Templars

Templars. The Knights Templars were a military order founded about 1118 by Hugues de Payen, Geoffroi de St. Omer, and seven other knights, for the protection of pilgrims to Jerusalem and other sacred sites in the Holy Land, They took the vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty before the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and were granted quarters by Baldwin II. in his palace on Mount Moriah, on the site of Solomon's temple, from which the name of the order was derived. At the Council of Troyes in 1128 seventy-two statutes were drawn up, and received the sanction of Pope Honorius II. These enactments formed the foundation of the rule as it was finally settled in the middle of the 13th century. During the first hundred and forty years of its existence the number of knights in the order increased to 20,000, and it became possessed of about 8,000 manors. It was divided into three classes: knights (armigeri), chaplains (clientes), and men-at-arms (servientes). The knights alone were entitled to wear the white linen mantle with a red cross on the left shoulder. The discipline was extremely severe. At the head of the society was the Grand Master, whose place during his absence was filled by the Seneschal, whilst the various provinces in Asia and Europe were under the direction of masters, commanders, or preceptors. A Papal bull of 1172 exempted the Templars from episcopal jurisdiction, and granted them immunity from taxes, tithes, and liability to interdict. The animosity excited against them through this measure was increased by their immense riches, their pride and exclusive spirit, and their constant quarrels with the Knights of St. John. When the Templars betook themselves to Cyprus, after the fall of Acre in 1291, it was felt that their task was ended, and the charges of heresy, immorality, and impure rites which had been current for some time began to be more boldly circulated. Philip le Bel, the cunning and unscrupulous king of France, perceived that here was an excellent opportunity for recouping his exhausted finances. Jacques de Molai, the Grandmaster, and 140 other Templars were arrested in Paris (1307), and under the tortures inflicted by the Inquisition many of the number confessed to the most horrible charges. Philip was supported, though somewhat reluctantly, by Pope Clement V., who owed his position to the French monarch. Owing to his shifty po1icy, the inquiries and trials were protracted during four years, ending with the abolition of the order by a bull issued at the Council of Vienne in March, 1312. Two months later their property was handed over to the Order of St. John. Fifty-four knights had already been burned to death in 1310; the remainder were now dealt with by the provincial councils, excepting those of the higher rank, such as the Grandmaster, Jacques de Molai, who was burnt by the king's command, without waiting for the Pope's verdict, in 1314. The order was at the same time suppressed in England, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and elsewhere, but under circumstances of less barbarity than those which attended its dissolution in France.