Knights Templar

Of the Temple

Templars, the military religious "Order of the Poor Knights of Christ", founded in 1119, at the time of the crusades by Hugues de Payen and Godfrey de Saint Adhemar, with seven other Knights, taking on themselves the solomn vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, and undertaking the defense of pilgrims to the Holy Places from the attacks of the Saracins. [Saracens was a term used by ancient Romans to refer to the Aramaic speaking people who inhabited the deserts near the Roman Province of Syria. Thus by the beginning of the crusades, a Saracen had become synonymous with "Muslim".]

Baldwin the Second, King of Jerusalem granted them quarters in his palace, built on the site of the Temple; hence the name of the order - "Knights Templar".
The active history of the Templars is the history of the crusades. At first none but Nobles or Knights were admitted but subordinate members were allowed for the menial work as the order grew great and wealthy. To them rather than to the miscellaneous hordes that periodically swarmed from Europe was due the long stay given to the infidel. [Note; From "The American Peoples Encyclopedia"] Twenty thousand Templars perished in the attempt to hold the Holy Place of the Christian Religion for Christendom and most of their Grand Masters died on the field of honor or from wounds recieved in battle. They helped Richard Coeur de Lion (King Richard 1 the Lionhearted of England) to win the great victory at Arsuf (and probably Acre) in 1191, and from him they bought the island of Cyprus.

Then in 1307 Philip, King of France, being in an impoverished condition, cast greedy eyes on the treasures possessed by the Templars and directed Pope Clement V to summon the Grand Master to appear before him. The Grand Master, Jaques De Molay, answered the summons and on October 16, 1307, he and 140 Templars were seized and thrown into prison. Torture was freely used to establish evidence. Many Templars were burned to death and their property was conficated. By 1314, after the execution of Molay, the order came to an end. It has been said that some of the bloodiest wars in history were fought in the name of religion. [Note; I have, for many years, believed that history, if ignored, would tend to repeat itself which leads me to think it is in the process of doing just that at this time.]

In the book "Generations, A Thousand Year Family History" written by Ralph Sanders with his sisters, Carole Sanders and Peggy Sanders Van Der Heide, there is a chapter championing the life and times of Sir Leonard de Sanderstead. These lines are taken from that book; "Who then was Sir Leonard de Sanderstead? Although our knowledge of him stems from a single record, the record itself is particularly fertile. We find reference to Sir Leonard in a seventeenth-century document called "Advenie de Carmathenshire" [They came to Carmarthenshire], indicating that Sir Leonard once held land in that County of South Wales. The record further indicates that he had at some point acquired knighthood and bore a Coat of Arms ---." These records also stated that Sir Leonard had, at least one son, Richard who sold land at Sanderstead in 1234. Thus the time line Ralph Sanders used to set Sir Leonard's birth date at about 1175 but I believe it probably was closer to 1150 and he was a contemporary of King Richard the Lionheart who led the Third Crusade. He probably was either a knight in King Richard's army or a member of the Knights Templar. Was he one of my ancestors? I don't know for sure but according to Ralph Sanders' book he probably was. About 25 or 26 generations ago.

I won't go any farther into geneology today but I guess it is natural for some people to dig into their past looking for a famous ancestor or two. Thanks for your time and input. Stay tuned. - William