They Protected Christian Pilgrims En Route to Jerusalem
The Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon were founded on the idea that they would protect Christian pilgrims who were traveling to Jerusalem. However, that probably didn’t happen in the group’s early years, seeing as, if nothing else, they were far too small to serve any purpose. The route from France – where they were initially from and where many pilgrims came from – to the Holy Land was thousands of miles long, and there were only nine of the knights. They probably didn’t leave Jerusalem much in their early years.
However, once they began amassing their power and prestige, they had the means to do what they had initially said they would do. They set up command posts all along the route, where Christian pilgrims could find refuge and rest from the long journey. They also guarded the road, which was known for bandits and robbers. After all, they weren’t just treasure hunters who may or may not have been digging under the Temple Mount for treasure. They were warriors, and the warrior enterprise turned out to be quite lucrative, as the order became immensely wealthy off of the money that the knights made from the services that they provided.