Trial of the Knights Templar

The Knights Templar trace their beginnings to the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in c. 1120 when eight Christian knights, under the auspices of King Baldwin II and the Patriarch Warmund, were given the task of protecting pilgrims on the roads to Jerusalem, which they did for nine years until elevated to a military order at the Council of Troyes in 1129. They became an elite fighting force in the Crusades known for their propensity not to retreat or surrender.

Eventually, their rules of secrecy, their power, privileges and their wealth, made them vulnerable to the King of France’s accusations, and with the Pope’s unsuccessful attempts to prevent it, their destruction. The Templar leader, Master Jacques de Molay had recently come to France for meetings with the pope. In 1307, members of the Templar order in France were suddenly charged with heresy and arrested. In France, many ultimately, including their leader, were burned at the stake while others were sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. The events in France led to a series of trials in other locations, not all of which had the same outcome.

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Jesus Christ, commonly known as the Knights Templar, originally began c.1120, when a group of eight Christian Knights approached Warmund, Patriarch of Jerusalem and requested permission to defend the Kingdom of Jerusalem.Baldwin II of Jerusalem gave them quarters in the Temple of Solomon. Hugues de Payens was elected their master and the Patriarch Warmund charged them with the duty of keeping the roads safe from thieves and others who were routinely robbing and killing pilgrims en route to Jerusalem, which they did for nine years until the Council of Troyes in 1129, when they became a military order sanctioned by the Church encouraged substantially by the patronage of Bernard of Clairvaux, a leading churchman of the time. The Rule of the Order was based on that of the Cistercian Order, that of obedience, poverty and chastity. Their role was eventually expanded to fight in the Crusades. The Crusades wound down, and were eventually expelled from the area.

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