The Knights Templar

Oh, What a Knight!


I am pleased to report that The Patriot Spy, book one in the Yankee Doodle Spies, has been submitted for an award in the Best History category by the Knights Templar! Although a historical novel, The Patriot Spy accurately follows the actions that took place during the British invasion of Staten Island, Long Island, and New York Island in the summer of 1776. It does so by weaving fictional plots and characters into the fabric of the campaign and the people caught up in it. So I am very flattered by the recognition.

Who are these Knights?

For many years, when I heard the word Templar, I thought of Roger Moore’s old TV series, The Saint.  Moore played a mysterious figure caught up in crime, espionage, and whatever other mayhem you could think of – sort of like Jeremiah Creed.  Like many religious orders stemming from the middle ages, the actual Knights Templar are shrouded in mystery, myth, and misunderstanding. That makes them all the more fascinating.  Or one could imagine the ever-villain Knight Templar Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert in Sir Walter Scott’s, grand historical novel, Ivanhoe. More recently I got hooked on the Arn movie/mini-series, loosely based on a devout Swedish noble unfairly banished to serve as a Templar knight in the Latin Kingdom of Palestine.

Long ago in a far off Galaxy

Hugues de Pavens

The Middle East might as well have been a far off galaxy for most Europeans in the twelfth century. Time and space had a different meaning back in a time when few peasants left the farm they were born on and very few of the upper sorts left the shire. Then the call to action and a whole continent seemed to turn east. The Templars were founded in the Holy Land in 1119.  It started with just an idealistic band of knights led by Hugues de Payens, who offered their services to protect pilgrims en route to the Holy Places. They organized themselves into a religious community, sworn to protect Christian pilgrims visiting Jerusalem and the holy places. They were called the Poor Knights of Christ of the Temple of Solomon, or simply the Knights of the Temple. The original rationale of the crusades was just that – protecting pilgrims and holy places from the depredations of the Seljuk Turks whose conquest of Palestine from the Arabs led to taxes and hostilities against Christians.  It then took on a whole different turn. After the capture of Jerusalem in 1099, the crusaders set upon to establish a permanent presence to protect their conquests. The original Templars played a small role at first, but they provided an imaginative inspiration to Europe’s Christians. They received the al-Aqsa Mosque as a base of operations. This mosque was thought to be the site of Solomon’s Temple. Critical to their movement, they received papal recognition as a military order in 1129 by  Pope Honorius II.  Hugues de Payens was named the first Master of the Temple. It was the great monk, Bernard de Clairvaux, who grasped the historical significance, when he wrote in De laude novae militae (“In Praise of a New Knighthood”), that a new type of Order had been created, consisting of laymen who blended the knightly and monastic life. These soldier-monks would fight to protect Christian interests. The knights swore the usual monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience but made a fourth key promise—to defend the holy places from the infidel. The order expanded their presence over time and soon acquired lands in Europe from which to recruit men and raise money.

Follow the Money

And in the end, it had much to do with money. Wars cost money and the Templars set about raising it in ways unique for Christians of the day. Some of their houses in Europe functioned as financial centers, lending money and collecting fees. This functioned as a sort of international banking system in a medieval Europe devoid of modern finance and banks. The Templar’s military strength and network provided a secure place for kings and nobility to place their money and London and Paris became the prime centers. This led to a dependency on the Order that over the years would lead some in power to resent.

Military, religious, and financial power became
hallmarks of the Order

Faith and Power

The Order reported only to the Pope. This combined with their growing wealth allowed the Templars to create an effective fighting force, a naval fleet, and a defensive system of fortresses in Palestine/Syria. In Spain, the Templars helped finance the Reconquista from the Saracens by the secular Spanish and Portuguese. By the 13th century, the Order numbered 7000, including knights, sergeants-at-arms, non-military-sergeants, brothers, and priests. Their network consisted of some 870 castles, preceptories and convents spread throughout most of Christian Europe, Palestine, and Syria. Due to their bravery, determination, and discipline, they bore the lion’s share of the burden of defending the Latin Kingdoms. Indeed, they were described as “lions in battle.”  During the course of the Crusades, thousands of Templars gave their lives in such battles as Cresson, Hattin, La Forbie, and Mansurah. However, Jerusalem was eventually lost to Saladin in 1187. But When the Latin kingdoms fell to the Arabs once more, the Order’s military significance waned as their retreat followed the retreat of Christendom first to Cypress and then even further west.

