All language subtitles for Historys.Greatest.Warriors.S01E04.The.Knights.Templar.1080p.HULU.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-RAWR_track3_[eng]

Medieval warriors...

with a sacred calling.

The Knights Templar are
engaged in a holy war.

Trained as monks,
with a license to kill...

This is a crazy,
multi-day slaughter.

Destined to change the
course of history...

The Templars are such
an awesome force,

and they bring such terror!

These are people who
know how to fight.

Warriors aren't born...

They're built.

Understanding how

reveals the true nature
of their greatness.

From the
cradle to the grave,

these are the steps
to creating...

History's
Greatest Warriors.

The Knights Templar.

Committed to their faith...

Equally devoted to war...

The Templars are the
fighting force of the church.

They are retaking control
of the Holy Land,

protecting pilgrims,
protecting religious sites.

They're monks as
well as warriors.

The Templar knight can
fight without fear.

If he's killed in battle,

then his place in
heaven is assured.

And those battles the
Templars are a part of-

it's some of the
most brutal...

and bloody combat
of the Middle Ages.

The Templars are shrouded
in mystery to a degree.

They are loyal to an ideal
that makes them

create the greatest
of warriors.

The journey to
becoming a Templar knight

will require years
of training and

devotion to his mission.

The mounted warrior must
become expert with

the most devastating
weapons of his age.

He must defeat his
enemy with bold tactics,

even when vastly
outnumbered.

This path to greatness

traces its origins back to
the first crusade.

The Knights Templar are a
medieval military order.

They dedicate themselves to
the defense of the Holy Land

in the aftermath of
the First Crusade.

In the
First Crusade,

the Latin Church
encourages

European rulers to
reconquer the Holy Land,

what is today Israel
and Palestine.

This area had been
under Islamic control

since the 7th century.

The crusading armies are
joined by Christian pilgrims.

The Christian
faithful all over Europe

want to come to
the Holy Land.

They want to see where
Jesus was born,

where he died, where he
was resurrected.

They have to do this
pilgrimage in order to

redeem themselves-
repentance for

big sins that
they've committed.

In about 1099, Jerusalem
falls to the Christians.

By 1099,

the crusaders take
control of the Holy Land and

conquer the city
of Jerusalem.

But their hold is tenuous,

and religious conflict
continues.

From a Muslim
point of view,

Jerusalem is under
Crusader control.

This is an insult
to the prophet.

On the Christian side,
Jerusalem must stay

under Christian control.

It's the birthplace
of Jesus.

So, both sides have
completely entrenched

religious positions.

As a result,

Christian pilgrims
remain subject to

constant attacks.

The control of that
region is very minimal.

It's basically these
fortified positions.

Once you go out
into the roads

it becomes very dangerous.

There are robbers,
there are highwaymen,

neighboring Muslim armies.

The road from
Jerusalem to Jericho

is known as the
Ascent of Blood,

because this is an
incredibly perilous

route for the pilgrims.

They're not just
robbing you.

They're murdering you.

The roads into Jerusalem
are littered with the

bleached skeletons
of pilgrims

who have been
totally ransacked,

everything taken, and their
bodies cast to one side.

One especially
violent incident

shocks all of Christendom.

In 1119, there is a
devastating attack

on Christian pilgrims.

You have this
group of 700 pilgrims

traveling from Jerusalem to
the Jordan River.

This is where
Jesus was baptized.

This is a holy river.

And these pilgrims
are attacked.

300 are killed,

and then 400 go
into slavery.

It is the spark that incites
one warrior to create

one of history's most
notorious fighting units...

the Knights Templar.

Hugues de Payens
is a knight from France.

He is traveling
in the Holy Land,

and he sees that
pilgrims are dying,

and he wants to do
something about it.

Hugues goes to the
King of Jerusalem with

an idea of creating this
order of holy warriors.

King Baldwin II needs
all the help he can get.

So he receives this idea
with open arms.

The official mission of the
Knights Templar is to

protect pilgrims on the
roads into Jerusalem.

The order starts small.

Hugues de Payens
organized nine men,

and this was the beginning.

