03 March 2020

Saladin Massacres the Templars and Hospitallers at Hattin

Real Crusades History #106. And don't forget the Real Crusades History website!

The Battle of Hattin took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Salah ad-Din, known in the West as Saladin. It is also known as the Battle of the Horns of Hattin, from a nearby extinct volcano. The Muslim armies under Saladin captured or killed the vast majority of the Crusader forces, removing their capability to wage war.[9] As a direct result of the battle, Muslims once again became the eminent military power in the Holy Land, re-conquering Jerusalem and several other Crusader-held cities.[9] These Christian defeats prompted the Third Crusade, which began two years after the Battle of Hattin. The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar, or simply as Templars, was a Catholic military order recognised in 1139 by papal bull Omne Datum Optimum of the Holy See.[4] The order was founded in 1119 and active from about 1129 to 1312.[5] The order, which was among the wealthiest and most powerful, became a favoured charity throughout Christendom and grew rapidly in membership and power. They were prominent in Christian finance. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades.[6] Non-combatant members of the order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom,[7] developing innovative financial techniques that were an early form of banking,[8][9] and building fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land. The Templars were closely tied to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the order faded.[10] Rumours about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created distrust, and King Philip IV of France – deeply in debt to the order – took advantage of the situation to gain control over them. In 1307, he had many of the order's members in France arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and burned at the stake.[11] Pope Clement V disbanded the order in 1312 under pressure from King Philip. The abrupt reduction in power of a significant group in European society gave rise to speculation, legend, and legacy through the ages. The appropriation of their name by later organizations has kept the name "Templar" alive to the present day, while helping to obscure its origin.




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