;” many did just this, some even going as far as casting themselves into the Holy War during the many crusades.
Roger Babusci et al. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1994. 115-136. Print. “The Medieval Period: 1066-1485.”