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106-523: The Knights Templar began building the fortress in 1218 during the Fifth Crusade . One of the major Crusader fortresses, it could support up to 4,000 troops in siege conditions. It became for a short time the headquarters of the Crusaders; according to Claude Reignier Conder its architecture "must have made ‘Athlit perhaps the finest town of the period in the country". It has been described as

212-724: A monastic Catholic religious order for the protection of these pilgrims. King Baldwin and Patriarch Warmund agreed to the request, probably at the Council of Nablus in January 1120, and the king granted the Templars a headquarters in a wing of the royal palace on the Temple Mount in the captured Al-Aqsa Mosque . The order, with about nine knights including Godfrey de Saint-Omer and André de Montbard , had few financial resources and relied on donations to survive. Their emblem

318-627: A daughter of the Ottoman Major Ali Aga of Nusratli. Ibrahim was her first-born son with Muhammad Ali of Egypt (her first born was Princess Tawhida). It is further known that he was born in the village of Nusratli (today Nikiforos ), near the town of Drama , the Ottoman province of Rumelia , in what is now the eastern parts of Macedonian region in Greece. In 1805, during his father's struggle to establish himself as ruler of Egypt ,

424-500: A document indicating the value of their deposit, then showed that document upon arrival in the Holy Land to claim treasure of equal value to their funds. This innovative arrangement was an early form of banking and may have been the first use of bank cheques ; it protected pilgrims from robbery, while augmenting Templar finances. Based on this mix of donations and business dealings, the Templars established financial networks across

530-628: A force of French, Spanish, and English Templars left France to join the Second Crusade , led by King Louis VII . At a meeting held in Paris on 27 April 1147 they were given permission by Pope Eugenius III to wear the red cross on their uniforms. They were led by the Templar provincial master in France, Everard des Barres , who was later one of the ambassadors that King Louis sent to negotiate

636-524: A large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom. They developed innovative financial techniques that were an early form of banking , building a network of nearly 1,000 commanderies and fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land . The Templars were closely tied to the Crusades. As they became unable to secure their holdings in the Holy Land, support for the order faded. Rumours about

742-640: A major Templar presence (France, Poitou , Anjou , Jerusalem, England , Spain , Portugal , Italy , Tripoli , Antioch , Hungary , and Croatia ) had a Master of the Order for the Templars in that region. All of them were subject to the Grand Master, appointed for life, who oversaw both the order's military efforts in the East and their financial holdings in the West. The Grand Master exercised his authority via

848-580: A major medieval European institution gave rise to speculation and legends, which have currently kept the "Templar" name alive. The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon ( Latin : Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici and French : Pauvres Chevaliers du Christ et du Temple de Salomon ) are also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, and mainly the Knights Templar ( French : Les Chevaliers Templiers ), or simply

954-528: A mixed Muslim-Christian heritage who became Christians, or members of the local population in Syria . Sometime in the 13th century, turcopole became a formal rank held by Templar brothers, including Latin Christians. Starting with founder Hugues de Payens, the order's highest office was that of Grand Master, a position which was held for life, though considering the martial nature of the order, this could mean

1060-752: A source of stone for Acre. In 1296, during the beginnings of Mamluk rule in the coastlands of Palestine, 10,000 to 18,000 Oirat Mongols entered the Mamluk realm as part of a defecting Ilkhanid troop, followed by smaller waves of arrivals. Although they originally established themselves in Cairo , most were eventually relocated to Atlit and northwestern Syria by the Mamluks. The iskele (port of call or wharf) of Atlit, along with those of nearby Tantura and Tirat Lawza generated annual revenues of 5,000 akces in 1538, during Ottoman rule (1517–1917). In 1596 Atlit

1166-709: A tenth were actual knights. There was a threefold division of the ranks of the Templars: the noble knights, the non-noble sergeants, and the chaplains. The knights wear white mantles to symbolise their purity and chastity. The sergeants wore black or brown. All three classes of brothers wore the order's red cross. Before they received their monastic rule in 1129 at the Council of Troyes, the Templars were referred to only as knights ( milites in Latin), and after 1129 they were also called brothers of their monastic order. Therefore

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1272-573: A time in the hands of Muhammad Ali. Ibrahim was undoubtedly helped by Colonel Sève and the European officers in his army. After the campaign of 1832 and 1833, Ibrahim remained as governor in Syria. He might perhaps have administered successfully, but the exactions he was compelled to enforce by his father soon caused the popularity of his government to decline and provoked revolts. He was assisted by French officer Beaufort d'Hautpoul from 1834 to 1837, who

1378-600: A tort et a péché. Il va bientôt arriver malheur à ceux qui nous ont condamnés à mort" ("God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death"). Clement died only a month later, and Philip died while hunting within the same year. The remaining Templars around Europe were either arrested and tried under the Papal investigation (with virtually none convicted), absorbed into other Catholic military orders, or pensioned off and allowed to live out their days peacefully. By papal decree,

