They founded states and dictated their will to European monarchs. The history of knightly orders began in the Middle Ages and has not been completed to this day.
Order of the Knights Templar
Date of founding of the Order: 1119 year.
Interesting Facts: The Templars, the Templars - the most famous knightly order, the history and mysteries of which are devoted to many books and films. The topic of the “curse of Jacques de Molay” is still actively discussed by fans of conspiracy theories.
After the expulsion from Palestine, the Templars switched to financial activities and became the richest order in history. They invented checks, ran a lucrative usury business, and were Europe's top lenders and economists.
On Friday, October 13, 1307, by order of the King of France, Philip IV the Handsome, all the French Templars were arrested. The order was officially banned.
The Templars were accused of heresy - of renouncing Jesus Christ, that they spit on the crucifix, kissed each other in an obscene manner and practiced sodomy. In the "proof" of the last point, it is still customary to mention one of the emblems of the templars - two poor knights sit on the same horse, which served as a symbol of the non-covetousness of the knights of the order.
Warband
Order foundation date: 1190 year.
Interesting Facts: The motto of the Teutons is "Help-Protect-Heal". Initially, the order was engaged in this - helping the sick and protecting the German knights, however, at the beginning of the 13th century, the military history of the order began, it was associated with an attempt to expand the Baltic states and Russian lands. These attempts ended, as we know, unsuccessfully. The "black day" of the Teutons was Battle of Grunwald 1410, in which the combined forces of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania inflicted a crushing defeat on the Order.
Deprived of its former military ambitions, the Teutonic Order was restored in 1809. Today he is engaged in charity and treatment of the sick. The headquarters of the modern Teutons is located in Vienna.
Order of the Dragon
Order foundation date: 1408.
Interesting Facts: Officially, the Order of the Dragon was founded by King Sigismund I of Luxembourg of Hungary, but in the Serbian folklore tradition considered its founder legendary hero Milos Obilic.
The knights of the order wore medallions and pendants with images of a golden dragon with a scarlet cross curled into a ring. In the family coats of arms of the nobles who were members of the order, the image of a dragon usually framed the coat of arms.
Father was a member of the Order of the Dragon the legendary Vlad Tepes, Vlad II Dracul, who got his nickname just because of his membership in the order - dracul in Romanian means "dragon".
Order of Calatrava
Order foundation date: 1158 year.
Interesting Facts: The first Catholic order founded in Spain was created to defend the fortress of Calatrava. In the 13th century, he became the most influential military force in Spain, capable of fielding from 1200 to 2000 knights. In its heyday, under Chiron and his son, the order controlled 56 commanderies and 16 priories. Up to 200,000 peasants worked for the order, its net annual income was estimated at 50,000 ducats. However, the order did not have complete independence. The title of grandmaster, since the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, has always been worn by the Spanish kings.
Hospitallers
Order foundation date: around 1099.
Interesting Facts: The hospitable order, the Hospitallers, the Knights of Malta, or the Johnites, is the oldest spiritual knightly order, which received its unofficial name in honor of the hospital and the church of St. John the Baptist. Unlike other orders, the Hospitallers accepted female novices into their ranks, and all men who joined the order were required to have a title of nobility.
The order was international, and its members, according to the linguistic principle, were divided into seven langs in the Middle Ages. Interestingly, the Slavic languages belonged to the Germanic lang. The 72nd Grand Master of the Order was Russian Emperor Pavel the First.
Despite the vow of non-possession, the Hospitallers were one of the richest knightly orders. French army during the capture of Malta by Napoleon caused damage to the order of almost three tens of millions of lire.
Order of the Holy Sepulcher
Order foundation date: 1099 year.
Interesting Facts: This powerful order was created during the First Crusade and the emergence of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Its king stood at the head of the order. The mission of the order was to protect the Holy Sepulcher and other holy places in Palestine.
For a long time, the Grand Masters of the Order were Popes. It was not until 1949 that the title was transferred to members of the Curia of the Vatican.
The order still exists today. Its members around the world are representatives of royal families, influential businessmen, political and scientific elite. According to a 2010 report, the number of the order exceeded 28,000 members. Its headquarters is in Rome. More than $50 million was spent on the order's charitable projects between 2000 and 2007.
Order of Alcantara
Order foundation date: 1156.
Interesting Facts: The order was originally created as a partnership to protect the frontier fortress of San Julian de Peral in Spain against the Moors. In 1177 the partnership was elevated to a knightly order; he undertook to wage eternal war with the Moors and defend the Christian faith.
King Alfonso IX in 1218 gave the order the city of Alcantara, where he settled under the new name. Prior to the occupation of Spain by the French in 1808, the order held 37 counties with 53 towns and villages. The history of the order was full of twists and turns. He grew rich and poor, he was abolished several times and restored again.
Order of Christ
Order foundation date: 1318 year.
Interesting Facts: The Order of Christ was the successor of the Knights Templar in Portugal. The order is also called Tomar - after the name of the Tomar castle, which became the residence of the Master. The most famous Tomarian was Vasco da Gama. On the sails of his ships is a red cross, which was the emblem of the Order of Christ.
Tomarians were one of the main pillars royalty in Portugal, and the order was secularized, which, of course, did not suit the Vatican, which began to present its own Supreme Order of Christ. In 1789, the order was finally secularized. In 1834, the nationalization of his property took place.
Order of the Sword
Order foundation date: 1202.
Interesting Facts: The official name of the order is the Brotherhood of the Warriors of Christ. The knights of the order received the nickname "sword-bearers" because of the swords depicted on their cloaks under the pawed Templar cross. Their main goal was to capture the Eastern Baltic. By agreement in 1207, 2/3 of the occupied lands went into the ownership of the order.
