Note: Here are some important dates in Templar and Crusades history. Not all of these events directly involved the Templars, but they did all strongly affect the Order's history. I am setting this up in the manner of a calendar of saint's days, rather than the standard timeline.
Some of you may notice that few dates from the Reconquista show up here. I am adding them in as I go along.
Certain of these dates are open to conjecture. For one thing, medieval chroniclers usually played fast and loose with facts (including dates) to suit their patrons and themselves. For another thing, the medieval calendar did not have a fixed beginning. New Year's Day began anywhere between January 1 and Easter. Third, historians (then and now) do not always account for the changeover from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Nor was the latter calendar used uniformly throughout Europe (Russia, for example, did not adopt it until the 20th century). To simplify matters, I am following the dates as converted into the Gregorian calendar, and begin all years in January. The Council of Troyes, for example began in January, but those present began the year in March. Thus, I have put the date of the Council down as January, 1129, not January 1128. For the discussion I have used to establish this date, see Malcolm Barber's The New Knighthood, 14-15.
Copyright note: This is mine. I made up the first version of this calendar eight years ago for the enjoyment and free use of Templar-related communities online. However, I've noticed a few attempts to abuse the privilege over the years. Please refrain from:
- Claiming this as your own, including copyright notices. Internet archives like The Wayback Machine will prove pretty conclusively that I'm the creator of the page, even if I hadn't kept all of my old files (and printed them out with dates).
- Making money from it. As the creator, I've already decided to distribute this gratis. If you want to make money from a Templar calendar, go make your own. This means not copying and pasting (or paraphrasing) what you find here for your work. I don't claim ownership of the idea (since ideas are not copyrightable), only of this work.
- Publishing this, on or offline, without attribution and/or permission. If you ask politely and cite me as the author, I'll probably say yes to your using this for a class, magazine or lodge literature. Private use, of course, is your own business, though I certainly wouldn't mind hearing what people got out of it.
Many thanks for your patience. I hope you enjoy the calendar.
Dr. Paula R. Stiles
January
(1129) Council of Troyes. This Council formally adopts the Templars into the Church and replaces their Augustinian rule with a Benedictine rule. The Council also brings the new Order into line by prohibiting certain semi-heretical practices of the Order (i.e. baptism of infants, etc.).
February
(638) Jerusalem is occupied by the Muslims for the first time. This date is uncertain.
8 (1250) Battle of Mansurah. At a ford outside the Egyptian town of Mansurah, 280 Templars are killed after being goaded into battle by the Count d'Artois. This day marks the end of the Crusader advance during the Sixth Crusade.
March
(1148) Second Crusade (1148-9) begins. Louis VII of France arrives in Antioch.
10 (1208) The Albigensian Crusade (1208-1226) begins two months after the murder of the Papal Legate, Peter of Castlenau, in southwestern France. The Crusade diverts resources from Palestine and permanently dampens the crusading spirit in Europe.
18 (1314) Jacques de Molay, last Master of the Temple, and Geoffrey de Charney, Preceptor of Normandy, are burned at the stake as relapsed heretics. Known history of the Order ends on this date.
22 (1312) Pope Clement V suppresses the Templars at the Council of Vienne with the Papal Bull Vox in Excelso.
27 (1188) Third Crusade (1188-92) begins when The Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick I (Barbarossa) takes the cross.
29 (1138) Omne Datum Optimum (All Good Things), the first Papal Bull granting privileges to the Templars, is issued by Pope Innocent II. Milites Templi (Soldiers of the Temple) and Militia Dei (Soldiers of God) follow in 1144 and 1145.
April
5 (1291) Final seige of Acre by the Mamlukes begins.
13 (1204) Constantinople falls to the army of the Fourth Crusade, after a four day battle. Some writers believe that the Crusaders took the Shroud of Turin (which later may have gone to the Templars) during the sack of the city. Both the Templars and their benefactor, Pope Innocent III, harshly criticize this crusade because it diverts the Crusaders from aiding Palestine. The city remains in Latin hands until 1261, when it is retaken by the Byzantines.
20 (1314) Pope Clement V dies. Some writers later claim he was cursed at the stake by Jacques de Molay. This legend is reinforced when the Babylonian Captivity (The Papacy in Avignon), begun by Clement in 1309, degenerates into the Papal Schism between Urban VI and Clement VII in 1378.
May
18 (1291) Guillaume de Beaujeu, last Master of the Temple in Palestine, is killed at the seige of Acre.
