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The Knights Templars

History, Myths and the Order of the Knights of Christ


Timeline of Muslim Conquests
Muhammad Death of
is born Muhammad
Conquest of
Revelations Middle East, Jerusalem,
-> Qur’an Libya & Egypt (632 - 661)

Conquest of Conquest of North Africa &


Arabia (622 - 632) Iberian Peninsula(661 - 750)

570 610 622 632 661 750


Holy City of Jerusalem
Holy City of Jerusalem

Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Christian) Al-Aqsa Mosque (Islam)

Western Wall (Jewish) Dome of the Rock (Islamic Shrine)


Dome of the Rock
Dome of the Rock
Al-Aqsa: The old Temple of Solomon?
Pope Urban II ( 1042 - 1099 )

Wanted to reclaim the Holy


Land

Promised forgiveness to all


who would fight to free the
eastern churches

Initiated the First Crusade


The First Crusade (1096 - 99)

Assisted Byzantine Empire


against Turkish Empire

Captured Syria and


Palestine

Reclaimed the Holy Places


and Jerusalem (1099)
The Need to Protect Pilgrims
The Origins of the Templars
Order created in 1118

Group of nine men led by Hugues de Payens

The goal was to protect pilgrims

Took vows of poverty, chastity and


obedience

Called themselves the Poor Knights of the


Temple of Solomon

Allegiance to the Pope


The Archetype: Monk - Warrior
The order was recognised in 1129

Faced strong resistance from the


church

Bernard of Clairvaux supported the


cause

Can a knight reach the same


holiness as a monk?
The Templars’ Seal
A a mystical sense of devotion and
invocation.

Symbol of brotherhood and poverty

The circular geometry represents


the manifestation and universality

Usually made of Iron: a metal closely


related to planet Mars
The First Bankers
Protected pilgrims wealth

Issued letters of credit

Pilgrims could withdraw money using


letters of credit

Forbidden by church to lend money in


return for interest, so they charged
rents

Needed the money to support the


campaigns
Templar Buildings
Temple Church, London
Templar Buildings
Temple Church, London
Templar Buildings
Templar’s Properties
The Second Crusade (1147 - 1149)

Response to the fall of the


County of Odessa

Led by European kings who


failed to unite the crusaders

Armies were separately


defeated by the Turks
The Second Crusade (1147 - 1149)

Templars established diplomatic


relationships with muslims

Pilgrims did not approve the


negotiated truces with the
enemies
Saladin ad-Din Yusuf (1137 - 1193)
The Third Crusade (1189–1192)

Saladin managed to unite Shiite


and Sunni muslims to fight the
crusades

Siege to Jerusalem (1187)

Crusades lost almost all control


over the Holy Land
The Seventh Crusade (1271 - 1272)

Considered the last crusade

King Louis IX was captured


and taken prisoner

Approximately 800 000


bezants were paid to in
ransom for his return
Events in France
France was facing a severe crisis

Big part of France was controlled by the


templars.

Fears of the king of Philip the Fair:

a strong and independent army

massively wealthy

ability to move around Europe with impunity.


The Arrest in France
On Friday, 13th of October of
1307, Philip the fair ordered the
arrest of the templars

Templars were interrogated and


tortured by Inquisition

Friday 13th became a


superstitious day in Western
culture
The Charges
Worshipped an idol in the form of a
head and sometimes with a beard

Spit in the Cross

Denial of Christ

Homossexual practices

Secret ceremonies at night

Exchange kisses with the receiving


official on the mouth
Worship of an Idol: The Baphomet
The Goat - Like Deities
Naigamesha - Hinduism

Patron of childbirth Protector of children


The Goat - Like Deities
Khnum - Egypt

Creator of bodies of human children from clay Egyptian God of the Nile River
The Goat - Like Deities
Pan - Ancient Greek

God of shepherds. Force of


God Of All Things - GOAT
Nature and Fertility
The Goat - Like Deities
Lucifer - Christianity

Represents sin
The Goat - Like Deities

“As new religions replace older religions,


the deities of the old religion become the
devils of the new religion.”
The ABRAXAS

ABRAXAS = α β ρ α ξ α σ
α = 1; β = 2; ρ = 100; α = 1; ξ = 60; α = 1; σ = 200
Total = 365 - The Spiritual Sun
The Death of James of Molay

James de Molay and Geoffrey


of Charney were convicted of
heresy

Spent 7 years in the king’s


dungeons

Burned alive in the Ile des


Javiaux
The Death of Jacques de Molay

‘They were seen to be so prepared to sustain the


fire with easy mind and will that they brought from all
those who saw them much admiration and surprise
for the constance of their death and final denial
The Trial in England
Edward II of England dismissed
the charges laid against them as
implausible

Templars were unpunished

Properties were not given to the


Church
The Trial in Portugal
The templars played an
important role in the
independence of Portugal

In 1319, with Papal permission,


the Portuguese King Diniz
reconstituted the Templars as
the Order of Christ
The Convent of Christ
The Convent of Christ
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Henry the Navigator
Prince Henry the Navigator was a
Grand Master of the order, 1418

Templars wealth was used to


establish the navigators’ school
at Sagres
Portuguese Discoveries
Portuguese Discoveries
The Military Order of Christ

The order of the templars still exists


in Portugal

Its Grand Master is always the


representative of the country: the
President of the Republic.
The Poor Knights of the Temple of
Solomon

“Fought the muslims, protected the Holy Land, and died


for Christ. In the end, they were accused of denying Christ
and destroyed by Christians”

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