The Knights Templar, an order of knights with connections to the Catholic Church, who
fought during the Crusades, changed the course of history by becoming the first
international bankers.
The Knights Templar began in 1118 with “the mandate of protecting Christian pilgrims
who were en route to the Holy Land to visit the shrines sacred to their faith.” (Stephen,
2010). They were first known as the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ, but their name was
changed when King Baldwin II gave them a place to live in the Temple of Solomon. The
first ties to the Church were when representatives of the Knights meet with Pope Honorius
in 1128, who gave his approval to the group. At the council of Troyes, the Knights gained
official recognition and were granted their rule of order. From a small beginning of 9
members, grew a much greater group. Recruits flocked to the new order, which not only
grew in numbers, but also complexity.
To join the Knights Templar, one had to be a legitimate son of noble birth, give his land
and money to the order, and take vows of chastity and poverty. In 1139 Pope Innocent II
gave the Knights Templar a decree that said that they owed no tax, could pass any border
and were subject to no one’s authority except for his. The power they now had led to rising
popularity and so the wealth they received was put to immediate use to buy arms and raise
armies.
While there have been banks and money lenders for centuries, there was no widespread
