2009

Wanted: Knights Templar

FIGURE 1: JACQUES DE MOLAY, THE LAST

GRANDMASTER OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

Corné van Klink

Dhr. Klooster
17-12-2009
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INDEX

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................. 3
C I – The Knights Templar...................................................................................................................................................... 4
Who were the Knights Templar and what was their task? .............................................................................. 4
Founding of the Order ................................................................................................................................................... 4
The Templar wealth and treasure ........................................................................................................................... 5
The Templar Fleet ............................................................................................................................................................ 6
What did the Knights Templar do during the Crusades?.................................................................................. 7
Templar Army .................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Templar Fortresses ......................................................................................................................................................... 7
Why was the order dissolved and by whom? ......................................................................................................... 9
Who contributed to the dissolution of the order?........................................................................................... 9
The arrest of members of the order .................................................................................................................... 10
C II – The Knights Templar after the dissolution .................................................................................................... 12
What happened to the Knights Templar in Europe?........................................................................................ 12
Templar Possesions ..................................................................................................................................................... 12
Templar Knights ............................................................................................................................................................ 12
What happened to the Knights Templar in Scotland? ..................................................................................... 13
Robert Bruce .................................................................................................................................................................... 13
The battle of Bannockburn....................................................................................................................................... 13
The Templar fleet .......................................................................................................................................................... 14
What happened to the Knights Templar in Portugal? ..................................................................................... 15
The Order of Christ ....................................................................................................................................................... 15
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Scotland ................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Portugal ................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Source Indication..................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Bibliography.......................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Figure-list .................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Afterword .................................................................................................................................................................................... 18
Logbook ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 19

Small intro and info

Since this is my profile paper, I thought that it would be nice to put some wisdom in the
form of English and (though it’s not one of my classes) Latin proverbs in my paper. I found
these proverbs on the internet and thought that they were appropriate.

Corné van Klink| Introduction 2

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INTRODUCTION

I knew for a long time that in the end, I would have to write my profile paper. I decided that I
would do my profile paper on my own. This decision made the choice of a subject a lot easier.

At first I thought of a subject that would relate to my university study, “Landscape Architecture
and Spatial Planning”. When I examined this possibility further, I came to the conclusion this was
a bit too complicated. I did not yet posses the knowledge to write a profile paper about this yet.

So I kept on searching for a subject. Then I thought of my other zest, history. I have always had
an interest in the Dark Ages, and the Crusades in particular because back then there were still
secrets. Therefor I decided to go for this theme. I started reading articles on the internet and
soon found a very interesting subject: the Knights Templar. This mysterious military order
fascinated me very much.

“SCIENTIA NON HABET INIMICUM NISI IGNORANTEM.”

(KNOWLEDGE HAS NO ENEMIES BUT THE IGNORANT)

Of course, the order as a whole is not a good subject. So I went on reading about the order and I
got interested by the way the Order was dissolved and what happened to the members of the
Order after the dissolution of the Order. This was all a bit mysterious, so it might be hard to
research, but I just saw this as a challenge.

After that I started looking for information and ‘drafting’ a main question and some part
questions. Then, after consulting with Mr. Klooster, I could start my paper.

Main question
To what extent did the Knights Templar still have military-, economical- and clerical power after
the official dissolution of the order in 1312?

Part questions

1) Who were the Knights Templar, why were they founded and what was their task?
2) What did the Knights Templar do during the Crusades?
3) Why was the order dissolved and by whom?
4) What happened to the Knights Templar in Europe after the dissolution?
a. What happened to the Knights Templar in Scotland?
b. What happened to the Knights Templar in Portugal?

I chose to focus on Scotland and Portugal because I had read about the Knights Templar in these
two countries and was fascinated about the way the order ‘evolved’ after the dissolution.

Attention: To make things easier I will name the Order of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and
of the Temple of Solomon simply “the Order” (with a capital letter).

I hope you will find this paper interesting and (maybe even) fun to read. Have fun learning about
one of the most mysterious organizations of all time!

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C I – THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

Before I will start my real ‘investigation’ I think the Knights Templar need a short introduction. The
following chapter is about the founding of the Order of Solomon’s Temple and its task.

WHO WERE THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR AND WHAT WAS THEIR TASK?

FOUNDING OF THE ORDER

N
o one knows exactly how the Order started. The more accurate sources are from far later
times than the actual founding year of the Order. The most common version of the
founding story is that the Order was founded in 1118, though evidence suggests that the
Order might have been founded four years earlier. This however cannot be said for certain. 1

The Order was founded by Hugues de Payens. This man was therefore the first Grandmaster of
the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, which was the official
name of the order. Their raison d’être was to protect pilgrims that traveled through the Holy
Land to see the city of Jerusalem, which was conquered in 1099. 2

After the first knights of the Order arrived at Jerusalem they received a place to live from the
king of Jerusalem, Baldwin II. This place was in the palace that the king had turned the Al-Aqsa
mosque into. It was on the southern side of the Temple mount, an area known
to the Templar as the Solomon’s Temple. 3

In 1120 the Order was acknowledged by the patriarch of Jerusalem, Dagobert.

