After the fall of Jerusalem - Decline

Jerusalem eventually fell and was taken by the Muslims in 1291. The Temple of Solomon was later demolished by the Muslims and a mosque was built on the site, now known as the Al Aqsa Mosque.

The Templars' success was tied closely to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the Order faded. Rumours about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created mistrust, and King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, began pressuring Pope Clement V to take action against the Order. Getting rid of them was a convenient way of cancelling his debts. In 1307, many of the Order's members in France were arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at the stake. Pope Clement was convinced that while the Templar’s had committed some grave sins, they were not heretics. However, in 1312, Pope Clement, under continuing pressure from King Philip, disbanded the Order.

Quick facts

- Active c. 1119–1314

- 15, 000–20, 000 members at peak, 10% (1500-2000) of whom were knights

Events

Grand Master Gé rard de Ridefort was beheaded by Saladin in 1189 at the Siege of Acre.

The last Grand Master was Jacques de Molay, burned at the stake in Paris in 1314 by order of King Philip IV.

Knighthood

Knight is the term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. Elsewhere, the Portuguese Cavaleiro (like the following, related to " chivalry"), the Spanish Caballero, the Italian Cavaliere, the French " Chevalier", the German Ritter (like the following, related to " rider"), the Swedish Riddare are commonly used in Continental Europe.

Origins of medieval knighthood

The Franks came to dominate Western and Central Europe after the fall of Rome. They generally fielded armies composed of large masses of infantry, with infantry elite, the comitatus, which often rode to battle on horseback rather than marching on foot. Riding to battle had two key advantages: it prevented fatigue, particularly when the elite soldiers wore armour and it gave the soldiers more mobility to react to the raids of the enemy, particularly the invasions of Muslim armies which started in the 7th century. So it was that the armies of the Frankish ruler and warlord Charles Martel, which defeated the Islamic Umayyad Arab invasion at the Battle of Tours in 732, were still largely infantry armies, the elites riding to battle but dismounting to fight in order to provide a hard core for the levy of the infantry war-bands.

These types of knights were increasingly seen as the only true soldiers of Europe.