The Templars and the Hospitallers

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Even after seven centuries since their ending, the Knights Templar still inspires and fascinates historians and Christians worldwide.

They were the first military order and perhaps the most powerful and wealthy. With their unique white mantles, The Templars had a huge success in the Crusades.

They were for almost two hundred years, during which they grew in members, power, and richness in Europe and in the Middle East.

However, The Knights Templar was not the only monastic order in the medieval games. However, it seems strange for the 21st-century mind to grasp the ideas that they were once monks who fought for the word of God.

One order, in particular, known as the Knights Hospitaller was to the Templars. The Hospitallers was founded by Blessed Gerard, a member of the Benedictine order. They started in a hospital in Jerusalem, hence the name, to provide care for the sick and the unfortunate.

In response to the Holy Land being taken by the Crusaders and the Knights Templar's appearance, the Hospitallers went through a massive transformation. They expanded their activities from medical to the military also.

The order had many similarities. First, they were governed and regulated by monastic rules based on absolute obedience and taking chastity vows. The Knights Templars fought alongside the Hospitallers in the Crusades. The first was distinguished by their white mantles with red crosses in battle, while the latter had black mantles with white eight-pointed crosses.

In 1307, the Knights Templar came to an end by the King of France and the Pope. They were accused of heresy and the practice of magic. Many of their lands, assets, and properties were transformed to the Knights Hospitaller.

Unlike the Templars, these knights kept fighting in the Crusades. However, when knighthood went out of fashion, it became a charitable institution once again.

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