chronology \ The Knights Templar

1120: Knights Templar founded to protect Christians visiting Jerusalem from bandits.

1307: King Philip IV of France, in desperate need of money, confiscated Templar property, accused them of heresy, sodomy and blasphemy. Many were tortured into confessions while others escaped or were killed.

1312: Pope Clement V disbanded the Knights, declaring their innocence but saying they’d been so badly defamed they could not continue.

1804: International Knights Templar is founded. It’s one of dozens of Templar groups (and thousands of Knights and Dames) that sprouted in the centuries after the medieval warrior monks were disbanded.

2003: Fictional best seller “The Da Vinci Code” is released, renewing interest in the Knights Templar and leading to misconceptions about Templar groups and their origins.

Sources: Helen Nicholson, reader of medieval history at Cardiff University in Wales; Katherine Kurtz, author of Knights Templar books; International Knights Templar