Knights Templar

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, commonly known as the Knights Templar or the Order of the Temple, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders. The organization existed for approximately two centuries in the Middle Ages.

History

Connected Sites

Site Rationale Link
Causses and Cévennes It was the leadership of the Knights Templar and Hospitaler that brought real development to the Causse plateaus.
Convent of Christ in Tomar The castle of Tomar was built in 1168 as part of the defence system created by the Templars to secure the Portuguese border against the Moors which at the time (mid-12th century) corresponded approximately to the Tagus. Although the Knights Templar was disbanded across Europe after 1312 it survived in Portugal as "The Order of Christ" created in 1319 and Tomar became its HQ
Old City of Acre Became the Order's HQ until 1291 after Saladin had taken Jerusalem in 1187.
Old City of Jerusalem Founded there in 1119 by 2 veterans of the first Crusade. The Order used the Al Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount as HQ and hence took the name "Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon", or "Templar" knights. Initially the Order had few financial resources and consisted of only around 9 knights. Their emblem was of two knights riding on a single horse, emphasizing the Order's poverty. This rapidly changed however and, by 1129, it had become a favoured charity throughout Christendom. It ran into hositility for its wealth, power and ambition. It was disbanded by the Pope in 1307 and authority given for its assets to be seized by monarchs across Europe.
Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles Various Templar signs can be spotted in the Scrovegni Chapel, such as the red crosses of the three side altars found in the nave, the largest of which are dedicated to Saint John and Saint Catherine of Alexandria, to whom the knights were very devoted; the crosses on Christ's halos; the frequent depictions of the fleur-de-lys that characterize many Templar buildings and that Giotto reproduces on top of the angels' sceptres, but also as a decorative element of robes, furnishings and many buildings.
Route of Santiago de Compostela Ponferrado - Castillo de los Templarios, a Templar castle created after 1178 when Fernando II of León donated the city to the Templar order for protecting pilgrims on the route.
Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France "Aragnouet: Hospice du Plan and Chapel of Notre-Dame-del?Assomption, known as the Chapel of the Templars". Taken over by the Hospitallers after disbanding of KT.
Segovia Iglesia de la Vera Cruz built by Knights Templar
Siena Chiesa di San Pietro alla Magione: "Attested since 998, the church belonged to the Knights Templar since the 12th century, as evidenced by a document dated 1148. The Templars kept a hospice for pilgrims ("la Magione") from which the church took its name."

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