List of Famous Knights Templar Members ranked by fame and popularity. The Knights Templar was a powerful organization comprised of a wealthy Christian membership. They rose to power during the Crusades and quickly dwindled after the Holy Land was captured by Saladin's armies. The motto of the Knights Templar was “Not to us Lord, not to us, but to Your Name give the glory.” Here is a list of some of the most famous members of the Knights Templar.
Who is the most famous Knights Templar member? Afonso I of Portugal, also known as Afonso Henriques, tops our list. Henriques went on to become the first king of Portugal and spent most of his life at war with the Moors. Geoffroi de Charney dedicated his life to the Order of Knights Templar. He was arrested by King Philip IV of France, tortured until he admitted to the crimes against him and he was eventually burned at the stake.
Hugue de Payens was a co-founder of the Knights Templar and became the groups first Grand Master. Hugue de Payens led the organization for almost twenty years. Robert de Craon succeeded Payens as Grand Master and was known to be a great legislator and organizer, though his military skills were lacking.
What do you think of the Knights Templar and their involvement with the Crusades. Share your thoughts in the comments section.
Afonso I (European Portuguese: [ɐˈfõsu]; 1106 / 25 July 1109 / August 1109 / 1111 – 6 December 1185), nicknamed the Conqueror (Portuguese: O Conquistador), the Founder (O Fundador) or the Great (O Grande) by the Portuguese, and El-Bortukali [in Arabic البرتقالي] ("the Portuguese") and Ibn-Arrink or Ibn Arrik [in Arabic ابن الرَّنك or ابن الرَنْق] ("son of Henry", "Henriques") by the Moors whom he fought, was the first King of Portugal. He achieved the independence of the southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia, the County of Portugal, from Galicia's overlord, the King of León, in 1139, establishing a new kingdom and doubling its area with the Reconquista, an objective that he pursued until his death in 1185, after forty-six years of wars against the Moors.
This article is about the Knight Templar, the French Norman knight who died in 1314 being burned at the stake.
For the knight of same name who wrote The Book of Chivalry and died in the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 and may have been Geoffroi (Guy's) De Charney's descendant, see Geoffroi de Charny.
Geoffroi de Charney, (first name sometimes spelled Geoffrey, surname sometimes spelled de Charnay and de Charny), also known as Guy d'Auvergne ("The Boy from Auvergne"), was Preceptor of Normandy for the Knights Templar. Charney was accepted into the Order of Knights Templar at a young age by Amaury de la Roche, the Preceptor of France. Present at the ceremony was brother Jean le Franceys, Preceptor of Pédenac. In 1307 de Charny was arrested, along with the entire Order of Knights Templar in France, and in 1314 was burned at the stake.
Hugues de Payens or Payns (c. 1070 – 24 May 1136) was the co-founder and first Grand Master of the Knights Templar. In association with Bernard of Clairvaux, he created the Latin Rule, the code of behavior for the Order.
Hugues de Lionne (11 October 1611 – 1 September 1671) was a French statesman.
He was born in Grenoble, of an old family of Dauphiné. Early trained for diplomacy, he fell into disgrace under Cardinal Richelieu, but his remarkable abilities attracted the notice of Cardinal Mazarin, who sent him as secretary of the French embassy to the congress of Munster, and, in 1642, on a mission to the pope.
In 1646 he became secretary to the queen regent Anne of Austria; in 1653 obtained high office in the kings household; and in 1654 was ambassador extraordinary at the election of Pope Alexander VII.
On the death of Ferdinand III, Hugues co-led the French effort to select an Emperor outside the Habsburg family. He and the Cardinal cultivated relationships with German nobility, including Franz Egon of Fürstenberg, prime minister of Cologne, and his brother William. With their help, Hugues was instrumental in forming the league of the Rhine, by which Austria was cut off from the Spanish Netherlands, and, as minister of state, was associated with Mazarin in the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), which secured the marriage of Louis XIV to the infanta Maria Theresa of Spain.
At the cardinals dying request he was appointed his successor in foreign affairs, a position he held from 3 April 1663 to 1 September 1671. Among his most important diplomatic successes were the Treaty of Breda (1667), the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668) and the Sale of Dunkirk.
He died in Paris in 1671, leaving memoirs. His friend Arnauld de Pomponne replaced him as secretary of State.
He was a man of pleasure, but his natural indolence gave place to an unflagging energy when the occasion demanded it; and, in an age of great ministers, his consummate statesmanship placed him in the front rank.
One of his sons, Artus de Lionne, became a missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, and was active in Siam (modern Thailand) and China.
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 or 1147 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Norman French: Williame li Mareschal, French: Guillaume le Maréchal), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He served five English kings – Henry II, his sons the "Young King" Henry, Richard I, John, and John's son Henry III.
Knighted in 1166, he spent his younger years as a knight errant and a successful tournament competitor; Stephen Langton eulogized him as the "best knight that ever lived."
In 1189, he became the de facto Earl of Pembroke through his marriage to Isabel de Clare, though the title of earl would not be officially granted until 1199 during the second creation of the Pembroke Earldom. In 1216, he was appointed protector for the nine-year-old Henry III, and regent of the kingdom.
Before him, his father's family held a hereditary title of Marshal to the king, which by his father's time had become recognized as a chief or master Marshalcy, involving management over other Marshals and functionaries. William became known as 'the Marshal', although by his time much of the function was delegated to more specialized representatives (as happened with other functions in the King's household). Because he was an Earl, and also known as the Marshal, the term "Earl Marshal" was commonly used and this later became an established hereditary title in the English Peerage. All Kings of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom since James VI and I have been cognatic descendants of William Marshal through his great-great-grandson Robert the Bruce.
André de Montbard (5 November c. 1097 – 17 January 1156) was the fifth Grand Master of the Knights Templar and also one of the founders of the Order.
The Montbard family came from Hochadel in Burgundy, and André was an uncle of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, being a half-brother of Bernard's mother Aleth de Montbard.
She had married Tescelin Sorus, a knight, the father of Bernard.
He entered the Order in 1129 and went to Palestine, where he quickly rose to the rank of seneschal, deputy and second-in-command to the Grand Master. After the Siege of Ascalon on 22 August 1153, André was elected Grand Master to replace Bernard de Tremelay, who had been killed during an assault on the city on 16 August.
He died on 17 January 1156, in Jerusalem and was succeeded by Bertrand de Blanchefort.
