The Templars (42 page)

1127
Hugh of Payns, the first Templar Grand Master, meets Bernard of Clairvaux.

1129
Council of Troyes. Establishment of the Latin Rule of the Templars.

c1131
In Praise of the New Knighthood
written by Bernard of Clairvaux.

1130s–1140s
The Templars given grants of land and put in charge of castles by the emerging kingdom of Portugal as part of its struggle to repel the Muslim occupation of the Iberian peninsula.

c1136
The Templars are put in charge of Baghras castle to defend the Amanus Pass north of Antioch.

1139
The papal bull Omne Datum Optimum establishes the Templars as an independent and permanent order within the Catholic Church, answerable only to the Pope.

1140s
Templars build the Paris Temple, which becomes the headquarters of their international financial empire.

1144
The County of Edessa falls to Zengi, marking the start of the Muslim reaction against the Crusaders.

1148–49
The Second Crusade.

1149–50
Gaza is granted to the Templars.

c1152
The Templars are given Chastel Blanc (Safita) and Tartus.

1153
Ascalon falls to the Franks.

1164–1167
King of Jerusalem’s Egyptian campaigns supported by the Templars.