It Took the Templars 20 Years to Get to the Battle

The first recorded battle involving the Knights Templar was the Battle of Teqoa (Casal Techue), south of Jerusalem, in 1138. Twenty years (!) after the order was born and nine years (!!) after it was officially approved by the Church.

Contrary to a popular misconception, the Templars did not take part in the “Damascus crusade” in 1129. They only recruited the crusaders; actually, this crusade was unique because its recruitment was undertaken entirely by agents of the King of Jerusalem Baldwin II (the whole endeavor was his brainchild).

Officially, the key recruiter was Hughes de Payens, the first Grand Master of the Templars (hence the popular misconception) … however, he had neither the status nor connections in Europe nor diplomatic experience for such a campaign.

Hence, there is little doubt that the real lead recruiter was the “shadow Grand Master” of Knights Templar Hugh of Champagne (most likely assisted by his strategic partner Bernard of Clairvaux).

Although the crusade failed to obtain official support of the Pope Honorius II, the recruiting drive was very successful (not surprising at all given the clout of Hugh and Bernard). It is unknown how many crusaders Hugh recruited in Europe.  But both Christian and Muslim sources agree that the army was a large one.

The Pope apparently was a good judge of military endeavors – the crusade failed to meet its military objectives. Ditto for the Battle of Teqoa (a minor encounter). In fact, practically all first battles of Templars were defeats, because the Seljuk Turks and other Muslim powers used different tactics than those in Europe at that time – and it took the knights quite some time to adapt.

A force of Templars led by their second Grand Master, Robert de Craon, was sent to retake the town after it was captured by Muslims. They were initially successful, but the Muslims regrouped outside the town and took it back from the Templars.

Why did it take the Templars so long to get to the battlefield? As there is no evidence that they ever were involved in protecting the pilgrims, the most likely reason was that their primary objective was to protect the Ark of the Covenant and Jerusalem. In other words, initially they were a security force, not shock troops.

Only when Hugh or Robert was sure that both the Ark and the city were sufficiently secure, he dispatched whoever was available to the battlefield. A bad decision – the losses were very high (the area was “strewn with Templar bodies”).