History Declassified

The Knights Templar – Bankers of God

Option 3 Media

They began as humble knights sworn to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land.
Within two centuries, they commanded fleets, fortresses, and a financial network that stretched across Christendom.
The Knights Templar were the world’s first international organisation — trusted by nobles, feared by monarchs, and answerable only to the Pope.

But independence made them dangerous.
In 1307, France’s King Philip IV accused them of heresy, seized their wealth, and burned their leaders at the stake.
Behind the religious charges lay debt, politics, and a struggle for absolute control.

This episode of History Declassified uncovers how the Templars built the foundations of modern banking — and how power destroyed what it could no longer command.

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