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Who Were the Knights Templar?
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The Knights Templar were a medieval military order founded in Jerusalem in 1119 to protect Christian pilgrims. Backed by the Pope, they grew into Europe's most powerful warrior-monks, building a banking empire before their brutal suppression by Philip IV of France in 1307.
Key Facts
- Founded: 1119 AD, Jerusalem
- Full name: Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon
- Founders: Hugues de Payens and eight fellow French knights
- Endorsed: Council of Troyes, 1129, supported by Bernard of Clairvaux
- Dissolved: 1312 by Pope Clement V at the Council of Vienne
- Last Grand Master: Jacques de Molay, executed Paris, 18 March 1314
From Poor Knights to Christendom's Bankers
The Knights Templar began as a handful of knights so poor, the story went, that their seal showed two of them sharing a single horse. Within two centuries they were running the French royal treasury from their house in Paris and lending money to kings. That wealth, far more than any secret ritual, is the key to their story. It made them indispensable, and in 1307 it made them a target.
Philip IV of France owed them money and needed more. The charges he brought were heresy and idolatry, but the order he destroyed was above all a financial institution that had outlived the war it was founded to fight. How a band of pilgrim guards became that institution, and why it fell so fast, is the real story behind the legends.
Origins: A Brotherhood Born of Faith and War
The story of the Knights Templar begins in the early 12th century, amid the dust and zeal of Jerusalem. Following the First Crusade's success in 1099, pilgrims from Europe flooded into the Holy Land, vulnerable to bandits and Saracen raiders along perilous routes.
In 1119, a small band of knights led by Hugues de Payens, a French nobleman, offered their swords not for conquest but for protection. They pledged themselves to defend Christian travellers and took monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. With the backing of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, they were granted quarters in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, believed by Christians to stand on the ruins of Solomon's Temple, hence their name: The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, or simply, the Knights Templar.
By 1129, the order had gained the Church's blessing at the Council of Troyes, thanks in large part to the support of Bernard of Clairvaux, a powerful abbot who helped shape their spiritual rule. The Templars were no longer just guards, they were holy warriors, sanctioned by God and Rome.
Rise to Power: Banking, Castles, and the Battlefield
As the Crusades raged on, so did the Templars' reputation. Their discipline in the field became famous. Templar knights rode with Baldwin IV when he routed Saladin at Montgisard in 1177, and held the vanguard on Richard I's march to Arsuf in 1191. They also shared in the worst defeat the crusader kingdom ever suffered: after Hattin in 1187, Saladin ordered the execution of the Templar and Hospitaller prisoners, sparing only the Templar Grand Master, Gerard de Ridefort.
But it was their work off the battlefield that made them truly powerful.
By the mid-12th century, the Templars operated across Christendom, from the deserts of Outremer to the green fields of England and Wales. Wealthy nobles donated land and gold to the order, and their estates flourished. Across England, you'll still find traces of Templar presence, in places like Temple Church in London, Temple Balsall in Warwickshire, and Penhill Preceptory in North Yorkshire.
They built a vast network of preceptories and castles, including Tomar in Portugal and Château Pèlerin at Atlit, on the coast south of Haifa, which the order began building in 1218. These were not just military outposts but also economic centres. Templars were early pioneers of international banking, allowing pilgrims and nobles to deposit funds in one country and withdraw them in another, centuries before the modern bank cheque.
Their trusted name and wealth gave them unprecedented power, even rivalling monarchs and popes. The red cross of the Templars became not just a mark of sanctity but a symbol of political and financial influence.
Daily Life: Monks with Swords
Despite their fame as warriors, the Templars were also monks. Life within the order was governed by a strict code, The Latin Rule, inspired by the austerity of Cistercian monasticism.
They rose before dawn for prayers, maintained silence at meals, and lived communally. Discipline was enforced rigidly, and personal wealth was forbidden. Meals were humble, clothing plain, and their appearance deliberately modest, save for the striking red cross stitched onto their robes.
Unlike secular knights, Templars were expected to forego vanity, romance, and even excessive conversation. Yet despite their vows, many lived better than the peasants they ruled over, and cracks in their piety would eventually be used against them.
The Fall: Scandal, Greed and Fire
By the dawn of the 14th century, the Templars' glory was waning. The Crusader states in the Holy Land had mostly fallen, and their original purpose, protecting pilgrims in Jerusalem, seemed obsolete. With no clear mission, they became an easy target.
Philip IV of France was deeply in debt to the Templars and short of money for his wars. On Friday, 13 October 1307, his officers arrested every Templar they could find in France, on charges that ranged from denying Christ to worshipping an idol. Torture produced confessions. Many were later withdrawn, and the trials dragged on for years.