1484-592: A very short tenure. All but two of the Grand Masters died in office, and several died during military campaigns. For example, during the Siege of Ascalon in 1153, Grand Master Bernard de Tremelay led a group of 40 Templars through a breach in the city walls. When the rest of the Crusader army did not follow, the Templars, including their Grand Master, were surrounded and beheaded. Grand Master Gérard de Ridefort

1590-461: A year earlier), was sent to retake the town after it was captured by Muslims. They were initially successful, but the Muslims regrouped outside the town and were able to take it back from the Templars. The Order's mission also developed from protecting pilgrims to taking part in regular military campaigns early on, and this is shown by the fact that the first castle received by the Knights Templar

1696-553: Is largely the result of efforts by his grandson Fuad I of Egypt to ensure the positive portrayal of his paternal ancestors in the Royal Archives that he created, which were the primary source for Egyptian history from the 1920s until the 1970s. Today, a statue of Ibrahim occupies a prominent position in Egypt's capital, Cairo . His mother was Amina Hanim (1770-1824). She was the widow of Ottoman official Serezli Ali Bey, and

1802-460: Is the headquarters of the Israeli Navy's Shayetet 13 naval commando unit. As a result, the castle is within a closed military zone and training area for naval commandos. 32°42′19″N 34°56′02″E  /  32.70528°N 34.93389°E  / 32.70528; 34.93389 Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , mainly known as

1908-521: The British captured it from the Ottoman Empire . The Templars were forced to relocate their headquarters to other cities in the north, such as the seaport of Acre , which they held for the next century. It was lost in 1291, followed by their last mainland strongholds, Tortosa ( Tartus in present-day Syria ) and Atlit (in present-day Israel ). Their headquarters then moved to Limassol on

2014-413: The Council of Pisa in 1135, Pope Innocent II initiated the first papal monetary donation to the Order. Another major benefit came in 1139, when Innocent II's papal bull Omne Datum Optimum exempted the order from obedience to local laws. This ruling meant that the Templars could pass freely through all borders, were not required to pay any taxes and were exempt from all authority except that of

2120-662: The Grand Vizier Reşid Mehmed Pasha at Konya on 21 December. It was there in Syria where he met Umar Tal the mystic, according to accounts Umar Tal healed the son of Ibrahim Pasha from a deadly fever. Umar Tal was inspired by Ibrahim Pasha, when Umar returned to Sokoto he followed the trends set by the Pasha. Umar Tal later became the commander of the Toucouleur in what is now Guinea , Senegal , and Mali . The Convention of Kütahya on 6 May left Syria for

2226-765: The Knights Templar , was a French military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the wealthiest and most popular military orders in Western Christianity . They were founded c.  1119 to defend pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem , with their headquarters located there on the Temple Mount , and existed for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages . Officially endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church by such decrees as

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2332-502: The Vatican Archives by Barbara Frale , apparently after having been filed in the wrong place in 1628. It is a record of the trial of the Templars and shows that Clement absolved the Templars of all heresies in 1308 before formally disbanding the order in 1312, as did another Chinon Parchment dated 20 August 1308 addressed to Philip IV of France , also mentioning that all Templars that had confessed to heresy were "restored to

2438-554: The papal bull Omne datum optimum of Pope Innocent II , the Templars became a favoured charity throughout Christendom and grew rapidly in membership and power. The Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross , were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades . They were prominent in Christian finance ; non-combatant members of the order, who made up as much as 90% of their members, managed

2544-568: The reborn Sunni regime in Egypt . Dissension arose among Christian factions in and concerning the Holy Land. The Knights Templar were occasionally at odds with the two other Christian military orders , the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights , and decades of internecine feuds weakened Christian positions, both politically and militarily. After the Templars were involved in several unsuccessful campaigns, including

2650-424: The turcopolier commanded auxiliary forces, and the prior was the head of the church at the headquarters. The headquarters and its most senior officials were known as the convent and its role was to assist and advise the Grand Master with running the administration of the Order. No precise numbers exist, but it is estimated that at the order's peak, there were between 15,000 and 20,000 Templars, of whom about

2756-424: The "crowning example of Crusader military architecture", although T. E. Lawrence found it lacking in elegance and imagination in terms of military architecture, settling on massiveness instead. In early August 1291, three months after the Siege of Acre , the forces of Al-Ashraf Khalil conquered Atlit, which was at that point the last remaining Crusader outpost in Syria, thus permanently ending Crusader presence in

2862-636: The Cross, but only from my mouth and not from my heart"). The Templars were accused of idolatry and were charged with worshipping either a figure known as Baphomet or a mummified severed head they recovered, amongst other artefacts, at their original headquarters on the Temple Mount. Some have theorised that this head might have been believed to be that of John the Baptist , among other things. Relenting to King Phillip's demands, Pope Clement then issued

