Templars

"May the Father of Understanding guide us."

- Templar motto

The Templars, also known as the Knights Templar during the Middle Ages, are a corporate giant formed during the pre-history. The Templars sought to create a perfect world, although the means by which they sought to do so were questionable. Because of this, they were the sworn enemies of the Assassin Order, who believe that Man should not be controlled by a higher power and are subject to free will, even if it means a flawed humanity. With these contrasting ideologies, the two groups have fought over the course of thousands of years for the control and fate of humanity.

Ideals and goals
The military order of the Templars was founded publicly in 1129 to counter the increasing threat against the Holy Land by the Saracens, and to protect the city of Jerusalem. Over time, the Templars began to believe it within their power to unite the world in peace. Their system of belief changed greatly upon the discovery of the Pieces of Eden; the realization of the non-existence of God led the Order to become atheistic, although they publicly maintained the pretense of following the Christian ways so as to not lose the support of the Church.

Realizing the power that the Pieces of Eden held over man, the Templars began to seek out the artifacts. In 1191, Robert de Sable, then the Grand Master of the Order, personally sought the fabled Apple of Eden, buried in the catacombs beneath Solomon's Temple. The theft of the piece of Eden by the Order of Assassins brought the two great powers into a sustained conflict with one another, ending with the death of Armand Bouchart in Limassol. Despite this setback, the Order maintained its belief in creating a world of peace through manipulation of the Pieces of Eden.

By their reasoning, with no afterlife or ultimate punishment or reward after death, there was no reason to oblige notions of morality or ethics: the end always justified the means, no matter how heinous those means were. They thought that only this life was important, rather than preparing for a non-existent next life. With so many lower class people kept in line by the promise of an afterlife, and so many upper class men blissfully ignoring such ideals, the Templars vowed to make a better world; one of lasting peace, no matter what the cost.

As time progressed, the Templars' interest in the Pieces of Eden became more about seeking the power and domination that the artifacts offered. Their goals changed as they sought to control and unify the entire world using the Pieces of Eden to create a "New World Order".

Prehistory
The Templar Order was likely founded by Cain, whose 'mark' was used as the Templars' crest. The Templars quickly became the arch-enemies of the Assassins, who, as opposed to the Templars, fought to allow the people to retain free will.

Roman era
During the Roman era, the Templars went under the alias "Senatus Populusque Romanus", ruling the Roman Empire. However, their rule was interupted by the Assassins, who would assassinate high Roman officials, going as far as to assassinate the Emperors, such as Caligula.

During the 1th century, the Templars found out that one of the Pieces of Eden, the Shroud, was in the hands of Jesus Christ. Wanting the Piece for their own purposes, the Templars crucified Christ to gain it.

Formation as a Knightly Order
During the Middle Ages, the Templars removed themselves from the underground and founded themselves as a Knightly Order, the Knights Templar.

In the 1129 Council of Troyes, the Order was officially recognised by the church, and in 1139, Pope Innocent II granted them diplomatic immunity in all provinces and territories and exemption from taxes. This allowed the faction to grow in strength and wealth quickly, and as they became a larger force, their responsibilities increased accordingly: the Order's many members were prominent figures in the second crusade.

Third Crusade
''This section of the article deals specifically with the Knights Templar faction's activities during the Third Crusade. If you were looking for information on the specific enemy type in Assassin's Creed, see their article under Crusaders.'' Founded in Jerusalem in 1129, the Knights Templar sought a world at peace with itself. By 1191, they had come to the realization that such peace could only be maintained through use of the Pieces of Eden, and made it their quest to gather as many as they could. That same year, after the theft of the Apple of Eden by the assassins Malik A-Sayf and Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad from the Templars, the Brotherhood entered into a brief period of sustained conflict with their Assassin enemies. Over the course of the year, ten Templar leaders from both Crusader and Saracen backgrounds fell to the blades of the assassin Altaïr, who was serving penance for breaking the three tenets during the theft. The deaths included not only the Grand Master of the Order, but also Al Mualim, leader of the Order of Assassins in Syria and the only Templar not willing to share the power of the Apple with his nine brothers.

With their leadership effectively wiped out by a single assassin, the Brotherhood retreated to the island of Cyprus under the command of a new Grand Master, Armand Bouchart. Pursued by Altaïr, the Templars were wiped out once again, although the treasures of the Templar Archive in Limassol were spirited away before they could be found. The death of Armand forced the Order to consider its position carefully, and by 1312 the Order had officially disbanded. In reality, the Order continued to thrive, adopting a much more secretive position in world affairs. That meant retreating into the shadows, as said in Altaïr's fabled Codex.