The Russian princes prevented the plans for the eastern expansion of the sword-bearers. In 1234, in the battle of Omovzha, the knights suffered a crushing defeat from Prince of Novgorod Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, after which Lithuania, together with the Russian princes, began campaigns on the lands of the order. In 1237, after the unsuccessful Crusade against Lithuania, the swordsmen joined the Teutonic Order and became the Livonian Order. It was defeated by Russian troops in the Livonian War in 1561.
Order of Saint Lazarus
Date of founding of the order: 1098
Interesting Facts: The Order of Saint Lazarus is notable for the fact that initially all of its members, including the Grand Master, were lepers. The order got its name from the place of foundation - from the name of the hospitals of St. Lazarus, located not far from the walls of Jerusalem.
It is from the name of this order that the name "infirmary" comes from. The knights of the order were also called "lazarites". Their symbol was a green cross on a black cassock or cloak.
At first, the order was not military and was engaged exclusively in charitable activities, helping lepers, but from October 1187, the lazarites began to participate in hostilities. They went into battle without helmets, their faces, disfigured by leprosy, terrified enemies. Leprosy in those years was considered incurable and lazarites were called "living dead".
In the battle of Forbia on October 17, 1244, the order lost almost all of its personnel, and after the expulsion of the crusaders from Palestine, it settled in France, where it is still engaged in charity work.
After the first crusade, nine monk-knights went to the Holy Land on a secret mission. In 1118 they arrived in Jerusalem and settled near the place where, according to legend, the famous temple of King Solomon once stood. The knights were nicknamed the Templars, or templars (in French > - >). It was an organization quickly becoming powerful, and in addition surrounded by a thick veil of mystery for the uninitiated. It seems that even the very creation of the order was at first hidden in complete secrecy. It was founded in 1118 or 1119 - even the exact date is unknown - by nine French knights, among whom was a certain Hugh de Payne from Champagne. To explain to the authorities the purpose of their presence in Jerusalem, the Templars announced that they would guard the roads along which thousands of Christian pilgrims rushed to Palestine and Syria. However, the knights did not participate in hostilities; they also could not provide significant assistance in protecting the pilgrims from Europe. What did the templars do ancient land? For nine years they kept complete silence about the new knightly brotherhood, in any case, not one of the chronicles reports about the Templars in these years. But it is known that in 1127 the knights returned from the Holy Land to their homeland (to the city of Troyes), where they announced themselves.
The following year, the order and its charter were officially recognized at the Church Council, held in the city of Troyes, the center of Champagne. The meeting was held under strict security. Not a word of what was being discussed was carried outside the walls of the monastery. Only the result of such a representative meeting is known: the new military Catholic Order of the Knights Templar was officially approved by the hierarchs of the church. He was granted very extensive privileges. Hugh de Paynes was elected the first master (leader) of the order.
The residence of the templars was at first in Jerusalem itself. King Baldwin gave them a place in the fence of the temple of King Solomon, from which the name of the order came. Officially, it was called like this -\u003e. The Knights of the Temple chose the Meek Mother of God as their patroness. Entering the order, they solemnly swore >.
From the very beginning, the Order of the Temple was dual: on the one hand, knightly, and on the other, monastic. Even his seal depicted a horse with two riders in the saddle. By historical fact there is another version: Hugo de Payne (Grand Master of the Order) and another knight named Gottfried St. Omer initially had one war horse for two. For this reason, and as a symbol of poverty, the coat of arms of the order featured two knights riding the same horse. And another version of such an image on the press: it spoke of poverty and brotherhood.
The templars wore a simple white cloak with a red cross on the chest. The banner of the order was striped, white and black, therefore it was called Bosean - in the old French this word means a skewbald horse; the banner had a cross and an inscription-motto: >.
The Temple Order quickly became a powerful, well-organized and disciplined organization. It was based on the principle -\u003e. The knights obeyed only their master and the Pope.
The Secret Life of the Templars.
The fame of the new knightly order, whose members fought against the infidels, guarded pilgrims and trade caravans, skillfully healed wounds, quickly spread throughout Europe. The order, professing poverty, quickly began to grow rich. Everyone joining it donated his fortune to the brotherhood free of charge. The order was given land by the French and English kings; already in 1130 the Templars had possessions in France, England, Scotland, Flanders, Spain, Portugal. Ten years later, possessions in Italy, Austria, Germany, and Hungary were added to this.
In the 12th century, along with vast lands, castles, fortresses, the Templars conducted trade operations, owned ports, shipyards, and had their own powerful fleet. The Grand Masters happened to lend money to the kings themselves; and more and more the templars forgot that the charter implies poverty and the rejection of all earthly joys, prohibits any secular pleasures, even laughter and singing.
Although some provisions in the charter of the order were surprising to many, they deviated from Christian dogmas, and sometimes simply contradicted them. Thus, one of the points indicated that members of the order may not stay in the monastery, although for members of other monastic communities, permanent presence was mandatory. The Knights Templar were only allowed to confess to chaplains belonging to the Order of the Temple, which meant that the activities of its members were not accountable or controlled by the Catholic clergy. The order had the right to engage in commercial activities and owned property (land and people who cultivate it). The Templars were freed from the power of local feudal lords and even from paying church taxes. Of course, all this raised a lot of questions. Why was such a small community singled out among many similar ones? What was so special about nine knights during their ten years in the Holy Land, having received such an award? Who was the secret patron of the knights?
It is believed that behind all the activities of the Knights Templar was the powerful Catholic leader Bernard of Clairvaux, abbot of the monastery in Clairvaux. He was the initiator of the creation of the order and its secret coordinator. The Templar researcher Louis Charpentier points out that it was on behalf of Bernard of Clairvaux that > and > monks went to Jerusalem. Historians are unlikely to be able to accurately find out about the finds of the Templars. But Charpentier claims that the monk-knights were not so much engaged in military operations as they were collecting ancient manuscripts, and the main purpose of their arrival was the Treasure Ark of Solomon, which holds the key to secret knowledge. It was he who was brought by the templars to Europe. And it was the Treasure Ark that became the > and > that the knights passed.
