Templar America

Following the Siege of Acre
Sixteen years passed since the Templar stronghold of Acre fell to the hands of the Mamluks the Templar order lost their last foothold in the Holy Land. This was a devastating blow to the order as they had managed to lose control of the Holy Land, possibly for good. The duty of their order was to protect the pilgrims of all faiths on the road to Jerusalem and defend the Holy Land from all invaders. With the city of Acre falling, in 1291, to the overwhelming forces of Mamluks and their allies the order lost their influence in the Holy Land for the first time in over one hundred years.

With this crushing defeat the Holy Land was for the first time in over one hundred years, out of Christians influence. There was an attempt to reclaim the city from their base on Acre, with the help of the Mongols, yet once again the Mamluks stopped them by taking the island from the Christian defenders, pushing the order even further away from the Holy Land.

Hope in Europe
It was in this sixteen year period of time that the Templar Order set up their military presence across Europe. Yet during this period of time the Order did not see much, if any, action at all as they were prevented by the Pope from fighting in unsanctioned battles and wars without the consent of the either the ruling King or Papal Authority. However they were not inactive hanging up their weapons and armor to live a life of peace.

The Templar Order built up a vast network of industry and trade networks as well as handling an early for of banking that they first developed in the Holy Land which they were now able to use to a greater effect in Europe. This would grow their wealth and influence quickly to where they managed to rebuild their ranks with new recruits who were trained in the art of war and other skills needed to be an asset for the order.

They did this in preparation for the next Crusade whenever it might be. The order prayed night and day that they may once again retake the Holy Land and avenge their defeat Acre. Until that time the order stood ever vigilant awaiting the call for Crusade.

Enter Pope Clement V
With the election of Pope Clement V who desired to reclaim the Holy Land from the Saracens and allow the paths to Jerusalem made clear for Christian Pilgrims once more. However with the lack of enthusiasm for another Crusade, the Pope tried to find another solution. One idea Pope Clement pitched to the heads of all of the Holy Orders (Knights Templars, Knights Hospitallers, and Teutonic Order) was the idea of a single order that would have both the manpower and the influence to convince the Kings of Europe to join a new crusade.

All of the Grand Masters of declined such a proposal as they feared losing their independence to a new Grandmaster that would not know how to run each of the independently run orders. However each of the orders were in support of another crusade and were willing to pool their resources together to form a large army and reclaim the Holy Land once more.

The Templar’s began gathering the loans needed for the upcoming war as they had the most money out of the three Holy Orders. Many of the nobles of Europe, who owed money to the Templars paid back their money, some begrudgingly, except for one. A King, who owed so much money to the Templar Order, that his debt was equivalent to all the money owed by every noble in Europe combined. Philip IV of France was this King.

Enemy from Within
King Philip was known for borrowing large sums of money from the Templar Order that he wasted over the course of his reign. He spent the money on parties and his lavish lifestyle so much so that the previous Pope, Boniface VIII, condemned his lifestyle. Instead of investing his money in areas that would have made him enough money to repay the Templars in full, he was now in debt and out of money. When he was approached time and time again by the Templars to repay the money owed to their order, his rage grew.

Fearing that the Templars would demand payment, in the form of land or royal heirlooms, Philip, with the help of his closest advisor, Guillaume de Nogaret, they found a solution to France’s national debt. At first he tried to tax the clergy yet this caused him to become at odds with both the Templar Order and the Church of France. With the risk of open battle being a real threat to his throne, Nogaret offered him a solution that would allow him to expunge all of his debt to the Templars, and remove the threat to his throne once and for all.

Heresy
On October of 1307, Friday the 13th, Philip IV of France with the confession of several “ex-Templars” he claimed the Templar Order as a whole were heretics. There were charges of idol worship, homosexual acts, spitting and urinating on the cross, and even claims that the order did not believe in God.

