Editing Knights Templar (section)

=== Rise ===
After the [[Franks]] in the [[First Crusade]] captured [[Siege of Jerusalem (1099)|Jerusalem]] from the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] in 1099, many [[Christians]] made [[pilgrimage]]s to various sacred sites in the [[Holy Land]]. Although the city of [[Jerusalem]] was relatively secure under Christian control, the rest of [[Outremer]] was not. [[Banditry|Bandits]] and marauding [[highwaymen]] preyed upon these Christian pilgrims, who were routinely slaughtered, sometimes by the hundreds, as they attempted to make the journey from the coastline at [[Jaffa]] through to the interior of the Holy Land.{{sfn|Burman|1990|pp=13, 19}}
[[File:Seal of Templars.jpg|thumb|A [[Seal of the grand master of the Knights Templar|Seal of the Knights Templar]]<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Archer |first1=Thomas Andrew |url=https://archive.org/details/crusadesstoryla01kinggoog |title=The Crusades: The Story of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem |last2=Kingsford |first2=Charles Lethbridge |date=1894 |publisher=T. Fisher Unwin |page=[https://archive.org/details/crusadesstoryla01kinggoog/page/n218 176]}}</ref>{{sfn|Burgtorf|2008|pages=545–546}}]]

In 1119, the French [[knight]] [[Hugues de Payens]] approached King [[Baldwin II of Jerusalem]] and [[Warmund, Patriarch of Jerusalem]], and proposed creating a [[Monasticism|monastic]] Catholic [[Religious order (Catholic)|religious order]] for the protection of these pilgrims. King Baldwin and Patriarch Warmund agreed to the request, probably at the [[Council of Nablus]] in January 1120, and the king granted the Templars a headquarters in a wing of the royal palace on the [[Temple Mount]] in the captured [[Al-Aqsa Mosque (building)|Al-Aqsa Mosque]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Selwood |first=Dominic |date=20 April 2013 |title=Birth of the Order |url=http://www.dominicselwood.com/birth-of-the-order/ |access-date=20 April 2013}}</ref>

The order, with about nine [[knight]]s including [[Godfrey de Saint-Omer]] and [[André de Montbard]], had few financial resources and relied on donations to survive. Their emblem was of two knights riding on a single horse, emphasizing the order's poverty.{{sfn|Read|2001|p=91}}

[[File:Temple mount.JPG|thumb|left|The first headquarters of the Knights Templar, on the [[Temple Mount]] in Jerusalem. The Crusaders called it "the [[Solomon's Temple|Temple of Solomon]]" and from this location derived their name of Templar.]]
The impoverished status of the Templars did not last long. They had a powerful advocate in Saint [[Bernard of Clairvaux]], a leading Church figure, the French [[abbot]] primarily responsible for the founding of the [[Cistercian Order]] of monks and a nephew of [[André de Montbard]], one of the founding knights. Bernard put his weight behind them and wrote persuasively on their behalf in the letter [[Liber ad milites templi de laude novae militiae|''In Praise of the New Knighthood'']],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Selwood |first=Dominic |date=28 May 2013 |title=The Knights Templar 4: St Bernard of Clairvaux |url=http://www.dominicselwood.com/the-knights-templar-4-st-bernard-of-clairvaux/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630150549/http://www.dominicselwood.com/the-knights-templar-4-st-bernard-of-clairvaux/ |archive-date=30 June 2017 |access-date=29 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Selwood |first=Dominic |chapter='Quidam autem dubitaverunt': the Saint, the Sinner and a Possible Chronology |title=Autour de la Première Croisade |publisher=Publications de la Sorbonne |year=1996 |isbn=978-2-85944-308-5 |location=Paris |pages=221–230}}</ref> and in 1129, at the [[Council of Troyes 1129|Council of Troyes]], he led a group of leading churchmen to officially approve and endorse the order on behalf of the church. With this formal blessing, the Templars became a favoured charity throughout [[Christendom]], receiving money, land, businesses, and noble-born sons from families who were eager to help with the fight in the [[Holy Land]]. At the [[Council of Pisa (1135)|Council of Pisa]] in 1135, [[Pope Innocent II]] initiated the first papal monetary donation to the Order.{{sfn|Barber|1994|p=56}} Another major benefit came in 1139, when Innocent II's [[papal bull]] {{lang|la|[[Omne Datum Optimum]]}} exempted the order from obedience to local laws. This ruling meant that the Templars could pass freely through all borders, were not required to pay any [[Tax|taxes]] and were exempt from all authority except that of the pope.{{sfn|Burman|1990|p=40}} However, in practice, they often had to respect the wishes of the European rulers in whose kingdoms they resided, especially in their handling of funds for the local noblility in their [[Bank|banks]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |date=2018-08-28 |title=Knights Templar |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Knights_Templar/ |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=[[World History Encyclopedia]] |language=en}}</ref>

