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The Templar Fleet
Wealth in the early twelfth century was almost consistently based on land and
feudal dues.
The Knights Templar owned estates of varying size scattered in Europe from Denmark,
Scotland and the Orkney Islands in the north, to France, Italy and Spain in the south.
Their commercial interests were impressive and included the operation of farms, vineyards, stone quarries and mines.
Due to their interest in protecting pilgrims and maintaining communications with their operative bases in the Holy Land, they operated a well-organised fleet which exceeded that of any state at the time.
For military purposes, this included a number of highly manoeuvrable war galleys for the use of carrying pilgrims, troops, horses and commercial cargoes.
They therefore owned a large number of ships which plied the Mediterranean waters with bases in Italy, France, Spain and the Holy Land.
Their main seat of naval power in the Mediterranean was on the Island of Majorca, while their principal port on the Atlantic coast was the harbour of La Rochelle from where, they are supposed to have conducted trade with Greenland, the British Isles, the North American mainland and Mexico.
Within fifty years of their
foundation, the Knights Templar had become a commercial force equal in power to many states.
Within a hundred years they had developed into the medieval precursor of international
conglomerates with interests in every form of commercial activity of that time and were
far richer than any kingdom in Europe.
Templar Commercial Activities in Europe
The effects of Templar activity in European culture and commerce was
Extraordinary.
Yet many modern Church historians still accuse the order of being
formed of illiterate knights.
They developed sophisticated means of communication, often using codes, which transcended the linguistic barriers which otherwise would have fragmented and diffused the commercial impact of their activities.
The Templar communication network was the principal route by which knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, herbal medicine and healing skills made their way from the Holy Land to Europe.
Among the technological advances brought to Europe by the knights was the telescope.
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