Knights Templar (Freemasonry)
The Knights Templar, full name The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta, is a fraternal order affiliated with Freemasonry. Unlike the initial degrees conferred in a regular Masonic Lodge, which (in all Regular Masonic jurisdictions) only require a belief in a Supreme Being regardless of religious affiliation, the Knights Templar is one of several additional Masonic Orders in which membership is open only to Freemasons who profess a belief in Christianity. One of the obligations entrants to the order are required to declare is to protect and defend the Christian faith. The word "United" in its full title indicates that more than one historical tradition and more than one actual order are jointly controlled within this system. The individual orders 'united' within this system are principally the Knights of the Temple (Knights Templar), the Knights of Malta, the Knights of St Paul, and only within the York Rite, the Knights of the Red Cross.
History of Jerusalem during the Kingdom of Jerusalem
The second order was the Knights Templar, founded in 1118. Its official function, as stated in the founders' declaration, was to protect the Crusader kingdom in the Holy Land and the pilgrims' access to the holy places in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Alongside the protection of pilgrims, the Templars provided a significant military force that included thousands of soldiers, with several hundred knights, in defense of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Templars established their headquarters at Al-Aqsa Mosque and over time added complex structures and strengthened the fortifications. Benjamin of Tudela said that "300 knights" out of Solomon's Temple were ready to fight the enemies of the Christian faith.