Templar, Knights (Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon)

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple (French: Ordre du Temple or Templiers) or simply as Templars, are among the most wealthy and powerful of the Western Christian military orders and are among the most prominent actors of the Christian finance.

The organization exists for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages.Officially endorsed by the Catholic Church around 1129, the Order becomes a favored charity throughout Christendom and grows rapidly in membership and power.

Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, are among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades.Nonombatant members of the Order manage a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, innovating financial techniques that are an early form of banking, and building fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land.The Templars' existence is tied closely to the Crusades; when the Holy Land is lost, support for the Order faded.

Rumors about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony create mistrust and King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, takes advantage of the situation.

In 1307, many of the Order's members in France are arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at the stake.

Under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V disbands the Order in 1312.

The abrupt disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gives rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the "Templar" name alive into the modern day.

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