Baldwin II gives
them a headquarters,

which they believe is the
original Temple of Solomon.

And this gives
them their name,

The Poor Fellow Soldiers
of Christ and

the Temple of Solomon.

And nobody wants
that entire mouthful,

so they just call them
the Templars.

For the first ten years,
they don't really

grow very much,
maybe to 30 at the max.

Then in 1128,

Pope Honorius II grants
a papal sanction to

the Knights Templar,
declaring them to be

an army of God.

When the Templars
hear that this has happened,

this is the catalyst that
helps take them from a small,

obscure group of knights to
a fighting force that can

tip the balance of power
in the Holy Land.

But only the select few

have what it takes
to be a Templar.

Recruits initially come from
Europe's elite families,

men already trained as
skilled and deadly fighters.

They are
members of the nobility

who already start
out as knights.

They are trained as knights
from the time that

they are young men.

The offer by the Pope,
and by the church

to young men all
over Europe is,

if you join the
Knights Templar,

the slate is wiped clean.

And you also have a
fast track into heaven,

into eternal glory.

And it's after that, a lot
of people want to join.

But becoming a
Templar requires more.

Each candidate must
take holy vows,

including one
demanding celibacy.

It's a big decision.

You are giving yourself
entirely to this order.

You will not control
your own life anymore.

The decision
to join the order is

marked by a
sacred ceremony.

You go before
the superior brothers

in the order, and you
recite these vows.

You take a vow of poverty,

of chastity,
of obedience.

But on top of that,
the Templars take

an additional vow to fight
for the Holy Land.

The key moment is

when they receive
the kiss of peace.

The kiss of peace is
something that has

enormous religious
significance.

And this is a
very, very normal thing

for the Middle Ages.

It is a way of sealing a deal.

Whether it's
fealty to a king,

or joining an order
like the Templars.

Once you take this
vow, you're committed to it

because once you do
become a Templar,

there's no giving it up.

There is only
one way out of

the Templar order,
and that is death.

As their
fame increases...

so, too,
does their wealth.

When the
European elites

hear what these
knights are doing,

they start making material
donations to these knights.

Now, this is in
the form of land.

This is in the
form of castles.

Wealth and power increases,

manpower increases,
influence increases.

By the middle
of the 12th century,

they're one of the wealthiest
and most powerful orders,

really institutions,
in Christendom.

But that's not
the whole story.

A mercenary
fights for money.

But a soldier who's truly
effective is fighting for

the homeland, or for king
and country, or for God,

in the case of the
Knights Templar.

And you don't get a much
higher ideal than God.

The Templar warrior's
mission requires courage,

sacrifice and training...

for the brutal battles
that will be waged

for the Holy Land.

Building knights
capable of thriving in

some of the most brutal
combat of the Middle Ages...

doesn't happen by accident.

How do the Templars
consistently create

excellent warriors?

How do they become the
elite of the elite knights?

It's their discipline.

It's their dedication
to this cause.

It's also a
written code of conduct

that eventually includes
609 articles.

The Latin Rule is kind of the
guidebook for the Templar,

which is an exhaustive
description of how

warrior monks should
conduct their lives,

conduct battle, and live
from day to day.

It's their
warrior code.

So not only are you
vowing to live as a monk,

but you're also vowing
that you're going to fight.

Every new recruit
entering the Templars

is from European nobility,

trained in elite fighting
skills since their youth.

If you come
from the knightly elite,

you come from
the nobility.

You are learning to become
a knight your whole life.

From the time you're a kid,

you're first learning to
put armor on,

you're learning
to use these weapons.

So, by the time
you're an adult,

you will have quite a
lot of military training.

You cannot separate
the warrior from the monk.

And this is what makes
the Templars very unique.

And, it involves a kind of
spiritual transformation.

So there's a change
in the mindset

that has to happen.

The Knight Templar
is faced with

a grueling daily routine,
which includes

hours and hours
of prayer.

And the rest of the
time is spent in

preparing armament,
looking after the horses.

This was a rigorous life.

They are drilling.

They're protecting pilgrims.
And all the time,

there's the next set
of prayers coming up.