The claims were serious on their own yet all of them aimed at a single order was damning. The Templar Grandmaster Jacques de Molay was quick to ready their legal defense bringing all of their lawyers and high ranking members to Paris to defend their order from such accusations. This later proved to be his downfall as King Philip arrested all of the members in his presence as well as any Templar who was in the streets of Paris when this happened. The number of men that were arrested, has been rumored to be in the hundreds; yet some of today’s order doubt that no more than one hundred Templars were arrested in all of France, with only two hundred more across Europe.

Official Order Disbandment
Despite the best efforts of Pope Clement V to convince Philip to release the Templars he was threatened by the King, with military action, to allow him to continue his investigation of the order’s heresy. In actuality he was searching all of the Templar’s strongholds, and castles in France in an attempt to gather money he believed they were hording in their castles, to his dismay all of their vaults were empty.

For seven long years the Grandmaster Molay pleaded his innocence as he, and all of his imprisoned subordinates, was tortured in an attempt to gain a confession. In 1312 Pope Clement tried to officially disband the Templar Order in an attempt to halt Philips actions. It had the opposite effect and he ordered even worse acts of violence onto the Templars in an attempt for them to confess and to reveal where all of their treasure was hidden.

In one final act of violence Philip order that Grandmaster Moley be executed. The date was set, and on March 18, 1314 in front of the Holy Notre Dame itself the Grandmaster Jacques de Molay was burned alive. As the Grandmaster was burning alive he cursed both King Philip of France and Pope Clement, saying that they would meet him with God very soon. Either by divine will or chance of luck the Pope would die a month later and King Philip would die in a hunting accident in late November of that same year.

Fleeing From Europe (POD)
While many of the high ranking members of the Templar Order were being persecuted, the rest of the order were following several key instructions that were given to each order in the event such as this. (The original purpose for said orders was in the event of an overwhelming invasion by either the Mongols, or any of the Islamic Caliphates in which the armies of Europe could not hold back the endless hordes on their own.) Gathering up all of their wealth, (cleverly hiding it in bags of food, hidden wagon compartments and even in their weapons) each chapter set out on this journey.

Some Templars were forced to hire ships to travel to Scotland while others, who managed to meet in larger groups, used the Templar ships stationed in Northern France and Germany. Those who were unable to safely travel to Scotland sought refuge with the Knights Hospitaller where they would remain for the seven year persecution.

As the Templars were fleeing across Europe many were forced to fight their way through road blocks and large patrols of troops. These were minor skirmishes featuring small bands of a few dozen men. These were battles were small in comparison to the many great battles of Medieval Europe. Many groups of Templars were victorious when fighting these battles, yet there were several instances of them being overwhelmed and dying to the last man.

Battle of the Highway
Yet out of all of these skirmishes there was one that occurred in Northern France that has been recorded and remembered as a great victory for the Templar Order in this dark time. This was the Battle of the Highway, it was fought between a force of over four Hundred French troops and a group of two hundred and fifty Templars.

The two forces met each other on the road to Calais by chance, as they had no knowledge of the one another due to the lack of scouts. The French force was marching south towards Paris, as they were ordered to pacify the city populace that had become restless and violent since the Templar persecutions had first begun. The Templars on the other hand were taking the same road North, fleeing the city as quickly as possible hoping to make it to the safety of Calais, where several of their ships were docked, they hoped they could escape long before the King's men could catch up to them.

The two forces met on the road near a small village three days North of Paris, it was just past midday when the two sides spotted one another. The French troops at a first glance thought that they were a large caravan of tradesmen and merchants and continued to march in a column. The Templars on the other hand, believing they were been discovered immediately formed their battle lines in a two rank deep shield wall with archers and crossbow men on the flanks and the knights, at the rear.

At this time the French troops who were already halfway to Templar position began hastily forming their lines, yet many of them were disorganized with some not even wearing their armor. The only units that were somewhat prepared to fight were the hedge knights and most of them were not fully armored either who were quick to draw their swords and charge into battle.

