Growth and Demise of the Ancient Order

Succeeding decades saw the Order evolve as a unique institution in the Western World. In 1139, Pope Innocent II granted the Order autonomy from all earthly rulers, making it accountable to the papacy alone. Such exemptions by popes and kings endowed the order with extraordinary independence and credibility, pivotal elements in its subsequent economic and military growth. Donations of land and money gave it vast resources on which to draw. It employed its independence, credibility and resources to develop not only a powerful army and navy, but also architectural and engineering skills, an efficient, secure system of logistics, and the first system of international banking and trust services, patronized by Church leaders and Western kings. At its apex, the Order had several thousand knights, soldiers, and priests as members, and a network of as many as 870 castles, preceptories and convents across Europe and the Middle East. The Templars became a model for other orders such as the Hospitallers, Teutonic Knights, Calatrava, and Santiago.

The turning point in the Order’s fortunes appears to be the Battle of Acre in 1291 following the Third Crusade. This was the last in a string of military defeats for the Templars, leading to their permanent retreat from the Holy Land and doubt over their viability as a military order. It also was the beginning of concerted attacks on their wealth, power, and integrity. By the early 14th Century, French and English kings, whose coffers had been drained by the expense of the Crusades, increasingly coveted the wealth they believed the Templars possessed. As the Inquisition spread across Europe, the Templars’ longstanding contacts with the Muslim world made them an especially easy target for their enemies.

The end of the ancient Order effectively came in 1314 at the hand of King Philip IV of France. Philip was heavily in debt, and the presiding pope, a Frenchman called Clement V, was weak and behaved as if a puppet of Philip’s. On what appeared to be contrived charges, the king had all Templars in France arrested, including the Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, and turned over to the Inquisition authorities. Philip then pressured the Pope to arrest Templars across Europe, as well. Despite Church investigations that yielded no meaningful incriminating evidence, the Pope dissolved the Order and seized its assets. In March, 1314, Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake in Paris for maintaining his, and the Order’s, innocence of the charges. Some of the Order’s assets were liquidated, some transferred to local kings, and the remainder were transferred to the Hospitallers.

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