The 1169 Norman Invasion of Ireland was a significant event in Irish history with the Knights Templar warrior monks becoming part of Norman society on the island for nearly 150 years.
The Knights Templar had been created around 1118 by a French knight named Hugues de Payens and the secretive Christian Military Order was known as The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon. They were a large organization of devout Christians during the medieval era who carried out two important missions: protecting European travelers visiting sites in the Holy Land and carrying out military operations.
SPYSCAPE has combed the archives to reveal some of their secrets in the far-flung corners of the Emerald Isle.
1. Military activities were curtailed in Ireland
Although the Knights Templar took up arms to protect the captured city of Jerusalem, they seem to have conducted limited military activities in Ireland. The knights were forbidden from killing other Christians except in self-defense. Instead, they busied themselves recruiting knights to go to the Holy Land and they pursued commercial interests, according to The History Podcast. They were responsible for ensuring taxes from Ireland arrived at the royal court safely and maintained profitable farming enterprises. By 1308, the year of their suppression, their lands were worth £400 per year and the knights owned extensive estates.
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The 1169 Norman Invasion of Ireland was a significant event in Irish history with the Knights Templar warrior monks becoming part of Norman society on the island for nearly 150 years.
The Knights Templar had been created around 1118 by a French knight named Hugues de Payens and the secretive Christian Military Order was known as The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon. They were a large organization of devout Christians during the medieval era who carried out two important missions: protecting European travelers visiting sites in the Holy Land and carrying out military operations.
SPYSCAPE has combed the archives to reveal some of their secrets in the far-flung corners of the Emerald Isle.
1. Military activities were curtailed in Ireland
Although the Knights Templar took up arms to protect the captured city of Jerusalem, they seem to have conducted limited military activities in Ireland. The knights were forbidden from killing other Christians except in self-defense. Instead, they busied themselves recruiting knights to go to the Holy Land and they pursued commercial interests, according to The History Podcast. They were responsible for ensuring taxes from Ireland arrived at the royal court safely and maintained profitable farming enterprises. By 1308, the year of their suppression, their lands were worth £400 per year and the knights owned extensive estates.
2. The Knights Templar created banking facilities in Ireland
By 1139, Pope Innocent II had issued a Papal decree that exempted the knights from paying taxes. The knights in Ireland - and across Europe - were very focused on money. They created facilities where it was possible to deposit money in one 'preceptory' and receive a letter of receipt that could be produced in any other preceptory for reimbursement. This early banking system soon grew and they began to loan money to monarchs all across Europe, something that would eventually lead to their downfall.
3. Distinctive vows and dress
The knights in Ireland were ecclesiastics; differing from those of St. John, writes Library Ireland. Their vows were very strict, enjoining celibacy, poverty, and humility.
“Their dress in peace consisted of a long white robe, having the cross of St. George on the left shoulder, and worn after the manner of a cloak or a mantle; a cap, turned up, such as heralds call 'a cap of maintenance', covers the head.”
Their dress in war did not differ materially from the knights of that period, except for the distinctive cross, the badge of the order being emblazoned on the cuirass (armor), and the Agnus Dei was displayed on their banners.
4. The trial of the Irish Knights Templar
In 1307, Knights Templar across France were arrested and their property was seized. Under torture, some admitted to idolatry or homosexuality and the Pope ordered the arrest and suppression of the knights across Europe. By February 1308, the Knights Templar in Ireland were arrested and imprisoned in Dublin Castle where they remained for more than a year. Their estates were seized by King Edward II. By 1309, five inquisitors had arrived in Ireland to oversee their trial. Ireland’s Knights Templar were charged with denying Christ, spitting on the cross, homosexuality, and worshipping idols. No one admitted guilt and none were found guilty, however. Regardless, their land was passed to the Knights Hospitaller and the Pope formally dissolved the Knights Templar in 1312.
Templar’s Church Templetown, Co. Wexford
5. France’s trials may have influenced Ireland
While Ireland and its Knights Templar may have avoided the torture and execution common in European capitals, some believe that France’s trials eventually influenced Irish justice. In 1324, the Bishop of Ossory oversaw the trial of Alice Kyteler and several associates for witchcraft in Kilkenny, according to The Medievalists. Bishop Richard Ledrede - who’d spent years at the papal court in France before his appointment to Ireland in 1317 - leveled charges similar to those the Knights Templar faced and burned one of the women to death.
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