Dagobert, also the archbishop of Pisa, was a nephew of Bernard of Clairvaux
and the leading Catholic clergy in Jerusalem.4

During the first nine years of the existence of the Order, the knights wore the
usual clothing of a medieval knight. In the ninth year, the Knights were allowed
to wear a white robe over their armor. Patriarch Dagobert provided them with
their first insignia: the Cross of Lorraine. This Insignia can be seen on Figure 2. FIGURE 2: THE CROSS
OF LORRAINE
When Eugene III became pope, the Knights Templar started using another
insignia: the Cross Pattée (as seen on Figure 3), this was a sign of martership. 5

FIGURE 3: THE CROSS PATTÉE

1 Baigent, M., Leigh, R. De Tempel en de Loge, van tempelridders tot vrijmetselarij, Tirion, Baarn, 2007,
edition unknown (1st edition 1989), p. 54
2 Idem, p. 54
3 Hopkins, M. De Tempeliers, hun geschiedenis en mystieke verbanden, Librero, Kerkdriel, 2008, unknown

edition (1st edition 2006), p. 20

4 Idem, p. 20
5 Idem, p. 20, 21

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On request of the Grandmaster of the Order, King Baldwin sent for help to Bernard of Clairvaux.
He asked him to help the Order with the ‘design’ of an order line: a series of rules and duties for
all members of certain religious orders. He also asked him if Papal Approval could be ‘achieved’.
On January the 14th 1129 the Council of Troyes started. On the 31st of January Hugues de Payens
appeared before the Council and Bernard presented to him the Order Line. 6

After this event the Order was offered a large amount of properties such as estates, castles. The
amount of gifts it received was so big that the Order had to postpone taking possession of some
gifts because of a lack of manpower. Luckily the presenting of the Order Line, which glorified the
virtues of the order, also caused a large incoming flow of new recruits. The Order of the Knights
Templar soon became a noticeable power in Europe with many possessions and representatives
of important aristocratic families within their ranks.7

From 1128 onward, the Order was expanding rapidly. Not only received the Order a lot of
applications of new members. Within a year the Order was in possession of land in France,
England, Scotland, Spain and Portugal. Within ten years these possessions would stretch all the
way to Italy, Austria, Germany, Hungary and Constantinople. The Order was becoming the
richest and most powerful institution in all of Christendom, with only the Pope as superior. 8

THE TEMPLAR WEALTH AND TREASURE

The incoming wealth in the forms of money and possessions was the start of a very lucrative
trade for the Order. In the first half of the 12th century Europe’s scene was largely taken in by
fighting nobles, counties, kingdoms and city-states. Long distance trade was mostly impossible.
High tolls charged by feudal nobles made trade expensive and therefore not very profitable. On
top of that was the risk of being robbed by bandits.9

With the emergence of the Order and her vast number of estates, long distance trade became
much safer. The estates, scattered through whole of Europe, provided a starting point for
pilgrim- and trading routes. By the Order controlled routes were often used by merchants. By
using the roads of the Order, merchants could transport their goods fairly safe across great
distances.

A strong growth of trade can’t hold without an efficient financial structure. The Templar took on
the role of bankers. The Knights were experienced with gold and money transports through
Europe to finance their activities in the Holy Land. They copied their banking system from their
Muslim adversaries. A traveler could deposit his money in Europe where he would receive a
small encoded message they could show at arrival in the Holy Land at which they would receive
their deposited amount of money. 10

By this system of banking and through all of their estates the Knights Templar became very rich.
At one time they held a considerable amount of liquid wealth and negotiable assets in France.11
They lent the king of France considerable amounts of money. 12 This was presumably one of the
reasons of their downfall, which I will discuss later.

6 Hopkins, M. De Tempeliers, p. 24
7 Idem, p. 27
8 Baigent, M., Leigh, R. De Tempel en de Loge, p. 55
9 Hopkins, M. De Tempeliers, p. 69
10 Idem, p. 69
11 Barber, M. The new Knighthood, A history of the Order of the Temple, Cambridge University Press,

Cambridge, 2005, 6th edition, (1st edition 1994), p. 298

12 Hopkins, M. De Tempeliers, p. 70

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THE TEMPLAR FLEET

By the middle of the 13th century, the Order’s Fleet was no longer just a necessity. It had become
one of the main advantages of the Order. It was for Templar knights much cheaper to transport
men and material to the Holy Land with their own ships rather than to rent ships from
merchants. On top of that, the Fleet could be used to transport someone else’s men or materials,
the Fleet could also transport pilgrims. All this was a welcome form of income for the Order. At a
given time, the Order was transporting 6000 pilgrims a year to Palestine from their ports in
Spain, France and Italy.13

The Order, being a religious order, was exempted from taxes. This made trading a very
profitable business. Overall, the Order was focusing its activities on the Mediterranean. Mostly,
the supply of the Holy Land. Their first and largest port in the Atlantic Ocean was the port of La
Rochelle.14

A picture of the headquarters of the Knights Templar can be seen on Figure 4. The Templar
Cross can easily be recognized.