During the existence of the Order of the Temple, the number of its members increased to hundreds of thousands. He was supported by the most famous aristocratic families of Europe. The organization of the Templars was distinguished by rigidity and unquestioning subordination of ordinary members to the top leadership. The Templars were divided into warrior monks who participated in all conflicts of the Catholic Church, and those who were engaged in economic activities.
> activities of the Templars deserve special attention. The commanderies of the knights-monks were located in all European countries. They became the largest centers of education and crafts. The Templars especially patronized construction. The construction of the largest Gothic churches in Europe surprisingly coincides with the beginning of their activity: in Chartres, Paris, Bourges, Reims, Amiens, Toulouse, Soissons and other cities.
A Gothic temple is a very complex architectural structure, the construction of which requires extensive knowledge. In Europe, after three hundred years of barbarian wars, there were almost no craftsmen left who could make masonry and repair the roof. Warrior monks brought to the treasury of the order not only the looted treasures of the Saracens, but also priceless Greek, Egyptian, Arabic manuscripts. Many manuscripts were considered heretical by the church, but the templars carefully preserved them. And it was through the libraries and schools of the Templars that the Europeans replenished the lost knowledge.
In battles with > the Knights of the Temple showed treachery, especially cruelty, causing the hatred of Muslims. It is no coincidence that, having defeated the army of the king of Jerusalem in 1187, Salah ad-Din very mercifully treated all the captured Christian knights, with the exception of the Templars.
However, even after this defeat, which shook the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Order of the Temple owned large estates in the Holy Land for a long time and continued to increase its wealth and glory - both good and sinister.
The Templars fought the Muslims in the Holy Land, and in Europe they established one commandery after another. They intervened in the affairs of states, acted as arbitrators, resolving conflicts between monarchs.
The knights of the temple were familiar Accounting and the principle of double entry, check payments and compound interest; in all Christendom there were no more experienced and honest economists. In addition, they encouraged the development of science.
Significant was charity Templars. The charter assigned them three times a week to feed the poor in their homes.
3. How the history of the Order ended.
The Templars were also successful in commercial activities. Usury, trade, land and money donations made them the largest owners in Europe and the Middle East and creditors of almost all royal courts. Their influence grew from year to year, but especially increased when the great masters curtailed their activities in the East after the fall of Jerusalem under the blows of the Turks, and sent the freed funds to Europe.
And then the order, which has reached its power, suddenly ceases to exist. Why? This is another mystery that shrouded the history of the Knights Templar.
Certainly, indirect cause this was the conflict between the King of France Philip 4 the Handsome and the masters of the Order of the Temple. In France alone, the Templars had about 2,000 commanderies, which owned more than 2 million hectares of land that were not subject to taxation. And if we add a well-established economic activity and treasures accumulated over the centuries, our own fleet and ports! Of course, the ruined Philip 4 had a passionate desire to get the wealth of the Templars, replenish their own treasury with them, and besides, this would lead to the elimination of a strong rival who influenced European politics. On September 12, 1307, a decree of Philip IV was sent to all the governors of France, ordering to arrest all the templars on the same day. The entire brotherhood, including the Grand Master, was accused of heresy, rejection of the Christian faith, worship of idols.
Of course, the Templars knew about the impending repression, for sure > warned them about the date. But why didn't such powerful monk-knights put up resistance and hide? This is another secret of the Templars. Clement v, who became the head of the Catholic Church with the help of the French king, supported his actions and sent similar decrees to Spain, Portugal, and England. Thousands of Templars were thrown behind bars. The authorities, seeking a confession of heresy, used torture against them. The Knights of the Order of the Temple have always been distinguished by their stamina and inflexibility, and the secrets of the Order have not been revealed.
Executions began: from time to time, by order of the king, knights were burned in small groups at the stake in Paris itself or other cities of the kingdom. Without waiting for the end of the investigation, Pope Clement v announced the dissolution of the order and its ban throughout the Christian world.
The treasures of the Templars did not become the property of either the French king or the Pope. It was said that the last Grand Master of the order, Jacques de Molay, knew exactly about the date of the impending defeat, but did not specifically leave France. The day before his arrest, in order to lull Philip's vigilance, he even arrived at the court to participate in the funeral procession on the occasion of the death of the king's brother's wife. The Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Molay, spent five and a half years in prison, subjected to sophisticated torture. Finally, the day came when he, barefoot, in the yellow cap of a heretic, walked through Paris for the last time, accompanied by guards and monks. On one of the islands of the Seine, a fire was already laid out.
The Grand Master of the Brotherhood of Knights was burned at the stake on March 18, 1313. His last words were curses - to King Phillip of France, Pope Clement v and Guillaume de Nogaret, the military leader who arrested the Grand Master and personally tortured him. The curse turned out to be prophetic: within a year, one after the other, all three died.
But the order of the templars itself ceased to exist. Their castles and lands passed to the crown, ships were confiscated. Much of the property of the Templars was transferred to the Hospitallers, eternal rivals; the Castle Temple in Paris also went to them.
Only in Portugal and Spain, which fought the Arabs, did the monarchs not give offense to the Templars: they needed the knight brothers as a powerful allied military force. True, in order to formally fulfill the prohibition of the Pope of Rome, new orders of chivalry were established, to which both the property of the templars and themselves were transferred. Untouched were the possessions of the templars, preserved on the island of Cyprus.
Mysteries of the Templars.
Little remains of the Order, once powerful and influential.
Philip, who wanted to get the riches of the Templars, got an empty treasury. Together with the treasury, the battle banner, sacred vessels and relics, and ancient manuscripts disappeared. The riches in all the commanderies of the Order of the Temple in France also disappeared without a trace. The fate of the treasures of the Templars has been lost for centuries.
But there are mysteries that remain unanswered. And I must say, they still excite the imagination of many people to this day.