It was at this point that the Templar archers began firing into the French ranks causing even more disorder. The infantry began advancing on the disorganize line quickly marching to hit their opponent's line before a proper defense could be mustered. All the while the Templar Knights quickly counter charged into the attacking French Knights who were quickly cut down in the initial attack. As this was happening the two infantry lines clashed with the better trained and better equipped Templar's breaking the lines of the French footmen with ease.

The battle would continue going on for another half hour with the french footmen taking heavy losses many of them being cut down as they fled. The resulting victory left the french force to scatter to the winds telling tales of vengeful Templars roaming the French country side seeking out the King's men to avenge their imprisoned brethren. These tale's would later reach the ear's of King Philip who ordered an entire army to search for the Templars, but by that time they were on their ships leaving France far behind.

The Pact of Bruce
After months of travel and avoiding the various lawmen and military troops searching for them, the majority of the order managed to arrive on the eastern coast of Aberdeen Scotland, in early February of 1308. This army of Templars numbered just over twelve thousand strong, out of the original twenty thousand, though there are many estimates that believe that only eight thousand of them were fighting men. This was a great moral boost for the surviving Templars showing that their order would not be destroyed by a greedy King. They spent their time unloading the supplies and troops from their ships, licking their wounds and planning their next strategy.

However the order would not have long to themselves, as they were greeted by King Robert the Bruce (Robert I of Scotland)  less than a week after their arrival. Robert, who was wary at seeing the large Templar army on his recently liberated lands, welcomed them to his kingdom. Despite his uneasiness Robert saw an opportunity that he could not pass by, he needed fighting men to help him reclaim Scotland from the English, and the Templar order was the solution to his.

Despite the death of the previous King of England boosting the moral of the Scottish people, Robert knew that without men he could not hope to hold back the larger English armies to the south. With the arrival of the Knights Templar he was given the not only fighting men, but a chance to force the English to recognize his authority as King of Scotland.

The Templar's with only a few senior members, were forced to negotiate quickly with the Scottish King. This would later be known as the Council of Seven, these men negotiated with King Robert and his court. Over a week of negotiating would go on until they finally came upon an agreement both sides could agree upon. The Templar Order would fight alongside the Robert's army until the war had concluded with the English driven from Scottish lands. In return for fighting on behalf of the Scottish King, the Templar's would be allowed to ask for a parcel of land that they could call their own when the war was finished.

With no alternative, as they were seen as outlaws across Europe, the Council of Seven agreed to the terms of Robert the Bruce sealing the treaty in Wax and Blood. The Knights of the Temple would ride onto the field of battle once more for a cause that was just in their eyes and in the eyes of God.

When the negotiating was finished the Council of Seven appointed one of their own to be the leader of the Templar Army until an official election for the next Grandmaster could be held. The man appointed to position was a Turcopolier (Third in line Military Commander) William of Paris. He was an exceptional military man who had fought in the Holy Land prior to the loss of Acre, and he was well liked and respected by many in the order for his military genius. He took the role, knowing it would be a heavy burden throughout the war yet with a fire in his heart, and a will of steel he would lead the order to victory in this new war.

The Templar's Adversities
The War for Scottish Independence was already in its twelfth year when the Templar's arrived and their actions in the later years of the war were necessary for the Scottish victory. Commander William and King Robert planed multiple siege's across Scotland reclaiming several English held castles and forts within the coarse of a few years. This crippled the English presence in Scotland where many of the armies were destroyed before they even managed to form. This was due in part to the constant raids on enemy supply lines and small bands of troops on their way to better strategic locations.

