Late in the year 1119 a religious military order by the name the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon or for short, Knights Templar , was founded with an aim to protect pilgrims coming into the Holy Land form Muslim raiders . This organization grew to become the richest and most powerful of its time. Almost two hundred years later on October 13, 1307 the king of France, Philippe IV, had all Templars in France arrested on the grounds of heresy . The Knights Templar were abolished and many members were executed or excommunicated . These accusations were false, and perpetuated by the greed and fear of Philippe IV and the pope at the time, Clement V.
After the First Crusade, the crusaders had established a small foothold in the kingdom of Jerusalem, but pilgrims coming to the Holy Land were accosted by roving bands of Muslim raiders. The Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon were established to defend these pilgrims . They swore loyalty to the king of Jerusalem who was Baldwin II at the time . He provided them with room in the palace which was over the ruins of Herod's Temple, from which they drew their name . St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote their code of laws known as the Rule of the Templars , which helped the order increase its numbers. The order grew rapidly and began to amass wealth . In 1139, the pope placed the Knights Templar under his direct authority which meant they were exempt from control and taxation of the ruling power where their properties were located . This combined with the fact that members of the nobility of Spain, France and England gave land and funds to the order made the Templars the ideal median for banking and transporting bullion and valuable goods . By collecting usury on lent money and charging for their ferrying services they generated a great amount of wealth which created many enemies for the Templars .
As the order grew in power, so did their enemies" resentment towards them.
