The Knights Templar were not easily scared in fact they thought death was a blessing given their religious beliefs.
Because the Templar knights believed wholeheartedly in their mission they considered it an honor to die in battle as they would be assured a place in heaven!
This was probably a good thing as the knights’ templar were ‘shock troops’ that were on the front line, they were always in the thick of things in battle and specialized in breaking up enemy front lines and causing fear and disarray amongst enemy troops front-lines.
Unlike other Orders like the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights whose main purpose was to protect and care for the ill, injured, and dying. The Knights Templar was created simply as a fearsome fighting force.
Because of this willingness to ‘get stuck in’ the Knights Templar were always being injured or killed and because of the violent martial nature of their order, it often was often, only a short-term vocation!
Well, they didn’t lose their heads, they had their heads chopped off to be more accurate. Grand Master Gérard de Ridefort was beheaded during the Siege of Acre by the infamous Muslim Leader Saladin in the year 1189.
Muslim Leader Saladin
Grand Master Bernard de Tremelay and an army of around 40 Templar Knights were also beheaded during the Siege of Ascalon in 1153 – Ascalon was Fatimid Egypt’s greatest and most important frontier fortress City!
Siege of Ascalon
Bernard de Tremelay and his knights were surprised to find themselves alone in the city as the rest of their crusader army had failed to follow them through the breached city walls.
Bernard de Tremelay Coat of Arms
Inside the city walls, they became quickly outnumbered and surrounded by the city’s local population who attacked, killed, and chopped off all their heads, including that of Grand Master Bernard de Tremelay.
Coat of Arms Gérard de Ridefort
King Philip IV owed the Templars a lot of money, so he convinced his friend Pope Clement V that the Templars were guilty of heresy and other crimes and plotted to have them arrested.
On Friday the 13th of 1307 a large number of Templar knights were arrested and tortured until they confessed to heresy in the Order.
Templar Leaders Burned at the Stake
The organization was then disbanded, Jacques de Molay The only remaining Grand Master was taken prisoner and burned at the Stake in Paris – the year was 1314.
Templars Burned at the Stake