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Pastimes : The Odd The Weird the things we can not understand
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To: long-gone who wrote ()3/3/1999 5:14:00 PM
From: long-gone  Read Replies (1) of 358
 
The Templar bankers
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Although the individual members of the Knights Templar were sworn to a life of strict poverty this did not stop the order as a whole amassing great wealth.
When an initiate entered the Order he handed over all his wealth and possessions and seeing as most of the knights were Noblemen these donations were to prove very valuable.

Large amounts of money and property were also given to the Order by Kings, Queens, Princes and other such rulers. Coupled with the fact that Pope Innocent II had made the Order exempt from paying local tithes and taxes in 1139, it is easy to see why they became one of the most wealthy organizations in the world.
Armed with such wealth the Knights Templar created the worlds first international banking system. They lent vast sums of money to European monarchs as well as Muslim Sultans.
The Templars devised a method allowing people who banked with them a safe way to transfer their wealth, for a moderate interest rate, of course. The highly literate scribes of the Order invented ingenious ciphers so that gold deposited at one Preceptory, for example, could be claimed and withdrawn at another anywhere else in the world by using pieces of parchment inscribed with intricate codes - the forerunner of the cheque we use today.
This safe and efficient method of transferring funds was welcomed with open arms by the merchants class who became incredibly dependent on the order.

The Order became renowned for their honesty at a time when most money lenders operated like the Medieval equvilent of loan-sharks. The order took their reputation very seriously and fraud and embezzelment were punishable with the death penalty.
The eventual downfall of the Templars was closely linked with their banking activities.
In the early 14th century Philip IV, known as Philip the Fair, was king of France and he was also broke, he had borrowed heavily from the Templars on many occasions. He plotted the downfall and dissolution of the Order to acquire the vast wealth they had accumilated.
Although he was successful in destroying the Order he never got his hands on all their money.
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