2968-534: The Crusaders states of Antioch, Tripoli , and Edessa his vassals between 1137 and 1142. Templar knights accompanied Emperor John II with troops from those states during his campaign against Muslim powers in Syria from 1137 to 1138, including at the sieges of Aleppo and Shaizar . In 1143, the Templars also began taking part in the Reconquista in Iberia at the request of the count of Barcelona . In 1147

3074-408: The Grand Master. These were held as temporary appointments rather than for life. The second-in-command of the Order was the seneschal . The highest ranking military official was the marshal , while the preceptor (who was also sometimes called the commander) was responsible for the administration and provisions. The draper was responsible for their uniforms, the treasurer was in charge of finance,

3180-474: The Holy Land. With the order's military mission now less important, support for the organization began to dwindle. The situation was complex, however, since during the two hundred years of their existence, the Templars had become a part of daily life throughout Christendom. The organization's Templar Houses, hundreds of which were dotted throughout Europe and the Near East , gave them a widespread presence at

3286-528: The Holy Sites. The castle could now only be resupplied by sea, so the castle was evacuated between 3 and 14 August 1291. The castle was not demolished by the Mamluks as was their normal practice after capturing a crusader fortification and remained in good condition until it suffered severe damage during the Galilee earthquake of 1837 , and was also further damaged by Ibrahim Pasha in 1840, who used it as

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3392-627: The Latin East. In the kingdoms of Castile and León, they obtained some major strongholds (such as Calatrava la Vieja or Coria ), but their vulnerablility along the border was exposed during the Almohad offensive. In Aragon, the Templars subsumed the Order of Mountjoy in the late 12th century, becoming an important vanguard force on the border, while in Portugal they commanded some castles along

3498-516: The Levant still under Muslim control. Gaza was given to the Knights Templar, becoming the first major Templar castle. In 1152 Everard stepped down as the Grand Master of the Order for unknown reasons, and his successor was Bernard de Tremelay . In January of the following year, Bernard led the Templars when King Baldwin III led a Crusader army to besiege Ascalon . Several months of fighting went by until

3604-695: The Middle East are vague, though it appears their first battles were defeats, because the Seljuk Turks and other Muslim powers used different tactics than those in Europe at that time. In later years, the Templars adapted to this and also became strategic advisors to the leaders of the Crusader states. The first recorded battle involving the Knights Templar was in the town of Teqoa , south of Jerusalem, in 1138. A force of Templars led by their Grand Master, Robert de Craon (who succeeded Hugues de Payens about

3710-436: The Order on 26 February 1310: Henri Zappellans or Chapelain, Anceau de Rocheria, Enard de Valdencia, Guillaume de Roy, Geoffroy de Cera or de La Fere-en-Champagne, Robert Harle or de Hermenonville, and Dreux de Chevru. Some had sufficient legal experience to defend themselves in the trials , but in 1310, having appointed the archbishop of Sens , Philippe de Marigny, to lead the investigation, Philip blocked this attempt, using

3816-463: The Order was assigned "4 horses, and one chaplain-brother and one clerk with three horses, and one sergeant brother with two horses, and one gentleman valet to carry his shield and lance, with one horse". As the order grew, more guidelines were added, and the original list of 72 clauses was expanded to several hundred in its final form. Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt Ibrahim Pasha ( Arabic : إبراهيم باشا Ibrāhīm Bāshā ; 1789 – 10 November 1848)

3922-587: The Sacraments and to the unity of the Church". This other Chinon Parchment has been well known to historians, having been published by Étienne Baluze in 1693 and by Pierre Dupuy in 1751. The current position of the Roman Catholic Church is that the medieval persecution of the Knights Templar was unjust, that nothing was inherently wrong with the order or its rule, and that Pope Clement

4028-643: The Tagus line. One of these was Tomar, which was unsuccessfully besieged by the Almohad Caliphate in 1190. Due to the expense of sending a third of their revenues to the East, Templar and Hospitaller activities in the Iberian Peninsula were at a disadvantage to the Hispanic military orders expended all their resources in the region. The details of the Order's early military activities in

4134-624: The Templar Order controlled vast wealth even beyond direct donations. A nobleman participating in the Crusades might place all his assets under Templar management during his absence. Accumulating wealth in this manner throughout Christendom and the Outremer, in 1150 the order began to issue letters of credit for pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land: pilgrims deposited their valuables with a local Templar preceptory before embarking, received

4240-645: The Templars ( French : Les Templiers ). The Temple Mount where they had their headquarters had a mystique because it was above what was believed to be the ruins of the Temple of Solomon . After the Franks in the First Crusade captured Jerusalem from the Fatimid Caliphate in 1099, many Christians made pilgrimages to various sacred sites in the Holy Land . Although the city of Jerusalem

4346-593: The Templars considered their ships to be mainly for commerce rather than military purposes. From 1139, chaplains constituted a third Templar rank. They were ordained priests who cared for the Templars' spiritual needs. These Templar clerics were also referred to as priest brothers or chaplain brothers. The Templars also employed lightly armed mercenaries as cavalry in the 12th century that were known as turcopoles (the Greek term for descendants of Turks). Its meaning has been interpreted as either referring to people of