From this port trade was establish with England and probably with the Hanseatic League. 15
Another advantage of this port is that, from it, products could be transported over land to a
Mediterranean port. This way, the dangerous Strait of Gibraltar, controlled by the Saracens,
could be avoided.16

FIGURE 4: TEMPLAR HEADQUARTERS IN LA ROCHELLE

13 Baigent, M., Leigh, R. De Tempel en de Loge, p. 77, 78

14 Idem, p. 78
15Idem, p. 78
16 Addison, C.G. The history of the Knights Templar, the Temple Church, and the Temple, Adventures

Unlimited Press, Kempton, 1997, unknown edition (1st edition 1842), p. 15

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WHAT DID THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR DO DURING THE CRUSADES?

As I already told, the activities of the Order were focused on fighting the Muslims in the Holy Land.
This chapter tells of those activities.

TEMPLAR ARMY

Until 1128, approximately ten years after the founding of the order, the Order only had knights
in its ranks. After that the organization consisted of three main classes: Knights, chaplains and
sergeants. 17 The size of their army was largely dependent on new recruits from the West. The
thought that it was glorious to die in battle was a noble idea, but it was not good for their
numbers. The result of this idea was that in a single battle half of the knights might be killed. 18

“REBELS, DEMONS, BAD PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN CASTLES ON

INACCESSIBLE, STEEP ROCKS WHERE WILD BEASTS DWELL”
SALADIN’S SECRETARY

The Knights Templar have always been considered as a serious threat by their Muslim
adversaries. Each victory on the military order was therefore greatly celebrated.19

TEMPLAR FORTRESSES

The Order’s castles and fortresses can be identified by

the specific techniques of construction and by masonry
patterns. The castles can be easily differentiated from
original castles from Armenian Cilicia.

It is however unlikely that the Order built all of its

castles on its own. The first castles date back to 1130
and it is improbable that the Order had sufficient
resources and manpower back then to build their own
castles. It is therefore more likely that they rebuilt
existing castles to fit their own ‘taste’.20

Many of the fortresses were built just after the First

Crusade. They were built by Franks, who made up the
main body of the First crusading army. The castles were
remarkable buildings as the style of the buildings was
influenced by both Arabian and Byzantic models. The
Order acquired them both by purchase and by gift.21

The Franks, who built the castles, were undermanned in

such a way that they could never occupy a whole city FIGURE 5: TEMPLAR FORTRESSES IN THE HOLY
wall. Therefore, they focused on strengthening the LAND
castles that protected almost every Syrian town.

17 Campbell, G.A. Knights Templar: Their Rise and Fall, Kessinger Publishing, Whitefish, 2003, unknown
edition (1st edition unknown), p. 55
18 Idem, p. 68
19 Hopkins, M. De Tempeliers, p. 43
20 Barber, M. The new Knighthood, p. 79
21 Campbell, G.A. Knights Templar: Their Rise and Fall, p. 86

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These castles were separated from the town they protected by battlements (walls). They had
their own gate which provided access to the country and had their own water supply. When the
rest of the town might easily be captured, the castle itself would serve as a refuge for civilians. 22

On figure 5 a map of the fortresses of the Order of the Temple. In the North, Baghras (figure 6)
was the most important fortress. This fortress protected Antioch (present-day Turkey), an
important city during the Crusades.23

FIGURE 6: THE RUINS OF THE CASTLE OF BAGHRAS

Unfortunately I could not find any adequate information about any military campaigns the Knight
Templar commanded.

22 Campbell, G.A. Knights Templar: Their Rise and Fall, p. 87

23 Barber, M. The new Knighthood, p. 79
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WHY WAS THE ORDER DISSOLVED AND BY WHOM?

In 1312 the Order was dissolved by Pope Clement V. In this chapter I will try to explain why he did
this and by whom he was put under extreme pressure.

WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE DISSOLUTION OF THE ORDER?

It can be said that when the last territory in Palestine was lost to the Muslims the fall of the
Order began. Every serious hope of ever recapturing the Holy City (Jerusalem) was lost. Despite
numerous efforts to preserve power in the Levant, the last Christian territory was lost and with
this the Order lost its ‘raison d’être’. Now, the Order had no longer any military purpose, only a
clerical and economical purpose.