However their would still be moments in the war were the Templar order would lose hope for a time. When they discovered that their order had been disbanded by Pope Clement many wept, believing that God had truly abandoned them once and for all, some Templars killed themselves after receiving this new as they felt their was no place for them in this world anymore. Another blow that caused Commander William to become detached and melancholic was when he received the news that Grandmaster Molay was burned at the stake as a heretic. These events were disheartening to the entire order as they were now on their own abandoned by the entire world. With no clear sign of regaining their honor on the mainland. Then pulling himself out of his depression Commander William gave a famous speech to his men that helped inspire them to continue fighting. He ordered them to take out their sorrow and anger on the English forces they fought, to fight for a new land they could call home and reclaim their honor with the sword. Only then could they all weep for the loss of their Grandmaster.

Bannockburn
It was on June 23rd 1314, three months after the death of their Grandmaster, one of the greatest victories in both Scottish and Templar history was fought. South of Stirling castle at a site called Bannockburn, two armies led by the respective kings of Scotland and England met. The English army was believed to have numbered between fourteen to twenty five thousand men all of them confident inf a swift victory over the inferior force. The Scottish forces numbered between five and seven thousand men mainly armed with Pikes axes and swords with a few of them being armed with bows, and at the very most five hundred horsemen, however these men were not as well armored as the English Knights making them no match in a possible clash with the English knights. Thankfully the Scottish army was not alone as the Commander William brought a force of Templar's to face the English threat. Unfortunatly most of his army was either gathering supplies from Iceland, fortifying captured Scottish castles, or healing at Edinburgh leaving him only three thousand men to fight alongside Robert.

Despite the lack of men The Scottish-Templar army had spent the year before he battle training the men in counter cavalry tactics. This foresight in countering the shock force of the English army would be invaluable to their army as they knew that the death of the English Knights would be a great blow to the moral of the English making it easier for the Scottish and Templars to defeat them man to man.

When the two armies first met the Scottish were already holding a key defensive line outside of Stirling Castle. It was here that the first two cavalry formations attack the thick line of pikemen only to be repelled with several men killed in the attack. However a young knight Henry de Bohun, who spotted King Robert commanding his men charged forward ready to Kill the Bruce and end the war then and there. Yet Robert saw this and charged forward as well, wielding an battle axe. As the two men met one another in combat Robert dodged Henry's lance and split the man's head in two, breaking his axe in the process. Following their leader into battle the Scott's charged into the English driving them back to the far end of the field.

On the second day of battle the Scottish and Templars readied their battle lines and advanced in a tight nit formation towards the English position. At the urging of a Commander William he both the Scott's and Templars knelt and prayed to God. King Edward thought that they were praying to God for mercy from the English, this was quickly dashed when the Scottish and Templar forces began advancing once more screaming and shouting terrifying the English army who was already in low morale. The English advanced as well yet their men were not as well trained and lacked any cohesion as a fighting force.

The majority of the battle was fought defensively countering the English attacks at every turn. However when the English lines began to break on the right flank, the Templars began pushing through to the point where they had managed to attack the English center line. Fearing a rout Edward ordered his Welsh Long Bowmen to start firing into their ranks. However anticipating this move the Templar Knights and Scottish Light Cavalry charged into their lines and routed them before a single arrow was fired.

With the loss of their archers and the lack of knights to effectively counter the Templars, Edward fled with his personal guard. This resulted in a absolute route that led to the death and capture of well over half the English army, it was a humiliating defeat that Edward would not recover from. For Robert his claim to the Scottish throne was solidified and any chance of Edward leading long extended campaigns into Scotland was over. He would never again raise as large an army that fought at Bannockburn, nor would many of his lords be willing to follow him into Scotland without extreme incentives. {| class="article-table" !
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Robert
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Fate of the Templars
The Scottish victory would allow them to raid deep into Northern England and allow the Scottish and Templars to invade Ireland where they went as far south as Dublin. for a majority of the remaining war, the Templars would gather supplies from Iceland and Norway two nations that did not conduct Templar purges as the order was not stationed within their kingdoms. Several great raids and cities were captured and sacked by the Scottish forcing the English kingdom to accept that they were losing the war.