The beliefs of the templars have become mysterious, there are even special studies on this subject - both quite scientific and complete mystics. For example, assumptions have been put forward: what, after all, did the Baphomet idol personify, which the knights of the Temple allegedly worshiped - it is quite possible that in the beliefs of the knights, the traditions and attributes of which they created for decades, hatred for > and. to the Pope himself.
After all, the Templars did not value anything as highly as absolute independence and power over everything and everyone. They believed in their power so much that it was precisely for this reason that they were defeated so easily and quickly.
But in addition to mysticism and theology, the templars have riddles of a more material plane.
And for many centuries, starting from 1307, those who wanted to find both the treasury of the order and its archive were not transferred.
Will they ever show up? Indeed, now for historians, the archives of the order are perhaps no less precious than all the treasures collected by the Templars over the centuries.
The fact that scientists to this day do not lose hope is evidenced by the hypothesis put forward not so long ago by the French researcher Jean de Maye. Although it seems at first glance unexpected and implausible, however, all its links line up in a rather harmonious chain.
The scientist drew attention to one oddity associated with the Order of the Temple. The fact is that he was so powerful that he minted his own coin. However, for some reason, not from gold, like all the others who had the right to it, but from silver.
Another oddity: among those seaports owned by the Templars, there is one - La Rochelle, - the purpose of which is not very clear: it lies away from all the trade sea routes of that time. Meanwhile, the fortress-port of La Rochelle was protected by strong walls, seven roads led there from different places in France.
And in addition to these oddities, there was also curious evidence that on the night before the arrests, three covered wagons left Paris, accompanied by a strong escort. The cargo should arrive at one of the ports belonging to the order, where ships were waiting for it.
Comparing all these facts, the French scientist suggested: long before Columbus. the Templars sailed to America, and it was for this purpose that the port of La Rochelle served them. In the wagons taken out of Paris, most likely there were treasures and the archive of the Order.
Where is the proof, you ask? There are also them. After all, we already know that the Templars minted coins from silver, and it poured into Europe in a large stream from America and only after the ships of Europeans began to sail regularly across the ocean.
Another confirmation was found in the national archives of France: one of the ancient charters is sealed with the seal of the order, on which you can see. an image of a man in a feather dress, such as the Indians wear.
In principle, there is nothing incredible in the fact that the ships of the Templars were able to sail to America - after all, the Vikings went there on much less advanced ships centuries before the founding of the order. It was on the ships of the templars, by the way, that the compass appeared for the first time in Europe. And if the templars really found their way to New World, they would hardly advertise such a discovery - after all, mystery, mystery compared the very essence of the order.
Although the power of the Order was undermined, its symbols continued to be used. Christopher Columbus discovered America under the flag of the Templars with a white flag with a red octagonal cross.
Recently, an ancient Rosslyn chapel was discovered in Scotland. It is possible that the chapel is the repository of the countless treasures of the Knights Templar. We do not know what awaits the explorers inside the mysterious castle of powerful knights. With full confidence, we can only say that the ancient chapel of the Knights of the Templars today, like thousands of years ago, remains a symbol of true faith and selfless service to one's cause.
In the history of the Christian world there are historical characters who managed to make a significant contribution to the development of Western civilization through their actions and deeds. Such characters, of course, are the knights of the Knights Templar - members of one of the most powerful political and religious organizations of medieval Europe.
Despite the rather short period of existence, the activities of the Order have acquired many legends that continue to disturb the community of historians, religious scholars and theologians to this day. The main questions that are of interest to the historical and scientific community today are as follows:
- did the Knights Templar actually exist;
- what is the secret knowledge that the Templars possessed;
- where did the templars get huge wealth;
- where did the countless treasures of the Order go after its abolition.
Who are the Templars? Where does this movement originate?
The history of the spiritual and knightly order of the Knights of the Temple is closely connected with Christianity, which at the turn of the first and second millennia was going through difficult times. The Christian world in the early Middle Ages was in an extremely fragmented state. After the collapse of the Empire of Charlemagne, civil strife reigned in Europe. On the fragments of the once mighty Frankish empire, new kingdoms, duchies and principalities arose, which tried to take a leading position in European and world politics. At this moment, the influence of the church, which had previously acted as a cementing material for any monarchy, significantly weakened.
The Catholic Church urgently needed a new idea that would not only restore the influence of the church, but also become a unifying factor for the entire Christian world. Such an initiative was soon found. In 1096, at a church council in Clermont, Pope Urban II proclaimed the idea of liberating Jerusalem and the entire Holy Land from Muslim rule. From this moment in the history of Europe begins a new stage of development associated with the beginning of Christian expansion.
It was during this period that the Templars appeared on the political arena on a wave of religious enthusiasm. At the same time, under the flags of the struggle for the Christian faith, other knightly orders appeared - military-political organizations of a religious persuasion. Each of the newly formed orders pursued its own goals, but it was the Templars who secured the glory of the true defenders of the Holy Sepulcher.
The created orders were both monastic and knightly at the same time, i.e. had a religious connotation. However, unlike the Order of St. John (Hospitallers), which was directly subordinate to the Pope, the new religious-military organization was independent. The knights, united in a religious-knightly congregation, did not obey either the Pope or fell under the influence of secular power. The creation of the Knights Templar coincides in time with the current events taking place in the First Crusade, which turned out to be the only one of all subsequent such events. In the Middle East, the Crusaders managed to defeat individual Seljuk detachments, on a short time weakening Muslim rule.
Historians attribute the foundation of the Knights Templar to various historical figures. According to one version, in 1099, Gottfried of Bouillon, who proclaimed himself king of Jerusalem, initiated the creation of a new military-religious organization.
According to another version, the initiative to create a knightly order belongs to the associates of the King of Jerusalem Baldwin II - the French knights. In 1118, nine knights, led by Hugh de Paynes and Saint Omer, offered their services to the King of Jerusalem to protect the shrines. The first later became the master of the order. By the way, these figures appear in the Charter of the order as the date of foundation of the brotherhood.