For both these purposes they were envied. Their enormous wealth and immense possessions
woke jealousy in many. The clergy regarded the Order with envy for their privileges they
possessed of celebrating divine service during interdict (excommunication).24

The Knights Templar had also become unpopular with the European nobles. The profits of the
nobles had been somewhat reduced. This reduction had been caused by the generous gifts from
their predecessors to the Order. 25 One of these nobles was Philip IV of France. Philip was in
serious trouble. His kingdom was in a financial crisis, he desperately needed money. These
problems worsened when he got involved in several wars.

Philip tried to solve his problems in a couple of different ways: He charged the church with 10
percent extra taxes, charged foreign merchants extra, devalued the national currency several
times and he arrested people from whom he had lent money. After he had done all the above he
no longer had any debts and he had even acquired a decent income.26

All this time, Philip had been busy with the appointing of a new pope. This is important to know as
he set a condition to the pope in exchange for his support.

When he was young, Philip wanted to join the Knights Templar. Due to very high requirements
he was rejected and this left him bitter and revengeful. Once, during a riot, Philip was chased and
he sought refuge in the Temple in Paris. He was very much impressed by the amount of treasure
that was stored there.

When he got into a financial crisis and needed money he remembered the amounts of gold and
other treasure stored in the Temple in Paris. He thought that the treasure of the Knights
Templar would solve all his money-problems. He sent letters all around his kingdom issuing the
arrest of the entire Order. The letter stated:

“A bitter case, too much to think about, too terrible to hear, a terrible atrocity, something
almost inhuman, which has nothing to do with humanity.”

On the 13th October of 1307, all but 24 knights from the Order were arrested in France. The
Grandmaster, Jacques de Molay, was also arrested along with twenty-four other knights from the
inner organization of the Order.27

24 Campbell, G.A. Knights Templar: Their Rise and Fall, p. 237

25 Idem, p. 237
26 Hopkins, M. De Tempeliers, p. 111
27 Idem, p. 112,113

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THE ARREST OF MEMBERS OF THE ORDER

Philip IV, king of France, accused the knights of the Order of heresy, sodomy and blasphemy. One
of the charges against the Templar stated that they “inflicted more serious wounds to Jesus
Christ than the ones he suffered on the Cross”. There were countless more specific charges:

- The renouncing of Christ by Order members.

- The desecration of the Cross by Order members.
- The worship of an idol (Baphomet) by Order Members.
- The offering of a perverted sacrament.
- Ritual murder.
- The changing of the Mass ritual.
- Immorality and treason and so on…

The list of charges against the Templar was virtually endless. They were charged by the head-
inquisitor of France: Guillaume de Plaisians. He was the one that sanctioned the order of arrest.
The procedure of arrest did not proceed as usual; it was performed under direct authority of the
French king.28

It has never been really proven if any of the charges against the Knights Templar were true.

Pope Clement had neither the will nor the power to resist the order of the king to arrest the
Knights Templar. He tried to regain control of the situation on 22nd November of 1307 by
instructing all Christian sovereigns to arrest all Templar knights and confiscating all Templar
possessions.29

Philip IV was not satisfied with the suppression of the Order in France. He wanted the Order to
be abolished in all Christian countries. If the Knights Templar in other countries would not be
captured there was a chance that these knights would come to France in order to aid their
brethren. Another possibility was that other countries would see their chance to attack France,
being assured of Templar support.30

Philip had thought about this threat and on the 13th October, the day of the arrest, letters were
already underway to all Christian kingdoms. In this letter he explained the charges against the
Knights Templar and urged them to arrest the knights as well. He hoped that the kings and
princes would accept and arrest all of the Knights Templar in their kingdom. Most of them did
not, they waited for the Pope to respond.31

When the English king, Edward II, first heard of the arrests in France, he hesitated. He could not
believe that the Order’s brethren would be capable of doing the things for which they were
charged. On the 20th of November he replied to Philip IV that he was going to summon the
Seneschal of Agen (an important steward) to explain about the charges against the Knights
Templar. He also sent messages to other kingdoms, asking them not to act until further notice. 32

Edward also wrote a letter to the Pope on December 4th asking him to stand in defense of the
Order. This letter arrived too late. At the time the letter was received, the Pope had already
capitulated to the will of Philip IV. He issued a Papal Bull which said that, since there had long

28 Hopkins, M. De Tempeliers, p. 114, 115

29 Idem, p. 117, 118
30 Campbell, G.A. Knights Templar: Their Rise and Fall, p. 268
31 Idem, p. 268, 269
32 Idem, p. 269

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been rumors around the Knights Templar, some of them must be true and had to be corrected.
The main reason of him issuing a Papal Bull was his fear of Philip of France. 33

