History of the Templars

"Even when your kind appears to triumph ... Still we rise again. And do you know why? It is because the Order is born of a realization. We require no creed. No indoctrination by desperate old men. All we need is that the world be as it is. And THIS is why the Templars will never be destroyed."

―Haytham Kenway to the Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton about the Templars.

The Templar Order, also known as the Order of the Knights Templar, were a secret organization dedicated to ensuring the creation of a New World Order through force and control. Throughout the 12th to early 14th century, the Templars acted as a knightly military order, and by the mid 20th century had become a corporate giant after the foundation of Abstergo Industries.

Throughout history, the Templars have manipulated individuals and events to further their goals, notably during the Roman era, the Crusades, the Renaissance and modern times. Their endeavours often clashed with the ideologies of their sworn enemies, the Assassin Order.

Because of this difference in ideology, the Templars became involved in a covert war against the Assassins, spanning centuries, with their opposition's motivating belief being that mankind should always have the ability to choose; to have the freedom of liberty, even if it meant accepting that humanity would always be flawed in their ways.

History

Search for the Grand Temple

"It could contain certain knowledge. Perhaps a weapon. Or something as yet unknown, unfathomable in its construction and purpose. It could be any of these things. Or none of them. They are still an enigma, these precursors. But of one thing I am certain: whatever waits behind those doors shall prove a great boon to us all."

―Reginald Birch about the yet unknown Grand Temple.

The Templar meeting after the retrieval of the amulet key.

In 1754, Reginald Birch, the Grand Master of the British Rite, tasked Haytham Kenway with the assassination of Miko, an elderly Assassin who wore a mysterious amulet as a necklace. Reginald and Haytham attended a performance of The Beggar's Opera in the Theatre Royal, where Haytham - the son of an Assassin - used Eagle Vision to find Miko. Haytham assassinated Miko in his box and took the amulet from him, and returned to the Templar headquarters. Reginald researched the amulet and concluded that it was a key capable of opening a First Civilization storehouse. With the calculations of John Harrison, the Templars were able to determine that the storehouse was located somewhere around the colonies of New York and Massachusetts in the New World. Reginald assigned Haytham to travel to the colonies and find the storehouse and its contents, and gave him a list of men sympathetic to their cause. Haytham boarded the Providence that night, and arrived in Boston after 72 days of travel.