Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the military order founded around 1119, twenty years after the Crusaders captured Jerusalem. For almost 200 years the Knights Templar were a notable fighting force and financial power in the Crusader States and Western Europe. Their mission was to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land, and they became extremely wealthy yet, as the crusader grip on Jerusalem slipped, their political fortune declined steeply. They were to be persecuted out of existence, with their last grand master burned at the stake in Paris in 1314, and that sudden end has contributed to the strength of the legends that have grown up around them. With Helen Nicholson Professor of Medieval History at Cardiff University Mike Carr Lecturer in Late Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh And Jonathan Phillips Professor of Crusading History at Royal Holloway, University of London Producer: Simon Tillotson
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For 200 years, the Knights Templar were a major fighting and financial power in the crusader states and in western Europe.
They were founded around 11, 19, 20 years after the crusaders captured Jerusalem with a mission to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land.
They became extremely wealthy.
Yet as the crusader grip on Jerusalem slipped, their political fortune declined and they were persecuted out of existence.
Their last grand master burned at the stake in Paris in 1314, surviving only in legend.
With me to discuss the Knights Templar, Helen Nicholson, professor of medieval history at Cardiff University, Mike Carr, lecturer in late medieval history at the University of Edinburgh, and Jonathan Phillips, professor of crusading history at Royal Holloway, University of London.