CHAPTER III. THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR ENCIRCLING EUROPE

The Knights Templar tried in every way to make their idea of world sovereignty come to pass, as an anti-Christian order. As soon as they obtained the assurance they'd sought, they abandoned their pretense of being devoutly religious and the oaths they had given as alleged missionaries. And they immediately settled down to using finances to achieve a greater sovereignty. The Templars' web encompassed all of Europe and the Mediterranean's sea lanes and ports, which provided the heart of the sea trade. The equivalent of these organized actions can be seen only in the international Mafia cartels of our day. Members of the order infiltrated a major share of maritime and inland commerce from northern countries like England and Ireland.

Meanwhile, the Templars were spending the income they had earned in illegal ways for several investments, the first among which were buying lands and construction. They had become experts in building substantial castles and churches, while constructing villages, towns and even cities in the lands they owned. Establishing residential districts was an easy way to penetrate their influence and to obtain legitimate but important sources of income like tax and tribute.

The Templars began their transport activities by way of the sea.

After banking, real estate and construction, navigation was most important to the Templars. In that era, traveling by land was costly, very dangerous and difficult; whereas the sea lanes were rather comfortable, economic and relatively safe. Therefore, effecting fast, secure transportation between the ports controlled by Christians was quite profitable. As a result, Templars shifted their transport firms from land to maritime.
Initially they mastered navigation and constructed their own fleet by working together with professional mariners like the Venetians and the Genoese.
Marseille was then the most important Mediterranean port and enjoyed great commercial privileges. Nevertheless, the Templars' wealth was not limited to Marseille. The order had centers and a merchant marine in every significant port from Alexandria to Tripoli, from Antioch to Sidon. While exerting superiority over the transportation routes, the order attained great naval power between the years 1216 and 1233, which caused hard times for individual merchants who were doing their private nautical trading. Their great naval experience would play a significant role later when they fled the Inquisitions and emigrated to further places like America and also in their various colonies.
In 1220, the Roman Emperor Frederic II realized the dangerous conduct long before the King of France. Philip IV, did and forbade the Knights Templar to buy lands freely without limit, since he feared that it was possible for them to own the whole country. In the course of time, Frederick impounded the goods of the Templars living in his territories and abolished their privileges.
These actions angered the Templars-and thus, the Papacy. Pope Gregory IX excommunicated Frederic II in 1227, and thus, the order won a chance to sustain their activities for a while longer without any interruption.
In 1258, when the King of Sicily Manfred, son of the Roman Emperor Frederick II, ascended to the throne, Albert de Canella, the master Templar in the region, became Manfred's private protector, because he took back the rights the Templars had lost by convincing the King through bribery.
During these times, the Templars spread throughout Europe and they formed essentially a new international government within the local governments. Their administration unit and systems were active in every important center of Europe.
The historian Henry D. Funk describes the true face of the Knights as follows:
They came out and claimed that they were the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ. However, this was hardly true. One could see the wealthiest men of Europe and the leading bankers from London and Paris among the Templars: Hugh Conte de Champagne, Alphonse de Poitiers, Robert of Artois, the ministers of finance of James I of Aragon, and Charles I of Naples, the chief advisor of Louis VII, King of France, were all Templars. 11

A Templar maritime colony Holy Rom an Emperor Frederick II

Louis VII of France, whose principal advisors were the Templars

The order paid special attention to some specific countries and regions, where they founded their own centers: Jerusalem, Tripoli, Antioch, France, England, Poitiers, Aragon in Spain, Portugal, Apulia in Italy and Hungary were the first of these. In England alone, Knights owned 5,000 real estates. Alan Butler and Stephen Dafoe explain with these words:
As a result, the Templars became so wealthy that some rulers of the kingdoms where the Knights were very active became completely dependent on their support. Most of the English kings mortgaged the royal treasury to the Templars' center in London as a means of repaying their heavy debts to the order. This helped the Templars attain a great power and exert an influence over royal decisions. Templars also used their influence to offer consistent arbitrations between rulers who were constantly quarreling with each other. 12
Templars' economic dominance has been reported in yet another source:

The Templars became so wealthy that the rulers of some countries in which they operated became totally dependent on them. A 13th-century Templar castle

King Henry III of England constantly borrowed money from the Templars.

The Templars turned into a huge private organization employing illegal methods, and carefully concealing all their knowledge, keeping that subject secret even from the Church.

In fact, the throne of England chronically owned a lot to the Templars. King John and Henry III, whose treasure got consumed in the military expeditions during the years between 1260 and 1266, continuously took accommodation from the Templars. 13
In their mansions the Knights dealt with politics, commerce and finance in the city centers, while ruling over such sectors as agriculture, cattle-breeding and mining. Each Templar center housed approximately two or four Knights, brothers who provided control over and management of the far-flung operations.
Their system can be likened to that of a multinational company in our own day. The Templars grew to become a huge organization that sustained its existence through illegal ways, keeping the company's secrets with great care and never revealing any kind of information, not even to the Pope.
However, it is possible to obtain various information about the Templars' secret acts through close reading of various data. According to the historical resources, there were at least 20,000 Knights, with seven or eight servants for each Knight. These groups dealt with any kind of business under the control of the order's members; from navigation to trade and from agriculture to construction. Simple calculations show that at the time of their persecution, the Templars employed a staff of at least 160,000.14 This cadre, surrounding Europe and all shores of the Mediterranean, was also the most powerful widespread organization of its time.
Neither the Pope nor the King of France could confiscate the order's property, which had expanded into such a great area. Later, when the Templars were fleeing the Inquisition, their property-which was then comparable to the wealth of kings-was enough to provide the protection and security they required. In these times, the methods of exploitation they had first invented, such as colonialism, imperialism, brutal capitalism and international organized crime and money, were all widely applied.
The author of a book titled The Temple and The Lodge, draws the reader's attention to this subject by stating, "No medieval institution contributed to the rise of capitalism as much as the Templars did." 15
The courts that began interrogating the Templars in 1307 proved that Frederic II had been right to have his doubts. After several years of arrests, persecution, and executions, the order was claimed to have been officially wiped out by the Papacy. But no matter-they continued to maintain their actions throughout Europe by changing their name and their identities.
As the information and examples so far clearly show, the Knights Templar who brought all of Europe under their control were hardly of a religious order dedicated to Christian principles.
On the contrary, all of their actions were completely against the religious moral values. As you will see in the following chapter, the beliefs and actions of those who dominated the Templars had set up an un-Christian, even an anti-Christian, structure.