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The
Knights Templar trace their origin back to shortly after the
First Crusade. Around 1119, a
French nobleman from the
Champagne region,
Hugues de Payens, collected eight of his knight relatives including
Godfrey de Saint-Omer, and began the Order, their stated mission to protect
pilgrims on their journey to visit
The Holy Places. They approached King
Baldwin II of Jerusalem, who allowed them to set up headquarters on the southeastern side of the
Temple Mount, inside the
Al Aqsa Mosque. Since the Temple Mount was the site of biblical
King Solomon's Temple the Order took the name "The Poor Knights of the Temple of King Solomon", which later became abbreviated to "Knights Templar".
Map of Jerusalem, showing the location of the Templar headquarters
Little was heard of the Order for their first nine years. But in 1129, after they were officially sanctioned by the church at the
Council of Troyes, they became very well-known in Europe. Their fundraising campaigns asked for donations of money, land, or noble-born sons to join the Order, with the implication that donations would help both to defend Jerusalem, and to ensure the charitable giver of a place in Heaven. The Order's efforts were helped substantially by the patronage of
Bernard of Clairvaux, the leading churchman of the time, and a nephew of one of the original nine knights. The Order at its outset had been subject to strong criticism, especially of the concept that religious men could also carry
swords.
In response to these critics, the influential Bernard of Clairvaux wrote a multi-page treatise entitled De Laude Novae Militae ("In Praise of the New Knighthood"), in which he championed their mission and defended the idea of a military religious order by appealing to the long-held Christian theory of
just war, which legitimated “taking up the sword” to defend the innocent and the Church from violent attack. By so doing, Bernard legitimised the Templars, who became the first "warrior
monks" of the
Western world.
Bernard wrote:
[A Templar Knight] is truly a fearless knight, and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armor of faith, just as his body is protected by the armor of steel. He is thus doubly-armed, and need fear neither demons nor men.
Saint Bernard de Clairvaux, the Order's patron
Donations to the Order were considerable. The
King of Aragón, in
Spain, left large tracts of land to the order upon his death in the 1130s. New members to the Order were also required to swear vows of poverty, and hand over all of their goods to the monastic brotherhood. This could include land, horses and any other items of material wealth, including labor from serfs, and any interest in any businesses.
In 1139, even more power was conferred upon the Order by Pope
Innocent II, who issued the
papal bull,
Omne Datum Optimum. It stated that the Knights Templar could pass freely through any border, owed no taxes, and were subject to no one's authority except that of the Pope. It was a remarkable confirmation of the Templars and their mission, which may have been brought about by the Order's patron, Bernard of Clairvaux, who had helped Pope Innocent in his own rise.
The Order grew rapidly throughout Western Europe, with chapters appearing in
France,
England, and
Scotland, and then spreading to
Spain and
Portugal.
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