So, it is a really grueling,
Spartan existence.

It is a very austere life,
and at the end of it,

it is probably going
to end in martyrdom.

The Templar
has one crucial mission:

protect the Holy Land
and the Christians

who come to
worship there.

To do so, he must learn
to survive combat

in that unforgiving and
deadly terrain.

Until you actually
are in the Holy Land,

you can't be fully prepared
for the type of warfare

you're going to experience.

You're in
extreme heat.

You're in very dusty,
dry conditions.

And you can be
campaigning for hours and

for even days on end.

You may not have
access to food.

You may not have
access to water.

And you are also susceptible
to diseases that

you may never have
encountered before and

that are going to kill you.

Heatstroke is a
persistent enemy.

Thirst is a big killer.

One notorious battle against
the fierce Muslim leader

Saladin illustrates why
Templars must be built to

withstand extreme
conditions.

Saladin is the
Sultan of both Egypt and

large portions of Syria.

He really has an empire
that kind of surrounds

the crusader states.

He can field these
massive armies.

He can field armies,
you know, 20,

30,000 men,

which is very big
for the Middle Ages.

At the Battle of Hattin,

he lures the Crusader
army to a position

where they're going
to be cut off from water.

They spend a long
night in agony.

Their horses become
exhausted and thirsty.

Saladin's troops start
all these fires

all around the position
the crusaders are in.

By the time his forces really
close in for the kill,

a lot of people are already
collapsing and exhausted.

To avoid such
chaos and defeat,

the new Templar
trains with his brothers,

striving to become
part of a disciplined

and coordinated unit.

In the Middle Ages,
it's very rare that

anyone has an army
that's always together,

that they're feeding, that
they're training together.

Usually people are
called up to war.

You don't have an army
that's worked together

all the time,
and this is something

that really gives them
their strength.

I think it is the thing that
makes them the

most unique in
the Middle Ages.

The Templars
train for an innovative

battlefield tactic known
as the 'Fighting Box'.

One of the things
they find in the Holy Land

is that Muslim forces
are very good at

hit and run tactics,
and attrition,

particularly on supply lines
and baggage train.

So, Crusaders
developed this box tactic

of moving
across the land.

A bit like later
ringed wagons

to defend civilians, to protect
the baggage train.

The fighting box is
unique to the Crusades.

It's a box of infantry
around the cavalry.

They interlock
their shields.

They stay in this
tight formation,

and they surround
the cavalry.

The advantage of the
fighting box is this is a

mobile formation, which can
keep your pilgrims safe,

but can also allow for
a kind of opening up,

which facilitates a rapid
charge toward the enemy.

It's a strategy employed by
England's King Richard I

in a notorious fight
against Saladin

along the
Mediterranean Sea...

as Richard leads a
crusader army away from

the Christian
stronghold of Acre.

Saladin's troops
harass the Crusader army,

dodging in and out,
attacking the rear flank,

and this is something that
Saladin does on purpose.

He wants to provoke
the Crusaders and

get them to
break formation.

But King Richard keeps
his troops disciplined,

they're patiently waiting.

Shielded on their right
flank by the coastline,

the infantry protects the
horses along the other

three sides in a fighting
box formation.

Saladin's archers blacken
the sky with their arrows.

And this is kind of a
crucial moment because

Saladin thinks that he
has the advantage.

But really, King Richard
is just waiting for

the enemy to
come closer.

It's at that point that some
of Richard's calvary

see an opportunity,
and they charge,

and from there all
hell breaks loose!

The infantry box opens,

and the crusader knights
charge across the battlefield,

destroying half
of Saladin's army.

This is
a deadly route,

thanks in part
to the fighting box,

and a huge victory
for the Crusaders.

What the
Templars do is they

turn the box,
the squadron,

into something that
operates like a single unit.

So, this box thunders
across the battlefield.

The strength is
training people

not to think as individuals,

not to be on the battlefield
as individuals,

not to be on the battlefield
to seek personal glory,

but to seek the
glory of God.

With hard work,

the Templar
transforms physically,

spiritually,
and mentally...

honed into a new
kind of warrior.

