Officially endorsed by the church in 1129, the Order became a favored charity across Europe and grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights, easily recognisable in their white mantle with a distinct red cross, made some of the best equipped, trained, and disciplined fighting units of the Crusades.

 Non-warrior members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, innovating many financial techniques that were an early form of banking, and building numerous fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land.

The Templars' success was tied closely to the success of the Crusades. When the Holy Land was lost and the Templars suffered crushing defeats, support for the Order's existence faded. Rumors about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created mistrust, and King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, began pressuring Pope Clement V to take action. On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip had the Order's members in France arrested, tortured into "confessions", and burned at the stake.

 In 1312, Pope Clement, under continuing pressure from King Philip, forcibly disbanded the entire Order. The sudden disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the name "Templar" alive in modern fiction.

Information courtesy of Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia.

Knights Templar Titanium Ring