This book recounts and analyzes the Templars' rise and establishment during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, reflects on the proceedings launched against it and its subsequent fall (1307-1314), and explores its medieval and post-medieval legacy.

Introduction Part I: Rise 1. Andrew de Baudement and the Early Years of the Templars in Champagne 2. The Templars' Land Acquisition Policy in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, c. 1130-1187 3. The Templars and the Rulers of the Christian East: Collaboration or Conflict of Interest? 4. The Templars as Milites Christi and Martyrs in God's Army (1180-1307): Byzantine Saints as Devotional, Artistic, and Military Models in Southwestern France 5. Collata beneficio filii Dei militibus suis: Templar Spirituality at the Fortress of 'Atlit in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem 6. The Templar Castles of Barberà, Gardeny, and Miravet: Status quaestionis Part II: Fall 7. The "Lost Boys" of the Templars: Some Remarks on the Life of the Templar Corsair Roger de Flor 8. The Templars' Banking Activities and Their Potential Connections to the Order's Demise 9. Fugitives during the Templar Trial 10. The Trial of the Templars in Britain and Ireland 11. The Trial of the Templars in Germany Part III: Legacy 12. The Templar Trial and the Teutonic Order 13. The Image of the Templars in Modern Castilian Nobiliary Treatises: A Note on Juan Benito Guardiola (1530-1600) 14. Colliding Perceptions: Italian Views of the Templar Trial from Contemporary Authors to Angelo Fumagalli's Delle antichità longobardico-milanesi (1792) 15. From Legend to Reality: Recent Historiography on the Templar Order