The Pope, under Philip's influence, dissolved the order in 1312. In 1314, the last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake in Paris. According to legend, he cursed the king and pope from the flames, both of whom died within a year.
Legacy: Myths, Mysteries and Modern Fascination
Though the order was destroyed, the legend of the Knights Templar never truly died.
In England and Wales, their lands were absorbed by rival orders like the Hospitallers, and their name faded into history. But in the centuries that followed, whispers of hidden treasure, secret rituals, and sacred relics like the Holy Grail began to circulate.
Templar myths have fuelled novels, conspiracy theories, and blockbuster films. Some believe the Templars sailed to Scotland, influencing the Freemasons or protecting ancient secrets at Rosslyn Chapel. Others claim they safeguarded powerful relics or sacred knowledge lost to time.
More recently, the Templar cross has been co-opted by extremist groups and misunderstood movements, but genuine historians are working to reclaim their true story, as defenders, warriors, bankers, and, ultimately, martyrs to political ambition.
Templar Sites to Visit in England and Wales
If you're inspired to walk in the footsteps of the Templars, several historic locations remain open to the curious traveller:
- Temple Church, London: Built by the Templars and consecrated in 1185 by Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, this round church echoes the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and remains one of London's most evocative medieval sites.
- Baldock, Hertfordshire: A market town the Templars founded between about 1138 and 1148, on land carved out of the manor of Weston, to raise money for their work in the Holy Land.
- Temple Balsall, Warwickshire: A Templar preceptory whose church and part of the medieval hall survive. The almshouses beside them have no Templar connection: they were founded in the 17th century under the will of Lady Katherine Leveson, who died in 1674.
- Llanmadoc, Gower Peninsula: Though small, this Welsh site bears testimony to the order's reach into rural Britain.
The Enduring Allure of the Templars
Strip away the Grail and the buried gold and what remains is stranger, in its way, than the legends. A religious order worked out how to move money across a continent without moving coin, and made itself so useful to kings that one of them, deep in its debt, decided he would rather destroy it.
The evidence is still there for anyone who looks. In the Temple Church in London the round nave the Templars built still stands, restored after it was gutted by bombing in 1941, and on its floor lie the stone effigies of medieval knights. One of them is thought to be William Marshal, who was received into the order on his deathbed in 1219 and buried there.
This article is part of the Knights Templar series. Explore all articles at historiesandcastles.com/blogs/knights-templar.
Deepen Your Understanding
→ Inside the Life of a Templar Knight: Daily Rituals and Rules: How the Order's 600-clause Latin Rule structured every hour of a Templar's day, from the 2 a.m. Matins bell to the refectory table
→ Templars in the Crusades: Faith, Fury, and Fortresses: How the warrior-monks fought across two centuries of crusading, from the Second Crusade to the fall of Acre in 1291
→ Templar Castles in Britain: Strongholds of a Vanished Order: The physical legacy of the Order across England and Wales, from Temple Church in London to the ruins of Temple Bruer in Lincolnshire
→ The Fall of the Templars: Trials, Torture and the Friday the 13th Curse: How Philip IV destroyed the Order in 1307, the forced confessions, and why the Friday the 13th superstition traces back to that October morning
→ Knights Templar Banking: Real Methods and Historical Facts: The real mechanics of the Templar financial network, from letters of credit to the management of royal treasuries
People Also Ask
Who founded the Knights Templar?
The Knights Templar were founded in 1119 by Hugues de Payens, a French nobleman, and eight companions in Jerusalem. They approached King Baldwin II with an offer to protect Christian pilgrims on the dangerous roads to the holy sites. Baldwin granted them quarters in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, on the site believed to be Solomon's Temple, which gave the Order its name. By 1129, after gaining the support of Bernard of Clairvaux, the Order received formal recognition at the Council of Troyes and was authorised by the Pope to recruit and receive donations across Christendom.
What was the Knights Templar's role in the Crusades?
The Templars served as one of the primary military forces of the Crusades from the mid-12th century onward. Unlike mercenaries, they were bound by a religious obligation to fight, which gave them a disciplined cohesion secular armies often lacked. They garrisoned key castles, fought at Montgisard in 1177 and in the vanguard at Arsuf in 1191, and maintained a logistical network across the Holy Land. At their height in the late 12th century, they were the most reliable fighting force available to the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
How did the Knights Templar become so wealthy?
Individual Templars took vows of personal poverty, but the Order as a whole accumulated enormous wealth. European nobles donated land and money to support the crusading mission, and the Templars managed these estates across England, France, and Portugal. Their most transformative innovation was an early banking system: pilgrims could deposit funds at a Templar preceptory in Europe and withdraw equivalent sums in the Holy Land, without carrying vulnerable coin. The fees from this service, combined with royal commissions and estate revenues, made the Order extraordinarily wealthy. By the early 14th century they were owed money by the King of France himself.