First of all, the emphasis was placed on the military component of the new organization, since it was necessary to create some kind of royal guard, a powerful and well-trained paramilitary unit. The origin of the new military organization, despite the propaganda of high ideals, is explained by banal needs. Christian shrines in the land of Palestine and thousands of pilgrims needed constant protection not only from Muslims, but also from the attacks of robbers and robbers who appeared on these lands with the arrival of Europeans. New order became a real military force capable of defending the gains of Europeans in the Middle East.
Corresponds to the stated goals and the name that the order received. Initially, the knights united in a brotherhood in the name of a lofty goal - the protection of Christian shrines. King Baldwin II, accepting the proposal of the poor knights, determined the location of the new brotherhood to be the place where the temple of Solomon was supposedly once located. The new spiritual brothers equipped their headquarters and barracks on the site of the former Muslim mosque Al-Aqsa. The population of the city, in view of this location, quickly dubbed the new brothers templars. As a result, the Europeanized name of the order appeared. The temple in French is called "Temple". Accordingly, the subsequent name of the participants in the new brotherhood follows from here - the Knights of the Temple, the Templars or the Templars.
Officially, the order had a number of other names, one way or another related to the main mission - the protection of the Holy Sepulcher and other shrines. IN different times and in various places the templars were called the poor knights of Christ, or the poor warriors of Christ and the Temple of Solomon. The name Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem sounded less often.
A Brief History of the Organization of the Templars
The word "poor" deliberately emphasizes the ascetic way of life of the members of the brotherhood, who put the service of Christ above the earthly goods received during life. This is echoed by the legend surrounding the history of the creation of the order, according to which 9 poor knights became the founders of the organization. The symbol of the brotherhood was the emblem, which depicts two horsemen sitting on one horse, which once again emphasizes the image of the poor champions of Christ.
Some sources claim that the reason for the appearance of such an emblem is more of an economic motive. Due to the difficult financial situation, the templars could not afford to have their own horse. This fact is actively disputed today because the knighthood implies the obligatory presence of one's own horse. Probably the combination with two riders on one horse is a successful publicity stunt that the Templars resorted to, deciding to create around themselves an aura of asceticism and disregard for material values.
During the period of persecution of members of the brotherhood, the emblem of the Knights Templar was used by opponents of the templars as evidence of a deadly sin - sodomy, which is a link between members of the brotherhood.
The number of members of the order at the time of its foundation was small. The founders included nine French knights who were members of the first crusade. Among them, along with Hugh de Payne, de Saint-Omer and André de Montbar, were other comrades-in-arms of Gottfried of Bouillon.
As befits any serious organization, its activities were regulated by the charter of the Knights Templar, which was adopted in 1128. The text explicitly states that this document was adopted 9 years after the creation of the brotherhood of knights, i.e. all the previous 9 years the order existed in a semi-legal position. The leading role in the formation of the brotherhood was played by St. Bernard, the abbot of Clairvaux, to whom the knights turned for help in organizing a new order. He took an interest in the undertakings of the knights who took the vow of monasticism. The abbot developed a charter for the brotherhood of warrior monks and took on the hassle of the Pope for the legalization of the new institution.
Among the merits of the abbot of Clairvaux is the commitment of the templars to wear white capes over their armor with a red eight-pointed cross in the region of the heart. White vestments strikingly distinguished the Templars from the knights - the monks of the Order of the Hospitallers in black cassocks. The abbot kept this promise and in 1128, at a council in Troyes, Pope Honorius II announced the formation of the Order of the Knights of Christ and the Temple of Jerusalem. The new monastic and military order was headed by Hugh de Paynes, who received the status of Grand Master.
Emphasis should be placed on the existing hierarchy in the Order. The head of the brotherhood (Order) is the Grand Master, followed by the following positions and titles:
- commander of the Order - he is also the head of a large military unit;
- priors - the level of the governor or commandant of a certain region (territory);
- officers - military commanders of the middle level;
- sergeants are ordinary members of the order.
Promotion through the ranks was carried out taking into account military and other merits to the order. The knights formed the basis of the military units and administration of the order. The service of the brotherhood was carried out by servants and grooms, who performed the functions of squires during campaigns. In less than 200 years, 23 Grand Masters have been chosen.
If we talk about the content of the charter of the order, then it more than accurately conveyed the entire organization of the brotherhood from the inside. The usual monastic vows of obedience were based on a commitment to worldly poverty and chastity. It is these two aspects that have become the main motto of the brotherhood of the templars. In the charter, instructions were given regarding the abstinence from earthly goods and excesses. Along with the obligatory attendance of mass, the brothers had to regularly engage in physical exercises and military affairs. Meat was allowed to be consumed three times a week, while maintaining the purity of spirit and thoughts.
Along with the main provisions set forth in the charter of the order, there was an oath that all members of the brotherhood took. The main provisions of the knightly oath were as follows:
- help the poor;
- at the price own life to help brothers in the order who are in trouble;
- do not respond to insults and provocations of a knight of the Christian faith;
- be able to take on three opponents at once.
Violation of this oath was severely punished, up to the use of corporal punishment. It should be noted that it was the Knights of the Temple who were considered the most consistent in their beliefs. Thanks to the contribution of Abbe Bernard, the Catholic Church received a powerful military and political tool in its hands. We can say that Bernard managed to achieve the impossible. Using the militant ardor and enthusiasm of the knights, Bernard managed to direct these qualities to the service of the holy cause. From now on, the knights not only fought for honor, but were forced to go into battle for religious reasons.
The heyday and power of the order. Secrets and mysteries of the templars
With the continuation of the Crusades, the authority of the monk-knights of the Order of the Temple only grew stronger and stronger. Templar warriors in white cassocks with a purple cross on their chests took part in all major battles and battles of that time, often appearing in the most dangerous areas. Many of them became legendary figures, going down in history as consistent and brave warriors of Christ. With the end of the crusades, which ended with the expulsion of Christians from Palestine, the activities of the order did not stop. After the loss of the last Christian strongholds in the Middle East in 1291, the Templars briefly settled in Cyprus, where they stayed for less than 20 years.
