Poor Knights Supply Co. makes apparel inspired by one of the most remarkable institutions of the Middle Ages: the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, remembered today as the Knights Templar. Our designs draw on their history, their heraldry, and their discipline, and we tell their story with care.
Who were the Knights Templar?
In late 1119 or early 1120, a small group of knights led by Hugues de Payens took vows in Jerusalem to protect the Christian pilgrims who traveled the dangerous roads of the Holy Land after the First Crusade. King Baldwin II of Jerusalem gave them quarters in part of his palace on the Temple Mount, the site associated with the Temple of Solomon. That is where the order got its name.
The order grew quickly after Hugues traveled west to seek support. At the Council of Troyes in January 1129, the Church formally recognized the brotherhood and approved a Rule for it. That Rule drew on monastic tradition and bound its members to poverty, chastity, and obedience. (Some sources give the year as 1128 because of medieval calendar conventions.) Bernard of Clairvaux, the most influential churchman of his age, backed the order and wrote In Praise of the New Knighthood (De laude novae militiae) to defend the idea of the monk-knight.
Knight-brothers wore a white mantle, a sign of purity given to them at Troyes. A red cross was added in the time of Pope Eugene III and is traditionally dated to around 1147. Together, the white mantle and red cross became one of the most recognizable emblems of the medieval world.
The Templars were also skilled administrators. They held estates across Europe, and their network of houses let them store and move money safely. That network also allowed pilgrims to deposit funds in one place and withdraw them in another, which made the order an important early financial institution for pilgrims and kings alike.
That wealth and independence also made them targets. On Friday, 13 October 1307, King Philip IV of France had every Templar in France arrested on charges that historians today broadly consider false, and many confessions were extracted under torture. Under heavy pressure from Philip, Pope Clement V suppressed the order with the bull Vox in excelso (22 March 1312) at the Council of Vienne. In March 1314, the last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, publicly retracted his confession and was burned at the stake in Paris.
What we stand for
Our shirts celebrate a story of vows, courage, and brotherhood, as well as the unjust way it ended. We keep to the documented history. We don't sell legends about hidden treasure or secret relics as fact.
Poor Knights Supply Co. is an independent apparel brand. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any modern Templar, Masonic, or chivalric organization.
Every shirt is printed to order. Thank you for helping keep this history alive.