How did the Knights Templar get so rich?

Not only were they amazing soldiers but they were good at high finance too!

Greetings Gold and Silver Level Templar Knights! If you haven’t pre-ordered my new book on the Knights Templar then make to do so today. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Templars is within those pages! Do not miss out. An ideal Xmas present!

In 1307, the Knights Templar were crushed by the King of France, Philip IV, and Pope Clement V. It's widely believed that the king wanted to get his hands on the fabled wealth of the Templars. He was heavily in debt fighting wars against England. So, how did the Knights Templar get so rich, so quick?

I investigate the wealth of the Templars in my new book - The Knights Templar: History and Mystery, published by Pen & Sword. You can pre-order your copy HERE. As a former financial journalist, I have a strong interest in the Templars and their money. Were they really as rich as people thought and if so, were did that enormous wealth come from?

It might surprise you to know that the Templars were not just skilled battlefield warriors but also rather good at banking and finance. The most well-known financial activity was their issuing of cheques to people travelling long distances.

Imagine you're a medieval noble going on crusade to the Holy Land but you don't want to drag a huge amount of gold and silver with you - that's a sure way to get robbed or even murdered along the way. Instead, you deposit valuables at a Templar preceptory in London or Paris and when you arrive in Jerusalem, you can make a withdrawal by producing a special piece of paper with a secret code on it. Many assert that the knights invented modern banking.

All over Europe, the Templars created a network of solidly built preceptories, or commanderies, which not only functioned as agri-businesses - creating wealth from the land to fund the crusades - but also operated as fortified bank branches. Kings and nobles could deposit articles for safekeeping behind those walls knowing they were unlikely to be stolen.

Did the Templars get rich by acting as heavies for other lenders?

A more unpleasant line of Temple activity was debt collecting for lenders like the Italian bankers. Let's say that an abbot has borrowed an eye watering sum to tart up his monastery but is dragging his feet with the repayments. The Italians might then go to the Templars and ask for a little help in return for an agreed fee, or cut of the recovered sums. In addition, the Templars themselves were involved in money lending even though earning interest on loans was expressly forbidden by the Roman Catholic church. How they got round this is a little hazy.

So proficient were the Templars at high finance that the kings of France and England on occasion asked them to run the state's finances. This seems extraordinary but the knights were entrusted with the royal budget and had to produce regular reports.

Templars rich from relics?

Now, on top of all this, we have the rumours and conspiracy theories that the Templars had discovered fabulous religious relics under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where they were based for most of the twelfth century. Evidence for this is thin - but the stories have refused to die. Did the Templars find the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant - and then hide these sacred artefacts away?

In the book, I also examine the theories about the Templars escaping with their treasure before being arrested in 1307 and whether these stories are actually true. Pen & Sword will be publishing my second book in this Templar trilogy next year, which will look at all the treasure rumours in far greater detail. In the meantime, make sure to get your copy of The Knights Templar: History and Mystery. This will go some way to answering the question - how did the Templars get so rich, so quick.