It was no longer a religious-military brotherhood of poor knights. For almost a hundred and fifty years of its existence, the order has transformed into a huge corporation, where, along with military craft, other services were provided, including financial and transport services. This led to the fact that the religious-military brotherhood was able to turn into such a powerful and powerful organization. Many historians and theologians associate the power of the Templars with the finds made by the monks during their stay in the Holy Land. According to some historians, possession of the Ark of the Covenant allowed the Templars to find a way to countless treasures. The sudden appearance at the disposal of the Order of huge financial resources is the main secret of the Knights Templar.
The won and well-deserved prestige that the brotherhood gained is the main reason why, over time, the Templars became the most popular monastic order in medieval Europe. This became possible thanks to the strict observance of the hierarchy within the order and the very organization of the brotherhood. High military skill and valor only enhanced the achieved effect. Almost all French nobility and aristocracy were members of the Order. Many of the secular gentlemen preferred the attire of a simple monk and the ascetic life of a warrior to a rich and prosperous life.
France did not the only country Europe, where the Templars settled. Throughout Europe, the templars built their castles and fortresses. Great was the influence of the Templars in other countries, especially in Spain and Portugal. The order had political weight in England and in the German states. Their financial empire entangled all the royal houses of Europe with its networks. The templars had the broadest legal and religious powers, which were granted to the order by the popes and sovereigns, on whose lands the brotherhood had its possessions and interests. In the XII-XIII centuries, the Knights Templar became the envy of many powerful people of this world, the main banker of Europe. Material values, huge land holdings and usury were the main factors that led to the subsequent destruction of the Knights Templar.
The return of the Templars to France was the beginning of the end of their dominance as a military, political and financial force. medieval Europe. The fact is that, despite the patronage of the Pope, the Order in some aspects exceeded its powers, becoming a state within a state, living by its own laws and often ignoring the interests of the sovereign master.
Defeat of the Knights Templar
Despite the fact that the order had colossal power and influence throughout Europe, this organization had many opponents and enemies. Although the original purpose of the founding of the fraternity was military protection Christian states created by the crusaders in the East, the order in its subsequent actions went far from this. Having moved to Europe, the knights - monks made their main headquarters in Paris. The French port of La Rochelle, located on the coast Atlantic Ocean, the order made its main naval base.
Although the Templar empire had a fairly strong position, in Europe there were many opponents of the influence of the order. During its existence, the brotherhood repeatedly fought against conspiracies, the purpose of which was to achieve the abolition of the order or reduce its influence. This trend was especially pronounced in France, where King Philip the Handsome decided to do away with a powerful organization.
The reasons that prompted the French monarch to start persecuting the templars are banal. The French kingdom at the beginning of the XIV century experienced a deep economic crisis. The royal treasury was empty, and Philip IV had to constantly borrow funds. One of the main sources of funding was the Order. As a result, the debt of the royal court to the Templars reached enormous proportions. To destroy the order was the only solution for the French monarch to get rid of creditors. Not having own forces to fight directly with the Templars, Philip turned to the Vatican for help. The Roman Catholic Church had its own accounts with the templars, and therefore the Roman high priests zealously seized on the idea to put an end to the recalcitrant brotherhood once and for all. Despite the fact that the order was officially under the auspices of the Roman Church, Pope Clement V quickly responded to the request of the French king by joint efforts to destroy the order.
The beginning of the drama falls on October 1307, when, by order of the king, the top of the Order, headed by Grand Master Jacques de Molay, was arrested. The Temple Castle in Paris, the main headquarters of the Order, was also captured. The day after the arrests began, Pope Clement V ordered all the abbots and bishops in France to start arresting the knights and to confiscate the property of the Templars. The repressions against the representatives of the order initiated by the King of France were supported not only by the authorities of the Vatican. Many large feudal lords of Europe supported the French monarch and opposed the Templars. The persecution of members of the order in France was the most severe. Throughout the country, the Inquisition's trials began on the arrested Templars, which resulted in the torture of the Templars and subsequent death sentences.
The main accusation, voiced at the trials and brought against the Templars, was the support of heresy, Satanism and the spread of sodomy. Despite the fact that initially many of the arrested high-ranking Templars admitted their guilt, the tragedy of the destruction of the order did not end there. In France, action secular authorities and the Vatican was opposed by many supporters of the order, including those in the Vatican itself. The period of persecution and struggle against the Templars falls on the years 1307-1314. In 1312, Pope Clement V with his bull abolished the Order of the Temple and transferred all its property and powers to the Order of St. John - the Hospitallers.
The last Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Molay, being under investigation and torture for four years, was burned at the stake on March 18, 1314. As a result of the destruction of the Order of the Knights of the Jerusalem Temple, neither the king of France, nor other persons from among the persecutors of the Templars, were able to unravel great secret brotherhood - where did the huge wealth of the Order come from and where did it disappear.
You heard a lot about the Templars, but did not know who they were. Now you will fill in this gap - you will find out who the Templars are and why they were called that. Also, learn a lot interesting information about these knights who defended the faith, and renounced everything material. Devoting your life to the spiritual vow of warriors of light.
The Order of the Knights Templar, or Templars, was one of three spiritual and knightly orders created in the Holy Land to protect pilgrims, strengthen and expand the crusader states in Palestine and Syria (the other two orders were the Joannite and Teutonic orders). The order got its name from the temple (French temple) of Solomon in Jerusalem, under which it was founded in 1119 shortly after the first crusade.
Entering the order, the knights took vows of celibacy, poverty, obedience and swore "by word and weapon and with all their strength to protect the sacrament of faith."