When Edward II got the Papal Bull, it left him no other possibility. He answered the Pope that
action against the Knights Templar would be undertaken in an as swift and best possible
manner.34 He issued instructions to the sheriffs of England to arrest the Knights Templar and to
take charge of all of their properties.35

Meanwhile in France, the Grandmaster of the Order, Jacques de Molay was being prosecuted.
Because of his confessions he was to be put away in prison for life, instead of being sentenced to
death. However, during his trial he recanted his confessions, which he made under torture.36

He said:

“BEFORE HEAVEN AND EARTH AND WITH ALL OF YOU HERE AS MY

WITNESSES… I DECLARE, AND I MUST DECLARE, THAT THE ORDER
IS INNOCENT. ITS PURITY AND SAINTLINESS ARE BEYOND
QUESTION.” JACQUES DE MOLAY37

After this trial he was slowly burnt to death. Before he died, he

cursed the French king and the Pope. He called them to appear in
front of God within the year. They both died within a year from his
execution. 38 The trial took place in Paris in 1314.39

In early 1311, the Pope declared in public that the dissolution of

the Order was over. Enemies of Christendom, Saracen armies, were
very happy with this event. On the 5th of June in the same year, the
papal commission published its findings in the Knights Templar
case.40

The commission concluded that the case against the Knights

Templar was not proven. Below is the commission verdict. The
Order had by then already been dissolved. FIGURE 7: JACQUES DE MOLAY BEING
BURNED TO DEATH

“THE ORDER ITSELF HAS NOT BEEN FOUND GUILTY, THE

INNOCENCE OF SOME INDIVIDUALS INSIDE THE ORDER, HOWEVER,
IS QUESTIONED.” THE PAPAL COMMISION ON THE KNIGHTS
TEMPLAR CASE41

33 Idem, p. 269
34 Hopkins, M. De Tempeliers, p. 117, 118
35 Campbell, G.A. Knights Templar: Their Rise and Fall, p. 270
36 Ralls, K. Knights Templar Encyclopedia, The Essential guide to the people, places, events and symbols of the

Order of the Temple, The Career Press, Franklin Lakes, 2007, 1st edition,p. 125, 126
37 Idem, p. 126
38 Hopkins, M. De Tempeliers, p. 119
39 Ralls, K. Knights Templar Encyclopedia, p. 213
40 Idem, p. 213
41 Idem, p. 213

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C II – THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR AFTER THE DISSOLUTION

You have read about whom the Knights Templar were and what they did. I also described why the
Order of Solomon’s Temple was dissolved in . Now my main research comes up. What happened to
the Knights Templar after the dissolution of the Order?

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR IN EUROPE?

TEMPLAR POSSESIONS

In May 1312 an important papal Bull was issued. The Ad providam ordered that all Templar
property had to be turned over to the Knights Hospitaller, the Order’s rival order. 42 The Pope
decided this because all of the properties were given to the Order for support for the Order’s
Crusade, the Pope thought it should continue to be used for this purpose. 43

An exception to this Bull was the Iberian Peninsula. In the Spanish and Portuguese lands, the
properties of the Order were transferred to local orders or new orders would be formed.44 I will
discuss this later in my paper.

TEMPLAR KNIGHTS

Some of the knights joined the Knights Hospitaller, other the Teutonic Knights. Both these orders
had made sure that their orders would survive and that they still had a raison d’être. For the
Teutonic Knights, this was the expulsion of pagans from the Baltic area and the founding of their
own state: Prussia. The Knights Hospitaller attained Malta and Rhodes and used these islands as
a base to eradicate Saracen piracy. 45

42 Ralls, K. Knights Templar Encyclopedia, p. 213

43 Idem, p. 214
44 Idem, p. 214
45 Hopkins, M. De Tempeliers, p. 121

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WHAT HAPPENED TO THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR IN SCOTLAND?

To explain what happened to the Knights Templar in Scotland, I will first tell something about the
situation and balance of power.

ROBERT BRUCE

When in 1306 Robert Bruce was crowned King of Celtic Scotland, the English king saw this as a
threat. He did not want a restored Celtic monarchy, this was a political threat as the English king
wanted Scotland for himself. The Pope even saw this as a ‘resurrection’ of the old, heretical Celtic
Church of Scotland. For this reason, Scotland as a whole was excommunicated. The reactions of
this ‘sanction’ were, however, indifferent.46

On the 19th of June it came to a confrontation between Edward II, king of England, and Bruce,
king of Celtic Scotland. A crushing defeat for the Scots was the outcome of this confrontation
near Methuen. Bruce was forced to flee to Argyll and later Ulster. From Ulster he tried to gain
Irish support for his cause. In February 1307 he restarted his campaign against the English in
company of some Irish noblemen and their followers.47

In 1309, Bruce was officially appointed “King of Scotland” by the Scottish Parliament in St.
Andrews. He was accepted in this position by his people, by other heads of state except by the
new king of England Edward II and the Pope, which had excommunicated him. In the winter of
1310-1311 Edward II began a new offensive against the, from his point of view, rebelling Scots. 48

