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Knights Templar

Type Object Region Levant Time 1119–1312

The Knights Templar (Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon) was a Catholic military order formed in the context of the 12th-cen…

Timeline

  1. 1119Jerusalem · LevantHugues de Payens and eight knights, with the support of King Baldwin II, founded the Poor Fellow-Soldiers near the Temple Mount, with the initial duty of protecting pilgrimage routes and the security of the Holy Land.
  2. c. 1129–1150Crusader states of the Levant · LevantAfter the Council of Troyes and a papal charter granted the order independent status, the Knights rapidly established fortified garrisons in Antioch, Acre, and elsewhere, absorbing sons of European nobility and donated lands, forming a transnational military-monastic complex.
  3. c. 1175–1180Acre and the Gaza corridor fortress line · IsraelAround 1175, under the reign of Baldwin IV, the Knights Templar served as the main mobile cavalry force in the Levant, garrisoning strategic positions such as Gaza and Safed, confronting Saladin's forces while raising military funds through European commanderies.
  4. c. 1187–1312Paris Temple district · FranceAfter the Battle of Hattin the Levantine strongholds were lost, and the Order turned to operating credit, custody, and diplomacy in Europe; in the early 14th century King Philip IV of France suppressed it on heresy charges, and a papal bull formally dissolved the order in 1312.

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