However, very soon the order, thanks to grants and donations, became the largest feudal lord in the Middle East and Europe. Its "provinces" (local divisions) existed in almost all states of Western and Central Europe. The enrichment of the Templars was facilitated by trade and mainly usury. The financial services of the Templars were resorted to by feudal lords, sovereigns, and popes.
The Templars - members of the Order of the "Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon" - originally nine poor knights who chose to protect pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. The very name "Templars" comes from French word"temple" ("temple"), also known as templar knights
After the end of the Crusades, the Templars settled in Cyprus, then moved to France. By this time, the riches of the Templars were legendary. The French king Philip IV the Beautiful, fearing the growth of the power of the order and seeking to seize their wealth, achieved the accusation of the Templars in heresy and in the secret administration of devilish rites. An inquisitorial process was initiated against the order. In October 1307, the order was defeated, almost all the Templars in France were thrown into prison, where, under torture, they confessed to the crimes attributed to the order. In 1310, the grand master of the order, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake. In 1312, Pope Clement V abolished the order.
After the fall of the Holy Kingdom, the position of the Order was shaken. Despite the fact that the knights had all the same power and means, the purpose they served disappeared. Many accused members of the Order of apostasy and blamed the fall of Jerusalem. Although it was thanks to the knights of the templars that the Kingdom of Jerusalem was able to hold out for so long, surrounded on all sides by enemies.
The increased influence of the Templars and the French King Philip, who saw the Order as a threat to his crown, did not suit him. Using the evidence of the crimes against the Faith of the exiled member of the Order as a pretext, Philip began an investigation against the Knights Templar. On October 13, 1307, almost all members of the Order were captured and arrested. All property was confiscated in favor of the treasury and the Church.
Some of the accusations made by the Holy Inquisition:
worship of idols
Members of the Order worshiped a cat that came to meetings
Distortion of the Formula of the Mass
All the wealth of the Order comes from the worship of idols.
Worshiping idols as God and Savior
In 1310, after legal proceedings that swept across Europe, 54 Knights Templar were burned at the stake, who, even under torture, did not admit the charges. In 1312, the Order of the Temple was abolished by papal decree.
So the Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon ended its history, leaving behind legends of honor, glory, wealth and betrayal.
Mysteries of the Templars
The name of the Templars is shrouded in a halo of rumors and secrets. Six hundred years after its death, the order has become a kind of brand, from which an entire industry feeds on income. Occultists argue that the knights found the Holy Grail in the cellars of the Temple of Solomon and became the owners of secret knowledge. Treasure hunters are arguing where the innumerable treasures of the Templars have sunk. And some "informed sources" hint that the powerful organization did not die, but conspired and formed a "shadow government" that still rules the world.
How was it really? In 1119 in Jerusalem, according to the medieval historian William of Tire, “nobles from a knightly family, Christians who dedicated their lives to God, committed themselves to serving him. According to their rules, it was necessary to live without property, to observe the vow of chastity and obedience. The first of the mentors were Hugh de Paynes and Godefroy de Saint-Omer. None of them had a permanent place of residence, the king gave them shelter in the southern wing of his palace, not far from the Temple of the Lord.
Twenty years before this event, in 1099, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was founded as a result of the First Crusade. The city was relatively calm, but in its vicinity, crowds of thugs roamed, killing hundreds of Christian pilgrims. King Baldwin II did not have a powerful army, and a handful of knights volunteered to provide security for pilgrims arriving in the Holy Land. Initially, there were only nine of these daredevils, all French. They called their order "The Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon", but unofficially they were called the Templars, or Templars ("temple" in French temple - "temple").
Unlike members of the monastic orders, the Templars were military, could carry weapons and shed blood. Otherwise, they gave the usual monastic vows: no money-grubbing, chastity and obedience. The seal of the order depicts two riders sitting on one horse. They say that at first the knights were so poor that they had only one horse for two. When the period of poverty passed, the image began to be interpreted as a symbol of the unity of the spiritual principle and military duty, as well as the absence of pride among the knights (for proud man never sit on a horse like that).
Soon Hugues de Paynes and Godefroy de Saint-Omer went to France, where they began to promote the ideas of the order and recruit supporters, especially among the young men of the aristocracy and the nobility. They began to donate land, income, sums of money. Dozens of people joined the order. Ideologically, the undertaking was supported by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, a major spiritual leader of that era. He was a relative of one of the first Templars - Andre de Montbar. First, St. Bernard wrote a laudatory treatise "Glory to the new chivalry", and then composed the order's Latin charter, numbering 72 articles. At the suggestion of Bernard, white was chosen as the color of the Templars' clothes, later they began to sew red crosses on their clothes, like all participants in the Crusades.
In January 1128, on the initiative of St. Bernard, a council was convened at Troyes, at which Pope Honorius II approved the order, its charter, and appointed Hugh de Paynes as the first Grand Master. Initially, the order was divided into two estates: the Chevalier brothers (knights from noble families) and the sergeant brothers (squires, Lazhi, soldiers, etc.). Knights were forbidden to retreat in battle while at least one Christian flag was flying over the field, to participate in civil strife, shedding the blood of fellow believers. Each warrior could have no more than three horses. Excesses in clothing, idle talk, dice games and chess were also not allowed.
The brothers cut their hair short, did not shave their beards, slept in a common room (dormitory), where a fire burned all night. Meat was allowed to be eaten twice a week to maintain strength. Hunting was allowed only for lions, which were found in abundance in Palestine and posed a real threat. Women could not be members of the order. Married men were admitted to temporary service, but without the right to wear white clothes. Gradually, another class was singled out in the order - priests who could not shed blood. The Grand Master had practically unlimited power. The entire organization of the order was ideal for wartime. Unlike purely monastic orders, the Templars had a specific earthly mission - the protection of the Holy Land from the infidels. This required considerable funds, the extraction of which became the main task of the Western European commanders of the order.
