The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon
(Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), also
known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar or simply
the Templars, were a Catholic military order founded in 1119,
headquartered on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem through 1128 when they
went to meet with Pope Honorius II. They were recognized in 1139 by
the papal bull Omne datum optimum. The order was active until 1312
when it was perpetually suppressed by Pope Clement V by the bull Vox
in excelso.The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of
Solomon (Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici),
also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar or
simply the Templars, were a Catholic military order founded in 1119,
headquartered on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem through 1128 when they
went to meet with Pope Honorius II. They were recognized in 1139 by
the papal bull Omne datum optimum. The order was active until 1312
when it was perpetually suppressed by Pope Clement V by the bull Vox
in excelso.The Templars became a favored charity throughout
Christendom, and grew rapidly in membership and power. They were
prominent in Christian finance. Templar knights, in their distinctive
white mantles with a red cross, they were amongst the most skilled
fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the order,
who made up as much as 90% of their members, managed a large economic
infrastructure throughout Christendom, developing innovative financial
techniques that were an early form of banking, building its own
network of nearly 1,000 commanderies and fortifications across Europe
and the Holy Land, and arguably forming the world's first
multinational corporation.The Templars were closely tied to the
Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the order faded.
Rumours about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created
distrust, and King Philip IV of France â€" deeply in debt to the order
â€" took advantage of this distrust to destroy them and erase his
debt. In 1307, he had many of the order's members in France arrested,
tortured into giving false confessions, and burned at the stake. Pope
Clement V disbanded the order in 1312 under pressure from King Philip.
The abrupt reduction in power of a significant group in European
society gave rise to speculation, legend, and legacy through the ages. Knights Templar Top Movies & Young Movies