Renaissance
By the late 15th Century, the Brotherhood had regained a position of strength on the world stage, spreading deep into the Church and nobility of Italy. Under the command of Rodrigo Borgia, the Templars sought to unify northern Italy under their command, and regain the Apple of Eden which they knew to be buried in Cyprus. Targeting Lorenzo de' Medici, the de facto ruler of Florence, the Templars found themselves confronted by the Assassin Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, who whilst not knowing of their Templar allegiances, was rapidly piecing together the clues. Following two near fatal encounters with Giovanni himself, Borgia arranged for the trial and execution of Giovanni and his three sons – Federico, Petruccio and Ezio – for the crimes of High Treason against the city of Florence. Corrupting the city official Uberto Alberti, the city guards arrested Giovanni and two of his sons, narrowly missing their chance to capture the third, Ezio, who had been delivering and collecting letters for his father.

Realizing too late the treachery of Uberto Alberti, whom his father had considered a friend, Ezio appeared at the execution of his family, watching in horror as his father and brothers were hanged; he narrowly escaped the same fate himself. Unconcerned with the remaining Auditore, the Templars continued in their mission to assume control of the cities of northern Italy. In 1478, the Templar affiliated House of Pazzi made their push for control. In what would become known as the Pazzi conspiracy, the family struck against the Medici during Mass, killing Giuliano de' Medici and critically wounding Lorenzo, who was saved only by the timely intervention of Ezio Auditore, the son who had been allowed to escape. Lorenzo's survival and the arrival of Ezio spelt doom for the Pazzi family, who were left to their fate by Rodrigo Borgia. Vieri, Francesco and Jacopo de' Pazzi were all slain by the lone assassin whilst the Templars acknowledged their defeat in Florence, instead turning their attention to the city of Venice.

Utilizing the House of Barbarigo, the Templars assumed control of Venice briefly in 1486, before they were once again overthrown by the lone Assassin. The distraction of controlling the city had been beneficial to the Templars however, as it had distracted the Assassins from noticing the preparations being made for the retrieval of the Piece of Eden from Cyprus. Two years later, in 1488, the Templar expedition returned to Venice with the Apple in hand. Bringing it to Borgia, an undercover Ezio engaged the Templar Grand Master and, with the assistance of his fellow Assassins, forced the Templars out of the city once more. With the Apple in the hands of the Assassins, the Brotherhood approached the Orsi brothers – Ludovico and Checco – to obtain a map detailing the location of the Codex pages from the wife of the Templar Girolamo Riario – Caterina Sforza. Invading Forlì, the Orsi brothers demanded the map, and the Apple in exchange for the lives of Sforza's children. The brothers were rebuked, and assaulted the Rocca di Ravaldino. Together with the city guards, the Assassins Ezio Auditore and Niccolò Machiavelli held off the assault, although a second succeeded in claiming the Apple briefly.

Despite the loss of the Apple, Rodrigo Borgia was ultimately unfazed, and in 1492 became Pope Alexander VI in order to gain access to the Papal staff, another of the Pieces of Eden. In 1499 Borgia was once again confronted by the assassin Ezio, this time within the Sistine Chapel itself. The Templar's defeat, however, was not permanent, as Rodrigo's son, Cesare Borgia, besieged Monteriggioni to regain the Apple of Eden and attempted to kill Ezio. Four years later Ezio went to the heart of the Templars itself, namely Rome, to strike back at the Templars and retrieve the Apple.

19th century
By the 19th century, the Templars had almost full control over the Russian Empire, as some of the Tsars themselves, including Alexander II and Alexander III, were Templars. Additionally, the Tsarist staff was in fact the Staff of Eden, granting the Templars even more power. However, their control over the Russian Empire was being thwarted by the Assassin Order, including the Assassin Nikolai Orelov.

20th century
Infiltrating or starting up countless corporate entities, the Templars positioned its members in several world-defining positions, improving the planet's technological level significantly. The Templars also worked to stiffle world progress however. Adolf Hitler used a Piece of Eden to rise to power in Germany, and subsequently started a world-wide conflict. He was "fought" by his Templar counterparts Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, all of whom ultimately won the conflict though it appears that the Templar had planned the war and orchestrated the peace that would follow.

