Although an ex-Templar had accused the order of blasphemy and immorality as early as 1304 (though more likely 1305), it was only later—after Philip IV ordered the arrest on October 13, 1307, of every Templar in France and sequestered all the Templars’ property in the country—that most of the people of Europe became aware of the extent of the alleged crimes of the order. At the order’s secret initiation rite, it was claimed, the new member denied Christ three times, spat on the crucifix, and was kissed on the base of the spine, on the navel, and on the mouth by the knight presiding over the ceremony. By the 13th century the Temple, especially its keeps, or towers, was being used to store the treasures not only of the Templars but also of the king of France. Knights who confessed and were reconciled to the church were sent into retirement in the order’s former houses or in monasteries, but those who failed to confess or who relapsed were put on trial. The rule of the order was modeled after the Benedictine Rule, especially as understood and implemented by the Cistercians.

At the time of its destruction, the order was an important institution in both Europe and the Holy Land and already an object of myth and legend. By the 13th century the Temple, especially its keeps, or towers, was being used to store the treasures not only of the Templars but also of the king of France. Only the knights wore the Templars’ distinctive regalia, a white surcoat marked with a red cross. Its prominence and growing wealth, however, provoked opposition from rival orders. In the 18th century the Freemasons claimed to have received in a secret line of succession esoteric knowledge that the Templars had possessed. Originally founded to protect Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land, the order assumed greater military duties during the 12th century. This temple is identified with the “Tomb of Osymandias” (a corruption of Ramses II’s prenomen) described by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century bc, and the shattered colossus of Ramses was the subject of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias.”. Clement, however, under strong pressure from Philip, suppressed the order on March 22, 1312, and the Templars’ property throughout Europe was transferred to the Hospitallers or confiscated by secular rulers. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Their great effectiveness was attested by the sultan Saladin following the devastating defeat of Crusader forces at the Battle of Ḥaṭṭīn; he bought the Templars who were taken prisoner and later had each of them executed. They had long engaged in a bitter rivalry with the other great military order of Europe, the Hospitallers, and, by the late 13th century, proposals were being made to merge the two contentious orders into one.

Blamed for Crusader failures in the Holy Land, the order was destroyed by France’s King Philip IV.

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