Historians do not have access to many documents that give details about the Templars, but what they do have access to demonstrates that the Templars were extremely influential on the medieval Church. The Templars, a somewhat controversial and secretive order, have been greatly misunderstood since their beginnings in the Middle Ages. Despite misunderstandings and controversies, the Templars made many good achievements; notably by protecting Christian pilgrims, defending the Church against heresy and blasphemy and helping oppressed Christians. The Templar organization began in 1119 and was founded by nine knights. The organization began after 700 Christian pilgrims, who were heading to the Jordan River, were attacked by Saracens, the Muslim inhabitants of the deserts near Syria. Of the 700, 300 were killed. After this massacre, two French nobles, Hugues de Payen and Godfrey de St Omer, were granted an audience with Baldwin II, then king of Jerusalem, who gave them permission to start their order as a small monastic brotherhood.....

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