21th century
By the early 21st Century, the Templar fronted Abstergo Industries had expanded into a global entity, far larger and more powerful than most companies that had come before it. For the most part this was not treated as suspicious, although there were those within the general population who viewed the company with suspicion.

At this time, Abstergo Industries seemingly lacked a Piece of Eden capable of controlling the minds of humanity, and as such authorized the Animus-project in order to gain access to the memories of those who might know the location of one. By September of 2012, sixteen test subjects had been "retired" before the company succeeded with the seventeenth – Desmond Miles, the descendant of both Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, and Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

Captured, for seven days Miles was forced to relieve the memories of his ancestor Altaïr in order to reach one specific memory the Templars were seeking. The memory registered the moment his ancestor found a holographic map containing the locations of all Pieces of Eden scattered across the world. With the information they had long sought in hand, the Templars started gathering the remaining intact pieces to ensure "absolute peace". They planned to send a satellite with a Piece mounted on it into orbit, with the launch scheduled on December 21, 2012. It should also be noted that they altered public records of history numerous times, which can explain inconsistencies with historical dates and in-game events.

Members
Often, these people are lured to being Templars by the promise of power, money and glory.

Pre-history

 * Cain (Likely founder)

Roman era

 * Caligula (Roman emperor)

Third Crusade

 * Basilisk (Grand Master of the Templar Order)
 * Robert de Sable (Grand Master of the Templar Order, after Basilisk)
 * Armand Bouchart (Grand Master of the Templar Order, after Robert)
 * Tamir (merchant in Damascus)
 * Tamir (black marketeer in Damascus)
 * Garnier de Naplouse (Grand Master of the Knights Hospitalier)
 * Talal (slave master in Jerusalem)
 * Abu'l Nuqoud (merchant king of Damascus)
 * William of Montferrat (Regent lord of Acre)
 * Majd Addin (Regent lord of Jerusalem)
 * Jubair al Hakim (Head of the Illuminated and the chief scholar of Damascus)
 * Sibrand (Grand Master of the Knights Teutonic)
 * Al Mualim (Grand Master of the Assassin Order)
 * Maria Thorpe (Robert de Sable's steward and his own personal assassin)
 * Roland Napule (Head of a Templar hospital in Tyre)
 * Masun (Traitorous assassin who is a double agent to the Templar)
 * Alaat (Templar knight)
 * Master of the Tower (Basilisk's second-in-command, master of the art of killing)
 * The Master's Student (Templar killer)
 * Harash (Al Mualim's second-in-command, traitor who joined Templars)
 * Frederick The Red (Templar regent of Limassol)
 * Pirate Captain (Leader of Cypriot pirates who joined the Order)
 * Osman (Templar knight, secretly a member of Cypriot resistance)
 * Moloch (Templar regent of Kyrenia)
 * Shalim (Armand Bouchart's second-in-command, son of Moloch)
 * Shahar (Shalim's twin brother, son of Moloch)
 * Templar agent (Armand Bouchart's highly trained, stealthy killer)
 * Isaac Comnenus (Former ruler of Cyprus and keeper of the Templar Archive)

Renaissance

 * Rodrigo Borgia (Grand Master of the Templar Order and Pope Alexander VI)
 * Cesare Borgia (son of Rodrigo Borgia, commander of the Papal Army)
 * Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani (Sforza assassin)
 * Gerolamo Olgiati (Sforza assassin)
 * Carlo Visconti (Sforza assassin)
 * Marco Barbarigo (Corrupt Doge of Venice)
 * Dante Moro (Personal guard of Marco Barbarigo)
 * Silvio Barbarigo (Member of the Supreme Tribunal of Venice, Marco's cousin)
 * Emilio Barbarigo (Powerful merchant of Venice)
 * Carlo Grimaldi (Member of the Council of Ten of Venice)
 * Uberto Alberti (The Gonfaloniere of Firenze)
 * Jacopo de' Pazzi (Patriarch of the Pazzi Family and head of Pazzi Bank)
 * Francesco de' Pazzi (Head of the Pazzi Conspiracy, Jacopo's nephew)
 * Vieri de' Pazzi (Francesco's son)
 * Stefano da Bagnone (Advisor to Jacopo de' Pazzi - Pazzi Conspirator)
 * Bernardo Baroncelli (Banker - Pazzi Conspirator)
 * Francesco Salviati (Archbishop of Pisa - Pazzi Conspirator)
 * Antonio Maffei (Priest - Pazzi Conspirator)
 * Il Carnefice (Executioner)
 * Fiora Cavazza (Courtesan)
 * Gaspar de la Croix (Engineer)
 * La Lupo (Prowler)
 * Malfatto (Doctor)
 * Brother Ristoro (Priest)
 * Lia de Russo (Smuggler)
 * Silvestro Sabbatini (Noble)
 * Baltasar de Silva (Barber)

