King Phillip and the Knights Templar

Knights Templar

The historic value of research is important in determining the course of history and how the events and characters of the past can influence and affect those of the present. The purpose of this essay is to describe the historical context of the Knights Templar. This essay will document this group and explain its life cycle and how some of the same ideas that were present during this group's existence still impact today's world.

The Knights Templar was a military ordered group that was founded to provide protection to pilgrims on roads near Jerusalem. The order grew becoming more powerful and wealthy. But with wealth, power and land soon became enemies. These enemies accused the Templar of heresy and immorality. This accusation was never proven to be true. Several years later King Phillip dissolved the group. King Phillip was not alone in his quest to dissolve the group. The pope also tried the knights in court and even burned some of the Templar leaders at the stake. With no genuine proof what would cause the king and the pope to do such heinous crimes? Were they afraid of the power the Templar had gained.

"The poor fellow-soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon popularity known as the Knights Templar" (Stock, 2). This military order was founded around 1119 to provide protection to pilgrims. The name Templars came about because their headquarters were called the "Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount" (Military orders (hospitallers, Templars, 1). This was a very famous military order growing quickly in wealth, favor and power. The Templar originally answered only to the Pope. Although the individual knights could not accept donations the order could accept donations of land and gold. The Templar consisted of mostly sergeants. The sergeants were the backbone of all the European armies, but because they were from common backgrounds they could never be knights although they often fought in the same manner (military orders (hospitallers, Templars), 1.

The Templers were very fierce in battle which enabled them to win almost any battle that they faced. Due to their success, they were greatly favored by many religious leaders. These men held fast to their beliefs. "Because in a sense, they embodied the highest ideals of Christian Knighthood. These Templars took vows of obedience and chastity (Bleiberg, 1).

The Templar's Evolution

"As the Templar grew in size so did their power. Some even say that was one of the reasons King Phillip dissolved the order. "The Templars became an extra national organization that was not burdened by any country's laws" (Stock, 2). King Phillip was losing power fast and becoming very fearful of the Templars. He consistently made false accusations about the Templars and even made others start believing his lies. Many said "King Phillip may have seen an opportunity to seize their immense wealth, being chronically short of money himself" (2).

During this time, King Phillip was losing control of his kingdom, mostly due to his lack of budget skills. It was documented that "King Phillip IV owed the Knights Templar a lot of money" (Hansen, Nicholson, 1). Many were watching how the structure and daily activities of the Templar Knights were affecting the community as a whole. Rumors began swirling that the Templars were earning a fortune from an early form of banking and everyone wanted to benefit if they could. "Travelers could leave money in Europe and pick it up in Jerusalem (Military orders (hospitallers, Templars), 2). This banking system was such a new concept that it created questions and people felt fearful about what was really happening. King Phillip was so determined to have some or all of the Templar wealth that he plotted and schemed until he had the Pope under his control. At that point the Templar Knights had no one to stand up and protect them. King Phillip was in such a place of authority that no one dared question him. It was said that "by eliminating the Templars in France, Phillip could at one stroke remove an autonomous, militant source of the church's power and influence, relieve his debts and fill his coffers with the order's confiscated wealth" (Stock, 4). With the Templars gone King Phillip could get out of debt by taking the money he confiscated from them and pocket that money as his own.

Phillip's Efforts Against the Templars

"In France, Phillip went ahead with unsanctioned trials, and confessions to these crimes were extracted by torture" (Stock, 4). The knights were considered very strong warriors but under such stress and torture they would confess to false accusations. As King Phillip continued his torture "in other countries the Templars were cleared of all charges" (Stock, 4). King Phillip continued to be irrational in his thinking toward the Templar Knights. Every chance he got he was torturing them and sending them to jail, but that was not enough to satisfy him. "Phillip pressed on, continuing to exert pressure on the pope to disband the order" (Stock, 4). Although the people, the pope and other countries found them innocent of heresy the king was relentless in his pursuit using his powers to pressure the pope into dissolving the Templar Knights.

"In March 1312, despite papal council voting overwhelmingly against the orders dissolution the previous December the pope disbanded the group" (Stock, 4). The people were astounded by King Phillip's irrational jealousy, thoughts and fears. De Molay, the leader of the Templar Knights, was captured and "sentenced to life in prison, a sentence that quickly changed to death by burning at the stake when the grand master refused to acknowledge his confession" (Stock, 4). Many found De Molay to be innocent of the charges and found no proof of heresy but stood by while he and another of his lieutenants were burned at the stake in March of 1314.

The people questioned how one man could be so ruthless that he tortured, arrested and even burned innocent men at the stake. "The injustice perpetrated against DeMolay and the Knights Templar fed public resentment of the church's corruption and secular influences" (Stock, 5). This abuse made many people angry, but they felt they could not do anything to help or they would be killed also.