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4452-613: The Templars were charged with numerous other offences such as financial corruption, fraud, and secrecy. Many of the accused confessed to these charges under torture (even though the Templars denied being tortured in their written confessions), and their confessions, even though obtained under duress , caused a scandal in Paris. The prisoners were coerced to confess that they had spat on the Cross. One said: "Moi, Raymond de La Fère, 21 ans, reconnais que [j'ai] craché trois fois sur la Croix, mais de bouche et pas de cœur" ("I, Raymond de La Fère, 21 years old, admit that I have spat three times on

4558-563: The Templars were indicating an interest in founding their own monastic state, just as the Teutonic Knights had done in Prussia and the Baltic and the Knights Hospitaller were doing in Rhodes . The Templars were accused of enabling corruption in their ranks which often allowed them to influence the legal systems of Europe to act in their favor and gain influence over local rulers' lands at

4664-427: The Templars' secret initiation ceremony created distrust, and King Philip IV of France , deeply in debt to the order, turned this distrust to his own advantage. In 1307, he pressured Pope Clement V to have many of the order's members in France arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at the stake. Under further pressure, Pope Clement V disbanded the order in 1312. The abrupt disappearance of

4770-652: The adolescent Ibrahim, at 16, was sent as a hostage to the Ottoman Kapudan Pasha . However, Ibrahim was allowed to return to Egypt once his father was recognised as Wāli of Egypt by the Ottoman Sultan , and had defeated the British military expedition of Major General Alexander Mackenzie Fraser . When Muhammad Ali went to Arabia to prosecute the war against the Al Saud in 1813, Ibrahim

4876-525: The armour of steel. He is thus doubly armed, and need fear neither demons nor men. ― Bernard of Clairvaux , c.  1135 De Laude Novae Militae – In Praise of the New Knighthood Although the primary mission of the order was military, relatively few members were combatants. The majority acted in support positions to assist the knights and manage their financial infrastructure. Although individual members were sworn to poverty,

4982-409: The bedrock. The inner wall was approximately 30 metres high by 12 metres, with two square towers, the north and south each approximately 34 metres tall. As the inner wall was taller than the outer wall, defenders were able to shoot at targets over the first wall allowing greater protection from return fire by the besiegers. Part of the design of the castle included a protected harbour on the south side of

5088-605: The capitulation of 1 October 1828 was forced on him by the intervention of the Western powers . He defeated the Greeks in the open field, and though the siege of Missolonghi proved costly to his own troops and to the Ottoman forces who operated with him, he brought it to a successful termination on 24 April 1826. But he was defeated in Mani three times in a row. The Greek guerrilla bands harassed his army, and in revenge he desolated

5194-603: The country and sent thousands of the inhabitants into slavery in Egypt. These measures of repression aroused great indignation in Europe and led to the intervention of the naval squadrons of the United Kingdom , the Restored Kingdom of France and Russia in the Battle of Navarino (20 October 1827). Their victory was followed by the landing of a French expeditionary force in the so-called Morea expedition . By

5300-408: The desert to the Saudis stronghold of Diriyah , some 400 miles east of Medina, made the conquest a very arduous one. Ibrahim displayed great energy and tenacity, sharing all the hardships of his army, and never allowing himself to be discouraged by failure. By the end of September 1818 he had forced the Saudi leader Abdullah bin Saud to surrender, and had taken Diriyah, which he sacked. Ibrahim pasha

5406-422: The destruction of the House of Saud as a political power. Muhammad Ali landed at Yanbu , the port of Medina , in 1813. The holy cities had been recovered from the Saudis, and Ibrahim's task was to follow them into the desert of Nejd and destroy their fortresses. Such training as the Egyptian troops had received, and their artillery, gave them a marked superiority in the open field. But the difficulty of crossing

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5512-659: The devastating defeat at the Battle of Hattin. The last Grand Master was Jacques de Molay , burned at the stake in Paris in 1314 by order of King Philip IV. Bernard de Clairvaux and founder Hugues de Payens devised a specific code of conduct for the Templar Order, known to modern historians as the Latin Rule . Its 72 clauses laid down the details of the knights' way of life, including the types of garments they were to wear and how many horses they could have. Knights were to take their meals in silence, eat meat no more than three times per week, and not have physical contact of any kind with women, even members of their own family. A Master of

5618-403: The early 20th century; the 1922 census of Palestine recorded a population of 86 people. A major excavation sponsored by Mandate Authorities was undertaken by C. N. Johns between 1930 and 1934. The castle was part of the area used by the Mandate Authorities to house illegal refugees during the later Mandate period. The castle is now part of Atlit naval base , an Israeli Navy base which