Why were the Knights Templar arrested in 1307?
The immediate cause was Philip IV of France's severe personal debt to the Order combined with his desire to seize Templar assets. On Friday, 13 October 1307, he ordered a simultaneous dawn raid across France, arresting Templars on charges of heresy, sodomy, and blasphemy, including spitting on the cross and worshipping an idol called Baphomet. Most modern historians regard these accusations as fabricated, produced under torture to serve Philip's financial and political interests. Pope Clement V eventually acquiesced, formally dissolving the Order at the Council of Vienne in 1312.
What happened to the Templars in England after 1307?
In England, King Edward II initially hesitated before yielding to papal pressure and ordering the arrest of English Templars in January 1308. The English Inquisition proved less brutal than its French counterpart, and many Templars in England were ultimately handed to bishops for penance rather than executed. Their English estates, including Temple Church in London and preceptories across Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Warwickshire, were formally transferred to the rival Knights Hospitaller after the Order's dissolution in 1312. Some Templar buildings in England survive today as tangible physical legacies of the Order.
Is there any truth to the legends about Templar treasure?
The legend of hidden Templar treasure has no credible historical basis. When Philip IV arrested the Templars in 1307, the expected haul of gold proved disappointing, which itself has fuelled speculation that treasure was removed in advance. Most of the Order's wealth was in land, castles, and credit, not in portable hoards of coin. Their known assets were distributed between the Hospitallers and the French crown. Claims linking the Templars to the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, or treasure at Rosslyn Chapel are products of 18th and 19th-century romantic literature rather than medieval documentary evidence.
Where can I buy a book about the Middle Ages?
The book No Law for the Poor explores more than five centuries of crime, punishment, justice, and authority in England and Wales. Beginning with Anglo-Saxon law and the Danelaw, it follows the impact of the Norman Conquest, the growth of royal justice, the significance of Magna Carta, and the changing relationship between rulers, landowners, communities, and the poor. Available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.
Primary Sources and Further Reading
• Upton-Ward, J.M. (trans.) (1992): The Rule of the Templars: The French Text of the Rule of the Order of the Knights Templar, Boydell Press: primary source. The order's own rule, from the original Rule of 1129 to the later statutes on discipline and warfare. Boydell & Brewer
• Barber, Malcolm and Bate, Keith (trans. and eds) (2002): The Templars: Selected Sources, Manchester University Press (Manchester Medieval Sources): primary sources. Translated documents from the order's foundation to its suppression, including the trial records. Manchester University Press
• Barber, Malcolm (1994; 2nd edn 2012): The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple, Cambridge University Press: the standard scholarly history of the order from 1119 to its dissolution in 1312. Open Library record
• Nicholson, Helen (2001): The Knights Templar: A New History, Sutton Publishing: a concise overview by a leading historian of the military orders, with close attention to the documentary evidence. Cardiff University record
Note: The founding date is uncertain. William of Tyre, writing decades later, gives 1118, and most historians now place the foundation in 1119 or 1120; this article uses 1119. The confessions recorded after the arrests of 1307 were obtained under torture or the threat of it, and many were later withdrawn, so they are not reliable evidence of what the Templars believed or did.
Relevant Exam Boards & Specifications
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Pearson Edexcel A-level History (9HI0)
Paper 1, Option 1A: The crusades, c1095–1204
Module Focus: The Templars belong to the themes of crusade leadership and the crusader states of Outremer, where the military orders garrisoned castles and supplied the kingdom's most dependable troops.
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OCR A-level History A (H505)
Unit Y203: The Crusades and the Crusader States 1095–1192
Module Focus: The founding of the order in 1119 and its part in defending the crusader states, through Hattin and the Third Crusade, fall within this unit's dates.
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WJEC GCSE History (Wales)
Unit 3, Option 3.2: The Crusades, c.1095–c.1291
Module Focus: Covers the whole life of the crusader states up to the fall of Acre in 1291, the period in which the Templars rose to power and then lost their purpose in the East.
Who Would Benefit from Reading This?
- GCSE History Students: Those taking WJEC's Crusades option get a clear account of who the Templars were and why their reason for existing disappeared after Acre fell in 1291.
- A-Level History Students: Useful context for Edexcel 1A and OCR Y203 questions on the crusader states, including the order's record from Montgisard to Arsuf.
- History Teachers and Tutors: A single overview to set before a class that separates the documented order from the legends of treasure and the Grail.
- Independent Historical Researchers: A starting point with primary sources in translation and Templar sites in England and Wales that can still be visited.
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Published: 14 February 2026 | Last Updated: 07 October 2026
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