Despite these victories Commander William was becoming further disheartened with each English castle taken. Instead of garrisoning an army to hold the positions or allowing Templar troops to use these fortresses as a temporary headquarters for their next offensive, almost all of them were either destroyed to the foundation or given to a Loyal Scottish noble. With the war's end coming closer with each passing day and each new fortress taken became ruble it seemed as if the Scottish King may in fact go back on his word.

When all hope seemed lost, Templars who were tasked with gathering supplies from Iceland, brought back several stories came of an old legend that told of a wild and untamed land to the West father than Greenland. It inspired a few experienced knights to try and search for the new land following the instructions of the tales as written in the Vindlandic Sagas. However Commander William and the Templar leader were against searching for fairy tales and legends, and they were threatened with severe punishment if they ever dared to try and find such a land. Despite these threats over two hundred men followed Fredrick of Saxony, an idealistic Knight within the Templar Order, many of the men were young Sergeants and Old Knights. They quickly commandeered two Templar ships under the guise of gathering supplies from Iceland and left under the cover of night leaving all who suspected their plot far behind.

Expedition of Two Ships
Following the directions the Vinelandic Sagas gave and using a sun compass to point them in the right direction, the Templars on their two vessels set off into the unknown. However due to a miscalculation by the sailors their vessel was knocked off the proper coarse, (this current would have taken them to OTL's Newfoundland, in Canada.) This sent the entire expedition off course by making them travel further away from the coast which hampered their ability to calculate where they were supposed to land.

After a month and a half of travel they were beginning to run low on food and water in search of a land they started to believe was not there. With moral low and many prepared to return home as failures and take the punishment that was awaiting them in Scotland, they spotted it. Off in the far distance they saw huge clouds of smoke that darkened the sky. They found new land, and they had found people.

Meeting the Manhattan Tribes
When the Templars arrived off the shores of this new world (OTL Long Island New York) they were apprehensive, would they be able to speak with these strange new peoples? would they be friendly or would they attack the second they set foo on their land? All of them were afraid as they slowly made their way to the center of the village ever on guard in the event of an attack. The men of the tribe were also fearful of these new strangers as they were wore strange clothing, wore strange symbols, and wielded strange weaponry.

Yet, instead of the two sides fighting they came together and embraced each other in a spiritual brotherhood. They exchanged gifts and ate around the fire singing songs in honor of their new friendship, even if they could not speak each others language. Two months would pass and the Templars and the Manhhattos(Manhattans) began to speak each others language bridging another gap between the two peoples from opposite ends of the world.

Founding of New Acre
After two months the leader of the expedition Fredrick, of Saxony, made a great request of the Chieftain of the Manhattan's. He told them of his desire for land that the Templar order could live on and use in peace with their new neighbors. He knew that there was land nearby on the island not currently in use, Fredrick and his men had brought treasure and goods with them that they were willing to trade to purchase the land that they and their brothers desperately wanted so that they might live in peace with their new neighbors.

This was a great request that the Chief and the council had to discuss among themselves as it was a life changing choice, for not only their people, but all the people's of the continent. Weeks passed as the tribesmen discussed the ramifications of allowing the Templars to stay. In the end it was decided that the Templars would be allowed to purchase some of the land on the Northern part of the island. This land was not used by the Manhattan and was fertile with plenty of game that they could hunt to provide for their order.

With the negotiations over and both parties in agreement the Templars set out the the Northern point of the island where they started building New Acre. Fredrick ordered one hundred of his men to stay behind and continue building the village while he and the remaining men returned to Scotland where they could bring the tales of this world to their brethren.

Trials and Travels
When Fredrick and his men returned to Scotland they were arrested and brought before Commander William who was furious at the insubordination of these men. He was not pleased at the theft of two of the Templar's limited ships. Despite this Fredrick and his men all attested their discovery of a new land far off into the west showing the furs, food, tools, and jewelry they gathered in their time in the New World.