5724-399: The enemy lines ahead of the main army. One of their most famous victories was in 1177 during the Battle of Montgisard , where some 500 Templar knights helped several thousand infantry to defeat Saladin 's army of more than 26,000 soldiers. A Templar Knight is truly a fearless knight, and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armour of faith, just as his body is protected by

5830-454: The expense of the rulers. In 1305, the new Pope Clement V , based in Avignon , France, sent letters to both the Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay and the Hospitaller Grand Master Fulk de Villaret to discuss the possibility of merging the two orders. Neither was amenable to the idea, but Pope Clement persisted, and in 1306 he invited both Grand Masters to France to discuss the matter. De Molay arrived first in early 1307, but de Villaret

5936-464: The following year inherited the Egyptian throne. Ibrahim remains one of the most celebrated members of the Muhammad Ali dynasty , particularly for his impressive military victories, including several crushing defeats of the Ottoman Empire . Among Egyptian historians, Ibrahim, his father Muhammad Ali, and his son Isma'il the Magnificent are held in far higher esteem than other rulers from the dynasty, who were largely viewed as indolent and corrupt; this

6042-402: The influence of Philip & the crown. Under his protection, Templar organizations simply changed their name, from "Knights Templar" to the reconstituted Order of Christ and also a parallel Supreme Order of Christ of the Holy See ; both are considered successors to the Knights Templar. In September 2001, a document known as the Chinon Parchment dated 17–20 August 1308 was discovered in

6148-436: The island of Cyprus, and they also attempted to maintain a garrison on tiny Arwad Island , just off the coast from Tortosa. In 1300, there was some attempt to engage in coordinated military efforts with the Mongols via a new invasion force at Arwad . In 1302 or 1303, however, the Templars lost the island to the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate in the siege of Arwad . With the island gone, the Crusaders lost their last foothold in

6254-477: The late 12th century the Templars were also politically powerful in the Holy Land. Secular nobles in the Kingdom of Jerusalem began granting them castles and surrounding lands as a defense against the growing threat of the Zengids in Syria . The Templars were even allowed to negotiate with Muslim rulers independently of the feudal lords. The Templar castles became de facto independent lordships with their own markets, further growing their political authority. During

6360-417: The letter In Praise of the New Knighthood , and in 1129, at the Council of Troyes , he led a group of leading churchmen to officially approve and endorse the order on behalf of the church. With this formal blessing, the Templars became a favoured charity throughout Christendom , receiving money, land, businesses, and noble-born sons from families who were eager to help with the fight in the Holy Land . At

6466-423: The local al-Madi family. It was depopulated of its Palestinian inhabitants in 1948. In modern times, the castle is part of the Atlit naval base , a training zone for Israeli Naval commandos. In the Bordeaux Itinerary , the town is known in Latin as Certa. Construction began in early spring 1218 during the period of the Fifth Crusade by the Knights Templar, replacing the earlier castle of Le Destroit which

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6572-532: The local level. The Templars still managed many businesses, and many Europeans had daily contact with the Templar network, such as by working at a Templar farm or vineyard , or using the order as a bank in which to store personal valuables. The order was still not subject to local government, making it everywhere a "state within a state" – its standing army , although it no longer had a well-defined mission, could pass freely through all borders. This situation heightened tensions with some European nobility, especially as

6678-405: The order but were instead outsiders who were hired for a set period of time. The Templars did not perform knighting ceremonies, so anyone wishing to become a knight in the Templar had to be a knight already. Beneath the knights in the order and drawn from non-noble families were the sergeants. They brought vital skills and trades from blacksmiths and builders, including administration of many of

6784-408: The order's European properties. In the Crusader States , they fought alongside the knights as light cavalry with a single horse. Several of the order's most senior positions were reserved for sergeants, including the post of Commander of the Vault of Acre, who was also the de facto admiral of the Templar fleet. But he was subordinated to the Order's preceptor instead of the marshal, indicating that

6890-461: The order, and Ad providam , which turned over most Templar assets to the Hospitallers. As for the leaders of the order, the elderly Grand Master Jacques de Molay, who had confessed under torture, retracted his confession. Geoffroi de Charney , Preceptor of Normandy , also retracted his confession and insisted on his innocence. Both men, under pressure from the king, were declared guilty of being relapsed heretics and sentenced to burn alive at

6996-406: The papal bull Pastoralis praeeminentiae on 22 November 1307, which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Templars and seize their assets. Clement called for papal hearings to determine the Templars' guilt or innocence, and once freed of the Inquisitors ' torture, many Templars recanted their confessions. Several Templars are listed as having come from Gisors to defend

7102-413: The passage of the Crusader army through the Byzantine Empire on its way to the Holy Land. During the dangerous journey of the Second Crusade through Anatolia , the Templars provided security to the rest of the army from Turkish raids. After the Crusaders arrived in 1148, the kings Louis VII, Conrad III of Germany , and Baldwin III of Jerusalem made the decision to capture Damascus , but their siege in

