The Templars: The Rise, Fall, and Legacy of a Military Religious Order

As the oldest of the military religious orders and the one with an unexpected and dramatic downfall, the knighthood of the Templars continues to fascinate academics and students as well as the public at large. A collection of fifteen chapters accompanied by a historical introduction, The Templars: The Rise, Fall, and Legacy of a Military Religious Order recounts and analyzes this community’s rise and establishment in both the crusader states of the eastern Mediterranean and the countries of western Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, reflects on the proceedings launched against it and its subsequent fall (1307–1314), and explores its medieval and post-medieval legacy, including an assessment of current research pertaining to the Templars and suggestions for future explorations. Showcasing a wide range of methodological approaches and primary source materials, this volume unites historical, art-historical, theological, archaeological, and historiographical perspectives, and it features the work and voices of scholars from various academic generations who reside in eight different countries (Israel, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, and the United States of America).

Jochen Burgtorf is Professor of Medieval World History at California State University, Fullerton (USA). His work encompasses the crusades, military orders, papacy, refugees, law, and the Vikings. His publications include The Central Convent of Hospitallers and Templars (2008), The Debate on the Trial of the Templars (1307–1314) (2010, with Paul F. Crawford and Helen J. Nicholson), The Templars, the Hospitallers, and the Crusades (2020, with Helen J. Nicholson), as well as articles in Ordines Militares, Fourteenth Century England, and Crusades Subsidia.

Shlomo Lotan is a Lecturer at Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan (Israel). His research focuses on urban planning theory, crusades, and military orders. His publications include The Teutonic Order in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (2012, in Hebrew), as well as articles in Ordines Militares, Analecta Theutonica I (2014), Fear and Loathing in the North: Jews and Muslims in Medieval Scandinavia and the Baltic Region (2015), and The Military Orders VII (2019).

Enric Mallorquí-Ruscalleda (Ph.D., Princeton University) works at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (USA). An internationally acclaimed scholar and author, he is the editor-in-chief of Studia Iberica et Americana, the editorial co-director of the Centro de Estudos Medievais: Oriente & Ocidente (University of São Paulo), a member of numerous editorial boards as well as international and interdisciplinary research groups, and a member of the Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española.