He'll need to
deploy these skills

with the right weapons...

And the Templars are
equipped with

the best that
money can buy.

Molded by faith
and constant training,

the Knight Templar must
now be armed with

the best weapons...

and master them all.

To begin, he must
become one with

a thousand-pound
beast of war.

For knights
in the Middle Ages

a horse is everything.

It is fundamental
to knighthood.

What we need to remember
about horses in the

Middle Ages is that they are
weapons, themselves.

Not only are they very heavy,
but they are trained to

kick, and stomp,
and bite, and rear.

They've been trained to
deal with the horrors of the

battlefield, the sounds,
the sight, the smells,

and they are
able to do it.

By the middle
of the 12th century,

the Templars are using such
horses in holy wars

as far away as the
Iberian Peninsula.

And,
in the Holy Land,

the order's increasing
wealth provides them

with stables of
warhorses that are

housed at the
temple mount itself.

For the
Templars especially,

they're mounted knights.

They are a heavy cavalry,

and their horses
are the key to them

being successful in
any military operation.

They have to make sure that
they can fight on horseback.

And so, this starts
with a lance.

The lance is really the primary

and most important
weapon of the knight.

The lance is what
they deliver

their heavy cavalry
shock charge with.

Without the lance,
it wouldn't be possible.

Because the lance is heavy,
the longer that you

hold the lance
down horizontal,

the less accurate you're
going to be with it.

So, you'll ride
with the lance up.

As you get close,

you anticipate the
moment of impact.

You bring the lance down.

They're tucking it
under the armpit and

anchoring it in firm,
coupled with a very high

saddle with front and rear
either side of the rider.

This means that at
the moment of impact,

all of the energy
of the horse...

and the rider are
delivered into

one small point
of that lance,

which means it will
transfix and penetrate

pretty much
anything it hits.

Any armor of the day
can be penetrated by

a lance delivered with the
weight of a horse

moving at speed behind it.

A poorly held lance or

misguided strike could
unseat the Templar,

leaving him exposed
on the battlefield.

It's something that
requires enormous strength,

but it also
requires precision.

You've got to know
what's going to happen

when you strike
the enemy.

You could easily
break your own bones.

You could dislocate
your shoulder.

So you've got to really know
how to use this weapon and

how to not injure
yourself in the process.

What happens when
the lance enters the target?

If it breaks,
that's great.

You've penetrated
the target.

You've taken out
one enemy.

We have records of the
lance going through

an enemy target, and then
it having to be abandoned

because you
can't extract it,

certainly not when
you're moving at speed

on horseback.

So, it's an incredibly
powerful weapon.

And, importantly, the lance
is long enough that

it can outreach a lot of
infantry standing on foot.

Which means that
in this era,

heavy cavalry dominate
the battlefield.

This is really the glory
golden age of heavy cavalry.

Once he has
mastered the lance,

the knight must also prepare
to strike with a weapon

that's more than
mere steel...

It is a holy symbol
of his faith...

His sword.

So the lance works
fantastically

when you're
moving at speed.

But if you come
to a standstill,

or you have lots of
enemies all around you,

the lance can now
become a liability

because it's a
fairly heavy,

fairly cumbersome
weapon.

So in that case, dropping the
lance and going straight to

the sword would be
a fantastic option.

Given the fact that
the Knights Templar are

on horseback, and they're
having to hold a shield

at the same time, they go
for the arming sword,

something that is
slightly lighter,

and that can be
carried on horseback.

The type of sword
used by Templar Knights

is a one handed,
double edged,

cut and thrust sword.

It has a pommel,
which gives some degree

of counterbalance
to the blade,

which enables you
to have quite a long blade.

To be able to reach an
opponent on foot from

horseback, you need
a fairly long blade.

It's excellent for
a chopping type of attack

or a stabbing
type of attack.

With a hacking motion,
it can really,

you know,
cut through the enemy.

As deadly as the
armed knight has become,

one of his most vital
pieces of equipment

is for defensive
purposes...

His state-of-the-art armor.

To be stabbed
in battle...

can be even worse than being
shot in our own modern day,

because what a sword
does when it enters

is to inflict
a major trauma.