There is no denying the courage and devotion of the Templars in battle

A Rapid Descent



By the fourteenth century, the Crusading period and spirit were all but dead. With its demise, the secular rulers of Europe began to flex their muscles against the power (not authority – yet) of the Pope.  and a transnational power like the Order, one of the world’s first non-governmental organizations (NGOs), posed a threat to this secular rise to power. More importantly, the Order possessed wealth needed by secular Kings to pay their armies and keep their vassals in line. The first such king to strike at the power of the Order was Phillip IV of France. On Oct. 12, 1307, the order’s Grand Master, James of Molay was in Paris to attend the funeral of Catherine, wife of Charles of Valois, brother of King Philip IV, "the Fair," of France.



De Molay was caught by surprise on Friday, October 13, 1307, when, Philip’s agents arrested him. Meanwhile, Phillip also launched nationwide raids on Templar properties and arrested hundreds of the Order’s members. The travesty of justice that would follow gives rise to the modern-day myth of bad luck on Friday the 13th. Phillip charged that the Templars were no longer dedicated to the defense of the Holy Land, but were apostates. He accused them of denying Christ, desecrating crucifixes, engaging in indecent acts such as male kissing, and compulsory sodomy. Furthermore, his agents accused them of worshiping idols. At first, people outside France disbelieved the charges against the Order. The pope himself was outraged. After all, the Order operated under his authority and he was unaware of the charges. Yet at first sight, the allegations seemed justified. Under heinous torture and threats, many Templars confessed to some of the alleged misdeeds.

Trial? Or something else? de Molay under investigation... and worse

De Molay himself was forced to make admissions in public under the watchful eye of selected theologians. The pope tried to take over the trial but failed. A desperate defense of the Order by two of its lawyer-priests also failed. The pope did not believe the accusations, especially of a “secret protocol” that called for many of the heinous acts contained in the charges. However, the forced confessions gave him little recourse in the matter. Significantly, in those pre waterboarding days, interrogations included all kinds of painful torture and mutilation. Predictably, most caved into their tormentors' demands. Under pressure, at the Council of Vienna in 1312 the pontiff suppressed the order but did not hold it criminally liable.  Nearly two centuries of service to the Christian faith was thrown to the wind in a swirl of hysteria and conspiracy. After recanting their confessions (asserting no crimes occurred) De  Molay and Geoffrey of Charney, the preceptor of Normandy, were burnt to death for heresy two years later in Paris. They were followed by about 50 other members who recanted but were condemned as “relapsed heretics” and executed. Few historians today dispute that the charges by Phillip were concocted and the confessions obtained by torture.

Execution of Jacques de Molay

Loss and legend: those Boogie Knights

The property and wealth of the order were seized by secular authorities or given over to other orders, with the exception of those members of the Order who resided in Portugal. The King of Portugal singularly giving the knights his protection. Those knights not executed by Phillip were amalgamated into other orders. Philip’s outrageous acts might well have ended the Order and consigned it to the dustbin of history except… the Templars’ spectacular demise provided grist for the rumor mill.  One legend holds that in 1314, Templar knowledge was secretly passed on to future generations.  Thus grew the idea that the Order continued "underground" in the ensuing years, with various theories and speculations. It was held by some, for example, that they had chapters in Scotland, America (before Columbus);  that they helped to form what is now known as Switzerland; and were responsible for the birth of Freemasonry, to name but a few. The Templars and the mystery surrounding them were ready-made for novelists, filmmakers, and even some historians. One, the English languages’ early historical novelists, Sir Walter Scott, created the template for fiction and drama that many have since followed in Ivanhoe (published in 1819). In his version of the myth, the villainous Templar, Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert, and his order have indeed fallen away from its original mandate. Many other novels have connected evil doing and secret conspiracies to the Templars. This was followed by other books, periodicals, film and TV versions of the myth. Even computer games picked up on the legacy and mystery. Throughout all this, many conspiracy stories emerged and even the Nazis got drawn into some of them. Unfortunately, over time too many have accepted such stylistic and artistic embellishments as fact. Who doesn't love conspiracy theories wrapped in the mists of time? However, there is no concrete evidence that the Order did manage to survive in the form which is enjoyed at the height of its influence.

