Home / Topics / Middle Ages / 10 Reasons the Knights Templar Were History’s Fiercest Fighters

10 Reasons the Knights Templar

Were History’s Fiercest Fighters
Here are the most astonishing facts about Christianity's holy warriors.

BY: LIVIA GERSHON

UPDAT ED: AUGUST 3, 2023 | OR IGINAL: FEBR UAR Y 5, 2019

After Christian forces conquered Jerusalem in 1099, Europeans began making

pilgrimages to the Holy Lands by the droves. On the way, they were often attacked
by bandits, or even crusading knights. To protect travelers and help defend the new
Christian states in the Middle East, a small group of fighters formed The Poor
Knights of the Temple of King Solomon, otherwise known as the Knights Templar.
Over the next two centuries, the Order became a powerful political and economic
force across Europe, making history in such dramatic fashion that some people are
still trying to emulate them today. Here are a few astonishing facts about these
holy knights:

1. They created a brand-new model of holy

warrior
You know all those legends of King Arthur’s knights searching for the Holy Grail and
exemplifying Christian virtues? Before the Knights Templar, they wouldn’t have
made much sense. In the earlier part of the Middle Ages, knights were seen as
thugs, overrunning the countryside and looting villages to line their own pockets.
The Knights Templar created a different model in which members were monks,
sworn to poverty, chastity, and obedience, and committed to fighting “infidels” in
the Holy Land. Promising to serve the Christian cause, they received papal
recognition at the council of Troyes in Champagne in 1129. Significantly, in stories
about the Knights of the Round Table written in the thirteenth century, the most
perfect holy knight, Sir Galahad, wears a white shield with a red cross, which was
the symbol of the Knights Templar.

2. They didn’t joke around when it came to

discipline
Under “The Rule of the Templars,” a detailed code governing everyday behavior, the
knights were required to live austere lives. They could have meat only three times a
week, except on special holidays, since eating flesh was understood to corrupt the
body. Fur and fancy clothes were forbidden. So were pointed shoes and shoe-laces,
since “these abominable things belong to pagans.” Of course, chastity was a must,
and Templars were forbidden to kiss any woman, even their own mother. Breaking
the rules could mean getting a beating, being banished from the brotherhood, or
having to eat meals on the floor.

3. They refused to ever surrender

During the Crusades, some Christian forces were ragtag armies with minimal
training. Not the Knights Templar. They were highly trained, and became known as
fierce fighters. They acted as the advance force in a number of battles of the
Crusades, including the Battle of Montgisard, when they helped greatly
outnumbered Christian forces defeat an army led by the great Muslim commander
Saladin. A part of that fierceness probably came from religious devotion, which
allowed them to see breaking their vows as a fate worse than death. The Rule of the
Knights Templar called for them to never retreat, surrender, or charge without
being ordered to do so—excellent features for any army that needs to remain
disciplined.

4. They were strategic thinkers as well as

zealous fighters
While they were known for their piety and their readiness to fight for the spread of
Christianity, the Knights Templar sometimes counseled their fellow Crusaders
against rash action. European Christians reaching Jerusalem for the first time often
wanted to do battle with Muslims as quickly as possible. The Templars, who had
been in the area for years and had some friendly relationships with local Arabs,
sometimes had to explain that picking a particular fight wasn’t a great idea. “It
would not be unlikely that the Templars at times seemed insufferably know-it-all to
those who had just arrived from the West,” according to Ann Gilmour-Bryson, a
historian at the University of Melbourne. Of course, that didn’t make the Knights
Templar any sort of pacifists. They just wanted to build up bigger armies so that
they could effectively crush the Muslim forces.

5. For poor knights, they were

unbelievably rich
While they were individually sworn to poverty, the Order as a whole became
astonishingly wealthy. It helped that a Papal Bull issued by Pope Innocent II
exempted them from paying any taxes. The Templars collected donations from all
over Europe. Kings and queens gave them huge estates—Alfonso I of Aragon left
them a third of his kingdom in his will. Regular people also made donations in their
wills, leaving the Order small plots of land that added up. The knights ended up
owning castles, farms, and a whole fleet of ships, as well as the entire island of
Cyprus. They didn’t just hang onto these possessions. They used them to generate
more wealth, trading crops, wool, and wine across Europe and renting land to
tenants.

