In a play on words Oregonian sports columnist John Canzano likened the gathering together of Phil Knight , Jim Bartko and Pat Kilkenny, to build a new basketball arena for the University of Oregon, to the return of the Knights Templar's to Eugene ....so a little history lesson is in order.
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici), popularly known as the Knights Templar or the Order of the Temple, were the first and among the most famous of the Christian military orders. The organisation, which existed for approximately two centuries in the Middle Ages, was created in the aftermath of the First Crusade of 1096 to ensure the safety of the large numbers of European pilgrims who flowed toward Jerusalem after its conquest.
Officially endorsed by the church in 1129, the Order became a favoured charity across Europe, and grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights, easily recognisable in their white mantle with a distinct red cross, made some of the best equipped, trained, and disciplined fighting units of the Crusades.[3] Non-warrior members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, innovating many financial techniques that were an early form of banking,[4] and building numerous fortifications throughout Europe and the Holy Land.
The success of the Templars was tied closely to the success of the Crusades. When the Holy Land was lost and the Templars suffered crushing defeats, support for the Order's existence faltered. Rumours about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony caused mistrust, and King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, began pressuring Pope Clement V to take action. Things came to a head on Friday, October 13, 1307, when King Philip caused many of the Order's members in France to be arrested, tortured into "confessions", and burned at the stake.[5] In 1312, Pope Clement, under further pressure from King Philip, forcibly disbanded the entire Order. The sudden disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the name "Templar" alive in modern fiction.
The above information is from the Internet encyclopedia wikipodia to read the rest of it's listing click on the title for a link.