The Modern Knights Templar

Today, the spirit of the Poor Knights of Christ of the Temple of Solomon is carried on by dedicated men of faith and action in the form of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem. This is an Ecumenical Christian and Chivalric charitable Order that does not claim a direct lineage to the original Knights of the Temple.  But they have adopted two of the original Templar missions: Protecting Christians at risk particularly in the Holy Land and the Middle East; and keeping the road to Jerusalem open to all people. They display a devotion to God by promoting love and respect. Things they work at include improving understanding among all religions; helping pilgrims and maintaining the Christian presence in the Holy Land. Along with this, they protect the poor and sick; promote justice and free speech. (The original Order’s demise was based on a travesty of justice and suppression of free speech). They also promote the ideas of chivalry; and maintain the monuments, archives, and history of the Knights Templar. Within the US the order is organized in Priories, Preceptories, and Commanderies across many of the fifty states and District of Columbia. I am honored that the Priory of St. Patrick (Hudson Valley) in New York submitted The Patriot Spy for the 2015 History Book Award

The US order is affiliated with the International Order. The Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani. ( for "The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem) is the only international Templar Order recognized by United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization with Special Consultative Status. From the look of things today, the Order has its work cut out for it.

The Bravest Son of Liberty?

A Boy from Jamaica

Colonial Jamaica, Long Island was verdant farmland

Jamaica, Long Island that is. Brigadier General Marinus Willett may in fact be one of the greatest and accomplished New Yorkers - ever. He was a descendant of Thomas Willett, who arrived in New York on the ship The Lion in 1632. The elder Willett served as the first English Mayor of New York City after New Amsterdam fell to the British in 1664. Marinus' father was Edward Willett, a farmer who lived in Jamaica, Long Island (now  Queens). Hard to believe that the mean streets that folks see on the way to JFK Airport once were some of the lushest farmland in America. But Edward was a man of letters and business - he made his living as a school teacher and a tavern keeper.

Soldier of the King

Marinus Willett: Citizen Soldier

As with so many American leaders of the Revolutionary War, young Marinus cut his teeth fighting for the King as a Loyal and devoted subject. He served in the militia during the French and Indian War, where he received a commission as Subaltern in a New York regiment commanded by Oliver DeLancey Sr.  Delancey was among the wealthiest of New Yorkers and his family would remain
staunchly Loyal a generation later. The regiment took part in General James Abercrombie's expedition to Fort Ticonderoga in 1758. Later, Marinus Willett served with the regiment as part of John Bradstreet's army in the Battle of Fort Frontenac. He became ill during the campaign and stayed at Fort Stanwix until he recovered. He helped with the upgrade of the fort while there and as his career later unfolded that seems almost providential.

Son of Liberty

New York, not Boston style. Willett settled in New York City after the war and although he worked as a cabinet maker, he took an interest in politics as tensions with Britain started to simmer. He became the community organizer of his day, which is to say, rabble-rouser and street brawler. After the news of Lexington and Concord, he helped plan a raid on the old arsenal in New York and took weapons for the cause. On June 6, 1775, the British decided to evacuate the City of New York. Willett led an effort that stopped the soldiers from taking spare arms with them. On July 20, 1775, he and other members of the Sons of Liberty procured a sloop and captured a British storehouse at Turtle Bay. This cove on the East River received its name from the Dutch settlers because of its resemblance to a knife. The word Deutal (Turtle) being Dutch for "knife." Ironically Turtle Bay is near where the British landed when they recaptured Manhattan a year later.



