Editing Templar ring

{{Era|Templars}}
{{Quote|A ring with a red cross pattée in a white circle. The Order of the Knights Templar!|William Robert Woodman|Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy|Divine Science: Chapter 4 – Frater V.O.V.}}
[[File:AC4 Templar Ring.png|thumb|200px|A Templar ring]]
A '''Templar ring''' is an adornment worn by members of the [[Templars|Templar Order]] since at least the mid-12th century that signifies membership in the Order. Typically, the rings bear a simple design of a red {{Wiki|cross pattée}}, the [[Templar insignia]].

==History==
===Middle Ages===
The use of Templar rings dates back to the [[Middle Ages]]. After King [[Alfred the Great|Alfred]] restructured the [[Order of the Ancients]]' [[Isu]]-worshipping broken remnants in [[England]] into the more [[Christianity|Christian]]-focused [[Knights Templar]] in the late 9th century, they could no longer use the Ancients' [[Order of the Ancients medallion|medallions]] embossed with [[Yggdrasil]] to signify group membership.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]'' – [[The Poor Fellow-Soldier]]</ref> It is unclear what iconography they used over the next nearly 300 years, if any, but when they received [[Papacy|Pope]] {{Wiki|Pope Eugene III|Eugene III}}'s blessing to use the cross, the Templars began adorning the cross pattée onto their {{Wiki|tabard}}s and other accessories from the 1160s onwards.<ref>''[[Echoes of History]] – Assassins vs Templars'' – Episode 3: The Knights Templar</ref>

Within 30 years, they were forging rings bearing the cross on them; the Templars' [[Grand Master of the Templar Order|Grand Master]] [[Robert de Sablé]] gifted one such ring to [[Maria Thorpe]] when she joined the group and trained under him.<ref name="Intercept">''Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines'' – [[Intercept (Kyrenia Harbor)]]</ref> Despite the [[Levantine Brotherhood of Assassins|Levantine Assassin]] [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]] having [[Assassination|assassinated]] Robert at the [[Battle of Arsuf]],<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[Assassination (Robert de Sablé)]]</reF> an act that removed Robert's safeguarding of Maria's standing in the Order,<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines'' – [[Assault (Maria Thorpe)]]</ref> she still wore the ring in 1192<ref name="Intercept"/> but would eventually discard or store it elsewhere in the years after marrying Altaïr and joining the Assassins.

Maria's ring was not the only one made, as Altaïr would see another that same year. After a [[Armand Bouchart's agent|mysterious figure]] dropped a lift with [[stone]] blocks on a [[Kyrenia]]n [[monk]] who was about to tell Altaïr about the [[Templar Archive]] on [[Cyprus]], Altaïr gave chase, but the figure escaped and all he found was a ring that had slipped off the man's finger.<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines'' – [[Investigate (Crusader Outpost)]]</ref> A third ring uncovered in [[Constantinople]] still had wax on it, indicating that members could also utilize them as {{Wiki|Seal (emblem)|signet rings}}.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Path to Revelations|Italic]]''</ref>

===Renaissance===
In the early 16th century, the [[Shanghai Rite of the Templar Order|Chinese Templar]] [[Qiu Ju]], a member of the [[Eight Tigers]], wore a Templar ring.<ref name="Shao Jun">''[[Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun]]'' – [[Homecoming (manga)|Homecoming]]</ref>

===Age of Imperialism===
In 1712, the [[British Rite of the Templar Order|British Templar]] [[Wilson]] wore a ring that left a cross-shaped scar on [[Edward Kenway]]'s face when Wilson punched him while escaping the [[Kenway family|Kenways]]' burning farmstead.

Edward later saw another Templar ring worn by [[Captain]] [[Benjamin Pritchard]] of the [[East India Company]]'s [[merchant]] [[ship]] ''[[Amazon Galley]]''.<ref name="AC4Book18">''[[Assassin's Creed: Black Flag]]'' – Chapter 18</ref> With Edward's fellow crewmen from the [[privateer]] ship ''[[Emperor]]'' having turned to [[piracy]] with the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]'s conclusion,<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Black Flag'' – Chapter 16</ref> they captured Pritchard and tortured him in the ''Amazon''{{'}}s captain's cabin for the location of rumored treasure. While the ''Emperor{{'}}s'' Captain [[Alexander Dolzell]] led his crew in looting the ''Amazon'',<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Black Flag'' – Chapter 17</ref> Edward noticed Pritchard's ring, only for Edward's rival [[Blaney]] to steal it for himself.<ref name="AC4Book18"/>
[[File:Mister Walpole I Presume 9.png|thumb|250px|left|Du Casse, Rogers, and Edward wearing their Templar rings following their initiation]]
In 1715, the [[West Indies Rite of the Templar Order|Caribbean Templars]]' [[Grand Master of the Templar Order|Grand Master]] [[Laureano de Torres y Ayala]] gave three Templar rings to the new recruits [[Julien du Casse]], [[Woodes Rogers]], and Edward Kenway—the latter having impersonated the [[British Brotherhood of Assassins|British Assassin]] turncoat [[Duncan Walpole]]—during their [[Initiation into the Templar Order|induction ceremony]] into the Order.<ref name="AC4">''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]'' – [[Mister Walpole, I Presume?]] </ref> After Edward was revealed as an imposter, Torres reclaimed the ring.<ref name="BF novel"/>