It may be that you simply
bleed to death

on the battlefield.

Chainmail is
specifically developed

in order to prevent slashes
from cutting into the body.

You're still going to
get broken bones

if you get hit very hard,

but you're not
going to get those slashes

that can cause cuts
and infection

and actually sever limbs.

It is heavy,
but if you grow up

wearing this armor,
you're going to have

a conditioning that
adapts you to it.

And so it's going to feel
like your second skin.

Chainmail is
really expensive,

but it's very effective

at deflecting even dagger,

sword, but particularly
arrows coming at you,

and it's something that
is really made

specifically for you.

The Templars
are wealthy,

and they understand
that without armor...

they would not be
able to survive

in these battle fields.

There are blacksmiths
who are working

with the order
in the Holy Land,

repairing weapons,
repairing armor,

forging weapons
and forging armor.

Trained and armed,

it is time for the new
Templar knight

to go into battle.

The new
Templar has become

an elite warrior
dedicated to protecting

Christian pilgrims
and the Holy Land.

Now, it is time
to meet the enemy.

Siege combat is
one of the many ways

that Templar are
trained to fight.

Once you climb
over the wall,

they would find themselves
in one-on-one combat.

The Templars use
siege engines to breach the

walls of cities that have
fallen into the hands

of the Muslim enemy.

At the Siege of
Ascalon in 1153,

there's an almost
suicidal charge

by the Knights Templar
into the city.

In a
siege situation,

the knights are fighting
on the walls,

and once that
process takes place,

you're going to be fighting
hand-to-hand with somebody.

The Templar
faces his adversary

knowing this will be a
fight to the death.

You fight
with your eyes.

Then your feet,
then your hands.

But your eyes have
to be on the enemy.

You have to be
almost like a cobra.

You're surveying everything.

Nothing should take
you by surprise.

His opponent's fighting style

emphasizes speed
over power.

There's a huge
contrast between

a Knight Templar
and a Saracen.

Much more
lightly armored.

On the other side,

the Knight Templar really
is a human tank.

The knight's
lifetime of training has

conditioned him to the
weight of his armor.

Chainmail isn't
something that's

cumbersome for a knight.

In fact, it's something
that puts them

into a battle mentality.

A slash from the Saracen's
sword could be deadly...

But the
Templar's chainmail

absorbs and
deflects the attack.

He pivots...

wielding his
preferred weapon,

his arming sword.

The Templars have
this sword that's really

designed for thrusting
and parrying.

I mean, it can have
a terrible effect.

Even if you lose
your sword during combat...

then you've got on
your left hand,

you've got the shield,

which is a very formidable
weapon in its own right.

You can attack with it,
and also create

some distance
from the enemy.

The shields
are kite shields.

They're made of
wood and leather.

And the wood is hardened
to be especially protective

against mace blows
and sword attack.

The Templar is prepared
for every eventuality.

He conceals a
second blade.

They will have
a dagger because

sometimes you were
in close combat,

and you don't
have a sword.

The combat at
this time is all about

trying to get around and
behind the shield.

A savage attack leaves
the Saracen disarmed.

All that is left...

is to strike.

There is no
mercy from the Templar.

Even though they
are very much about

having this honor and
having a holy mission,

when it comes to
actually fighting

in the Middle Ages,
it is not just chivalrous.

It's very dirty and
bloody and scary.

When the enemy
sees them coming,

they know that this is going
to be a fight to the death.

Faith, training,

and brutal combat have
forged the Knight Templar

into a fearless
and resilient warrior.

And the order's success
depends on it...

Because the enemy
is coming...

by the thousands.

The Templar
has been trained

to be an elite killer.

He must now ride out to
battle a superior warrior.

A fearsome and resolute
protector of the Holy Land.

But, by the
late 12th century,

Muslim armies have
grown in power

under the great sultan,
Saladin,

posing an ever
- increasing threat

to the order of Templars.

The Templars are such
an awesome force,

and they bring such terror

to Saladin's soldiers that

the only good Templar for
Saladin is a dead Templar.

All of them, once they are
caught, are put to death.

