The Shroud of Turin: a Templar relic?

"The connection between the Templars and the Shroud of Turin is still questionable. The link is in the similarity of the name of the Shroud's medieval "discoverer" Geoffrey de Charny, to that of Geoffroi de Charnay, the Preceptor of Normandy who was burned with Jacques de Malay as a relapsed heretic in 1314. Proof enough?

Templars and early banking

"Medieval banking existed in a moral gray area from the 10th century until well into the 15th century. Before this period, Europe was too poor to support an extensive, morally corrupting banking system. By the end of the 15th century, the major Italian banking houses had learned ways of circumventing Church disapproval in their financial transactions. When they could not find loopholes, they increasingly violated the religious prohibitions. 

Easter in the Primitive Templar Rule

The 77 paragraphs of the original Primitive Rule (1129-1131) hold many details on how the Knights Templars should behave during and between feast days, such as Easter. 

The Council of Troyes (1129) - Templar orthodoxy attained

"That the Templars were successful in their initial mission is shown by their quick acceptance into the main body of the Church. By making the Temple a monastic order, the Church brought a dynamic, but also dangerous and potentially heretical group back into its fold. A delicate matter.

Why did the First Crusade prevail?

"Most Crusades historians now believe that the First Crusade prevailed because the Arab world was already disintegrating by the late 11th century. In the first three centuries after Muhammad's death, Islamic and Arab civilization were synonymous. The Arabs dominated an area that encompassed most of Asia Minor, North Africa, Spain, and Southern Europe. Aside from the Byzantines, they maintained the most highly developed civilization in Europe and western Asia at that time. This is not the complete story, however.

Templar importance in Spain in the 1130s preceeds their Oriental role

"Though the nature of Templar activities during the 1120's and 1130's remains obscure, they were clearly successful, despite their poverty. Most contemporary evidence of the early Templars stems from charters, bequests, and clerical correspondence. Their most notable activity at this time was property acquisition. By 1130, the Templars were receiving grants of land and money from southern France and Spain. 

Most Spanish gifts of land specifically mentioned the Templar's military function as a frontier guard for the Spanish crusade. This indicates that they had already scored some military successes on the peninsula that the chroniclers did not report; the Spanish had neither the funds nor the patience to support a group that could not substantially help in the Reconquista of the Iberian peninsula. 

Templars and Assassins: a matter of mutual hatred

"The Assassins were a radical group of Shi'ite Muslims who practiced terrorism against their enemies. If a leader, usually Muslim, opposed them, they murdered him. In 1173, the Old Man of the Mountain, leader of the Assassins, sent a peace envoy to Amalric, the Crusader King of Jerusalem, proposing an alliance. On his way back from the conference with the King, the Assassin envoy was attacked and killed by a band of Templars who were led by a one-eyed knight named Walter de  Mesnil. What was the background of this event?

March 18, 1314 - the final stage of the Temple

"It was the final act of the Templar Trial which would set the stage for the legends that the Templars have survived to this day. On March 18, 1314 (although also March 11 has been mentuoned as the most probable date), Jacques de Molay, Geoffroi de Charney, the Preceptor of Normandy, and two other high Temple officials were brought out to confess their sins in public ceremony on the Ile des Javiaux island in the Seine River, Paris, before being sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. Things went differently.

The Templar Order - home and prison to knights and criminals

 "The initial Latin Rule, and its companion piece, In Praise of the New Knighthood, was public. Later translations and revisions of the Rule were not. During its first translation, in the 1140's, the Rule was removed from the public eye and revised, from then on, only within the Order. (...) The most likely reason for secrecy was military security; most of the changes involved specific military tactics and infrastructure. (...)