By 1124, their ranks had grown, and the community became an official order of soldier-monks under the strict rules of the Cistercian Order. The miliary vows of defending Jerusalem to the death and refusal to give quarter to Muslims were enthusiastically observed. They inspired fear among Muslims, who respected their willingness to die fighting.

King Philip of France, jealous of the power and wary of the secrecy of the order, arrested, tortured and executed most of the order's members in his country in 1307. Their assets were acquired by the French and English monarchs, and by 1312, the Templars were officially suppressed by the pope.