Knights Templar and Switzerland

The current Knights Templar Headquarters of the OSMTH branch are in Geneva.  This country befits and holds similar many of the most common and closely guarded values of the original Knights Templar. But does that prove a direct Templar link and even a Templar origin? 

Contemporary criticism on Templar fighting

"There were many other complaints against the military orders before 1300. Perhaps the most significant were the divided opinions over their record of fighting the Muslims (and other non-Christians).

Contemporary views on Templar privileges

"But the Templars and the Hospitallers caused particular annoyance because their houses were so widely scattered. Their legal privileges were especially resented. 

Contemporary views on Templar wealth

"Despite their extensive possessions, the Templars and Hospitallers were always claiming to be poverty-stricken. They sent out alms-collectors on a regular basis, to collect money from lay-people and clergy for their work in the Holy Land. Matthew Paris was probably expressing a widely-felt discontent when he wrote around 1245: "The Templars and Hospitallers receive so much income from the whole of Christendom, and, only for defending the Holy Land, swallow down such great revenues as if they sink them into the gulf of the abyss ..." Whatever did they do with all their wealth?

Templar spirituality illustrated in Montsaunès Chapel, France?

The Knights Templar built a commandery at Montsaunès in 1146. The Chapel, completed in 1180 and now the only remaining trace of the commandery, is the present-day church of Montsaunès, the church of Saint-Cristophe-des-Templiers.

Despite 19th century restoration, the church still possesses features of Late Romanesque. It is built of brick, which shows the influence of Toulouse. The carved capitals round the two doorways are themselves worth a visit, clearly showing the influence of Toulouse sculpture.(...) Inside the church are some 13th century murals remarkable for the predominance of geometric and symbolic shapes. The murals have been object of, sometimes esoterically inspired, research.

Contemporary criticism of the Knights Templar

"Criticism arose which tended to fluctuate with events. During a crusade, while crusaders wrote home with accounts of the military orders' courage and self-sacrifice, criticism was overlooked. Between crusades, as Europeans received news of territorial losses to the Muslims, they forgot the military orders' heroism and concluded that these defeats were God's punishment for sin. For surely God would not allow godly men to suffer such set backs...

The Crusades: not anti-Muslim but to stop internal Christian violence?

"A key area where historians focus their attention on the crusades is at the origin of the religious conflict between Islam and Christianity. This is problematic for two key reasons.

Jaques de Molay 1314-2014 - Paris Event March 2014, France

Pictures of the 2014 Jacques de Molay Event in Paris, presented by ordo-balliolensis.eu 

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The origin of The Knights Templar through early 12th century eyes

"Few scholars have approached the Knights Templar from the beginning, examining their creation in terms of where the order originates and why it was created. This makes this area largely unique and untouched, and the motivation of Bernard of Clairvaux’s (a major actor in the juvenil Cistercian Order) for helping form the order has been largely overlooked.