Templar Rite: Difference between revisions
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In 1241, the [[Mongolian Rite of the Templar Order|Mongolian Rite]] was established by [[Möngke Khan]], future ruler of the [[Mongol Empire]], after he learned about and came to embrace the Templar ideals thanks to a knight captured during the [[Battle of Legnica]]. After Möngke became Great Khan of the Mongol Empire a decade later, he began recruiting members of the imperial guard, the Kheshigs, into the Mongolian Rite.<ref name="Tomb of the Khan">''[[Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan]]''</ref> | In 1241, the [[Mongolian Rite of the Templar Order|Mongolian Rite]] was established by [[Möngke Khan]], future ruler of the [[Mongol Empire]], after he learned about and came to embrace the Templar ideals thanks to a knight captured during the [[Battle of Legnica]]. After Möngke became Great Khan of the Mongol Empire a decade later, he began recruiting members of the imperial guard, the Kheshigs, into the Mongolian Rite.<ref name="Tomb of the Khan">''[[Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan]]''</ref> | ||
When the Templars were driven underground following their [[Persecution of the Templars|public persecution]] in the early 14th century,<ref name=" | When the Templars were driven underground following their [[Persecution of the Templars|public persecution]] in the early 14th century,<ref name="Tragedy">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'' – [[The Tragedy of Jacques de Molay]]</ref> Rites became the main organizatory form of the Order as it continued to conduct its operations in secret. The [[Renaissance]] period saw the rise of numerous country-specific Rites, most prominently the [[Roman Rite of the Templar Order|Roman Rite]] in [[Italy]] led by the [[House of Borgia]],<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref> and the [[Byzantine Rite of the Templar Order|Byzantine Rite]] in the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] and later the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref name="ACR"/> However, in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the Roman Rite became corrupted by the actions of two of its Grand Masters, [[Rodrigo Borgia]] and his son [[Cesare Borgia|Cesare]], who were more interested in accumlating power than furthering the Templar cause; this caused future generations of Templars to look down on the Borgia's rule over the Roman Rite, regarding it as the "Dark Age of the Order".<ref name="Encyclopedia">''[[Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia]]''</ref> | ||
[[File:Cappadocia-inside.png|thumb|250px|left|Derinkuyu, the hideout of the Byzantine Templars]] | [[File:Cappadocia-inside.png|thumb|250px|left|Derinkuyu, the hideout of the Byzantine Templars]] | ||
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A Grand Master controls a specific geographic region and their Rite is named after it.<ref name="TEG"/> Under their leadership was the ability to appoint a [[Lieutenant of the Templar Order|Lieutenant]] as their second-in-command,<ref name="P307-324">[[Assassin's Creed: Unity (novel)|''Assassin's Creed: Unity'' (novel)]] – 5 October 1789</ref><ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'' – [[A Cautious Alliance]]</ref> as well as promote any Templar serving under them through the Order's ranks, up to and including the position of [[Master Templar]].<ref name="ACT"/> In the absence of a Grand Master, a Master Templar holds the authority to oversee a Rite as its ''de facto'' leader on behalf of another Rite's Grand Master.<ref name="TEG"/> | A Grand Master controls a specific geographic region and their Rite is named after it.<ref name="TEG"/> Under their leadership was the ability to appoint a [[Lieutenant of the Templar Order|Lieutenant]] as their second-in-command,<ref name="P307-324">[[Assassin's Creed: Unity (novel)|''Assassin's Creed: Unity'' (novel)]] – 5 October 1789</ref><ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'' – [[A Cautious Alliance]]</ref> as well as promote any Templar serving under them through the Order's ranks, up to and including the position of [[Master Templar]].<ref name="ACT"/> In the absence of a Grand Master, a Master Templar holds the authority to oversee a Rite as its ''de facto'' leader on behalf of another Rite's Grand Master.<ref name="TEG"/> | ||