Saladin's
well trained and

mobile army is a
formidable foe.

They ride these
very fast ponies.

This mounted archery type
of fighting style

enables them to
move very quickly.

They operate in these very
large groups that can kind of

sweep in and overwhelm

a slower moving
Western army.

This is a common

fighting style for the
nomadic groups,

think of the Mongols,
the Huns, etc.

Routinely facing overwhelming odds

in the Holy Land,

the Templar must
outmaneuver his enemy.

The genius of the
Knights Templar is that

very often they
are outnumbered.

They are, after all,
occupiers of the Holy Land.

And yet, it's the way
they operate that

secures them victory at
the end of the day.

If you have inferior
numbers,

it might make more sense
for you to attack first.

And this might
look rash,

but that cavalry charge where
you have all of these knights

moving as one can be
psychologically devastating.

So it can be a really good
advantage to attack first.

This is
perhaps never truer

than at the
Battle of Montgisard.

The prelude to the
Battle of Montgisard is that

the Templars have
headed north

to engage the enemy
up near Syria.

Now Saladin sees
an opportunity.

Saladin decides this
is a perfect opportunity

to bring his
huge Saracen army

up from Egypt in the south,

and capture a relatively
undefended Jerusalem.

And he's going to field this
very large Egyptian army.

On the low end, it was
maybe 12,000 men.

On the high end,

it could have
been 23,000.

Standing between Saladin and

the Kingdom of Jerusalem

is its young ruler,
King Baldwin.

King Baldwin IV
is a teenager.

Sadly, he suffers
from leprosy,

a massively debilitating
and then

untreatable disease.

When Baldwin learns that

Saladin plans to attack
his unprotected kingdom,

he only has a
few hundred

Templar knights at hand.

Baldwin thinks
that he has no chance.

He withdraws into
Ascalon with his forces,

and he hides out there.

When Saladin sees
that King Baldwin

is hiding in Ascalon,
he thinks,

"Okay, the kingdom really
is kind of defenseless.

This is perfect. I can
spread my army out.

We can start sacking
the villages.

We can burn territory."

With a
vast Saracen army

drawing closer
to Jerusalem,

the young king and his
attachment of Templars,

leads a small Christian
army to confront Saladin.

Baldwin forms
whatever army he can.

And this amounts to maybe
a few hundred knights,

and then a couple
thousand infantry.

So, we compare this
to Saladin's army.

He greatly outnumbers
what seems like

an insignificant
crusader force.

But he rallies
the forces around him.

And the one thing
he does is to

bring out the True Cross.

This is the cross,
the wood on which

people believed Jesus was
actually crucified.

It is the most sacred
relic in Jerusalem,

and to bring it out is to

inspire people in a way
that we can't imagine.

So long as they see
their standard flying,

they stay there.

They're not going
anywhere else.

They're going to fight
until the last man.

King Baldwin
and the Templars

forge a plan to intercept
Saladin's forces

at a place called
Montgisard.

The Templars and
Baldwin decided to try to

lure Saladin himself
to follow them

into kind of a trap.

And this is crucial.
Saladin decides,

"Okay, well, the king
is out here trying

to do something, but he's
just got a few hundred

knights with him.
Whatever.

Let's go take him down."

So, Saladin follows
Baldwin and the Templars,

and they lead him to this
area close to Montgisard.

This is an area that
is pretty marshy.

And in fact,
once Saladin gets there,

his baggage train becomes
bogged down in the mud.

This isn't just
food and supplies.

It's also weaponry.

And he's just taken
his eye off the ball.

Once they've got Saladin

exactly where they want him,

the Templars charge
directly at Saladin

with insane courage.

And Saladin
cannot believe

what he's seeing
coming at him.

As the
Templar Fighting Box

advances on the enemy,
it opens,

unleashing the
full force of the Templars.

The warrior monks
charge into battle.

The fighting box is
like a wall of metal and

horse coming at you.

Saladin's soldiers
don't know what to do.

It is a disaster for Saladin.

It's a
devastating execution of

the tactics the Templar
has perfected.

