TEMPLARS Who were they? Where did they go?

History Compass, 2010

Although French, German and British scholars of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries did much to lay the foundations of scholarly study of the Knights Templars, until the 1970s there were few good general histories of the Templars. Over the last three decades, there has been enormous growth in scholarly research and publication on the history of the Templars, although the mushrooming myths about the order make it difficult for non-experts to distinguish between good and bad history. The Templars were a religious order, protected by the pope. They were also a military order, which fought against Islam in defence of Christian pilgrims and Christian territory and played a key role in the crusades. Their leading members were knights, but most of their members were not warriors, and included priests and women, who served God through prayer rather than by fighting. As well as castles and estates in the Middle East, they had property throughout Europe; they served kings and popes as diplomats and advisors. Far from being secretive-as the mythmakers claim-they opened their churches to local people and lodged travellers in their houses. They were pious men who shared the same faith as the Christians they protected. Historians disagree over where the initiative for the order came from-was it the idea of the first Templars themselves, or did Churchmen suggest it to them? The significance of the Templars' operations in the 'crusader kingdoms' in Palestine and Syria has been much discussed. Historians also disagree over the causes of the trial of the Templars (1307-1312), and how far the Templars were innocent victims of a struggle for supremacy between the papacy and the monarchy of France.

The early ‘Templars’, so-called, were the biblical Jews, and later Christians, in Jerusalem.

Journal of Medieval History, 2009

The Hospital of St John is thought to have been in various respects in a rather more healthy condition than the order of the Temple in the late thirteenth century, and comparisons and contrasts between the two orders have recently been made, often to the detriment of the Templars. This view is examined with reference to recruiting, the role of sergeants, ignorance among brothers, provincial administration, central government, and roles after the collapse of the crusader states. The argument is advanced that the Temple was not in a noticeably worse state than the Hospital and that on many issues the similarities between the two orders are more marked than the differences.

History Today, vol. 44.12, 1994

In October 1307, by order of Philip IV of France, all the Knights Templar within the French domains were arrested. In November, Pope Clement V sent out orders for the arrest of the Templars throughout Europe. The brothers were accused of a variety of crimes, which were said to be long-established in the order. There were, it was claimed, serious abuses in the admission ceremony, where the brothers denied their faith in Christ. The order encouraged homosexual activity between brothers. The brothers worshipped idols. Chapter meetings were held in secret. The brothers did not believe in the mass or other sacraments of the church and did not carry these out properly, defrauding patrons of the order who had given money for masses to be said for their families' souls. What was more, it was alleged that the Templars did not make charitable gifts or give hospitality as a religious order should. The order encouraged brothers to acquire property fraudulently, and to win profit for the order by any means possible. During the trial of the Templars witnesses claimed that the order's abuses had been notorious far many years and under interrogation, including torture, many brothers confessed to at least some of these crimes. In March 1312, Pope Clement dissolved the Order of' the Temple, giving its property of the Order of the Hospital, and assigning the surviving brothers to other religious orders. Despite this, the question of the order's guilt has never been settled. Just what were the accusations made against the Templars before 1300, and were these related to the trial? What did contemporaries think about the other military orders, such as the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights? This article argues that, from the evidence, the famous, shocking charges brought against the Templars in 1307 were unknown before 1300. The order was certainly guilty of Fraud and unscrupulous greed, but so too were other religious orders. The brothers' real crime was their failure to protect the Holy Land after claiming to be solely responsible for its defence.

Ordines Militares Colloquia Torunensia Historica

The idea of the Knights Templar looked good on paper. Have knights from across Europe join a monastic order that would defend the Holy Land from non-Christians. They would be devout warriors fighting on behalf of God, an example for all of Christendom. What could go wrong?

The Military Orders, vol. 6.2: Culture and Conflict in Western and Northern Europe, ed. Jochen Schenk and Mike Carr (London: Routledge: ISBN: 978-1-47-247638-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-31-546625-5 (ebk)),, 2016

This article represents a progress report on my research into the Templars’ properties in England and Wales, as recorded after the arrests of the Templars in Britain and Ireland and preserved in the UK National Archives at Kew. The detailed descriptions of the Templars’ properties drawn up when the Templars in England and Wales were arrested, combined with the accounts for their properties made by royal officials, permit a unique insight into agricultural practice, production and employment during the period 1308–13, and into the operation of this religious order, its religious life and role in wider society. The goal of this research is to publish the records for England and Wales (the records from Ireland were published in 1967), to make them available to all scholars with an interest in medieval estate records; but with the particular intention of establishing exactly how wealthy or poverty-stricken the Templars in England and Wales were in 1308, and what property the Hospitallers inherited in 1313.

Considers how the Hospitallers in Britain remembered the Templars after 1313, with particular consideration of Brother John Stillingflete's book of 1434. Presented at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo on 9 May 2014. A revised and adapted version of this paper is in the course of publication.

Urban History, 2022

The Military Order of the Knights Templar acquired property within English towns, established residences and chapels for its brethren there and developed new urban settlements and markets. This article argues that the role that the Templars played as urban landlords in England has been seriously understated, and that the Order made an impact through their urban property holdings, their privileges and their urban chapels, and in establishing new towns, which were integral to the wider exploitation of their rural resources.

2013