A member of the Knights Templar, a military religious order founded around 1119 to protect Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. They became wealthy and powerful before being suppressed by King Philip IV of France in 1307.
From Old French 'templier,' derived from Latin 'templarius,' meaning 'of the temple.' The name refers to their headquarters near the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, which gave them their full name: 'Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon.'
The Templars invented medieval banking! They created a system where pilgrims could deposit money in one Templar house and withdraw it in another, essentially creating the first international credit system. Their wealth and secrecy made them so powerful that kings grew jealous - leading to their dramatic downfall on Friday the 13th, 1307.
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