7208-450: The pivotal Battle of Hattin , Jerusalem was recaptured by Muslim forces under Saladin in 1187. The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II reclaimed the city for Christians in the Sixth Crusade of 1229, without Templar aid, but only held it for a little more than a decade. In 1244, the Ayyubid dynasty together with Khwarezmi mercenaries recaptured Jerusalem, and the city did not return to Western control until 1917 when, during World War I ,

7314-427: The pope. However, in practice, they often had to respect the wishes of the European rulers in whose kingdoms they resided, especially in their handling of funds for the local noblility in their banks . With its clear mission and ample resources, the order grew rapidly. Templars were often the advance shock troops in key battles of the Crusades, as the heavily armoured knights on their warhorses would charge into

7420-511: The population was stated to be "200 souls", and their tillage 20 feddans , according to the English consul Rogers. An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Atlit had 9 houses and a population of 33, though the population count included men only. In 1881, the PEF 's Survey of Western Palestine noted the existence of an hamlet covering a good portion of the ancient site. A population list from about 1887 showed that Atlit had about 180 inhabitants; all Muslims. The population declined in

7526-423: The previously forced confessions to have dozens of Templars burned at the stake in Paris. With Philip threatening military action unless the pope complied with his wishes, Clement finally agreed to disband the order, citing the public scandal that had been generated by the confessions. At the Council of Vienne in 1312, he issued a series of papal bulls, including Vox in excelso , which officially dissolved

7632-423: The promontory. It also had three fresh water wells within its enclosure. The castle was capable of supporting up to 4000 troops during a siege, as it did in 1220. The settlement of Atlit developed outside the castle's outer wall and was later fortified. The castle's position dominated the north–south coastal route, and surrounding countryside allowing it to draw revenue from tolls and rents, going some way to pay for

7738-640: The property of the Templars was transferred to the Knights Hospitaller except in the Kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, and Portugal. Portugal was the first country in Europe where they had settled, occurring only two or three years after the order's foundation in Jerusalem and even having a presence during Portugal's conception. The Portuguese king, Denis I , refused to pursue and persecute the former knights, as had occurred in some other states under

7844-729: The rebel leaders were handed to the Egyptians. In 1838, the Porte felt strong enough to renew the struggle, and war broke out once more. Ibrahim won his last victory for his father at Nezib on 24 June 1839. But the United Kingdom and the Austrian Empire intervened to preserve the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. Their squadrons cut his communications by sea with Egypt, a general revolt isolated him in Syria, and he

7950-650: The regency after the death of King Baldwin IV in 1185, the royal castles were placed in the custody of the Templars and Hospitallers : the Grand Masters of the two orders, along with the Patriarch of Jerusalem , each had a key to the crown jewels. From the mid-12th century, the Templars were recruited (jointly with the Hospitallers ) to fight the Muslim kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula, in addition to their campaigns in

8056-405: The region. The fortress remained intact for several hundred years, until suffering damage in the Galilee earthquake of 1837 . In the 14th century, it became home to a large concentration of Oirat Mongols . During early Ottoman rule, in the 16th century, it was recorded in tax registers as a port of call and a farm. Later, in the 19th century, it was a small fishing village under the influence of

8162-505: The running costs of the castle; as well as providing protection for pilgrims. The castle probably got its name from pilgrims who volunteered their labour during its construction. There is a large Crusader cemetery (80 x 100 metres) north of the castle, on the beach, containing hundreds of graves, some with carved grave markers. The castle was under the control of the Knights Templar and was never taken in siege due to its excellent location and design and its ability to be resupplied by sea. It

8268-476: The stake in Paris on 18 March 1314. De Molay reportedly remained defiant to the end, asking to be tied in such a way that he could face the Notre Dame Cathedral and hold his hands together in prayer. According to legend, he called out from the flames that both Pope Clement and King Philip would soon meet him before God . His actual words were recorded on the parchment as follows: "Dieu sait qui

8374-513: The summer of that year failed and ended with the defeat of the Christian army. In the fall of 1148 some returning Templars took part in the successful siege of Tortosa in Spain , after which one-fifth of that city was given to the Order. Robert de Craon died in January 1149 and was succeeded as Grand Master by Everard des Barres, one of the few leaders at the siege of Damascus whose reputation

8480-463: The terms of the capitulation of 1 October 1828, Ibrahim evacuated the country. In 1831, his father's quarrel with the Porte having become flagrant, Ibrahim was sent to conquer Ottoman Syria . He took Acre after a severe siege on 27 May 1832, occupied Damascus , defeated an Ottoman army at Homs on 8 July, defeated another Ottoman army at Beilan on 29 July, invaded Asia Minor , and finally routed

8586-453: The three main ranks were eventually known as knight brothers, sergeant brothers, and chaplain brothers. Knights and chaplains were referred to as brothers by 1140, but sergeants were not full members of the Order at first, and this did not change until the 1160s. The knights were the most visible division of the order. They were equipped as heavy cavalry , with three or four horses and one or two squires . Squires were generally not members of

