In 1104, a small group of nights under the command of
Count Hugh de Payns of Champagne arrived in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Once there they offered their services to King Baldwin the II, ruler of Jerusalem. Baldwin assigned them the task of safe-guarding pilgrims who traveled the roads to and from Jerusalem. He offered them lodging in the Temple of Solomon. They became known as the “Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and King Solomon’s Temple” or simply, the Knights Templar. Templars could be identified by the bright red crosses that were embroidered on their tunics.

From these humble beginnings the Knights Templar became a major force in the world over the next two hundred years. Eventually, their order became enormously wealthy. Since they answered only to the Pope, they were outside the rule of monarchs. In their early history, they also conducted extensive excavations of the Temple of Solomon, and this has led historians and conspiracy theorists alike to speculate on what they may have uncovered there. Was it the Holy Grail? The Lost Ark of the Covenant? The One True Cross?

Ferocious in battle, the Templars usually aligned themselves with Christian forces of the monarchs who sent armies to the Holy Land during the Crusades. They were instrumental in many of Richard the Lionheart’s victories during the Third Crusade. Though by then the Saladin had reoccupied Jerusalem and Richard was not able to reclaim it for the Christian world.

In the early part of the 14th century, King Philip of France, in allegiance with the Pope, declared the Templars to be heretics. In reality he wished to get his hands on their enormous wealth, but though he executed hundreds of Templars, he never found their vast stores of wealth and it remains missing to this day.

Commandery—A building or compound where Templar’s live and train.
Commanderies were located in almost every European country and throughout the Holy Land.
Regimento—A group of Knights that were stationed at a Commandery.
They could number from 70-200 in residence.
Sargento—A Knight who functioned as a leader of small squads of Knights.
Marshal—The Commanding Knight of a Regimento, the equivalent of a Colonel in today’s military.
Beauseant—The battle cry of the Knights Templar. Loosely translated, it means “Be Glorious!”
Beauseant originally referred to the Brown and White Templar flag that was carried into battle.
Outremer—The Templar term for the Holy Land. It means “The Land Beyond The Sea.”
Al Hashshashin—A mysterious sect of Muslim warriors.