In the early 18th century, certain members of the Templar-affiliated [[Shimazu clan]] wore Templar rings.<ref name="FT 37">''[[Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple Episode 37|Episode 37]]</ref> In January 1725, a [[British Rite of the Templar Order|British Templar]] in command of an East India Company ship wore a Templar ring until the [[West Indies Brotherhood of Assassins|Caribbean Assassin]] [[Adéwalé]] killed him.<ref name="FT 93">''[[Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple Episode 93|Episode 93]]</ref>

Later that year, another Templar wore a ring to his meeting with the [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] businesswoman [[Lee Huiyin]]. He demanded the late [[Netherlands|Dutch]] explorer [[Hendrik]]'s [[Hendrik's sea log|sea log]] that Lee had in exchange for the Order ceasing all hostilities against her company, but unbeknownst to the man, Lee already knew of the Order's existence and correctly identified him as a member upon seeing the ring that most [[civilian]]s would have overlooked.<ref name="FT 12">''[[Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple Episode 12|Episode 12]]</ref>

Templar rings had their greatest usage in the [[United States]] both before and during the [[American Revolution]]. During the [[Seven Years' War]], the [[British Army]] General [[Edward Braddock]] wore a Templar ring to signify his membership in the Order. Braddock was [[Assassination|assassinated]] by his fellow [[United Kingdom|British]] Templar [[Haytham Kenway]] during the [[Braddock Expedition]] in 1755 for his ruthlessness, following which Kenway took the ring from Braddock and awarded it to [[Charles Lee]] upon his induction into the Order's recently-established [[American Rite of the Templar Order|Colonial Rite]].<ref name="Braddock Expedition">''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' – [[The Braddock Expedition (memory)|The Braddock Expedition]]</ref>
[[File:Scars 10.png|thumb|250px|Monro passing his Templar ring to Shay]]
Upon being fatally wounded in an attack on [[Fort Frederick]] in 1757, the British Colonel [[George Monro]] gave his Templar ring to [[Shay Cormac]], who shortly after was inducted into the Colonial Templars.<ref name="Scars">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[Scars]]</ref> The last known ring in [[North America]] was seen nearly 20 years later, when a [[British Templar naval captain]] in the [[Royal Navy]] bore one until he was killed by the [[American Brotherhood of Assassins|Colonial Assassin]] [[Ratonhnhaké:ton]] in 1776.<ref name="French Involvement">''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' – [[French Involvement]]</ref>

===Early modern era===
By the early modern era, the wearing of Templar rings was largely discontinued by the Rites, though it did not stop their sporadic appearances in later decades. In a new tradition started by the [[Parisian Rite of the Templar Order|French Rite]] just before the [[French Revolution]], [[Templar pin|silver pins]] originally crafted by the Templar [[silver]]smith and [[Sage]] [[François-Thomas Germain]] briefly became the new symbol of recognition for the wider Order<ref name="Unity">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'' – [[Meeting with Mirabeau]]</ref> and later their internal enforcers, the [[Black Cross]]es.<ref name="Templars 1">''[[Assassin's Creed: Templars]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Templars 1|Issue #1]]</ref>

In 1868, an assassin tasked to eliminate Maharaja [[Duleep Singh]] of the [[Sikh Empire]] in [[London]] carried a Templar ring in his pocket. After his assassination attempt failed and he was killed by the British Assassins [[Jacob Frye|Jacob]] and [[Evie Frye]], the twins found the ring in his pocket, informing them of his affiliations.<ref name="Good Shot">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]'' – ''[[The Last Maharaja]]'' – [[A Good Shot]]</ref>
[[File:PL-Deus Lux Solis.png|thumb|250px|left|A Secret Chief of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn wearing a Templar ring]]
During the early 20th century, the [[Hermeticists|Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]]'s leading Secret Chiefs wore Templar rings, though the Hermetic Order was unaware of the Templars' existence or influence in their organization.<ref name="Frater V.O.V.">''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]'' – [[Divine Science: Chapter 4 – Frater V.O.V.]]</ref>

