Knights Templar: Introduction by Dr. Trevelyan
Dr. Langdon and Sir Leigh Teabing are only two representatives of a number of popular modern writers who regale the modern public with all manner of strange remarks concerning the Kingts Templar. Unfortunately I am inclined to agree with Templar expert Helen Nicholson when she writes, "Modern 'discoveries' about the Templars are really a form of fantasy writing, with less basis in actual historical events than most historical novels." (The Knights Templar: a New History (Stroud: Sutton Publications, 2004) P. 245.
The facts about the Knights Templar are these: The Order of the Poor Knights of Christ was founded in the early 12th Century(probably 1119). They were a small group of noble knights who bound themselves under the three monastic oaths of poverty, chastity and obedience. They were given King Baldwin II's palace on the south side of the Temple mount in Jerusalem as a base, and they recieved a small income from the king of Jerusalem, his nobles, and the Patriarch. The order started small, by the ninth year of its existence it consisted of nine knights.
Originally the knights had wanted to devote themselves to a monastic lifestyle, but it was on the advice of the Church that they became a military order. They were poor at first, but the great theologian Bernard of Clairvaux mounted a sort of publicity drive on their behalf in Europe. In 1129 the Church formally recognised the Order and gave them a religious habit of a white cloak.
While the Templar had a Rule that regulated their life, it was not secret. They wrote little, probably because most of them were not very literate people. While they held their Chapters in secret, that is hardly surprising. Chapters were business meetings, and every organisation has its sensitive information; the Templars were no exception. Indeed, the Church I belong to holds its Session meetings in private.
But that is quite enough introduction. What is important to note is that the Templars started small, and from very early in their existence were linked to the Catholic Church.
The facts about the Knights Templar are these: The Order of the Poor Knights of Christ was founded in the early 12th Century(probably 1119). They were a small group of noble knights who bound themselves under the three monastic oaths of poverty, chastity and obedience. They were given King Baldwin II's palace on the south side of the Temple mount in Jerusalem as a base, and they recieved a small income from the king of Jerusalem, his nobles, and the Patriarch. The order started small, by the ninth year of its existence it consisted of nine knights.
Originally the knights had wanted to devote themselves to a monastic lifestyle, but it was on the advice of the Church that they became a military order. They were poor at first, but the great theologian Bernard of Clairvaux mounted a sort of publicity drive on their behalf in Europe. In 1129 the Church formally recognised the Order and gave them a religious habit of a white cloak.
While the Templar had a Rule that regulated their life, it was not secret. They wrote little, probably because most of them were not very literate people. While they held their Chapters in secret, that is hardly surprising. Chapters were business meetings, and every organisation has its sensitive information; the Templars were no exception. Indeed, the Church I belong to holds its Session meetings in private.
But that is quite enough introduction. What is important to note is that the Templars started small, and from very early in their existence were linked to the Catholic Church.
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