8692-484: The visitors-general of the order, who were knights specially appointed by the Grand Master and convent of Jerusalem to visit the different provinces, correct malpractices, introduce new regulations, and resolve important disputes. The visitors-general had the power to remove knights from office and to suspend the Master of the province concerned. The central headquarters of the Templars had several offices that answered to

8798-508: The vizier of Egypt, when he tried to flee from Cairo to Damascus after losing a power struggle. Abbas was killed and the Templars captured his son, who they later sent back to the Fatimids. In the late 1150s the Egyptians launched raids against the Crusaders in the areas of Gaza and Ascalon. In the mid-12th century, the tide began to turn in the Crusades. The Islamic world had become more united under effective leaders such as Saladin , and

8904-547: The wall of the city was breached in August 1153, at which point Bernard led forty knights into Ascalon. But the rest of the army did not join them and all of the Templars were killed by the Muslim defenders. Ascalon was captured by the rest of the army several days later, and Bernard was eventually succeeded by André de Montbard . After the fall of Ascalon, the Templars continued operating in that region from their castle at Gaza. In June 1154 they attacked Abbas ibn Abi al-Futuh ,

9010-424: The whole of Christendom. They acquired large tracts of land, both in Europe and the Middle East; they bought and managed farms and vineyards; they built massive stone cathedrals and castles; they were involved in manufacturing, import, and export; they owned fleets of ships; and at one point they even owned the entire island of Cyprus . The order arguably qualifies as the world's first multinational corporation . By

9116-607: The winter of 1149 and 1150, King Baldwin III oversaw the reconstruction of the fortress at Gaza City , which had been left in ruins. It was part of the ring of castles that were built along the southern border of the Kingdom of Jerusalem to protect it from raids by the Egyptian Fatimid Caliphate , and specifically from the Fatimid troops at the fortress of Ascalon , which by then was the last coastal city in

9222-675: The words: "Dieu n'est pas content, nous avons des ennemis de la foi dans le Royaume" ("God is not pleased. We have enemies of the faith in the kingdom"). Claims were made that during Templar admissions ceremonies, recruits were forced to spit on the Cross, deny Christ, and engage in indecent kissing; brethren were also accused of worshipping idols , and the order was said to have encouraged homosexual practices. Many of these allegations contain tropes that bear similarities to accusations made against other persecuted groups such as Jews, heretics, and accused witches. These allegations, though, were highly politicised without any real evidence. Still,

9328-541: Was already deeply in debt to the Templars from his war against England , decided to seize upon the rumours for his own purposes. He began pressuring the church to take action against the order, as a way of freeing himself from his debts. At dawn on Friday, 13 October 1307 – a date that helped influence the superstition, but not necessarily the origin, of the popular stories about Friday the 13th – King Philip IV ordered de Molay and scores of other French Templars to be simultaneously arrested. The arrest warrant started with

9434-585: Was an Egyptian general and politician; he was the commander of both the Egyptian and Ottoman armies and the eldest son of Muhammad Ali , the Ottoman Wāli and unrecognized Khedive of Egypt and Sudan . Ibrahim served as a general in the Egyptian army that his father established during his reign, taking his first command of Egyptian forces when he was merely a teenager. In the final year of his life, he

9540-507: Was appointed Regent for his still-living father and became the effective ruler of Egypt and Sudan, owing to the latter's ill health. His rule also extended over the other dominions that his father had brought under Egyptian rule, namely Syria , Hejaz , Morea , Thasos , and Crete . Ibrahim pre-deceased his father, dying 10 November 1848, only four months after rising to power. He was succeeded as Regent by his nephew (son of Muhammad Ali's second oldest son), Abbas , who upon Muhammad Ali's death

9646-515: Was appointed governor of the Morea (the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece) by Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II . Mahmud actually required the assistance of the well-trained Egyptian Army against the contemporary Greek Revolution , which his forces had been unable to quell: in 1822 the Greeks had decisively defeated an army of some 30,000 men under Sultanzade Mahmud Dramali Pasha . Ibrahim

9752-487: Was beheaded by Saladin in 1189 at the Siege of Acre . The Grand Master oversaw all of the operations of the order, including both the military operations in the Holy Land and Eastern Europe and the Templars' financial and business dealings in Western Europe . Some Grand Masters also served as battlefield commanders, though this was not always wise: several blunders in de Ridefort's combat leadership contributed to

9858-634: Was besieged in 1220 by the Ayyubids , under the command of al-Malik al-Mu'azzam . It came under siege by the Mamluks under Sultan Baybars in 1265, during which the settlement of 'Atlit was destroyed. With the fall of Acre and collapse of the Kingdom of Jerusalem by the Mamluks under Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil , the Knights Templar lost their main roles of defence of the Holy land and security of pilgrims to