6. They were a full-service financial

services group
The initial purpose of the Knights Templar was to guard pilgrims traveling to
Jerusalem, so they were well aware of the danger that robbers posed on the long
journey. So they set up a system to help. Travelers could deposit cash at Temple
Church in London and receive a letter of credit that they could redeem in Jerusalem.
They also provided many other financial services for monarchs and elites. In the
1200s, they received the English Crown Jewels as security on a loan. And when King
Henry III wanted to buy the island of Oleron, the Order not only brokered the deal
but also collected installment payments from the king. The French Treasury also
used the Templars as a sort of subcontractor for many of its functions.
7. They understood how Islamic
institutions worked
Some scholars believe the Knights Templar helped import Muslim ideas that
transformed Western legal and educational systems. For example, the Inns of Court
in London, legal institutions formed in the medieval period with ties to the
Templars, have some striking similarities to madrassas built around mosques,
where Sunni scholars debated the law. This connection could help explain why
English common law differs from Roman systems in significant ways. The system of
maintaining colleges through a perpetual endowment may also owe its origins to
Muslim models observed by the Knights Templar. The waqf, a legal device in Islamic
law, similarly helped scholars maintain their independence in the medieval Middle
East. Walter De Merton, a businessman with ties to the Order, founded Merton
College, which pioneered this system in England.

8. They were so powerful a king went to

war with them
Muslim forces retook Jerusalem in 1187, and over the century that followed the
Crusader forces were driven from the Middle East. The Knights Templar established
a new central base in Paris. But King Philip IV was not an eager host for them. The
king was deeply in debt, and the Order refused to grant him new loans. The knights
were also talking about forming their own state in southeastern France. By this
time, the failure of the Crusades and the enviable wealth of the Templars had
diminished their reputation. Where the Church has previously stood behind the
Order, Pope Clement V now sided against them.

9. Their downfall was as dramatic as the

rest of their story
At dawn on Friday, October 13, 1307, French officials appeared at every Templar
house in the country and arrested everyone there. The king had members of the
Order tortured in true medieval style, using starvation, sleep deprivation, foot
burning, and the rack. Under torture, the Templars confessed to all sorts of sinful
and criminal behavior: spitting on the cross, kissing and sex between members of
the Order, denial of Christ, and worshipping false idols. Over the next several years,
dozens of Templars were burned at the stake. The Pope formally dissolved the order
in 1312.

10. They remained influential long after

they were gone
In the eighteenth century, fraternal organizations, particularly the Freemasons,
adopted ideas and imagery from the Templars. Today, Freemasons can still become
part of a fraternal order informally referred to as the Knights Templar. Members
must pledge to protect and defend the Christian faith. The Order also shows up in
all kinds of pop culture. In the video game Assassin’s Creed, the Knights Templar is
presented as a shadowy millennia-old power. In Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code,
they’re an equally shadowy organization still in operation in the modern era. The
historic Knights Templar also inspired the drug cartel by the same name, which
operated in Mexico in recent years. The gang published a rule book illustrated with
crosses and knights on horseback which claims to bind members to a code of ethics,
including helping the poor, respecting women and children, and not killing for
money. The mystique of a politically and economically powerful organization with
strong ethical guidelines based on religious piety is clearly an idea that speaks
powerfully to many people more than 700 years after the end of the real Knights
Templar.

BY: LIVIA GERSHON

Livia Gershon is a freelance journalist based in New Hampshire. She has written for the
Guardian, the Boston Globe, HuffPost, and Vice, among other outlets.

Citation Information
Article T itle 10 Reasons the Knights Templar Were History’s Fiercest Fighters

Author Livia Gershon

Website Name HISTORY

URL https://www.history.com/news/knights-templar-facts-crusades-wealth
 Date Accessed October 15, 2023

Publisher A&E Television Networks

Last Updated August 3, 2023

Orig inal Published Date February 5, 2019

Fact Check
We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact
us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

Contact Us Copyright Policy Privacy Policy Terms of Use Ad Choices Accessibility Support

© 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.