The Scottish army was getting better, this could have had a few possible causes: The army was
just becoming more experienced, the weapons which the army received from the Irish were of
very good quality. These weapons may have come from the Knights Templar in Ireland. Or the
army was being trained by fugitive Knights Templar.49

THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN

By the end of 1313 a small English garrison was besieged by Bruce’s brother, Edward Bruce.
Edward of England could not tolerate this. Therefore he set out with an army which historians
estimate consisted of 20 000 men. The Scottish army consisted of ‘only’ 7 000 to 10 000 men.
The big confrontation between these two armies took place near the castle of Stirling on the 24th
of June.

After an entire day of battle the Scottish army was losing, which was to be expected, but then a
fresh force arrived at the battlefield to give the English a finishing blow. Legend goes this force
was a group of Knights Templar.50

Again, I cannot give any hard facts as I cannot find any evidence.

46 Baigent, M., Leigh, R. De Tempel en de Loge, p. 44

47 Idem, p. 44
48 Idem, p. 45
49 Idem, p. 45,46
50 Gourdin, T.S. Historical sketch of the order of the Knights Templar, Walker & Evans, place of publication

unknown, 1835, 1st edition, p. 24

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THE TEMPLAR FLEET

When records show Templar activity in Scotland, the question arises: How did the Knights Templar
get in Scotland? The Order did posses property there, but there would not have been enough
manpower to surprise the English army at Bannockburn.

As I told before, the Order was in the possession of a considerable fleet. On 13th October 1307,
this fleet was nowhere to be found. It had ‘simply’ vanished into thin air. The Templar Treasure,
one of the reasons for Philip’s arrest of the Knights, had vanished too. There was also a great
number of Knights (possibly more than 1000) that ‘vanished’ in France.51 From this we can
conclude that these disappearances are connected.

From Paris, the city where most of the Knights resided,

there were two ways of escape:

- By land
- By boat on the Seine

For the Knights, the route by land was not possible as the
area around Paris was heavily guarded by the Kings men.
So, the option that was chosen was the Seine. Over the
Seine, they could reach the Atlantic Ocean, where larger
ships would lie waiting to travel to a previously
determined destination.52

The destination of this possible journey are not

documented anywhere, it was still an escape-attempt. FIGURE 8: THE SEINE, FROM PARIS TO
There is no trace of them in any historical archive. So, we THE ATLANTIC
have to make an educated guess:

- They could go to Spain or Portugal, the downside was that this would attract a lot of
attention. The Knights did not want this, they were fleeing. This rules out the Iberian
countries.
- England was by this time also sentencing Knights Templar. So, this was not an option.
- Scandinavia could also have been suggested. However, since Scandinavia did not have a
lot of inhabitants the Knights could not have fled there unnoticed.
- A good option was Scotland. It was excommunicated, so the Papal bull against the
Knights would not apply there.

The most probable option is the one of Scotland. Also it could explain the unexpected help that
Robert Bruce received at the Battle of Bannockburn.53

To sum up: It can’t be proven where the Knights Templar fled. It can however be concluded in
retrospective.

If, in fact, it were the Knights Templar that helped Robert Bruce, he would want to keep that
quiet. If the Pope found out that he was ‘collaborating’ with the Knights their relation would
become even worse. Robert wanted their relation to get better. Furthermore, if his most

51 Baigent, M., Leigh, R. De Tempel en de Loge, p. 76

52 Idem, p. 78, 79
53 Idem, p. 79

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 [WANTED: KNIGHTS TEMPLAR] 17 december 2009

important ally, Philip IV of France, would notice that Bruce was working together with the
Order, this would do serious damage to their alliance. 54

Templar presence in Scotland is believed to have led to Freemasonry. I do not know if this is true
and as far as I read I cannot prove this. I will therefore make no notice of it in this paper.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR IN PORTUGAL?

As I told before, for the Knights Templar in the Hispanic region an arrangement was made. In
Portugal this arrangement was made by the king himself.

When, in 1312, the Order of the Knights Templar was abolished by Pope Clement V the property
of the Order in the Hispanic States was given to the king of these states. The Portuguese king fell
heir to the castles of the Templar castles on the territory. King Dinis (Denis in English) had a
different idea. He proposed a plan to the Pope. He wanted a new order to be created.

THE ORDER OF CHRIST

In 1319, the Pope agreed and ‘from the ashes’ of the Knights Templar a new order arose: The
Order of Christ. The order immediately took over all Templar possessions in Portugal that had
not been confiscated by the crown.55 A lot of the former Knights Templar swiftly became Knights
of Christ. As we can see, the Order of Christ can be simply said to be a continuation of the Order
of the Temple in Portugal.56

The Order of Christ’s Headquarters was seated

in Castro Marino, current Castro Marim,
situated in the furthest southeastern tip of
Portugal. Later, their headquarters were
definitively situated in the monastery and
castle of Tomar.

