BUY TEMPLAR SWORD. REPRODUCTIONS OF THE BEST SWORDS OF THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE
SWORDS OF THE TEMPLAR
The military Order of the Templars was founded by Hugh de Payns and Godfrey of Saint-Omer and 7 other French knights, in 1118. They took the name of poor soldiers of Christ and took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Its main mission was to defend the pilgrims who came to the Holy Land. They came to accumulate large possessions as a result of the multiple donations that came from all over Christendom . Their primitiveness extended to the fight against the infidel, which led them to participate in the crusades and in the Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. With the hospitallers, the calatravos and other orders of knights they created an army always ready to go to war. They were warrior monks with total independence
In the crown of Aragon their implementation was absolute, to the point that King Alfonso I the Battler, in his will, cites them as heirs, along with Hospitallers and Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, of the kingdoms of Aragon and Navarro, but when he died the nobles did not accept the will, and it was left without effect.
They also served Ramón Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, and Kings Alfonso II and Pedro II, taking part, in the latter case, in the conquest of the Ademuz castle.
Regarding his relationship with Jaime I the Conqueror, it can be said that it was exceptional. When Pedro II, Jaime's father, died, he who was a child, grew up in the castle of Monzón, under the protection of the Master of the Temple, in Aragon, Guilem de Montredón , until Jaime reached the age of majority. Once he begins his conquests, the Conqueror counts on them and they accompany Jaime in the conquest of Mallorca and the Kingdom of Valencia. Hospitallers also took part in these battles. Both being the main and most effective nucleus of Jaime I. This, for the services received, rewards them generously. Castles and towns of the kingdom of Valencia became the possession of the Temple. Item more, some neighborhoods of the city of Valencia itself became Templar territory. They reformed the castle of Peñíscola, one of the many donations received from the king, in the style of the constructions that the crusaders did in the Holy Land. This was considered by the Templars as a place where paranormal phenomena occurred. It is noteworthy that while they were in the kingdom of Valencia they were admired and highly respected, as they represented the spirit of the crusades, as well as exceptional military behavior as warriors.
Envious of the economic power that the Templars had achieved, the King of France, Felipe el Hermoso, began in 1307 a tenacious harassment, which ended with a trial full of lies, in which he succeeded in having the Order of the Temple found guilty. The Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Molay , was sentenced to die at the stake, along with other Templars. Pope Clement V ordered the other European countries to act against the Templars and their possessions.
King Jaime II, of Aragon, did not believe at all the hoaxes that had been said against the Templars in the trial in Paris, however, under great pressure, he ordered the Inquisition to investigate the actions of the Templars in the kingdom of Aragon. . The Inquisition ruled in favor of the innocence of the knights of the order, but even so, the king ordered the dismantling of the Temple in their territories. The patrimonies of the Orders of the Temple and of the Hospital were ceded to the Order of Montesa
HOW WAS THE TEMPLAR SWORD?
The sword of a Templar was a standardized sword with elements of protection for the hands. A Templar could have more than one sword, plus one of them had to be the normal Templar sword . This sword was carried by all Templars, regardless of the position they held. In each Templar Commandery there was a store with spare weapons
The Templar sword is a pommel sword (large or mantle), spare and austere, free of all kinds of unnecessary ostentation. It was a sword to make combat possible both on foot and on horseback. It had a blade with a wide slit. It seems that the sword should be similar to the kicked cross that the Templars wore on their chests. Many freires prayed in front of his sword. Regarding the handle, no allusion to it has been found. However, given the vow of poverty, we dare say that the knob should be round.
The knights used two types of swords; the light and long blade (on horseback) and the short, but heavy blade (fight on foot). They are usually known for their great symbology on the handle and pommel. It is very common to see the Templar cross engraved on them, remembering their cause. The motto of the Order was "Non nobis , Domine, non nobis , Sed Nomini Tuo Da Gloriam" - "Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory."
Mainly, the Templar swords had the handle with a round end that was used to strike and were double-edged. At the end of the century, these became with a longer handle to be able to use them with both hands, and thus, be able to deliver stronger blows.