Despite holding the highest attainable rank within their Rite, a Grand Master is not all-powerful and is dependent on the support of their fellow Templars and other Rites around the world. Nevertheless, their duties are essential to the proper functioning of the Templar Order as a whole, so Grand Masters may elect to have bodyguards to protect them at all times, as were the cases with [[Frederick Weatherall]] for the [[de la Serre family]],<ref name=" | Despite holding the highest attainable rank within their Rite, a Grand Master is not all-powerful and is dependent on the support of their fellow Templars and other Rites around the world. Nevertheless, their duties are essential to the proper functioning of the Templar Order as a whole, so Grand Masters may elect to have bodyguards to protect them at all times, as were the cases with [[Frederick Weatherall]] for the [[de la Serre family]],<ref name="Unity novel"/> and [[El Tiburón]] for Laureano de Torres y Ayala.<ref name="AC4BF">''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''</ref> With the Grand Master themselves being the ruling authority for their own Rite's plans, all members required their superior's approval to enact any changes.<ref name="Birds of a Feather">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' – [[Birds of a Feather]]</ref><ref name="The Braddock Expedition">''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' – [[The Braddock Expedition (memory)]]</ref><ref name="Mister Walpole"/> | ||
====Rite Council==== | ====Rite Council==== | ||
{{Dialogue|Guard|Floyrac, the Council's message was absolute. You're not welcome here.|Floyrac|I must speak with the Grand Master.| | {{Dialogue|Guard|Floyrac, the Council's message was absolute. You're not welcome here.|Floyrac|I must speak with the Grand Master.|Esquieu de Floyrac and a guard discussing the Council of the Parisian Rite, 1307.|Assassin's Creed: Unity|The Tragedy of Jacques de Molay}} | ||
During the end of the Golden Age of the Templar Order,<ref name="TEG"/><ref name="Encyclopaedia">''[[Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia]]'' - Chapter 2</ref><ref name="File.0.02">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]] – [[Abstergo Files]]:File.0.02\Hst_Beginning''</ref> the Parisian Rite maintained a ruling Council, which was overseen by Grand Master [[Jacques de Molay]] and included his closest [[Jacques de Molay's advisor|advisor]] among its members. Any decision made by the Council was deemed absolute, such as [[Esquieu de Floyrac]]'s banishment from the Order's headquarters at the [[Temple, Paris|Temple]] in [[Paris]] in 1307.<ref name="Tragedy"/> | During the end of the Golden Age of the Templar Order,<ref name="TEG"/><ref name="Encyclopaedia">''[[Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia]]'' - Chapter 2</ref><ref name="File.0.02">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]] – [[Abstergo Files]]:File.0.02\Hst_Beginning''</ref> the Parisian Rite maintained a ruling Council, which was overseen by Grand Master [[Jacques de Molay]] and included his closest [[Jacques de Molay's advisor|advisor]] among its members. Any decision made by the Council was deemed absolute, such as [[Esquieu de Floyrac]]'s banishment from the Order's headquarters at the [[Temple, Paris|Temple]] in [[Paris]] in 1307.<ref name="Tragedy"/> | ||
====Local==== | ====Local==== | ||
[[File:ACB Borgia Tower.png|thumb|250px|A Borgia Tower in the Campagna district]] | [[File:ACB Borgia Tower.png|thumb|250px|A Borgia Tower in the Campagna district]] | ||
During the Renaissance, in the city of [[Rome]], the Roman Rite | During the Renaissance, in the city of [[Rome]], the Roman Rite established [[Borgia tower]]s that were [[Fort|fortified]] and overseen by a [[Borgia captain]], who effectively ruled over the surrounding district. During the [[liberation of Rome]] by the Italian Assassins in the early 1500s, Ezio Auditore destroyed all twelve Borgia towers scattered around Rome and assassinated its captains, severely weakening the Templars' control over the city.<ref name="ACB">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''</ref> | ||
In the | In the Ottoman Empire, the Byzantine Templars that returned to Constantinople fought the Ottoman Assassins for control of the latter's [[Assassin Den|dens]] and, by the 1510s, managed to capture most of them, allowing them to rule over the districts each den was situated in.<ref name="A Warm Welcome">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' – [[A Warm Welcome (Revelations)|A Warm Welcome]]</ref> However, in 1511, Ezio Auditore traveled to Constantinople and helped the Ottoman Assassins reclaim all of their lost dens, effectively forcing the Byzantine Templars out of the city once more.<ref name="ACR"/> | ||
==Known Rites== | ==Known Rites== | ||
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==References== | ==References== | ||
{{Reflist}} | {{Scroll box|content={{Reflist|2}}}} | ||
{{Templars nav}} | {{Templars nav}} | ||
[[Category:Templar Order]] | [[Category:Templar Order]] | ||
[[Category:Templar Rites]] | [[Category:Templar Rites]] | ||
[[Category:Abstergo Industries]] | [[Category:Abstergo Industries]] | ||
Revision as of 21:40, 8 October 2024
- Manuel: "I should have been Constantine's successor. I had so many plans."
