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Knights Templars

Knights Templars

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

Knights Templars , in medieval history, members of the military and religious order of the Poor Knights of Christ, called the Knights of the Temple of Solomon from their house in Jerusalem.

Origins

Like the Knights Hospitalers and the Teutonic Knights , the Templars were formed during the Crusades . They originally had a purely military function. Founded when Hugh de Payens and eight other knights joined together c.1118 to protect pilgrims, the order grew rapidly. St. Bernard of Clairvaux drew up its rules, and it was recognized at the Council of Troyes (1128) and confirmed by Pope Honorius III .

Rise to Power

The Templars received gifts of estates and money, and the organization soon became one of the most powerful in Europe. By combining monastic privilege with chivalrous adventure, they attracted many nobles. The order, organized under a grand master and general council, had its headquarters at Jerusalem. It was directly responsible only to the pope and thus was free from the control of the secular crusading leaders. As Crusaders the knights were important both in fighting the Muslims (notably at Gaza in 1244 and later at Damietta, during the Fifth Crusade) and in the internal struggles of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (see Jerusalem, Latin Kingdom of ). Although the Knights of the White Cross (the Hospitalers) were at first probably larger and richer, the Templars, who wore the red cross on a white ground, were greater warriors. In the later crusades the deadly rivalry of the three orders helped weaken the Crusaders' chances of success.

When Jerusalem fell to the Muslims (1187), the Templars operated from Acre; after its fall (1291) the order retreated to Cyprus. By that time the Templars had ceased to be primarily a fighting organization and had become the leading money handlers of Europe. From the beginning the knights aroused opposition because of their special privileges, their freedom from secular control, and their great military and financial strength. As their banking role increased—they served such kings as Henry II of England and Louis IX of France—and their landholdings grew, they aroused the hostility, fear, and jealousy of secular rulers and of the secular clergy as well.

Persecution and Destruction of the Templars

When the Crusades failed, the Hospitalers became a naval patrol in the East, but the Templars grew more worldly, more decadent, and more hated. In 1307, Philip IV of France, who needed money for his Flemish war and was unable to obtain it elsewhere, began a persecution of the Templars. With the aid of Pope Clement V, the king had members of the order arrested and their possessions confiscated. By 1308 the persecutions were in full process. The knights were put on trial and were tortured to extract confessions of sacrilegious practices. The pope at first opposed the trials but soon reversed his position, and at the Council of Vienne (1311–12) he dissolved the order by papal bull.

The Templars were completely destroyed by 1314. Much of their property, theoretically designated for the Hospitalers, was acquired by secular rulers. The leaders of the order, including the last grand master, Jacques de Molay, were tried by ecclesiastic judges and sentenced to life imprisonment, but after denouncing their confessions they were burned at the stake (1314) as lapsed heretics by civil authorities. It is impossible to evaluate fairly the Templars and their fate; the injustices of their final treatment have led some to consider them blameless, yet the charges against them were not entirely unfounded.

Bibliography

The literature on the Templars is vast. A defense of the order is C. G. Addison, The History of the Knights Templars (rev. ed. 1912). See also the studies by E. Simon (1959) and T. W. Parker (1963).

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Templars

Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa | 2004 | | Copyright

TEMPLARS

German evangelical settlers in Palestine in the late nineteenth century.

The Temple Society (Tempelgesellschaft) was founded in the mid-nineteenth century in the Kingdom of Württemberg. Pietistic Evangelicals, the Templars criticized the church and decided at first to settle and found colonies and, later, to improve the land in Palestine as they awaited the imminent Kingdom of Heaven. They established a colony in Haifa in 1868 and brought modern European methods of agriculture. They also established the carriage trade from Jaffa to Jerusalem, exported wine, and established settlements in Jaffa, Haifa, Sarone (part of modern Tel Aviv), Jerusalem, Wilhelma, Galilen Bethlehem, and Waldheim. Individuals settled in Jerusalem and founded a German colony there that, although denied official support by the German government, numbered some 1,200 people by 1914.

Deported as enemy aliens by the British from 1917 to 1918, as German nationals they kept a low profile after they were permitted to return during the Palestine Mandate. Their religious fervor had decreased by the third generation and, as Germans, many were receptive to National Socialism, even though there was no official advocacy of support for the Nazi Party. Many sympathetic members were allowed to join the party; they also enlisted their children in the Nazi Youth and disseminated Nazi propaganda. With the outbreak of World War II, there were approximately 1,500 Germans of Templar origin who were interned, and afterward they were repatriated to Germany in exchange for Palestinians who had fallen into German hands. Some were deported to Australia. In 1948 their property was taken over by the Israeli government and placed under the Guardian of German Property; it was later taken into account during the negotiations over Nazi Holocaust reparations conducted by the World Jewish Congress and the West German government.

see also germany and the middle east; haifa; jaffa; jerusalem; west german reparations agreement.


Bibliography

Carmel, Alex. "The German Settlers in Palestine and Their Relations with the Local Arab Population and the Jewish Community, 1868–1918." In Studies on Palestine during the Ottoman Empire, edited by Moshe Maʾoz. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1975.

Thalmann, Naftali. "Introducing Modern Agriculture into Nineteenth Century Palestine: The German Templers." In The Land that Became Israel: Studies in Historical Geography, edited by Ruth Kark. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990.

