In 1118, in the reign of Baldwin II, the Knights Templar were founded by Hugh de Payen to protect pilgrim routes in the Holy Land. They were granted quarters in Jerusalem on the site of the Temple of Soloman; hence the name Knights of the Temple, or Knights Templar. By the 1300's the Templars had collected enough rewards from grateful nobility and rich pilgrims that the order owned large land holdings in Europe and great sums of gold. In fact this warrior order began to be known for their banking as well as their military prowess. Unfortunately, this largess made the Order several envious enemies. In 1307 King Philip I of France, facing a financially ruined French kingdom, solved his problem by seizing all property and assets of the Templar Order. He had the Knights arrested and imprisoned under a wide array of false charges, from Satanism to Homosexuality, to Conspiring with Muslim Unbelievers. Under severe torture many Knights confessed to anything Philip wanted. At this time the Papacy was located in Avignon, and the Holy See usually did whatever his French Master wanted. And so a Papal Bull was issued that dissolved the Order and made all their lands and holdings across Europe and the Middle East forfeit. Knights were arrested everywhere. Only one King refused to obey this decree; Robert the Bruce of Scotland. On March 27th, 1306 Robert had been crowned King, and in his battle with King Edward of England for Scottish independence, he and all the people of Scotland had already been excommunicated by the Pope's legate in Carlisle. Consequently the Pope's decree against the Templars held no weight with the Scots. Robert issued no Order of Suppression and in a formal Scotland courtroom trial the charges against the Order were found "Not Proven". Under its excommunicated King, Scotland provided a safe haven for fugitive Templars. These men came to Scottish shores by the boatload, many carrying only the clothes they escaped with. They were poor, but ready to defend their only haven in the world. By Midsummer's Day, 1314 (The Feast Day of John the Baptist) June 24th, Robert the Bruce stood on the field of Bannockburn. With him stood Highlanders, and men of the Scottish Lowlands. And enough veteran Templar Knights to form whole companies. The horse flesh of Scotland was too weak to be real warhorses, so the Knights usually fought on foot. Many of the Templars were scattered amongst the Scots in various commands, but there is enough uncertainty, that you could argue for a separate Templar shiltron. To that effect you could make the following changes to rcflect this situation; Advanced Armati: Scottish Army (Age of Chivalry) add this unit 1-FT 6 [2] 0 +2 Spears (counts toward breakpoint) DBA version 2.0 IV/16. Scots Common Army. 1124-1512AD substitute 1x4Bd for 1xPk. Axes and Arrows: 1 Scottish Pike unit adds +2 to melee and morale die roll. Back to Table of Contents The Messenger August 2001 Back to The Messenger List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by HMGS/PSW. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com