- Ezio: "Your dream dies with you, Manuel. Your empire is gone."
- Manuel: "Ah, but I am not the only one with this vision, Assassin. The dream of our Order is universal. Ottoman, Byzantine... these are only labels. Costumes and facades. Beneath these trappings, all Templars are part of the same family."
- —Manuel Palaiologos talking to Ezio Auditore about the universality of Templars, 1512.[src]-[m]
A Templar Rite, otherwise known as a Rite of the Templar Order and collectively known as the Outer Temple of the Templar Order, is a regional, usually country-specific branch of the Templars and collectively a separate governing structure from the Inner Sanctum. As the Order spread across the globe, Rites were established in virtually every country. All Rites are led by a single Grand Master or, in the absence of one, a Master Templar.[1]
The regional administration of a Rite mirrors that of its counterpart in the Assassin Order, with Rite leaders being the supreme authority of the branch and overseeing all of the Rite's activities from a main headquarters, while their subodrinates typically operate in an assigned district or administritative division. These subodrinates are directly answerable to the Rite's leader and oversee the Templar facilities in their assigned district to ensure the Order can efficiently maintain control over the local population. Over the centuries, these facilities have varied from towers, dens taken from the Assassins, gang headquarters, and even public and military offices.
Since at least the 17th century, following the creation of the Inner Sanctum and the Council of Elders, the entire collective of Rites became the Outer Temple and were not given access to the complete plans of the Templar Order going forward.[1] With the creation of the Black Cross, their service in the Outer Temple shifted to combating corruption and searching for Pieces of Eden while securing the Inner Sanctum's plans and maintaining the Order's integrity[2] by enforcing the Templar principles within the various Rites' governing structures.[1]
Structure
Founding
The establishment of a Templar Rite varies from region to region. The oldest organized Templar branch is the British Rite, which was founded around 878 CE by King Alfred of Wessex following the destruction of the Order of the Ancients. Seeking to reform the Order into an organization that more closely followed his Christian beliefs, Alfred slowly built it up over the next several years by recruiting members from all walks of life and of all religions, who were united by a common desire to seek the betterment of humanity through the establishment of a New World Order.[3]
While Alfred's new Order adopted the name of the Templars by the late 10th century and spread its influence across Europe,[4] it is unknown at which exact moment in time the individual Rites began to take shape. During the public era of the organization between the 12th and 14th centuries, the Templars took advantage of the Crusades to spread their reach to Asia, beginning with the Levant, where the Levantine Rite was established by the late 12th century.[5]
Posing as a knightly order with headquarters in both Jerusalem[5] and on Cyprus,[6] the Levantine Rite secretly comprised both Crusaders and Saracens and was led by a Grand Master, whose primary goal was acquiring an Apple of Eden that would allow the Templars to realize their vision of a New World Order by brainwashing all of humanity. However, their efforts were opposed by the Levantine Assassins,[5] eventually resulting in the Order losing their influence in the Levant by the early 13th century.[7]
In 1241, the Mongolian Rite was established by Möngke Khan, future ruler of the Mongol Empire, after he learned about and came to embrace the Templar ideals thanks to a knight captured during the Battle of Legnica. After Möngke became Great Khan of the Mongol Empire a decade later, he began recruiting members of the imperial guard, the Kheshigs, into the Mongolian Rite.[8]
