In the second decade of the twelfth century the French knights
established the Templar order in Jerusalem. The members of this
order were half monks, half soldiers, and they were the
essential part of the Crusades. Their first mission was charity
and protection of the pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land.
But during the following years the order grew into the
organisation, which was the first one to take care of the
international system of banking. Thanks to these activities the
Templar order becomes one of the richest knight orders in
Europe. And because money means also power, it becomes also one
of the most powerful orders. The Templars start buying lots and
chattels and they are becoming the "hidden dominators" of the
Europian wealth. In their, for that time fairly arrant, system
of banking, money lending also takes place. Amongst their
biggest debtors were the prestigious Europian monarchs and
aristocrats. One of them was also the French king Philip IV.
"The Fair".The Templars were so succesful doing their business
in the French kingdom, that they practically built a country
inside a country. Maybe it was a hunger for the fortune, maybe
it was the fear caused by the growing economical and military
power of the Templars, that caused the trial, which was
supposed to lead to a total abolishment and dissolution of the
order and to a confiscation of all the Templars´possessions.
The trial, whose main administrator was the French king Philip
IV., started in 1307 and lasted until 1312 when the Templar
order was abolished. During its existence, 20 000 men died in
the name of religion in battles in the Holy Land. And it was
the religion that destroyed the knightly order of the Solomon´s
temple. It is true that the year 1312 meant the definite ending
of the order but nowadays we can still come across its legacy.
Even today we are still fascinated by the Templar knights.
Maybe it is because of the most unfair trial in human history,
that huge amount of unanswered questions, or because of the
mystery surrounding the Templar knights. It has happened many
times in human history that the hunger fot the fortune,
fanaticism and egocentrism caused so much suffering for people.
And it was the same thing with the Templars, the order which
was being admired on one hand and being cursed on the other.