---

This is the motto of the Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, better known as the Knights Templar.

The Templars are the 1st world order of knight priests - warriors in history. They pledged obedience, poverty and virtue, as well as the fight against Muslim soldiers.
The Order was founded after the First Crusade in 1118. with the official mission of escorting pilgrims to the Holy Land of Jerusalem, and their real purpose and mission was to search for the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant and the relics kept at the court of King Solomon. The order was founded by the nobleman Hugo de Payens, and in 1127 they were officially recognized by the Pope.


The order was divided into knights, priests and other members and soon became a very numerous Christian order. They had their own farms, manufactories and soon became a “world in miniature”. Nobles ‘showered’ them with wealth, and pilgrims to Jerusalem fearing for their money, entrusted them with carrying their property and gave them compensation, so that the Templars practically became the first bankers.




The Order of the Templars was perfectly organized, so, for example, they were trained for the battle orders from an early age and, according to today's military strategists, they were perfect warriors with excellent military training and strategies. They, for example, built tunnels for strategic retreats in each of their strongholds and each of their possessions had to have 3 plans to withdraw the army and manpower in case of need. It was this that saved many knights from the most corrupt agreement in history - the agreement between King Philip the Handsome and Pope Clement of France, who, as written in my previous article, had all members of the Templar Order arrested on Friday, October 13th of 1307., and after prolonged torture burned all survivors at the stake.


According to some legends, the last Grand Master of the Templar Order, Jacques de Molay, cursed King Philip the Handsome and Pope Clement V while burning on the stake, and they both died shortly afterwards.



One could write a lot and extensively about the Knights Templar, including the Templars in Croatia, the New Order of the Templars, but this is a different story for a new article, if you will be interested.



Thank you for reading and commenting