After a month of deliberation the council and several specialists determined that Fredrick and his men did in fact journey to a new world as none of the items brought before the council were seen by European eyes. The council and many of the low ranking members of the Templar Order, wanted to see this new world that was untouched by the sins that plagued Europe. This put pressure on Commander William who was still fighting with the Scottish in their war of Independence. However when King Robert called a truce in 1320 that officially declared the Scottish free William allowed a small expedition of five hundred men of various roles to travel to New Acre under the orders to build up the small village into a respectful town for them to call home.

It would take eight years before the Scottish were officially recognized as an independent nation in that time the Templar Order would transfer all of their men to New Acre where the village grew to a town and then a city. When 1328 arrived the Templar Order had less than a thousand men left in Scotland with many of them ready to leave at a moments notice. Only two hundred Templars stayed behind in Scotland to serve the house of Bruce and all other Scottish Kings to come after with their base being located under the guise of the House of Sinclair in Orkney Scotland.

Icelandic Explorers and Lost Souls Join
After the first Templar ships left for the new world the Icelandic peoples became intrigued by the number of ships heading west. When the sailors asked the few Templars of where they were traveling they were excited by the news. Many of the Icelandic peoples grew up on the Saga's of their forefathers who told the tales of a far off land in the west that was fertile and full of life. This inspired many of the poorer and adventurous Icelandic people to travel westward with the Templars to see this new world. When they arrived they were in awe of the vast amount of land ready to be tamed, completing the dream of the Norsemen who first voyaged to this rediscovered land once more. The Templars also brought along the sons who stood to gain no inheritance from their father's, while the families of tradesmen and farmers who had lost everything in the Scottish War for Independence, from both England and Scotland. The Templar nature of charity offered a hand to these lost souls who needed a new home and it would be these people who would help build up the Templar Order in the New World.

Expansion of New Acre
Sailors, Soldiers, Pilgrims, Sinners and Whores. These were the inhabitants of New Acre in 1329, people who sought out this new land to better themselves and start a new life, free of the shackles of their old one. The city of New Acre grew from a mere hundred men to a population of over thirty thousand in less that a decade. The city was a bustling hub of people constantly at work everyone was able to find work no matter their trade. Fishermen found the waters surrounding the city full of fish and crabs, Merchants were able to build a guild that interacted with the Mahicans and other smaller tribes in exchange for furs, seeds and jewelry, Farmers where able to own larger plots of land that was parceld out equally and finally Smiths were constantly buisy making weapons armor and tools for the entire community keeping the forges as many smiths at the time would say "We make swords for the Templars from sunrise till the sun sets." There are some who speculate though they have not confirmed, that this is where the quote "work from sun up to sun down" came from.

The Templars planned the construction of a large port to allow fishermen to transfer their haul after each day, while the engineers planed the construction of a keep to act as the base of the Templar's political power. In the mean time the Templars while unable to build any chapels, do to the lack of resources. As a way around this the clergy of the Order, Chaplains, gave mass across the city outside in the public markets giving citizens comfort in the new world, assuring the populace that God was with them.

For many living in the New World it appeared to be a paradise with no worries of war or famine. People were able to live a far better life under the Templar Order's Grand Master William (Formally Commander). They were able to hunt animals when they were low on food, they lived a far more prosperous life than what they had lived under any European lord as the Templars only required food, drink, weapons and clothing to survive. Life for a time was perfect in New Acre.

The First Tribal War
The peace was not to last unfortunately as the rapid expansion of the Templar's territory across the New world caused friction with the Native populations. At first it was just a few disagreements between the locals in the Molay River(The Hudson River in OTL) who wanted more metal weapons and tools in exchange for the furs the Templars needed for the harsh winters. This was merely the beginning of the two sides problems, as with the lack of iron being brought from Europe pretext for the war