Our fear of the date Friday the 13th is rooted in what became of the Knights Templar back in 1307. If you're a fan of Dan Brown's books, you've probably heard of The Knights Templar. They were a Catholic military order created in 1119 to protect pilgrims and crusaders in the Holy Land. The Templars' headquarters was located on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, once the site of the ancient Temple of Solomon. The Temple Mount is home to the Western Wall, the only remaining part of the Temple, which is a holy site for Jews, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock, which are Muslim holy sites. Known for their white tunics displaying the Templar Cross, the Templars were considered highly skilled fighters during the Crusades. They were heavily armored, highly trained, and they enjoyed a reputation for courage. When joining the order, new recruits had to sign over all their wealth and goods and take vows of poverty, chastity, piety, and obedience. However, the Templars' real skill lay not on the battlefield, but in finance. They are credited with inventing the modern banking system, where a traveler could give his purse of money to Templars in say, England, receive a letter of credit, then travel to his destination without fear of being robbed. Once there, he would receive the amount of money he had originally deposited. The Templars became a favored charity throughout Christendom, and they were awarded money, land, and businesses. These businesses often included import-export, manufacturing, and banking. On the donated land, they established farms and vineyards, and they built a series of great cathedrals and castles. In England, Templar buildings include Temple Church in Bristol, Denny Abbey in Cambridgeshire, Temple Sowerby in Cumbria, Temple Dinsley in Hertfordshire, and Templars Square, Oxfordshire. In London, buildings built by the Templars retain the word "Temple" in their names, and these include Temple Church, London, which gave its name to the surrounding area, now known simply as 'Temple'. In 1139, Pope Innocent II issued a papal bull that gave the Templars the freedom to cross all borders and exempted them from paying taxes and from the local authority. The Templars even owned their own fleet of ships, and at one time they ruled over the island of Cyprus. The Templars could be considered the world's first multinational corporation, having a presence in France, Poitou, Anjou, Jerusalem, England, Aragon (Spain), Portugal, Italy, Tripoli, Antioch, Hungary, and Croatia. Knights in each region were governed by a Master of the Order for the Templars for that region, and at the very top of the organization was a Templar Grand Master, who was appointed for life. At their height, the Templars had an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 members, however, only around a tenth of them were actual knights. By 1305, there were almost 1,000 Templar Houses scattered across Europe, and their money lending business was going strong.
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