By the time, the Knights of Christ had settled,

the order had a small ‘problem’. The Muslims,
the enemies the order was supposed to protect
Portugal from had been driven from Portugal. FIGURE 9: TOMAR CASTLE, HEADQUARTERS OF THE
ORDER OF CHRIST
Prince Henry of Portugal solved this problem
by giving the order a new task: fighting the Muslims on their own soil. By taking this step,
Portugal was well on his way of becoming the great Empire it would become.57

54 Baigent, M., Leigh, R. De Tempel en de Loge, p. 49

55 Anderson, J.M. The History of Portugal, Greenwood Press, Westport, 2000, 1st edition, p. 33
56 Herbermann, C.G. (Old) Catholic Encyclopedia, The Encyclopedia Press, New York, 1914, 1st edition,

“Order of Christ”
57 Idem

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 [WANTED: KNIGHTS TEMPLAR] 17 december 2009

CONCLUSION

The Order of the Knights Templar were founded in 1118 to protect pilgrims in and around
Jerusalem. They later became a military clerical order. This Order was the first of its kind. The
Order became very powerful in a clerical, economical and a military way.

In a short amount of time they became so powerful that the only one who was allowed to give
the Knights Templar orders was the Pope. However, when the last Christian territory in the
Levant was lost and Philip IV of France started interfering in the business of the Pope, things
started going downhill for the Order.

Philip IV had financial problems and he thought that the awesome wealth of the Knights could
solve his problems. Therefore he started ‘campaigning’ against the Order. He had great influence
on the Pope and he ‘forced’ him to abolish the Order of the Knights Templar

When the Pope published a Papal Bull which said the Order was dissolved and had become
illegal, the Knights Templar had to flee. They most likely went to Scotland and they took all their
treasure. In some countries the Knights merged into other orders.

To what extent did the Knights Templar still have military-, economical- and clerical power after
the official dissolution of the order in 1312?

In mainland-Europe their power was gone. In other parts of the world their power was not
thriving as it used to, but it was still there. All the Order’s possessions were ‘inherited’ by the
Knights Hospitaller because of a Papal Bull. In some cases, the king of a country took hold of the
vast estates of the Templar.

In Spain the Order dissolved into smaller military orders that were to help with the Reconquista,
the conquering of the Iberian Island on the Muslims.

SCOTLAND

The Knights Templar probably went here in search for refuge. They found this in the army of
Robert Bruce. In this army they, secretly, trained the Scottish troops. Later, in the Battle of
Bannockburn they assisted the Scottish king in defeating the English.

PORTUGAL

In Portugal, the Knights Templar practically continued under another name: the Order of Christ.
King Diniz had arranged this. He did not mind the auxiliary army in his country. He could use
them to defend against the infidels: the Saracen Muslims.

When the Muslims had been driven from Portugal, the order was put to work in an attack on the
soil of the Saracens: Africa.

Corné van Klink| Conclusion 16

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SOURCE INDICATION

All of my pictures I got from Wikipedia. My other sources were all books. Most of these books,
however, came from the internet. I used Google Books a lot, this is a service by Google in which a
lot of books are digitalized. This way I could use sources I would normally never get my hands
on.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

- Addison, C.G. The history of the Knights Templar, the Temple Church, and the Temple,
Adventures Unlimited Press, Kempton, 1997, edition unknown (1st edition 1842)
- Anderson, J.M. The History of Portugal, Greenwood Press, Westport, 2000, 1st edition
- Baigent, M., Leigh, R. De Tempel en de Loge, van tempelridders tot vrijmetselarij, Tirion,
Baarn, 2007, edition unknown (1st edition 1989)
- Barber, M. The new Knighthood, A history of the Order of the Temple, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, 2005, 6th edition, (1st edition 1994),
- Campbell, G.A. Knights Templar: Their Rise and Fall, Kessinger Publishing, Whitefish,
2003, edition unknown (1st edition unknown)
- Gourdin, T.S. Historical sketch of the order of the Knights Templar, Walker & Evans, place
of publication unknown, 1835, 1st edition
- Herbermann, C.G. (Old) Catholic Encyclopedia, The Encyclopedia Press, New York, 1914,
1st edition
- Hopkins, M. De Tempeliers, hun geschiedenis en mystieke verbanden, Librero, Kerkdriel,
2008, edition unknown (1st edition 2006)
- Ralls, K. Knights Templar Encyclopedia, The Essential guide to the people, places, events
and symbols of the Order of the Temple, The Career Press, Franklin Lakes, 2007, 1st
edition