Yazbak, Mahmoud. "Templars as 'Proto-Zionists': The 'German Colony' in Late Ottoman Haifa." Journal of Palestine Studies xx, no. 112 (Summer 1999): 40–45.

reeva s. simon
updated by michael r. fischbach
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Knights Templars

The Oxford Companion to Irish History | 2007 | Copyright

Knights Templars, created to protect pilgrims to Palestine and combining a military function with life according to a religious rule, were present in Ireland before 1180, when they were granted the vill of Clontarf by Henry II. This became the chief house or preceptory of the order in Ireland and five other preceptories were established by 1200. The Templars' lifestyle was modelled on that of the Cistercians and the preceptories were religious houses in which novices were received and instructed and to which older members could retire. Nine other smaller houses (cameras) were established in the late 12th and 13th centuries. All the foundations were in areas controlled by the Anglo‐Normans and their role in Ireland was to protect the colony from the attacks of the native population, though some Templars from Ireland fought in the Holy Land. The native Irish were initially excluded from membership but this ban was later lifted.

In 1307–8, as part of the wider campaign against them, the Templars in Ireland were imprisoned and in 1310 fifteen of them were brought to trial in Dublin. In 1311 three preceptories assigned to accommodate members of the order; the rest of their property, in accordance with the decisions of Clement V and the Council of Vienne, passed to the Knights Hospitallers after 1312.

Colmán N. Ó Clabaigh
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Templars

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church | 2000 | | Copyright

Templars (or Knights Templar). The ‘Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon’, one of the two chief Military Orders of medieval Christendom. The original nucleus consisted of Hugh de Payens, a knight of Champagne, and eight companions who c.1119 bound themselves by a solemn vow to protect pilgrims on the public roads of the Holy Land. They were given quarters on the site of Solomon's Temple. At the Council of Troyes (1129) approval was given to their Rule, said to have been drawn up by St Bernard. They soon increased in influence and wealth, acquiring property in every part of Christendom. They were also granted extensive privileges by the Papacy. In the Crusader States of the 12th and 13th cents. the professional forces of the Templars and the Hospitallers played an important role in campaigns.

The integrity and credit of the Order led to its being trusted as a banking house. Its wealth led to its ruin after the fall of Acre (1291). Philip IV of France coveted its riches; aided by a renegade Templar he brought charges of sodomy, blasphemy, and heresy against the Order, and Clement V reluctantly suppressed it at the Council of Vienne in 1312. The Templars' innocence is now generally admitted.
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Templars, Knights

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | Copyright

Templars, Knights, an order founded about 1118, consisting originally of nine knights whose profession was to safeguard pilgrims to Jerusalem. Many noblemen from all parts of Christendom joined the order, and it acquired great wealth and influence in France, England, and other countries. The knights were organized in commanderies, under a preceptor in each province, and a grand master at the head of the order. From a state of poverty and humility they became so insolent that the order was crushed by the kings of Europe in their various dominions with circumstances, especially in France, of great cruelty. It was also officially suppressed by the Pope and the Council of Vienne (1312).
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Templars, Knights." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Templars

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | 1997 | | Copyright

Templars or Knights Templar. The Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon. They were founded in 1118 by Hugh de Payens to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land. They resisted an attempt to merge them with the Hospitallers (known from 1530 as the Knights of Malta, founded to provide hospitality for pilgrims, but adding to this the care of the sick), but could not withstand an assault from the king of France (and the Inquisition), and they were suppressed in 1312.
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JOHN BOWKER. "Templars." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Knights Templar

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

Knights Templar Military religious order established in 1118, with headquarters in the supposed Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. With the Knights Hospitallers, the Templars protected routes to Jerusalem for Christians during the Crusades. The possessions of the Templars in France attracted the envious attention of King Philip IV, who urged Pope Clement V to abolish the order in 1312.
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templar

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

templar
A. member of an order of knights orig. occupying a building on or near the site of the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem XIII;

B. barrister of the Inner or the Middle Temple, London XVI. — AN. templer, (O)F. templier — medL. templārius or templāris, f. templum TEMPLE1; see -AR.
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Templar

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Copyright

Templar a member of the Knights Templars.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Templar." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Knights Templars

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

Knights Templars see Freemasonry .

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Templars

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

Templars see Knights Templars .

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Knights Templar

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church | 2000 | | Copyright

Knights Templar. See TEMPLARS.
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Templar

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

Templar •Allah, calla, Caracalla, Haller, inshallah, pallor, Valhalla, valour (US valor), Whyalla •gabbler, tabla •ambler, gambler, rambler, scrambler •Adler, saddler •handler •angler, dangler, strangler, wrangler •tackler • trampler • antler • dazzler •Carla, challah, Douala, gala, Guatemala, Gujranwala, impala, kabbala, Kampala, koala, La Scala, Lingala, Mahler, Marsala, masala, nyala, parlour (US parlor), Sinhala, snarler, tala, tambala, Uppsala •garbler • chandler • sparkler •sampler •a cappella, Arabella, Bella, bestseller, Capella, cellar, Cinderella, citronella, Clarabella, corella, Daniela, Della, dispeller, dweller, Ella, expeller, favela, fella, fellah, feller, Fenella, Floella, foreteller, Heller, impeller, interstellar, Keller, Louella, Mandela, mortadella, mozzarella, Nigella, novella, paella, panatella, patella, predella, propeller, queller, quinella, repeller, rosella, rubella, salmonella, Santiago de Compostela, seller, smeller, speller, Stella, stellar, tarantella, teller, umbrella, Viyella •Puebla •assembler, dissembler, trembler •medlar, pedlar •ländler •fin de siècle, Hekla •Kepler •exempla, exemplar, Templar •tesla, wrestler •embezzler • Rockefeller •knee-trembler • saltcellar •bookseller • storyteller

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Templar

The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations | 1998 | | Copyright

Templar (ˈtɛmplə) tactical expert mission-planner (military computer)
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FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "Templar." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "Templar." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-Templar.html

FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "Templar." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-Templar.html

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