Of all the military-monastic orders of the Middle Ages, it is the Order of the Templars that is surrounded by the largest number of mysteries and legends. The most important questions are still not fully understood. How did the order achieve such power? Where did his untold treasures come from? Why was he destroyed so quickly and easily? However, it is necessary to add to the last question: was there any? It is possible that the high-profile story with the "death" of the order was a smokescreen with which the Templars realized their secret plan.
The Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon is the full name of this powerful organization, which for several centuries was one of the richest and most influential in Europe. But they are better known under a simpler name - the Templars, or "templars". So they were nicknamed for the location of their residence in Jerusalem. True, contrary to the common mistake, this residence was by no means in the Temple of Solomon itself (which was destroyed by the Romans in 70) and not in the Al-Aqsa mosque, whose golden dome towers over the Temple Mount to this day. “Since they had neither a church nor a permanent refuge, the king gave them a temporary residence in the southern wing of the palace, near the Temple of the Lord,” wrote the medieval chronicler Guillaume of Tire, describing the deeds of the crusaders in Palestine.
Thus, at the very beginning of its activity, the order was completely dependent on the mercy of the king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. But very little time passed, and many sovereigns of medieval Europe found themselves "in the fist", or rather "in the wallet" of the "poor knights of Christ."
Proud "beggar knights"
Military monastic orders arose not only during the Crusades. But it was precisely the three orders created in the Holy Land that proved to be the most glorified and had the greatest influence on European history. The first to appear in 1080 was the Order of St. John, or the Hospitallers. The second were just the Templars.
Several knights, led by the Frenchman Hugo de Payne, began to guard the pilgrims on the roads from 1118. However, very few people knew about them for a long time. Only in 1128, at the Council in Troyes, was it officially announced the creation of a new military monastic order, and the famous priest and preacher Bernard of Clairvaux was instructed to develop its charter. At that time, very few people called them Templars - the modest name "poor knights" was more in use. The theme of poverty was preserved in the symbolism of the order, and later - on the seal of the Templars, two knights were depicted riding one horse.
For ten years, the "beggar knights" were able to win considerable respect and glory. Therefore, after the formal establishment of the charter, a stream of neophytes rushed into the new order. It was then that it became clear that the founding fathers of the brotherhood are good at not only organizing road protection. In Europe, widespread propaganda was launched - everyone who was not indifferent to the fate of Christian shrines in the Middle East was encouraged to join the order.
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Moreover, the "accession" did not necessarily mean personal participation in military campaigns. Land or monetary donations were no less (or even more) valued. It is worth emphasizing that this was not unusual - the Hospitallers and the Teutons who appeared even later did the same. However, the financial talents of the Templars were the most outstanding. In a relatively short period of time, they significantly increased the welfare of their order.
If the Teutonic Order was considered "German", then the Order of the Temple very soon began to be considered "French". As if confirming this status, King Philip II Augustus of France donated a huge amount of 52 thousand gold coins to the order in 1222. However, the Templars were showered with honors and money not only in France. In England they had a permanent seat in parliament and had very strong positions. In London, they owned a whole block, in which a small round church was erected, called the Temple, in honor of the Temple of Solomon.
Accountants in armor
The key to the success of the Templars was their entrepreneurial spirit. They not only accumulated land and wealth, but always strived to use it as efficiently as possible. If you calculate it, it turns out that the land holdings of the Order of the Hospitallers were almost twice as large as the Templars. However, the Templars did not stand idle. Both land and money “worked”.
It was the Templars who invented what we would call bank checks today.
Going on a pilgrimage to holy places, the traveler could come to any European order of the order and make a contribution. After that, he hit the road with a minimum of money and a piece of parchment, which reflected all the information about his contribution. Surprisingly, the Knights of the Temple already in the Middle Ages guessed to certify these financial documents with the depositor's fingerprint! Thus, travelers got rid of the need to carry with them huge amounts of money necessary for a long journey. Accordingly, they were not in danger of losing everything overnight due to the raid of robbers. It was possible to cash the check again in any komturiya, both in Europe and in Palestine. Naturally, the service was not free. But the templars took a small percentage, and therefore more and more pilgrims willingly resorted to their help. And the treasury of the order grew.
The financial genius of the Templars was successfully combined with diplomatic talents. Taking advantage of the Pope's favor, the "beggar knights" obtained permission for usurious activities. Although, in general, usury in the Middle Ages was considered a deed unworthy of a Christian, and usually only Jews were engaged in it. They gave money on average at 40 percent per annum. Such unfavorable conditions were explained by the high degree of risk - it was not considered a sin not to repay a debt to a Jew.
The Templars quickly got their bearings and lowered the interest to 10. But the loans issued to them were returned in any case - the authority of the organization was very high. And the Templars could put pressure on the "forgetful" debtor. But, as a rule, they preferred to act not by force, but by reason. Therefore, by the beginning of the 13th century, the glory of the best economists in Europe was firmly entrenched for the Templars. They could compete even with the famous Italian merchants and bankers.
