In some ways, yes, clearly they've made a mistake in those instances. Some people would see them as heroes and martyrs for fighting so nobody in that way. The catch is that when you're in the Near East, the Muslims there are not necessarily going to fight in the same way as Western Europeans. If you want your big charge to work, your opponents have got to be there waiting for you to hit. And fairly quickly, they realize that it's not a good idea. So they do need more likely armored troops to be a bit more flexible.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the military order founded around 1119, twenty years after the Crusaders captured Jerusalem. For almost 200 years the Knights Templar were a notable fighting force and financial power in the Crusader States and Western Europe. Their mission was to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land, and they became extremely wealthy yet, as the crusader grip on Jerusalem slipped, their political fortune declined steeply. They were to be persecuted out of existence, with their last grand master burned at the stake in Paris in 1314, and that sudden end has contributed to the strength of the legends that have grown up around them.
With
Helen Nicholson
Professor of Medieval History at Cardiff University
Mike Carr
Lecturer in Late Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh
And
Jonathan Phillips
Professor of Crusading History at Royal Holloway, University of London
Producer: Simon Tillotson