When the Templars were driven underground following their public persecution in the early 14th century,[9] Rites became the main organizatory form of the Order as it continued to conduct its operations in secret. The Renaissance period saw the rise of numerous country-specific Rites, most prominently the Roman Rite in Italy led by the House of Borgia,[10] and the Byzantine Rite in the Byzantine and later the Ottoman Empire.[7] However, in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the Roman Rite became corrupted by the actions of two of its Grand Masters, Rodrigo Borgia and his son Cesare, who were more interested in accumlating power than furthering the Templar cause; this caused future generations of Templars to look down on the Borgia's rule over the Roman Rite, regarding it as the "Dark Age of the Order".[11]
Meanwhile, the Byzantine Rite was met with a streak of defeats, beginning with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans, which forced the Templars to abandon the city and establish a secret base of operations in Derinkuyu, Cappadocia. Following the Roman Rite's defeat by the Italian Assassins in the early 16th century, the Byzantine Templars became the foremost Rite in Europe and plotted to restore their former power, but faced opposition from both the Ottoman Assassins and Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the Mentor of the Italian Brotherhood, culminating the Byzantine Rite's destruction by 1512.[7]
In the mid-16th century, a number of European Templars, including Francis Xavier, Alessandro Valignano, Gaspar Vilela and others, took an uninterest in the largely unexplored regions of the world, primarily Japan. Posing as Jesuit missionaries, these Templars cultivated alliances with the local warlords and clans and used them to spread the Templar ideology in the country, laying the foundations of the Japanese Rite.[12]
In the late 17th century, the West Indies Rite was established by Laureano de Torres y Ayala, a Spanish Templar and Governor of Cuba, who had been tasked by the Council of Elders to locate the Observatory, an Isu surveillance facility hidden in the Caribbean.[13] Over the course of nearly five decades, Torres recruited numerous allies to help him in his search, as well as restore order to the Caribbean amidst the Golden Age of Piracy. However, their efforts were undone in the early 18th century by the West Indies Assassins, in particular Edward Kenway, who eliminated most of the West Indies Rite's high-ranking members,[14] leading to the branch's collapse by 1722.[15]
The mid-18th century saw the formation of two new Templar Rites: the Louisiana Rite and the Colonial Rite. The former was established in the 1750s by Madeleine de L'Isle at the behest of the Parisian Rite,[16] and was the main Templar branch operating in southern North America, primarily in New Orleans and Chichen Itza, where Madeleine had set up an excavation to locate an Isu artifact known as the Prophecy Disk. However, this Rite would be completely dismantled by 1777 through the actions of the Louisianan Assassin Aveline de Grandpré, Madeleine's stepdaughter.[17]
Meanwhile, the Colonial Rite was established over the course of multiple years, beginning in 1738, when Lawrence Washington was sent to the Thirteen Colonies by Reginald Birch, Grand Master of the British Rite, to locate the fabled Grand Temple.[18] By the 1750s, Washington had recruited numerous allies, many of whom were inducted into the Templar Order, including Christopher Gist, William Johnson, Samuel Smith and James Wardrop, and laid the foundations of a Templar network in the New World, though he came no closer to his main objective of finding the Grand Temple.[19]
Following Washington's assassination by the Colonial Assassins in 1752, Wardrop replaced him as de facto leader of the Templars in the Thirteen Colonies[20] while Birch assigned the task of the Grand Temple's discovery to Haytham Kenway.[21] Arriving in the colonies in 1754, Haytham continued Washington and Wardrop's work and officially founded the Colonial Rite as its first Grand Master,[22] leading it for almost three decades, until his death in 1781 at the hands of his Assassin son, Ratonhnhaké:ton.[23] Shortly after Haytham's death, the Colonial Rite collapsed due to Ratonhnhaké:ton's actions,[22] though it would reform itself several years later as the American Rite, continuing to operate in the newly-established United States.[24]
Authority
- Main article: Grand Master of the Templar Order
- Main article: Master Templar
- Rodrigo: "Enough with your inane prattle! The choice of Doge was never up to any of you, and you were never given permission to make plans."