In France, the financial authority of the Templars was so high that under the same Philip II Augustus, the duties of the Minister of Finance for a long time were performed by the Treasurer of the Order. This practice continued under his heirs.
Lost game
The Templars were not only brilliant financiers, but also excellent PR people. They sent a lot of money to charity. They fed the beggars, built their own guarded roads along which it was possible to cross Europe without paying taxes, and erected temples. But this did not save them from hatred.
Some of the oldest and most consistent opponents of the Templars were the Hospitallers, who were terribly jealous of their influence and wealth. However, not only envy was the point. The strife between the two orders began in the Holy Land. As the Europeans lost their possessions in Palestine under the onslaught of Muslims, they had to pursue more and more complex and confusing policies in order to retain at least something. This led to the monstrous event when in 1241 the Templars made an alliance with the Muslims of Damascus against the Egyptian sultan al-Salih Ayyub. However, getting involved in a feud between the two Muslim rulers, they at the same time turned their weapons against their own Christian brothers. They fought against the Hospitallers, and also drove the Teutons out of Acre (since they considered this city their own). However, two years later, in 1243, the Templars,the Hospitallers and Teutons fought hand in hand against the same Sultan Ayub. But the relationship between knights with crosses on their cloaks was ruined forever.
By the XIV century, the Templars had made themselves another powerful enemy - the King of France Philip IV the Fair. Unlike his crowned ancestors, this monarch was extremely unhappy with the influence the order had. In addition, this king, apparently, knew how to count money. And, having calculated how much the French crown owes the "beggar knights", he decided that the issue must be resolved radically.
For centuries, the Pope was the main protector of the Templars. However, Philip IV managed to subdue the spiritual ruler of Europe and even achieved the transfer of the residence of the pontiff from Rome to French Avignon. After that, with the support of the "pocket" Pope Clement V, he launched a powerful attack on the order. In 1307, the mass arrests of the Templars began, who were accused of heresy, blasphemy, witchcraft, idolatry, debauchery and much more. The knights were taken by surprise, and therefore could not provide organized resistance.
The rest is well known and described many times. In 1314, the Grand Master Jacques de Molay and many of the order's brothers went to the stake. The rest were scattered throughout Europe. Many went to other orders. As for the untold riches of the order, they were divided between their main enemies: Pope Clement, Philip IV and the Hospitallers, who henceforth unconditionally became the most powerful order in Europe.
Underground option
In the story of the defeat of the order, there are many questions. First, the extraordinary ease with which such a powerful structure collapsed without offering any resistance to aggression. Secondly, how quickly yesterday's Templars dissolved among other orders. After all, according to the most daring estimates, no more than a couple of hundred people were burned. Whereas the number of the order during its heyday was tens of thousands of members of various levels of initiation. Finally, thirdly, the fate of the innumerable Templar treasures is unclear. What went to Philip IV, the Pope and the Hospitallers, is clearly incomparable with what the "poor knights" who credited half of Europe should have owned.
There is a version that the Templars knew very well about the plans of Philip IV. But they decided not to enter into open confrontation, but used the situation in order to go into an illegal position. The Grand Master and other official hierarchs of the order actually sacrificed themselves, allowing the true leaders to lead the faithful knights underground. Before that, of course, reliably hiding the accumulated wealth from greedy eyes.
Some researchers find traces of Templar gold in England. Indeed, in this country there was practically no persecution of the order. It is believed that the town of Baldock in Hertfordshire in the southeast of England gave refuge to the templars. Not far from this city is the famous Royston Cave, on the walls of which drawings were found, indicating that in the Middle Ages it was used as a place of secret meetings. It is likely that the underground knights gathered there for their councils.
Another "Templar" point in the British Isles is located in Scotland. At the beginning of the XIV century, it was ruled by King Robert I the Bruce, who was in extremely bad relations with the papal throne. The Pope even excommunicated him. So for Bruce, giving shelter to the disgraced templars was a great way to annoy the hated pontiff once again.
Much says that, having gone into the shadows, the Templars did not cease to influence the political life of Europe. Only now they acted covertly, as they understood well that playing with the monarchs in the open was too dangerous. If so, then many secret societies credited with wielding secret power over Europe and even the entire world may have Templar roots. First of all - Freemasons, the first traces of which can be traced in Ireland and Scotland in the XV-XVI centuries. By the 18th and 19th centuries, Masonic lodges had spread throughout Europe, and they included almost all people with power and influence.
And in the 17th century, all of Europe was engulfed in rumors of a mysterious Rosicrucian brotherhood, or "Order of the Rose and Cross". Everyone was talking about this secret mystical society, but almost no one could say for sure who exactly was in it and what exactly the Rosicrucians were doing. Nevertheless, these "knights of the Rose and Cross", whom no one saw, had a significant impact on the development of European philosophy of the Renaissance and the reformation of Catholicism. Is it not the Templars who took revenge on the mother church that once betrayed them?
Today there are several organizations that explicitly declare their descent from the Knights Templar. However, it is almost impossible to verify whether this is so. It is quite possible that this is another smoke screen, released by the real Templars, who are secretly implementing another plan to strengthen their power over the world.
Victor BANEV