General [[Erich Albert]] of the [[German Army]] wore a Templar ring in [[World War I]]. During the [[Christmas truce]] of 1914, Albert enlisted the aid of a [[British Assassin medic|British medic]] to perform surgery on a [[Germany|German]] [[soldier]]. After the surgery, Albert noticed the [[doctor]]'s interest in his Templar ring and offered to trade it with him until he noticed the man's Assassin burn mark around his finger and was assassinated.<ref name="Ghosts of Christmas Past">''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]'' – [[Holidays: Chapter 1 – Ghosts of Christmas Past]]</ref>

In 1927, the British Rite's Grand Master [[Thaddeus Gift]] wore a Templar ring. After the Black Cross [[Albert Bolden]] killed him for betraying the Order's principles, Bolden severed Gift's ring-bearing finger and had it delivered in a box to the [[Kuomintang]]'s leader [[Chiang Kai-shek]],<ref name="Templars 1"/> whom the Chinese Templars hoped to recruit into their ranks.<ref name="Templars 5">''[[Assassin's Creed: Templars]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Templars 5|Issue #5]]</ref> Gift's son [[Darius Gift|Darius]] was tasked to deliver the box to [[Shanghai]],<ref name="Templars 1"/> but the actor [[Ruan Lingyu]] stole it shortly after his arrival in the city,<ref name="Templars 4">''[[Assassin's Creed: Templars]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Templars 4|Issue #4]]</ref> while Chiang Kai-shek ultimately declined joining the Order.<ref name="Templars 5"/>

===Modern times===
[[John Roberts]] wore a Templar ring during the 21st century.<ref name="Rifts">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' – [[Rifts]] </ref>

In 2014, after uploading Shay Cormac's file to the Assassin network, [[Melanie Lemay]] presented a Templar ring to the [[Helix]] research analyst "[[Numbskull]]", offering them a place in the Order.<ref name="ACRG MD">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[21st century conversations|Modern day]]</ref>

In 2019, the [[Japanese Rite of the Templar Order|Japanese Templar]] [[Kaori Kagami]] wore a Templar ring while she worked as a doctor at [[Abstergo Industries]]' [[Abstergo Industries Yokohama facility|facility]] in [[Yokohama]], [[Japan]].<ref name="Shao Jun"/>

In 2023, a Templar supervising [[Shimazu Sei]]'s mission to find a [[Piece of Eden]] in [[Southeast Asia]] wore a Templar ring.<ref name="FT 74">''[[Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple Episode 74|Episode 74]]</ref> 

==Behind the scenes==
The Templar rings in the [[Assassin's Creed (series)|''Assassin's Creed'' franchise]] can be seen as counterparts to the various marks used by the Assassins, beginning in the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]] with finger amputations up until the [[Middle Ages]], then burn marks during the [[Renaissance]]. In contrast to the left ring finger favored by the Assassins, Templar rings are typically worn on the right ring finger, marking a physical difference between the two orders.  

==Gallery==
<gallery captionalign="center" position="center" widths="180">
Investigate Crusader Outpost 6.png|Altaïr finding a ring in Kyrenia, Cyprus
OldRing icon.png|A Templar ring from Constantinople
AC-BladeofShaoJun-TemplarRing1.png|Qiu Ju's Templar ring
ACFT - Shimazu Templar ring.png|A Shimazu clan member's Templar ring
ACFT - British Templar ring.png|An 18th-century British Templar's ring
ACFT - Templar ring.png|The ring worn by the Templar who met with Madam Lee
AC3 Templar Ring.png|Edward Braddock's Templar ring
ACIII-BraddockExpedition 13.png|Haytham Kenway taking Braddock's ring
ACIII-BraddockExpedition 19.png|Charles Lee being awarded with Braddock's ring
ACIII-Frenchinvolvement 7.png|Connor examining the British Templar naval captain's ring
Swap.png|Erich Albert showing his Templar ring to the Assassin medic
ACTemplars - Thaddeus Gift's Templar ring.png|Thaddeus Gift's Templar ring
ACB Cluster 7 2.png|John Roberts wearing a Templar ring 
ACRg TemplarRing.png|The Templar ring presented to "Numbskull"
AC-BladeofShaoJun-TemplarRingKaoriKagami.png|Kaori Kagami's Templar ring
ACFT - Templar boss ring.png|A Japanese Templar wearing a ring
</gallery>

==Appearances== 
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed III]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Black Flag]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]] – [[The Last Maharaja]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Templars]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple]]''

==References==
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[[Category:Jewelry]]
[[Category:Templar Order]]