The Knights Templar (1119 -1312) was a militaristic order of religious knights, whose job was to serve and protect people of the Christian faith during their pilgrims ages to the Holy Land. They were both knights and monks, so their commanderies were both castles and monasteries, which were mostly strategically located, high defensible and featured with all the architectural features of a monastery with church, chapter house, cloister, refectory, and dormitory. To become a Knight Kemplar during the Crusades you already had to be trained as page boy and squire and knighted in a dubbing ceremony. (The Knight Templars had no dubbing ceremony.) You were not supposed to be married. To obtain the membership of a Knight Templar order you had to go to a templar fortress or house to ask the preceptor if you could join. In a special intake procedure, the candidate was quested about his previous life and the will to give up everything and to give his life for, lifetime, to the order and the church. The Chapter meeting decided about every new candidate. Joining the Templars was a massive commitment as there were so many rules. During the special secret initiation process, outsiders were discouraged from attending the ceremony. The candidate had :
1. to commit himself with whole his heart to the Order.
2. to swear of poverty, chastity, piety, and obedience.
3. to give away all their goods and wealth to the order.
4. to swear that they would join for life.
Once you had been accepted into the ‘Order’ you were a member for life. It was like a marriage. You also were no longer allowed to have physical contact with women or even family members. The knight Templar life was very disciplined, only mentally strong people would have made it as a Templar Knight. After the initiating process a monastic life combined with very harsh military training started. They were trained to be a fearsome fighting force and equipped as heavy cavalry. Riding their war-horses, they were used as the ‘shock troops’ from the Crusader army. Always fighting on front line and specialized in breaking up
enemy front lines and causing fear and disarray amongst enemy troops frontlines. Knight Templars were not easily scared, they thought death was a blessing given their religious beliefs. They saw it as an honor to die in battle as they would be assured a place in heaven. Each Knight Templar belonged to a monastery-castle known as a Preceptory or Commandery with its own master, The master was responsible to the Provincial Master or Grand Prior, and ultimately to the Grand Master. In Europe the main activity was financial management and recruiting. In the Holy Land, where the main activity was defending and fighting the hierarchy was slightly different. Every knight was dressed in a white surcoat with a red cross and with a white mantle with a red cross. They always had to wear the mantle. It was forbidden to eat and drink without wearing their mantle. The red cross was a symbol of martyrdom.
Each knight had three or four horses and one or two squires to assist him. Squires were generally not members of the Order but were instead outsiders who were hired for a set period. There were also sergeants belonging to the Order, they came from non-noble families and lived the same monastic life. They trained together with the knights to become a fearsome fighting force. In the Crusader states the fought alongside the knights al light cavalry with 1 single horse. Sergeants wore black or bruin tunics with a red cross They brought vital skills to the Order such as blacksmith, weapon makers. Many of them administrated the European orders properties. Some of the Order's most senior positions were reserved for sergeants, including the post of Commander of the Vault of Acre, who was the de facto Admiral of the Templar fleet.
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