During the 12th and 13th centuries, they were active in economic activity: they collected duties, concluded deals, and received rents. Someone donated to them a barn or a meadow for mowing, and someone a castle or an entire county. Three documents became the basis of the prosperity and power of the Templars. The papal bull Omne datum optimum of 29 March 1139 granted them autonomy from the local secular and ecclesiastical authorities. In fact, the templars were directly subordinate only to the pope. Bull Milites Templi dated January 9, 1144 gave indulgence (expiation of sins) to all those who donate to the order. Bull Milicia Dei of April 7, 1145 allowed the Templars to build special order churches, which immediately rushed crowds of believers.
The Templars are known for their banking activities. Initially, this was caused by the need to reduce the risks of pilgrims to the Holy Land. In order not to travel with cash values, a person could hand over money to the Templar cashier in Paris or London, and receive it in Jerusalem by presenting a check. Moreover, he received the amount converted into local currency! Then the order began to lend money at a rather low interest rate - 10%). The rate of the most popular Lombard bankers was 24%, and Jewish - 40%.
The Templars did not compete with the Lombards and Jews, because, fearing accusations of usury, they issued loans primarily for pilgrimages and the ransom of captured Christians. They were good economists. In 1204, the brother of the Order, Eymar, became treasurer of the French king Philip II Augustus, in 1263, brother Amaury de La Roche took the same position at the court of Louis IX. IN mass consciousness the word "Templars" was strongly associated with honest and brave warriors going to death for their faith. So, the eighth Grand Master Odo de Saint-Aman was captured by Sultan Saladin at the Battle of Chatelet and died in captivity. He refused to be ransomed, stating, "A Templar can only provide ransom for his belt and battle dagger."
The situation changed after the first serious setbacks of the crusaders in the Holy Land. In 1187, about 17 thousand Christian soldiers, including the backbone of the Knights Templar, died in the Battle of Hattin. 230 Templars were captured, tortured and executed. After the battle of Hattin, Saladin's army entered Jerusalem, its inhabitants became hostages of the Muslims. In Europe, a rumor was spread that the Templars refused to ransom the captives and 16,000 Christians became slaves through their fault.
Having lost Jerusalem, the crusader state continued to resist for another hundred years. Acre became the new headquarters of the order. In 1291, Acre fell under the blows of the Arabs. There were about 900 Templars in the city, who heroically defended themselves. Their last stronghold was the tower, under which the enraged Sultan ordered to bring a mine. Nearly all of Acre's defenders perished in the explosion under the rubble, including Grand Master Guillaume de Beaux.
After 200 years of hard struggle, Europe lost the Holy Land, and the order of the temple - its combat-ready core; hundreds of professional warriors subject to strict discipline. The surviving Templars evacuated to the friendly island of Cyprus. In 1293, the last, 23rd Grand Master was elected Jacques de Molay - an elderly man and not a very flexible politician. As before, he saw his mission in the recapture of the Holy Sepulcher from the infidels and several times offered the pope expensive projects for new expeditions to Palestine.
Jacques de Molay did not feel that political situation changed, Europe lost interest in the Crusades, and the enemies and envious of the order intensified and were looking for a way to get their hands on its wealth. The catastrophe broke out on Friday, October 13, 1307. The King of France, Philip IV the Handsome, the most powerful monarch of Europe, did not tolerate the existence of a paramilitary structure uncontrolled by him on his territory. In the course of an unprecedented punitive operation, even by today's standards, all the Templars in France and many in other countries were captured in one day. Pope Clement V supported the operation under pressure from Philip IV). A long process began over members of the orders with the use of the most monstrous tortures.
Royal propaganda did not spare black colors, proving that it was the sins of the Templars that led to the loss of the Holy Land. Under torture, the brothers, who in France were mostly veteran recruits or “business executives,” admitted that when they joined the order, they renounced Christ, spat on the cross, indulged in sodomy and worshiped a certain idol Baphomet in the form of a human head with a white beard. As soon as the torture ceased, the prisoners withdrew their ridiculous testimonies. During the seven years of the process, several public burnings of especially intractable templars were arranged as a warning to others.
So, on May 12, 1310, fifty-four Templars were executed on the outskirts of Paris. Despite this, many brothers and the leadership of the order decided to defend their honor to the end. Then, on May 22, 1312, Pope Clement V issued the bull Vox in excelso dissolving the Order of the Temple. His property was confiscated and transferred to the Order of the Hospitallers. On March 18, 1314, two old men, exhausted by a seven-year imprisonment, Jacques de Molay and Prior of Normandy, Geoffroy de Charnay, were raised to the stake. They accepted death with dignity and courage.
The great master, engulfed in flames, shouted at the last moment: “Pope Clement! King Philip! In less than a year, I will call you to the Judgment of God. A curse on your family to the thirteenth generation!” The curse came true, and this served as an additional argument in favor of the legend of the magic of the Templars. The Pope died 33 days after the execution. he began to have colic in his stomach, presumably dysentery, for which the doctors prescribed him to drink crushed emeralds. As a result, on April 20, the stones finally ruptured his intestines.
King Philip died on November 29: he suffered a stroke while hunting and fell off his horse. The paralyzed king was brought to the castle, where he soon died. Over the next 14 years, all of his sons died, earning the nickname "cursed kings". The Capetian dynasty, which had ruled France since 987, came to an end.
Much to the dismay of the initiators of the defeat of the Templars, the treasures of the order were never found. They are still being searched for in the dungeons. knight's castles throughout Europe, up to Ukraine and Latvia. There are a variety of versions: from the one that the wealth was spent on the construction of the famous Gothic cathedrals, to the one that the Nazis found them and took them to Argentina during World War II. The story of 15 mysterious galleys that left the port of La Rochelle on Friday the 13th and disappeared into the Atlantic roams from novel to novel.
Some researchers argue that the Templars tried to combine the incompatible - knightly honor and financial activity, and therefore, naturally, went bankrupt. After all, a really rich corporation would always have influential defenders.