- Marco: "Forgive us, Maestro. We wish only to serve."
- —Rodrigo Borgia and Marco Barbarigo, on the plans of the Roman Rite, 1485.[src]-[m]
A Grand Master controls a specific geographic region and their Rite is named after it.[1] Under their leadership was the ability to appoint a Lieutenant as their second-in-command,[25][26] as well as promote any Templar serving under them through the Order's ranks, up to and including the position of Master Templar.[2] In the absence of a Grand Master, a Master Templar holds the authority to oversee a Rite as its de facto leader on behalf of another Rite's Grand Master.[1]
Despite holding the highest attainable rank within their Rite, a Grand Master is not all-powerful and is dependent on the support of their fellow Templars and other Rites around the world. Nevertheless, their duties are essential to the proper functioning of the Templar Order as a whole, so Grand Masters may elect to have bodyguards to protect them at all times, as were the cases with Frederick Weatherall for the de la Serre family,[24] and El Tiburón for Laureano de Torres y Ayala.[27] With the Grand Master themselves being the ruling authority for their own Rite's plans, all members required their superior's approval to enact any changes.[28][29][13]
Rite Council
During the end of the Golden Age of the Templar Order,[1][30][31] the Parisian Rite maintained a ruling Council, which was overseen by Grand Master Jacques de Molay and included his closest advisor among its members. Any decision made by the Council was deemed absolute, such as Esquieu de Floyrac's banishment from the Order's headquarters at the Temple in Paris in 1307.[9]
Local
During the Renaissance, in the city of Rome, the Roman Rite established Borgia towers that were fortified and overseen by a Borgia captain, who effectively ruled over the surrounding district. During the liberation of Rome by the Italian Assassins in the early 1500s, Ezio Auditore destroyed all twelve Borgia towers scattered around Rome and assassinated its captains, severely weakening the Templars' control over the city.[32]
In the Ottoman Empire, the Byzantine Templars that returned to Constantinople fought the Ottoman Assassins for control of the latter's dens and, by the 1510s, managed to capture most of them, allowing them to rule over the districts each den was situated in.[33] However, in 1511, Ezio Auditore traveled to Constantinople and helped the Ottoman Assassins reclaim all of their lost dens, effectively forcing the Byzantine Templars out of the city once more.[7]
Known Rites
- Algerian Rite[34]
- American Rite (formerly known as the Colonial Rite)[22]
- Austrian Rite[35]
- British Rite[22]
- Canadian Rite[36]
- Chinese Rite (also known as the Shanghai Rite)[37][2]
- Egyptian Rite[38]
- German Rite[39]
- Greek Rite[34]
- Japanese Rite[12]
- Levantine Rite (also known as the Knights Templar)[5]
- Libyian Rite[34]
- Mexican Rite[40]
- Mongolian Rite[8]
- Parisian Rite[41]
- Portuguese Rite[34]
- Roman Rite[10]
- Russian Rite[42]
- Spanish Rite[43]
- Swedish Rite[44]
- Tunisian Rite[34]
- West Indies Rite (also known as the Caribbean Rite)[14]
Former Rites
Trivia
- Although the Templars' predecessors, the Order of the Ancients, also maintained multiple regional branches, it is unknown if these branches were called Rites or if another term was used.
References