With its clear mission and ample resources, the order grew rapidly. Templars were often the advance [[shock troops]] in key battles of the Crusades, as the heavily armoured knights on their [[horses in warfare|warhorses]] would [[Cavalry tactics#Tactics of heavy cavalry using lances|charge]] into the enemy lines ahead of the main army. One of their most famous victories was in 1177 during the [[Battle of Montgisard]], where some 500 Templar knights helped several thousand infantry to defeat [[Saladin]]'s army of more than 26,000 soldiers.{{efn|The Latin estimates of Saladin's army are no doubt greatly exaggerated (26,000 in Tyre xxi. 23; 12,000 Turks and 9,000 Arabs in Anon.Rhen. v. 517).{{sfn|Stevenson|1907|p=218}}}}

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|quote = A Templar Knight is truly a fearless knight, and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armour of faith, just as his body is protected by the armour of steel. He is thus doubly armed, and need fear neither demons nor men.
| source = ― [[Bernard of Clairvaux]], {{circa|1135|lk=on}}<br>''De Laude Novae Militae – In Praise of the New Knighthood''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stephen A. Dafoe |title=In Praise of the New Knighthood |url=http://www.templarhistory.com/praise.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326012543/http://www.templarhistory.com/praise.html |archive-date=26 March 2017 |access-date=20 March 2007 |publisher=TemplarHistory.com}}</ref>
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Although the primary mission of the order was military, relatively few members were combatants. The majority acted in support positions to assist the knights and manage their financial infrastructure. Although individual members were sworn to poverty, the Templar Order controlled vast wealth even beyond direct donations. A nobleman participating in the Crusades might place all his assets under Templar management during his absence. Accumulating wealth in this manner throughout Christendom and the Outremer, in 1150 the order began to issue [[letter of credit|letters of credit]] for pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land: pilgrims deposited their valuables with a local Templar preceptory before embarking, received a document indicating the value of their deposit, then showed that document upon arrival in the Holy Land to claim treasure of equal value to their funds. This innovative arrangement was an early form of [[banking]] and may have been the first use of bank [[cheque]]s; it protected pilgrims from robbery, while augmenting Templar finances.{{sfn|Martin|2005|p=}}

Based on this mix of donations and business dealings, the Templars established financial networks across the whole of Christendom. They acquired large tracts of land, both in Europe and the Middle East; they bought and managed farms and vineyards; they built massive stone cathedrals and castles; they were involved in manufacturing, import, and export; they owned fleets of ships; and at one point they even owned the entire island of [[Cyprus]]. The order arguably qualifies as the world's first [[multinational corporation]].<ref name="KTPedia">{{Cite book |last=Ralls |first=Karen |title=Knights Templar Encyclopedia |publisher=Career Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-56414-926-8 |page=28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Benson |first=Michael |title=Inside Secret Societies |publisher=Kensington |year=2005 |page=90}}</ref> By the late 12th century the Templars were also politically powerful in the Holy Land. Secular nobles in the Kingdom of Jerusalem began granting them castles and surrounding lands as a defense against the growing threat of the [[Zengid dynasty|Zengids]] in [[Syria (region)|Syria]]. The Templars were even allowed to negotiate with Muslim rulers independently of the feudal lords. The Templar castles became ''de facto'' independent lordships with their own markets, further growing their political authority. During the regency after the death of King [[Baldwin IV of Jerusalem|Baldwin IV]] in 1185, the royal castles were placed in the custody of the Templars and [[Knights Hospitaller|Hospitallers]]: the grand masters of the two orders, along with the [[Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem|patriarch of Jerusalem]], each had a key to the crown jewels.{{sfn|Burman|1990|pages=63–64}}

From the mid-12th century, the Templars were recruited (jointly with the [[Knights Hospitaller|Hospitallers]]) to fight the Muslim kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula, in addition to their campaigns in the Latin East.{{Sfn|Barquero Goñi|2011|pp=174−175}} In the kingdoms of Castile and León, they obtained some major strongholds (such as [[Calatrava la Vieja]] or [[Coria, Cáceres|Coria]]), but their vulnerability along the border was exposed during the [[Almohad]] offensive.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/25670/1/Historia_Medieval_17_07.pdf|first=Carlos|last=Barquero Goñi|journal=Anales de la Universidad de Alicante. Historia Medieval|publisher=[[University of Alicante|Universidad de Alicante]]|title=Templarios y Hospitalarios en la Reconquista peninsular|issue=17|year=2011|pages=175−176}}</ref> In Aragon, the Templars subsumed the [[Order of Mountjoy]] in the late 12th century, becoming an important vanguard force on the border, while in Portugal they commanded some castles along the Tagus line.{{Sfn|Barquero Goñi|2011|pp=176−177}} One of these was Tomar, which was [[Siege of Tomar|unsuccessfully besieged]] by the Almohad Caliphate in 1190.

Due to the expense of sending a third of their revenues to the East, Templar and Hospitaller activities in the Iberian Peninsula were at a disadvantage to the Hispanic military orders which expended all their resources in the region.{{Sfn|Barquero Goñi|2011|p=176}}