The order was founded in 1118 by the Burgundian knight Yves de Faillon, with the aim of protecting pilgrims traveling to the Holy Places. The order's official name, the "Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon," comes from their place of residence - on the Temple Mount, where its members took over the el-Aqsa Mosque, known as the "Temple of Solomon" by the Crusaders. The Templars enlarged the el-Aqsa Mosque to the west, building a refectory with three long halls there. In addition, they built partitions to divide up the mosque's prayer hall into cells. They used the vaults supporting the Temple Mount structures as stables, as described by John of Wurtzburg (1160-1170): "When you descend to the main street, there is a great gate through which one may enter the great courtyard of the Temple. On the right side, toward the south, is the palace which they say that Solomon built. Within it are stables, so huge that they can hold more than two thousand horses or 1,500 camels, and near this palace the Templar knights have many great houses and there are also the foundations of a great new church which is not yet finished. This order has enormous property and endless revenues in this region and in other places. This allows them to give alms to the poor, though not as a tithe, as the Hospitallers do. The order also has many knights for the defense of the land of the Christians." |