Templar Presence in Switzerland - fact or fiction

The presence of the Knights Templar in what is now Switzerland was never extensive, but it is historically attested. What are the facts?

Assassins and Templars - Faith, Fear and Myth Revisited

Steve Tibble’s Assassins and Templars: A Battle in Myth and Blood revisits two of the most mysterious movements of the medieval world: the Islamic Nizari Isma‘ilis (popularly known as the “Assassins”) and the Christian military order of the Templars. Both groups, he argues, were far less exotic than legend suggests yet far more central to the history of medieval warfare, diplomacy, and ideology. What they shared was their religous background bound by faith and a readiness to die. Some reviews.

The Flight of the Templar Master of Lombardy (1308) - blow to Papal Credibility

The general perception is that on 13 October 1307, all Knights Templar in France were arrested. This is not accurate. At some places in France Knights Templar were safe. Or were they?
This is the story of Giacomo da Montecucco, Knight Templar, in 1307 General Preceptor ("Master") of the Templar Knights of Lombardy, Tuscia, Land of Rome and of Sardinia ànd one of two personal Chamberlains to Pope Clement V at Poitiers.

The Flemish Templars: From Commandery to Inquisition, 1307–1312

The history of the Knights Templar in the County of Flanders, starting as early as 1127, is marked by establishment, socio-political entanglement, and eventual dissolution, set against major conflicts like the Franco-Flemish war of 1297-1305 and the arrests of 1307. 

Bernard's conversion - a family matter of spiritual and material importance

When the young squire Bernard de Fontaine, the later Cistercian abbot Bernard de Clairvaux, entered monastic life at Citeaux, he was not alone. At the time and later all members of his knightly family from the Duchy of Burgundy, rather than pursuing dynastic or political ambitions, embraced monastic life. Their story illustrates the importance of lay monks (monachi laici), men who entered religious communities as adults without clerical education or fluency in Latin, yet went on to hold positions of influence in monastic estates.