Patriot Soldier

Colonel Marinus Willett during
the War for Independence

Clearly, Marinus Willett came into his own in wartime, as so many of our military legends have. He started as a captain in the 1st New York Regiment and almost immediately the regiment took part in General Richard Montgomery's invasion of Canada in 1775, one of the most horrific events of the entire war.  He fought at the Battle of Quebec in December of that year and for a while commanded Fort St. John during the American occupation.  But he returned to New York City with the regiment when enlistments ended, arriving in March. During the time of the great British offensive to retake the city in 1776, he had lost a captain's commission in the 4th New York Regiment (perhaps in a card
game) but served as a militiaman. But experience and connections do count, especially in time of war. In November 1776 he was made Lieutenant Colonel of the 3rd New York Regiment which was commanded by Peter Gansevoort. He spent the winter recruiting before marching the regiment north. In March of 1777, he was given command of Fort Constitution in the New York Highlands, where he launched a successful attack on one hundred British soldiers burning a blockhouse. He later helped MacDougall defend Peekskill against a British raid in 1777, before being assigned to Fort Stanwix on the Mohawk River.

Drums Along the Mohawk

Stanwix was the anchor of a line of American defenses stretching from Albany to Oneida Lake. This was the western frontier with the Iroquois and a strategic position guarding the portage between Oneida Lake and the Mohawk River. General Washington recognized its importance and had the old French and Indian War post rebuilt and garrisoned. Willett worked tirelessly to prepare Fort Stanwix (also known as Fort Schuyler) for the onslaught that was sure to come. It came in the form of a British force under Colonel Barry St. Leger, who laid siege to Stanwix on the third of August 1777. St. Leger made the obligatory demand for surrender.  But Willet refused. The defenders hoisted a

Herkimer wounded at Oriskany

makeshift Stars and Stripes in defiance of the more than one thousand British, Loyalist and Iroquois. Word arrived on the fifth that General Nicholas Herkimer and the Tryon County Militia were marching to relieve the fort.  On August 6th, the defenders made a sortie to distract the besiegers, the signal to be the sound of three guns. But when Willett led his troops out of the fort they found the enemy camp deserted. The force of Loyalists and Indians had gone east to Oriskany, where they ambushed Herkimer. The British Regulars, Loyalists, and Indian Allies returned from that vicious ambush under the cypress trees to find Willet had ransacked and looted their camp of supplies and munitions with his sortie. Willett was later was presented with a sword from the Continental Congress for this exploit.

Fort Stanwix

Still, the besiegers continued with demands for Willet to surrender. Willet met with the emissaries personally.  But when he learned of Herkimer's defeat at Oriskany, he decided to slip out himself and get help from Fort Dayton further down the Mohawk Valley. There he learned that Major General Schuyler had already dispatched a second relief force under the command of Benedict Arnold. Willett proceeded to Albany where he met with Arnold and then returned to Fort Dayton with Arnold's army. On the way back, Willett stopped to visit Herkimer. Almost two weeks after the battle of Oriskany, Herkimer had his leg amputated that same day (August 19th), but seemed in good spirits. However Herkimer the following day died from infection and blood loss.

Countering Espionage?

In an unintended Yankee Doodle Spies connection, it seems Willett had a small role in countering espionage. On August 20th, he served as a judge in Loyalist Captain Walter Butler’s trial. Butler was the son of John Butler, commander of Butler’s Rangers, an elite Loyalist unit both feared and hated by Patriots living on the New York frontier.  Continental Army troops had captured the younger
Butler while he was trying to recruit rangers at Shoemaker Tavern in German Flatts, New York.   Butler was tried as a spy.  Willett's court found Butler guilty and sentenced him to death. The condemned Butler was sent to Albany to await execution, but after a few months, he escaped and returned to Canada.

Back to the Continental Army, then back to New York's Frontier, then...