FIGURE-LIST
FIGURE 1: JACQUES DE MOLAY, THE LAST GRANDMASTER OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR ............................................................. 1
FIGURE 3: THE CROSS PATTÉE .................................................................................................................................. 4
FIGURE 2: THE CROSS OF LORRAINE ........................................................................................................................... 4
FIGURE 4: TEMPLAR HEADQUARTERS IN LA ROCHELLE .................................................................................................... 6
FIGURE 5: TEMPLAR FORTRESSES IN THE HOLY LAND ...................................................................................................... 7
FIGURE 6: THE RUINS OF THE CASTLE OF BAGHRAS ........................................................................................................ 8
FIGURE 7: JACQUES DE MOLAY BEING BURNED TO DEATH .............................................................................................. 11
FIGURE 8: THE SEINE, FROM PARIS TO THE ATLANTIC ................................................................................................... 14
FIGURE 9: TOMAR CASTLE, HEADQUARTERS OF THE ORDER OF CHRIST .............................................................................. 15

Corné van Klink| Source Indication 17

 [WANTED: KNIGHTS TEMPLAR] 17 december 2009

AFTERWORD

I really liked working on this Profile Paper. I am also very glad it’s finished now. The Knights
Templar is a surprisingly modern subject. A lot of the things people think are, however, simply
not true. These things are mostly prose, like Dan Brown’s books. I decided I wanted to make
things clear for myself and started doing research.

When I started, I understood why so many things were misunderstood. The Knights Templar
were simply shrouded in mystery. Not everything they did was on record. When I came to the
part of the research where I had to investigate where they had fled to, I was puzzled. There were
no records of them, which makes sense since it was a flight.

The general information about the Knights Templar could ‘easily’ be found. This was not a piece
of cake, but it was easier than part two: What happened after the dissolution? This was harder to
find, but this was after all my main research. I knew before I started the research it would be
hard. This also made it interesting, I got the feeling I was ‘unveiling history’. Though I knew
people had done this before me, it still gave a good feeling.

“CRESCAT SCIENTIA VITA EXCOLATUR”

(LET KNOWLEDGE GROW, LET LIFE BE ENRICHED)

Now I have finished, and I handed in this Paper I do feel I could have done much more if I had
had the time. It feels my research is not quite finished yet. I do think, now this subject has so
interested me and I invested so much time in investigating it I will keep reading about it.

The last thing I would like to say is that I have also learned a lot from using the English language
for this paper. At first I just thought: “Why not?”. Now I am finished I am happy I used English. It
is a whole different ‘experience’ and I feel I learned a lot from it.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading my Profile Paper. I hope you
learned from it and that you found it was interesting.

Corné van Klink| Afterword 18

 [WANTED: KNIGHTS TEMPLAR] 17 december 2009

LOGBOOK

Date Time Occupation

09-06-2009 2 hours Thinking of my final subject / watch documentary
10-06-2009 2 hours Reading about Knights Templar in book: “De tempel en de loge”
12-06-2009 2 hours Reading about Knights Templar in book: “De tempel en de loge”
15-07-2009 3 hour Reading about Knights Templar in book: “De tempel en de loge”
17-07-2009 3 hour Reading about Knights Templar in book: “De tempel en de loge”
22-07-2009 2 hours Reading about Knights Templar in book: “De tempel en de loge”
14-09-2009 2 hours Reading about Knights Templar on the internet (Wikipedia)
15-09-2009 1 hour Formulating part and main question
02-10-2009 2 hours Looking for sources
18-10-2009 1 hour Reading about subject
19-10-2009 1 hour Reading about subject / working on part question I
22-10-2009 1 hour Reading about subject / working on part question I
23-10-2009 1 hour Reading about subject / working on part question I and II
25-10-2009 2 hours Already putting together entire paper, now I only have to fill it
22-11-2009 3 hours Working on chapter I / writing preface / writing introduction
30-11-2009 3 hours Working on chapter I and II
01-12-2009 2 hours Searching info (Google Books)
04-12-2009 2 hours Working on part question III
05-12-2009 2 hours Working on part question I, II and III
06-12-2009 4 hours Working on part question II and III
07-12-2009 1 hour Working on part question II
08-12-2009 2 hours Working on part question III and IV
11-12-2009 2 hours Working on part question III and IV
12-12-2009 4 hours Working on part question IV
13-12-2009 6 hours Working on part question II and IV
14-12-2009 2 hours Working on part question IV, conclusion and afterword
15-12-2009 4 hours Working on source indication, conclusion and afterword
16-12-2009 3 hours Finishing touch, printing
04-02-2009 2 hours Correcting mistakes
10-02-2009 3 hours Correcting mistakes
11-02-2009 1 hour Adding a clear summary to my conclusion
11-02-2009 1 hour Second finishing touch, printing

Total hours (so far): 70 hours

Corné van Klink| Logbook 19