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The Grassroots Knights Templar

Important Background Info On The Defensive Crusades:

Although Mohammed's followers conquered Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, as well as a large part of Spain, enslaving all infidel nations as required by his sharia law, Our Christian people remained blind to what was happening.  The majority remained complacent, although they were being openly and boldy attacked in a war (all except for Charles Martel of France, in 732) who as a wealthy politician. He organized himself independently to hold the Muslims back from overtaking all of Christendom.

However, the rest still remained "passive" until finally the announcement by the Saracens in 1095, that Christians would no longer be allowed to even continue their pilgrimages to the Christian Holy Lands. The declaration that even the pilgrimage roads even inside Europe would be attacked! It was then, and only then that finally every ruler in Christendom realized the severity of the theft, rape and enslavement.

Palestine was a Christian land longer than it has been a jewish land, and of course longer than it has been a Muslim land (Islam being one of the world’s youngest religions). We all know as far back as "St. George" of the 2nd Century, whose family was Governors of Palestine. He was Martyred there as the Syrians and Babylonians made their edicts to kill all Christians and take their lands. "St. George" was then Governor of Palestine, and was cousin of Emperor Constantine the Great, who then avenged his death, and re-took Palestine to remain a Christian land. These are the important facts totally deleted from the common school texts. As it has been a Christian land and Christian Government of Jerusalem has existed 10 times longer the Islamic. However, our most pacifist compassionate instinct has kept our people of Christendom to never count the injuries of our own people, only to feel sorry for our enemies in hopes that they won’t attack us again. The  aggressors continue to be ignored, even when it is still in our face.

The Templar Beginnings

After the First Crusade re-captured Jerusalem in 1099, many Christian pilgrims traveled to visit what they referred to as the Holy Places. However, though the city of Jerusalem was under relatively secure control, the rest of the Outremer was not. Muslim Bandits abounded, and pilgrims were routinely slaughtered, sometimes by the hundreds, as they attempted to make the journey from the coastline at Jaffa into the Holy Land.

Totally independent from Rome, without any support, the most victorious of the Crusader Knights petitioned the Crusader King of Jerusalem to allow them to install their own Monsatic order for protecting these roads and raising funds abroad for the protection of these Pilgrims.

Hugh de Payens, one of the greatest warriors of the first Crusade, had so little support from the powers that be, he had to organize his own family to be the founding Knights of the Templar order. He then by force of arms had to send messengers to the rest of Christendom, and to all the Knightly families that were represented at the first Crusade of their efforts with this order of monks to help fund the Crusades and protect the roads as a sacred cause.

This Monastic order was then something that most Knightly families independently embraced, donated their personal hereditary lands and raised up the Temples and communities to fund these defensive efforts of Christendom.

Definition of Monasticism:

Monasticism (from Greek μοναχός, monachos, derived from Greek monos, alone) is the religious practice in which someone renounces worldly pursuits to fully devote their life to spiritual work. The origin of the word is from Ancient Greek, and the idea originally related to Christian monks.

In the Christian tradition, those pursuing a monastic life are usually called monks or brethren (brothers) if male, and nuns or sisters if female. Both monks and nuns may also be called monastics.

This Grassroots order of the people were opposed by Rome from the very beginning. It took over twenty years before Rome would acknowledge their existence. All Governments had persecuted them from their beginnings until their official end. There was a span of about 200 years where some protection was afforded to the order under a Papal Bull to allow them passage through Christendom without tax or penalty. This independent grass-roots order made the independent people powerful, so much as less Tyranny could be enforced over them, and so for the powers that be, they had to make an abrupt end to it. The sacrifice of the Knights Templar for Christendom, sacrifice against all odds, was often resisted by the governments that be, and was finally rewarded when all leaders were burned at the stake.

The authority of this order never came from Kings, nor even came from the Pope. As the Crusader Knights independently operated the order officially for all the world to see for several decades before any government gave them charter. This fighting order of poor monks, who assisted the members of the Crusades, guarded roads, as well as raised funds through farming and land dealing were from the bottom up, not the top down. Farmers and hereditary land owners such as Sir Henry le Notte, my ancestor, donated lands to the Templars. Many Knights had also been granted additional lands by other Monarchs during the Crusades, such as when the soldiers under their chief’s banner had made a great achievement in battle, such as the Smith-Carringtons. My family’s lands that we donated to the Templars were later stolen and given to the Knights Hospitallers. While my family remained in the seats of power, still possessing the chief estates in the area of Temple Balsall for example.

There was one Monarch who stood against Rome on the papal bull. The newly awakened Robert the Bruce, who in the spirit of William Wallace stood against such a tyranny of destroying this Holy and Knightly order, decreed for all perpetuity, the right of the Knights Templar to exist in Scotland and to serve Scotland.