Knights Templar

Timeline

1. 1119Jerusalem · JerusalemFrench knights including Hugues de Payens founded in Jerusalem the 'Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon', basing themselves on the Temple Mount to secure pilgrim routes; members observed monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
2. 1129–1140Troyes · ChampagneThe Council of Troyes in 1129, with papal support and Cluniac influence, granted the Order formal recognition and promulgated the Latin Rule of the Templars; thereafter the Order received land grants and exemptions from European nobility, rapidly establishing commanderies and estates across France, England, and Iberia.
3. 1151–1160Kingdom of Jerusalem (Levant) · Crusader StatesBetween 1151 and 1160, the Knights Templar in the Kingdom of Jerusalem under Baldwin III undertook frontier fortress garrisoning, caravan escort, and warfare against Fatimid and Zengid forces; their mixed cavalry and infantry forces stood alongside the Knights Hospitaller in border conflicts and sieges, forming one of the Crusader states' main standing military forces.
4. 1307–1312Vienne · DauphinéAfter the fall of Acre in 1291 the Order's main forces withdrew to Cyprus and Europe; in 1307 King Philip IV of France arrested its members in France on charges of heresy, and Pope Clement V formally ordered its dissolution at the Council of Vienne in 1312, transferring the Order's properties to the Knights Hospitaller and ending the military order as an organizational entity.