8. The Knights Templar Were the Delta Force of the Crusades
Ragtag armies of peasants primarily marked the Crusades. The First Crusade was fought mainly by criminals – rapists and thieves – who were promised heaven as a reward for their fighting. Leaders such as Peter the Hermit amassed a fighting force of farmers and serfs, most of whom had probably never even considered wielding a weapon or engaging in armed combat. But the pope had them convinced that they were fighting in the way of God, so they were willing to beat their plowshares into swords so that they could gain heaven as a reward. That doesn’t mean that they didn’t fight fiercely – the streets of Jerusalem ran with blood, as the ragtag Christian armies mercilessly slaughtered Muslims, Jews, and even other Christians who had resided there.
The Knights Templar were one of the only trained militias of the Crusades. In fact, they were probably the first standing army since the fall of the Roman Empire. They were trained in combat and could carry out missions that the peasant soldiers could not dream of completing. When the regular peasant armies of the Crusades found themselves in trouble, the Knights Templar could be called upon to come to their rescue. On more than one occasion, just a few dozens of the knights defeated hundreds, if not thousands, of Saladin’s opposing troops.