Willett seemed to be everywhere at times. In June 1778 he was given leave from the Northern Department to join Washington's' Main Continental Army, which was preparing to attack General Clinton's British Army making its way from Philadelphia to New York. There he served as an aide to General Charles Scott and took part in the Battle of Monmouth.  Scott's Brigade was part of the advanced guard at that epic struggle. By the summer of 1779, Willett was back with the 3rd New York Regiment as it took part in the Sullivan Campaign against the Iroquois. This was a less than noble campaign of death and destruction that proved a precursor to later Indian campaigns. Willett
later spent some time in the New York Highlands and then rejoined the main army at Morristown. In January, he took part in a raid on Staten Island. In early 1780, he was given command of the 5th New York Regiment, a unit that was severely weakened by battles in the New York Highlands. Ever the zealot, he got involved in presenting grievances on behalf of unpaid troops.  He also found time for diversion. In 1780, while his headquarters was at Fort Plain, New York, he met and had an affair with an attractive widow named Mrs. Seeber. The affair resulted in the birth of a baby boy, Marinus Willett Seeber. Willett made no secret about the boy's paternity, and supported the boy and provided him an education.

In January 1781, Willett returned home when the New York Line was reduced to just two regiments. However, he was back as a colonel of New York militia by April that year and took part in lots more action. His regiment defended the Mohawk Valley and areas around Albany. That summer he led the militia in the Battle of Sharon Springs, ambushing Indians and Loyalists. In October, he led the militia at the Battle of Johnstown. After the battle, he pursued the retreating enemy throughout an increasingly cold month. A forced march in snowshoes through a heavy snowstorm brought Willett's militia close to the retreating Loyalists but they escaped under the cover of the falling and swirling snow. Ironically, the escaped "spy," Captain Walter Butler, was killed during the pursuit.  But most of the Loyalists disappeared into the forest. Willett continued in command in western New York throughout the war. He performed many successful missions, although he failed to capture Fort Ontario. His men also helped repair roads and waterways that would help develop that part of the state as the Iroquois retreated west and into Canada. Another precursor to US Army missions in the next century.

Post War: Politico Peacemaker Peace Officer

I would almost have to write another blog on Marinus Willett's post-war escapades. His later career is hard to believe. At the end of the war, Willett helped establish the Society of the Cincinnati, a controversial order of former American and French officers of the Revolution. He opened a store on Water Street in New York City. In 1793, his first wife Mary died. He soon remarried. His new wife Susannah Vardle, was “active” in New York society. But the vivacious woman proved more than even he could handle and in 1797 they divorced. In post-war politics, Willett became an Anti-Federalist under George Clinton and served in the New York State Assembly. He became Sheriff of New York County (aka Manhattan) for a few years. He helped quell Shay's Rebellion in 1787. By
1788 he was again aligned with Clinton in fighting against the Constitution (yes, that Constitution). When it finally passed he continued with others in efforts to repeal it or amend it. Despite his anti-Federalism, Willett was sent by President Washington to convince the Creeks to come to New York (then the nation's capital). This resulted in the Treaty of New York, the first of many that would not bode well for the Indians. He again became sheriff of New York County. When war broke out against the Indians in the Northwest Territory (1792), Willett was offered a general's commission. He declined, writing to President Washington that he did not favor war with the Indians. Willett turned down a later offer to serve as peace emissary to them. One can only speculate that his experiences in Sullivan’s campaign had an impact on his thinking regarding America’s Indian policies.

Creek Indian Leaders in New York City

Going Strong in the New Century

De Witt Clinton

So strong, that in 1799 Willett married young Margaret Bancker. He was 59 and she only 24 but they had four children, three sons, and a daughter. Willett, the former Liberty Boy, believed in grassroots democracy. During one very hot gubernatorial race, he actually fought a duel with a member of the opposing party - - - fortunately, both missed. At the turn of the new century, he had a role in the building of some of the fortifications protecting New York City. In 1808 he replaced populist De Witt Clinton as Mayor of New York City (becoming its 48th) and, in 1811, ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant
Governor of New York. He supported the War of 1812 but now in his 70s only gave patriotic speeches to support it.  In 1824, he was named a presidential elector in the bitter election that made John Quincy Adams president. The extremely accomplished Marinus Willett died at his home on August 22, 1830, a few weeks after suffering a stroke. Ironically, exactly 53 years to the day after the lifting of the siege of Fort Stanwix. The ninety-year-old First Patriot was buried in the churchyard of Trinity Church, corner of Broadway and Wall Street, in New York City. His funeral had 10,000 mourners - that's about 5% of the population at the time. Not too bad for a cabinet maker from Jamaica.

Marinus Willett in later life