The ferocity of the
crusaders on the battlefield

provokes panic
in the enemy,

and the bulk of
Saladin's army flees.

Saladin is able to escape by
jumping onto a racing camel,

and riding away.

But, his army
is destroyed.

They're being chased
down by the crusaders.

So this is a crazy,
multi-day slaughter.

Everything that the
Knights Templar are about

comes into play at the
battle of Montgisard.

All their tactics,

everything that's
in the rulebook.

It just gets
displayed beautifully.

The Templar victory against
such overwhelming odds

sends a powerful message.

The Battle of
Montgisard is one of the

celebrated battles of the
Knights Templar.

There is an acknowledgment
that the Templars

are a superior
fighting force.

Montgisard really
cements their reputation

as the Invincibles
in the Holy Land.

Bloodied and bruised,

the Templars have
fought with honor,

proving themselves
fearsome defenders

of the Holy Land.

But victory is
always temporary...

And the future uncertain.

The order has
built warriors who carry out

their divine mission
to protect pilgrims...

and strike fear in the
hearts of the enemy.

But after 200 years of
holding the Holy Land,

the rise of a new power
made up of

elite Muslim mercenaries

spells disaster
for the Templars.

Halfway through
the 13th century,

this new Muslim
power emerges,

the Mamluks of Egypt.

They're able to attack these
Templar strongholds with

really overwhelming forces.

The Templars
and all of the Crusaders

are getting pushed back,

until they make a stand
in Acre around 1291.

This is the last
piece of the Holy Land

that the Templars control.

And when
that city falls,

they have nowhere to
go but the sea.

The loss of this,
it's devastating.

The Templars
return to Europe...

But their days
are numbered.

And their downfall is as
violent as their rise.

After the loss of
the Holy Land in 1291,

the Templars are still
a huge organization.

They have enormous
assets and wealth.

The Knights Templar
have long been

in the business of lending
money to monarchs,

especially
King Philip of France.

And he is so badly in debt,
he's essentially

on the verge
of bankruptcy.

King Philip decides to move
against the Knights Templar.

The accusations
that Philip levels against

the Templars are basically
the cookie-cutter accusations

that you hurl at somebody
in the Middle Ages.

They're heretics,
they're homosexuals.

They're wizards.

The accusations against the
Templars are pretty serious.

The kiss of peace was
interpreted as a carnal kiss.

In 1307, famously,
on Friday the 13th,

a date that's gone down
in infamy in history,

arrest warrants
are issued for

all the Knights Templar
in France.

And what happens in
France is different than

what happens
everywhere else,

because legally
in France,

you can torture people in
order to get a confession.

The Templars
who have been arrested

face years of confinement,
torture and,

ultimately,
execution.

In 1312...

The pope officially
dissolves the order.

The Templars'
demise may be

part of what makes
them so unique.

There was this sense
that they had been

unjustly accused,
and this seems to have

probably contributed
to their mystique.

It's very difficult
for us to accept that

an organization,
an institution

like the Templars
could just disappear.

Where did they go?

Do they just sort of vanish
into the smoke of the past?

Or do they survive?

Even as the lights go out
on the Knights Templar,

not all flames
are extinguished.

They're not all
arrested and killed.

Some of them are
even pensioned off,

or allowed to join
another order

or sent to a monastery.

They get lost in
the tides of history,

but these are knights.

These are people who
know how to fight.

There are still active
frontiers in Europe,

and the Templars get
deployed to those frontiers

in Spain and Portugal.

Despite their tragic end,

the Templars' powerful
legacy endures.

More than 700 years
after the crusades,

there are still rumors
that the Templars-

and their treasure-
survive.

Some have never
believed that the Templars

made their enormous wealth
from sheep and cows.

They think that they
discovered the Holy Grail,

the Ark of the Covenant,
and other sacred relics

underneath the Temple Mount,
even that the Templars

deliberately located
themselves there so that

they could start
digging down.

And then, what do they
do with these relics?

Well, that's another
big question.

Their exceptional discipline and

devotion to their cause...

Alongside their
innovations

on and off the
battlefield...

Earn the Knights Templar
a hallowed spot...

among History's
Greatest Warriors.