American Revolutionary War

 * George Washington (1st President of the United States)

Modern times

 * Alexander II of Russia (Tsar of the Russian Empire)
 * Alexander III of Russia (Tsar of the Russian Empire)
 * Thomas Edison (American inventor)
 * Henry Ford (Founder of the Ford Motor Company)
 * Harvey Firestone (Founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company)
 * Grigori Rasputin (Russian mystic and advisor to Czar Nicholas II)
 * Adolf Hitler (Führer of the Nazi Party)
 * Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd President of the United States)
 * Winston Churchill (Prime Minister of Great Britain)
 * Joseph Stalin (Leader of the U.S.S.R.)
 * J. Robert Oppenheimer (Physicist)
 * Abraham Zapruder (Clothing manufacturer - Kennedy Conspirator)
 * Lyndon B. Johnson (36th United States President and Head of the Kennedy Conspiracy)
 * William Greer (Secret service agent - Kennedy Conspirator)
 * Lee Harvey Oswald (Templar hitman - Kennedy Conspirator)
 * Alan Rikkin (CEO of Abstergo Industries)
 * Aubrey Jacobs (Alan Rikkin's assistant, Employee of Abstergo Industries)
 * Warren Vidic (Scientist of Abstergo Industries)
 * Jane Birkam (Employee of Abstergo Industries)
 * Nancy Nilop (Employee of Abstergo Industries)
 * Richard (Employee of Abstergo Industries)

Templar groups
There are groups who act as unofficial divisions of the Templars, unrelated to them publicly, but in fact commanded by Templars (some of them through the membership of their leaders and others are part of the Templar Order itself).
 * Renaissance
 * Pazziingame.png Pazzi: The Pazzi family were Tuscan nobles who were bankers in Florence during the 15th century. They are most famous for the "Pazzi Conspiracy". They are part of the Templars in Assassin's Creed II.
 * 150px-Agostino Barbarigo.png Barbarigo: The Barbarigo family were Venetian nobles who were bankers and traders during the 15th century. The most famous member of the family was Agostino Barbarigo, the 74th Doge of Venice. In Assassins Creed II the Barbarigo are a part of the Templars, except Agostino Barbarigo.
 * Blason famille it Borgia01 svg.png Borgia: The Borgia family were Roman nobles during the 15th century. The most famous member of the family was Rodrigo Borgia, Pope Alexander VI. They are leaders of the Templars in Assassin's Creed II.
 * Modern times
 * Nazi flag 375.jpg Nazi Party: a political German party which controlled Germany during the early 20th century.
 * Animuslogowhite.svg Abstergo Industries: modern company that works in secret to create the New World.
 * NASA logo svg.png NASA: a governmental company that created the Apollo missions to retrieve an Apple of Eden from the Moon.
 * Ford logo.png Ford Motor Company: an automobile company founded by Henry Ford, in the hands of the Templars until Ford's death.

The Historical Templars
"Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed Nomini Tuo da Gloriam (Latin for "Not to us God, not to us, but to Your Name Give Glory")"

- Historical motto of the Templars

Ordre du Temple in French, the Knights Templar are amongst the most famous of the Western Christian military orders involved in the war. They are well known by the distinctive white mantles with a red cross. Officially endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church around 1129, the Order became a favored charity throughout Christianity, and grew rapidly in membership. Despite losing their interests in Outremer, they still had financial holdings in Europe, but King Philip IV of France deceived Pope Clement V into disbanding the Knights Templar, to serve his own agenda. The Order`s Knights either fled, were executed, or absorbed into other orders like the Knights Hospitalier. The Portuguese branch changed their names to Knights of Christ.

They were among the most skilled fighters at the time, which is reflected in the game. Their ruthlessness against non-Catholics was also infamous; this also is reflected in the game.

The real, full name of the Knights Templars: "Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem" or "Pauperes commilitones Christi templique Salomonici Hierosalemitanis" in Latin.