9964-477: Was called in Egyptian “Qahir Al Wahhabiyyin” (annihilator of the wahhabis) for his brutality against Wahhabis . On 11 December 1819 he made a triumphal entry into Cairo . After his return Ibrahim gave effective support to the Frenchman, Colonel Sève ( Suleiman Pasha ), who was employed to drill the army on the European model. Ibrahim set an example by submitting to be drilled as a recruit. In 1824, Muhammad Ali

10070-406: Was delayed for several months. While waiting, De Molay and Clement discussed criminal charges that had been made two years earlier by an ousted Templar and were being discussed by King Philip IV of France and his ministers. It was generally agreed that the charges were false, but Clement sent King Philip a written request for assistance in the investigation. According to some historians, Philip, who

10176-537: Was finally compelled to evacuate the country in February 1841. The Karakis were to take their revenge from Ibrahim Pasha, 6 years later when the Pasha and his Egyptian army were driven out of Damascus. In 1841, as the Pasha and his troops took the Hajj road from Damascus, they were persistently attacked all the way from Qatraneh to Gaza . The weary army were killed and robbed, and by the time Ibrahim Pasha reached Gaza,

10282-569: Was his Chief-of-Staff. During the 1834 peasants' revolt in Palestine , Ibrahim Pasha besieged the Transjordanian city of Al-Karak for 17 days, in pursuit of the revolt's leader Qasim al-Ahmad . After a hole was blasted into the town's walls in late August, Al-Karak was destroyed and the orchards outside the town were uprooted as punitive measures against the residents for hosting Qasim. Fearing further retaliation from Ibrahim Pasha,

10388-591: Was left in command of Upper Egypt . He continued the war against the broken power of the Mameluks , whom he suppressed. In 1816 he succeeded his brother Tusun Pasha in command of the Egyptian forces in Arabia. Muhammad Ali had already begun to introduce European discipline into his army, and Ibrahim had probably received some training, but his first campaign was conducted more in the old Asiatic style than his later operations. The campaign lasted two years, and ended in

10494-643: Was located four hundred miles north of the pilgrim road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, on the northern frontier of the Principality of Antioch : the castle of Bagras in the Amanus Mountains . It may have been as early as 1131, and by 1137 at the latest, that the Templars were given the mountainous region that formed the border of Antioch and Cilician Armenia , and included the castles of Bagras, Darbsak , and Roche de Roissel . The Templars were there when Byzantine emperor John II Komnenos tried to make

10600-606: Was not damaged by the event. After the Second Crusade, Zengid forces under Nur ad-Din of Aleppo attacked the Principality of Antioch , and in June 1149 his army defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Inab , where Prince Raymond of Antioch was killed. King Baldwin III led reinforcements to the principality, which led Nur to accept a truce with Antioch and not advance any further. The force with King Baldwin included 120 Templar knights and 1,000 sergeants and squires. In

10706-644: Was of two knights riding on a single horse, emphasizing the order's poverty. The impoverished status of the Templars did not last long. They had a powerful advocate in Saint Bernard of Clairvaux , a leading Church figure, the French abbot primarily responsible for the founding of the Cistercian Order of monks and a nephew of André de Montbard , one of the founding knights. Bernard put his weight behind them and wrote persuasively on their behalf in

10812-402: Was pressed into his actions by the magnitude of the public scandal and by the dominating influence of King Philip IV, who was Clement's relative. The Templars were organised as a monastic order similar to Bernard's Cistercian Order, which was considered the first effective international organization in Europe. The organizational structure had a strong chain of authority. Each country with

10918-516: Was recorded as a farm that paid taxes to the government. In 1799 , it appeared as the village Atlit on the map that Pierre Jacotin compiled that year. During the rule of Acre governor Sulayman Pasha al-Adil (1805–1819), Atlit was the headquarters of local strongman Mas'ud al-Madi , who was appointed the mutasallim (tax collector/enforcer) of the Atlit coast, which consisted of the territory that stretched from Umm Khalid to Haifa . In 1859,

11024-524: Was relatively secure under Christian control, the rest of Outremer was not. Bandits and marauding highwaymen preyed upon these Christian pilgrims, who were routinely slaughtered, sometimes by the hundreds, as they attempted to make the journey from the coastline at Jaffa through to the interior of the Holy Land. In 1119, the French knight Hugues de Payens approached King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Warmund, Patriarch of Jerusalem , and proposed creating

11130-512: Was sent to the Peloponnese with a squadron and an army of 17,000 men. The expedition sailed on 4 July 1824, but was for some months unable to do more than come and go between Rhodes and Crete . The fear of the Greek fire ships stopped his way to the Morea. When the Greek sailors mutinied from want of pay, Ibrahim was able to land at Modon on 26 February 1825. He remained in the Morea until

11236-405: Was situated slightly back from the coast. The castle was built on a promontory, with two main walls cutting the citadel off from the land. The outer wall was approximately 15 metres high and 6 metres thick, with three square towers situated about 44 metres apart, projecting out by 12 metres with a level platform on the roof probably for artillery. In front ran a shallow ditch dug at sea level cut into

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