The Templars.
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar or simply the Templars, were a Catholic military order founded in 1119 and recognised in 1139 by the papal bull Omne datum optimum. The order was active until 1312 when it was perpetually suppressed by Pope Clement V by the bull Vox in excelso.
The Templars became a favoured charity throughout Christendom and grew rapidly in membership and power. They were prominent in Christian finance. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the order, who made up as much as 90% of their members, managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, developing innovative financial techniques that were an early form of banking, building its own network of nearly 1,000 commanderies and fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land, and arguably forming the world's first multinational corporation.
The Templars were closely tied to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the order faded. Rumours about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created distrust, and King Philip IV of France – deeply in debt to the order – took advantage of this distrust to destroy them and erase his debt. In 1307, he had many of the order's members in France arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and burned at the stake. Pope Clement V disbanded the order in 1312 under pressure from King Philip. The abrupt reduction in power of a significant group in European society gave rise to speculation, legend, and legacy through the ages.
An Illustrated History of the Knights Templar by James Wasserman
Crusade Against the Grail. The Struggle between the Cathars, the Templars, and the Church of Rome by Otto Rahn
Crusade of Fire. Mystical Tales of the Knights Templar by Kurtz Katherine
Cryptic Code. The Templars in America and the Origins of the Hooked X by Scott F. Wolter
Debate on the Trial of the Templars (1307-1314)
Dungeon, Fire and Sword. The Knights Templar in the Crusades by John J. Robinson
First Templar Nation: How Eleven Knights Created a New Country and a Refuge for the Grail by Freddy Silva
Jesse James and the Lost Templar Treasure. Secret Diaries, Coded Maps, and the Knights of the Golden Circle by Daniel J. Duke
Knights Templar Encyclopedia: The Essential Guide to the People, Places, Events, and Symbols of the Order of the Temple by Karen Ralls
Knights Templar in Britain by Lord Evelyn
Knights Templar Tactics and Drill (1871)
Love, War and the Grail. Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights in Medieval Epic and Romance by Helen J. Nicholson
Legends of the Middle Ages. The History and Legacy of the Knights Templar by Charles River Editors
Secrets of the Knights Templar S. J. Hodge
Sworn in Secret: Freemasonry and the Knights Templar by Sanford Holst
Templars and Hospitallers as Professed Religious in the Holy Land by Jonathan Riley-Smith
Tactics and Manual for Knights Templars by H. B. Grant
Templar Communities in Medieval Champagne by Michael Joseph Peixoto
Templar Knight vs Mamluk Warrior - 1218-50 by David Campbell
Templar Secrets by Andreas Economou
Templars in America: From the Crusades to the New World by Tim Wallace-Murphy and Marilyn Hopkins
Templars. History and Myth. From Solomon's Temple to the Freemasons by Haag Michael
The Catholic Church’s Most Influential Religious Military Orders: The Controversial and Mysterious History of the Knights Templar, the Teutonic Knights, and the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
The Crusades. The authoritative history of the war for the Holy Land
The History of The Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple by Charles G. Addison (1842)
The Grand Encampment of Knights Templar (1864)
The Knights Templar: The Hidden History of the Knights Templar: The Church’s Oldest Conspiracy by Conrad Bauer
The Knights Templars by Yahya Harun
The Knights Templar. Brief History of the Crusades
The Knights Templar of the Middle East by Michael James Alexander Stewart
The Middle Ages in 50 Objects by Elina Gertsman
The Primitive Rule of the Templars by Bernard de Clairvaux and Hugues de Payens
The Secret Rituals of the O.T.O, Ordo Templi Orientis (Ancient Order of Oriental Templars) by Francis King (Editor)
The Templar Code For Dummies by Christopher Hodapp, Alice Von Kannon
The Templar Mission to Oak Island and Beyond: Search for Ancient Secrets: The Shocking Revelations of a 12th Century Manuscript by Zena Halpern
The Templar Order in North-west Italy, 1142-c.1330 by Elena Bellomo
The Templar papers: ancient mysteries, secret societies, and the Holy Grail by Olsen Oddvar
The Templar pirates. The secret alliance to build the new Jerusalem by Ernesto Frers
The Templars and the Assassins by James Wasserman
The Templars and the shroud of Christ by Barbara Frale
The Templars: The History and the Myth: From Solomon's Temple to the Freemasons by Michael Haag
The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors by Dan Jones
The Templars, the Witch, and the Wild Irish. Vengeance and Heresy in Medieval Ireland by Maeve Brigid Callan
The Tragedy of the Templars by Michael Haag
The Trial of the Templars by Malcolm Barber