ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

History of the Knights Templar

Okay kiddo, so a long, long time ago, there were some people called the Knights Templar. They were a special group of knights who were really good at fighting and they had a very important job to do. Their job was to protect people who were going to visit holy places like Jerusalem, which is a very important city for many different religions.

The Knights Templar were started in the year 1119 by some knights who wanted to do more than just fight in wars. They wanted to help people on their spiritual journeys and serve God. They did this by creating a special organization that was like a club or a team. They had rules and a special way of dressing, which was all white with a red cross on their chests.

Over time, the Knights Templar became very rich and powerful. They were trusted with a lot of money and they had lots of land all over Europe. This made some people jealous and they started to spread rumors about the Knights Templar. They said that they did bad things like worshipping demons and being involved in secret affairs.

These rumors got worse and worse until finally, the Pope at the time decided that the Knights Templar were bad and something needed to be done about them. So in the year 1312, the Pope disbanded the Knights Templar and took all their money and property away from them. Many of the knights were arrested and some were even killed for things they didn't do.

After that, the Knights Templar disappeared and became a sort of legend. People still talk about them today and they are often featured in movies, books, and video games. Some people believe that the Knights Templar had secrets that they kept hidden before they were disbanded, and many historians still research them today to try and learn more about this mysterious and fascinating group of knights.