Knights Templar The power and wealth of the Knights Templar led to their downfall. The manifesto of Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, who carried out two devastating attacks in Oslo last week, contains multiple references to a group called the Knights Templar, which he says he revived along with other extremists. Meanwhile, a Mexican drug cartel with alleged religious inspirations has called itself the Knights Templar. Who were the mysterious medieval knights who formed the original order of the same name, dissolved by the Catholic Church about 700 years ago? They had a distinctive appearance. Monks and priests shaved a lock of hair around the top of their heads. The knights went a step further and, like the nuns, shaved off all their hair. Unlike the nuns, the Templars shaved their hair not only to demonstrate their rejection of vanity but also for more practical reasons. Some of them grew long, ghoulish beards, to further distinguish themselves from the mostly clean-shaven knights of the time. The Knights Templar were wealthy and powerful Christian knights. They had many names such as Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and Solomon's Temple. Those titles in Latin are Pauperes commilitones Christi and Templique Salomonici, but they were mostly called Knights Templar. Groups of pilgrims from across Western Europe began entering the Holy Land, after Christian fighters captured Jerusalem during the First Crusade in 1118 AD. Not long after, Hugh of Payns and eight other knights began serving the patriarch of Jerusalem precisely for this purpose. They were supported by Baldwin II, at that time former king of Jerusalem. Their headquarters was located on the sacred Temple Mount and they pledged to protect Christ... middle of paper... is still hidden to this day. People believe that the Knights Templar had a Holy Grail that gave eternal life to anyone who drank from it. The wealth of the Knights remains hidden and waiting to be discovered. In 1291, there was a Crusader stronghold called Acre, the last one left in the Holy Land. The Muslims conquered the stronghold and the Templars had no reason to be there anymore. On October 13, 1307 AD, the King of France, Philip IV, announced that every Templar in France was to be arrested. He captured many Templars. After capturing them he tortured them so that they would tell what they had done. Philip tortured the Templars to obtain their enormous capital, although he may have only done so because he was afraid of the Templars' power. The king successfully convinced Clement V to have arrested the Templars in all countries.
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