Today we can find many Templar swords made for decorative use, but with great symbols and engravings of the Order of the Templar on the pommel, guard and on the blade of the sword itself.
At the end of the 11th century, the Church decided to intervene directly in the Holy Land, calling for a Holy War to guarantee the safety of pilgrims to Jerusalem who were continually besieged by Muslims. By the way, they helped the Byzantine Empire that asked for help for the Turkish siege at the same time that disputes were closed and all Christians were united under the same flag.
WHAT DOES THE SYMBOL OF THE TEMPLARS MEAN?
In the Templar Seal we can see two knights mounted on a single horse, wanting to express the poverty of the Order. The inscription that appears on it Sigillum militum Xpisti means The Seal of the soldiers of Christ and means absolute dualism, the double . From a symbolic point of view, the two characters represent universal dualism: the double coexistence of Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land, the double equivalence of the order as the Templars are warriors and monks, and, finally, — and in general the double ownership of man, body and spirit.
WHAT IS THE MOTTO OF THE TEMPLARS?
«Non nobis , Domine, non nobis , sed Nomini Tuo da gloriam," which means, "Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name, give glory."
HOW MANY SWORDS DID THE TEMPLARS USE?
At the end of the 12th century, the shaft was made longer in order to be able to use the sword with two hands, which allowed it to be used with both hands, which allowed more definitive blows. The knights used two models of swords : the sword with a light and long blade, for fighting on horseback, and a shorter one with a heavier blade, for combat on foot. Some sources suggest that two-handed swords were never used by the Templars.
HOW MUCH DID A TEMPLAR SWORD WEIGH?
The long sword that some researchers attribute its use to many knights, including the Templars, which we doubt, weighed around 1.5 kg . By wielding it with two hands, it became well known under the name of mandoble. It was a very powerful weapon both in defense and attack, but in hand-to-hand combat it lost a large part of its qualities, due to the difficulty of its carrier's movement.
WHAT WEAPONS DID THE TEMPLARS USE?
When they fought on horseback, the usual thing was that they used an armament in which we could find long spears, swords, axes and mallets. The sword and dagger were their preferred weapons when fighting on foot.
THE CRUSADES AND THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR
After numerous battles, the First Crusade ended in 1099 by taking Jerusalem, until then dominated by Baldwin I. Several years later nine Christian knights led by Hugo de Payens began to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. Alone at first, but later supported by the king. They obtained a place to settle in the vicinity of the old Temple of Solomon and time later they would have the entire complex as the headquarters that would give the order its name (Templars). After years of paperwork, the order was formally recognized by the Church in 1129, and its norms and rules were established, after which it experienced exponential growth, both in followers and in assets and properties. Dressed in the recognized characteristic clothing of the Templar Order, such as their white cloak or cape with the red Templar cross and the suit or surcoat also of the same color. There were several Templar crosses used throughout history. The meaning of the Templar cross was the representation of the martyrdom of Christ, and the color is the representation of the blood of Jesus. Some of the crosses of the Templar symbology and military orders of the moment are; the Pate Cross, Cross of Saint George, Maltese Cross, Cross of the Eight Beatitudes, Templar Cross, Santiago, Tau Cross, Calatrava Cross among others.
This growth was due to a host of reasons. On the one hand, they were excluded from jurisprudence and only the Pope had power over them. They received fortunes in the form of wills and contributions from the nobles who joined them. By the middle of the 13th century it was the most important economic force in Europe and its members numbered around 30,000 knights. Their moral success is motivated by the exploits they performed during the Crusades, which brought them worldwide fame and in turn the loss of the Holy Land was the beginning of the end of the Order, in addition to the suspicions caused by their growing power.
THE END OF THE TEMPLAR
Philip IV of France, who was heavily indebted to the Templars, began a brutal smear campaign with the intention of keeping their assets. He lobbied Pope Clement V and in 1307 large numbers of Templars were arrested, tortured and finally burned at the stake, but not before being forced to confess crimes and false heresies to tarnish the image of the Order. They were officially dissolved in 1312 and most of their belongings went to the crowns that were behind the Templar Order's smear campaign.
