Knights Templar

The Order of the Temple called Templars, Knights Templar, Knights of the Temple, etc. was founded in 1118 or 1119 to protect the Temple in Jerusalem and to maintain free passage for the pilgrims visiting the Holy Land. The order was suppressed in 1312 and its property turned over the Knights Hospitaller or the Order of St John which was founded a few decades previously to provide a hospital in Jerusalem to care for the pilgrims. See Knights of St John