Templars: The Knights Who Made Britain

Templars - The Knights Who Made Britain

The Knights Templar have an enduring reputation―but not one they would recognise. Originally established in the twelfth century to protect pilgrims, the Order is remembered today for heresy, fanaticism, and even satanism.
Steve Tibble sets out to correct the record. The Templars, famous for their battles on Christendom’s eastern front, were in fact dedicated peace-mongers at home. They influenced royal strategy and policy, created financial structures, and brokered international peace treaties―primarily to ensure that men, money, and material could be transferred more readily to the east. Revealing the true legacy of the British Templars, including their activity around Dover and Sandwich, he shows how a small group helped shape medieval Britain while simultaneously fighting in the name of the Christian Middle East.

Dr. Steve Tibble is a graduate of Cambridge and London Universities, and has an honorary position at Royal Holloway College, University of London. He is one of the foremost academics currently working in the field of the crusades. His recent publications have been critically acclaimed and include 'The Crusader Armies' (Yale, 2018) and 'The Crusader Strategy' (Yale, 2020) short-listed for the Duke of Wellington's Military History Prize). He has recently completed a trilogy about the 'bad boys' of the crusades including, 'Templars - The Knights Who Made Britain' (2023), 'Crusader Criminals - The Knights Who Went Rogue in the Holy Land' (2024) and 'Assassins and Templars - A Battle in Myth and Blood' (2025).