Knights Templar
The Levantine Rite of the Templar Order[1], or simply the Knights Templar, were a group of like-minded individuals who swore fealty to the Templar ideals, and operated throughout Levant during the Crusades period of the 11th century to the 14th century. During the period of the Third Crusade, they fought alongside the Christian Army, consisting by Crusaders, Hospitaliers and Teutonics against the Saracen Army and Levantine Assassins.
History
- "Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed Nomini Tuo da Gloriam"
"(Not to us God, not to us, but to Your Name Give Glory)" - ―The motto of the monastic Templar Order[src]
Formation as a Knightly Order
As Christian European lords tried to retake the Holy Land from its Muslim rulers during the Crusades, Bernard de Clairvaux decided the Templars needed the Church as an ally. In 1119, He sent nine of his trusted men, including Grand Master Hugues de Payens, to the Holy Land, searching for Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. After arriving in Jerusalem, de Payens proposed to Baldwin II of Jerusalem that the Order be founded to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. Baldwin approved this, and ceded the Al-Aqsa Mosque to the Templars as a headquarters.[2]
Upon returning nine years later, de Payens, together with Bernard, created the Latin Rule, and reorganized the Templars into a public Order of knights, whose apparent sole purpose was to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land. In the 1129 Council of Troyes, the Order was officially recognized by the church.[2]
As the Assassins had also been made a public organization and as they were primarily based in the Levant at the time, the two factions often clashed.
Quest for the Chalice
In 1190, the Templars had come into possession of a powerful artifact simply known as the Chalice. Hiding it away in the Temple of the Sand, and needing three keys to unlock it. The Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad managed to obtain the keys and break into the Temple in search of the Chalice. Taking the Chalice back to Tyre, the Templars prepared to set sail with it, however they were again confronted by the Assassin, who managed to kill Lord Basilisk. The Templars, however, succeeded in taking the Chalice.[3]
Third Crusade
By 1191, the Templars had come under the leadership of Robert de Sable. The Templars joined in the Third Crusade that was waging in the Holy Land, and De Sable started secretly recruiting men on both sides of the war. Among these were Garnier de Naplouse, William of Montferrat and Sibrand on the Crusader side, and Tamir, Talal, Abu'l Nuqoud, Majd Addin and Jubair al Hakim on the Saracen side. Unknown to the Assassins however, was that Al Mualim, the Mentor himself had joined with the Templar cause, though only as a means to obtain the Apple for himself. These ten men found an Apple of Eden together in Solomon's Temple, and made a few discoveries with it.[4]
When Robert de Sable and a few of his men went to retrieve it from the temple, though, their progress was delayed by a small group of Assassins consisting of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and the brothers Malik and Kadar Al-Sayf, who were sent by Al Mualim to retrieve the treasure. Despite Altaïr being routed, Kadar's death, and Malik losing his arm, the artifact was brought into Assassin possession. This event prompted Robert to lead his men to an attack on the Assassins' fortress of Masyaf, but as soon as they arrived at the fortress gates, they were routed by a wave of falling tree logs.[4]
Al Mualim sent Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad on a quest to take down nine Templars . One by one, the Templars spread throughout the cities of Damascus, Acre and Jerusalem, fell to Altaïr's blade, until he was assigned to take down Robert de Sable. De Sable had foreseen when his time would come, and assigned Maria Thorpe to impersonate him at Majd Addin's funeral, while Robert himself would ride for Arsuf in an attempt to have the Crusaders and Saracens unite in the face of the “Assassins threat”. The Assassin fell for the trap, but quickly found out about Robert's true location. Robert and Altaïr engaged in a battle at Arsuf before Robert was successful in his plan, and Robert was defeated. Before dying, he revealed to Altaïr that the last Templar was his own master, and the Assassin rode off to his final target. After Altaïr killed Al Mualim, the Apple was ultimately lost to the Assassins.[4]
Relocating to Cyprus
Control of the Order fell to De Sable's successor, Armand Bouchart. Not too soon afterwards, Bouchart bought the island of Cyprus from King Richard I, which was formerly ruled by the secret Templar Isaac Comnenus. Planning to retrieve all the artifacts that were hidden in Templar Archive underneath Limassol, the Templars set sail from Acre to Cyprus in the fall of 1191.[5]
The Templars quickly expanded their reach, starting with building strongholds in Limassol but rapidly taking control of Kyrenia as well. As the Templars used brute force to stay in control, the people formed a Resistance force that aimed to route the Templars from Cyprus. Additionally, the Templars were followed by Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, who had taken Maria Thorpe as a captive. Due to Altaïr's efforts, all of Bouchart's generals in Limassol and Kyrenia were assassinated, and the Templars began to lose grip of Cyprus.[5]
Despite the loss of many men, the Templars were successful in their objective, because while Altaïr was busy with removing Templar control in Kyrenia, the Templars had shipped out all of the artifacts in the Templar Archive underneath Limassol. After all the artifacts were shipped out, Bouchart found himself confronted by Altaïr in the Archive. The two faced off in a duel, but Bouchart too fell to Altaïr's blade.[5]
Members
- Hugues de Payens (Grand Master; 1118 – 1136)
- Bernard de Clairvaux
- Gerard de Ridefort (Grand Master; 1185 – 1189)
- Basilisk
- Basilisk's champion
- Master of the Tower
- Master of the Tower's student
- Roland Napule
- Tamir
- Robert de Sablé (Grand Master; 1190 – 1191)
- Maria Thorpe (until 1191)
- Jubair al Hakim
- Sibrand
- Majd Addin
- William of Montferrat
- Abu'l Nuqoud
- Talal
- Garnier de Naplouse
- Tamir
- Armand Bouchart (Grand Master; 1191 – 1193)
- Armand Bouchart's agent
- Fredrick
- Shahar
- Shalim
- Osman
Allies
References
