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, were 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, who formed as much as 90% of the order's members,[2][3] managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom,[7] developing innovative financial techniques that were an early form of banking, building its own network of nearly 1,000 commanderies and fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land, and arguably forming the world's first multinational corporation.
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