The Death Blow for the Knights Templar

The Knights Templar was founded in 1119. By 1140, they were the most famous order in all of Christendom. They wanted to offer confession and absolution within the order as opposed to in the church. And so you didn't have to be ordained. You could basically confess to somebody who wasn't ordained in the church or your superior. This is going to be the death blow for the Templars in 200 years. But at the time, everyone thought this was a great idea.