24 (1218) Fifth Crusade (1218-21) begins.
28 (1291) Acre falls to the Mamlukes who slaughter everyone inside the city.
June
10 (1190) Frederick Barbarossa drowns in Anatolia.
July
4 (1187) Battle of Hattin. A force of Frankish nobles, Templars, and Hospitallers is destroyed by Saladin at the Horns of Hattin. Saladin follows up the battle with a massacre of over 100 Templars and Hospitallers.
4 (1190) King Richard I (Lionheart) of England and King Philip II (Augustus) of France leave Vézelay, France for the Holy Land.
13 (1099) Jerusalem falls to a Crusader army. The Frankish presence in Palestine begins.
August
14 (1291) The Templar castle of 'Atlit, the last Crusader fortress in Palestine, is abandoned. The Frankish presence in Palestine ends.
20 (1191) Massacre at Ayyadieh. Richard I has over 2700 Muslim prisoners and their families massacred before the gates of Acre.
September
7 (1191) Battle of Arsuf. Richard I routs Saladin's army. The military orders are instrumental in winning the battle.
14 (1307) King Philip IV (the Fair) of France issues the arrest order for the Templars to his officers.
17 (1248) Sixth Crusade (1248-54) begins. Saint Louis IX of France arrives at Limassol. The Master of the Temple, Guillaume de Sonnac, is among the Frankish leaders awaiting him there.
October
(1131) Alfonso I (the Battler) of Aragon, makes his will, bequeathing his kingdom to the Temple, the Hospital and the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre.
(1149) Lleida, in central Catalonia, the sister taifa city to Tortosa, surrenders to the Count of Barcelona and his forces after a protracted seige. The Templars receive a fifth of the city, in accordance with the concessions made at Girona, and build a castle on the hill of Gardeny, on the western outskirts.
2 (1187) Jerusalem surrenders to Saladin. The Kingdom of Jerusalem ceases to exist.
9 (1238) On the Feast of St. Denis, James I, Count-King of Catalonia and Aragon, takes Valencia City, in southeastern Spain. This opens up the entire region to the Christians, who create the Kingdom of Valencia out of the former taifa Muslim kingdom. This enormous territory, half the size of Aragon and Catalonia put together, puts James on an equal footing with his Castillian, Léonese, and Portuguese rivals on the peninsula. However, it puts the King in conflict with the Temple, when he is unable to grant them a fifth of the city, in accordance with the agreement at Girona. His subsequent, compensatory concessions, later put his sons in conflict with the Order, as well.
13 (1307) Arrest of the Knights Templar in France by Philip IV.
17 (1244) Battle of La Forbie. A combined force of Khorezmians and Egyptians destroy the Frankish army. 200-300 Templar knights are killed.
November
18 (1095) Council of Clermont
24 (1202) Fourth Crusade (1202-4) begins with the capture of Zara (in Dalmatia) after a five day seige. The Crusaders do this at the behest of the Venetians, despite Zara's being a friendly city. Zara is a rival of Venice and the Crusaders owe the Venetians money.
27 (1095) First Crusade (1095-9) begins. At the Council of Clermont, Urban II's call to take up the Cross against the Muslims is enthusiastically answered by all levels of European society.
27 (1143) Treaty at Girona. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona and now King of Aragon (and a confrater of the Order), concedes a fifth of all war booty in the Reconquest to the Temple, and pledges not to make any peace with the Muslims without the Temple's consent, as part of the agreement superseding Alfonso the Battler's will.
29 (1314) Philip IV dies in a hunting accident. He is succeeded by three sons--Louis X, Philip V, and Charles IV--who all die early. The Capetian line becomes extinct in 1328. Philip's grandson, Edward III of England, later claims the French throne and begins the Hundred Years War. Legend attributes these woes to Jacques de Molay's dying curse.
December
1 (1307) Siege begins of Templar castle at Miravet (Tortosa district in Catalonia, Spain) by troops of King James II of Aragón.
12 (1308) Siege of the Templars at Miravet ends with their negotiated surrender.
25 (no date) One of most common feast days on which tenants of Templar castles paid their yearly cens (rent) in the Crown of Aragon. This was often exacted, and paid, in kind rather than in money.
30 (1148) Siege of the taifa city of Tortosa, in southern Catalonia, ends with a negotiated treaty between the Muslim defenders and the Count of Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer IV. The Templars subsequently receive a fifth of the city, in accordance with the concessions made at Girona.
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This page was last updated on 7/23/2008
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