GT25's Historical Series: Knights Templar vs. Jewish Zealot
Hello, and welcome to the Historical Series. In this series, we will take warriors from across the world and throughout history and mythology and analyze their weapons, armor, and x-factors to see who would win in a hypothetical battle. For this installment, we will compare two religious fanatics to have come into being with the Knights Templar from the Crusades and the Jewish Zealots of the Roman Empire. For this battle, we will take the Templar from the Second Crusade and the Zealot from the First Jewish-Roman War. Since their history isn't well known for everyone, I will give a brief summary of their history for those unfamiliar with them.
History of the Warriors
In the year 1119, the French knight named Hugues de Payens approached King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Warmuch, the then Patriarch of Jerusalem, proposing the creation of a monastic order for the protection of pilgrims making their way to the city. When the request was agreed upon, the order would receive the name 'Knights Templar' when given a headquarters in a wing of the royal palace on the Temple Mount by the king. Once the order gained support and power including being exempt from being obedient to local laws by Pope Innocent II, the Templars became a leading figure in the holy lands and often employed as shock troopers in key battles during the Crusades. Despite their mission being geared towards military, many of the members were managers of the order's vast economic network instead of being warriors. However, once the Holy Lands were lost to Muslim forces, the order lost support and rumors of idolatry and heresy within the Templar's ranks began to spread. Ultimately, the order would be dissolved by Pope Clement V in 1312 with the execution of its last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, ensuring the order's destruction.
Founded by Judas of Galilee in the year 6 CE against the Census of Quirinius, the Jewish Zealots were referred to as a 'fourth sect' compared to the three main Jewish sects of at the time. Originally created as a political organization, they had a rebellious agenda against the Romans and were considered ruffians by other political factions within the state of Judea. However, the Zealots took a major role during the First Jewish-Roman War that started in 66 CE after the Roman Governor had the Second Temple of Jerusalem plundered. Having to battle against the Roman Empire, they sought to eradicate the Empire's rule by generally targeting Romans and Greeks in the state of Judea. Along with this, they would also target the supporters of the Roman Empire and urged their people to their cause against the Empire. However, the Romans were able to retaliate and in 68 CE a brief civil war broke out within the walls of Jerusalem which lead to the Zealots and a related group known as 'Sicarii' killing anyone who advocated surrender. Ultimately, the Zealots were crushed by the Romans in 70 CE during the Siege of Jerusalem and the city being lost after the destruction of the Second Temple.
Close Range
Arming Sword (Knights Templar): The Arming, or Knightly, Sword was the typical sword of a knight from the 10th century to the 15th century with the sword having a double-edged blade. An example of this sword from this period has a 30.75 inch steel blade with a total length of 36.5 inches and weighs 2.34 pounds.
Sica (Jewish Zealot): The Sica is a large dagger or short sword used in ancient cultures along with the Ancient Romans with the blade curved as a way to get around shields. An example of this blade as a short short has a 25.75 inch iron blade with a total length of 34 inches and weighs 2.03 pounds.
Verdict: The Arming Sword gets the edge. While the Sica has the forward curve to get around a shield and bite into the rim of the shield, the Arming Sword has a straight double-edged blade that allows the user to perform thrusts as well as slashing. In addition, the Arming Sword has a blade that is five inches longer which gives it a slightly greater reach.
Medium Range
Lance (Knights Templar): The Lance is a prime example of a type of spear from the Medieval Ages with this version based more on the boar spear used during this period of time. An example of this type of lance is about 84 inches, or 7 feet, in length and weighs about 4.5 pounds.
Iron Spear (Jewish Zealot): The Iron spear is basically a standard spear with an iron spear head that was used by many cultures including the Zealots. This spear is about 72 inches, or 6 feet, in length and weighs about 4.5 pounds.
Verdict: Neither weapon gets the edge here. Besides the length of the spears and how the weapons are typically employed, both are the same in terms of their design and the only main difference is the strength of the spear heads used.
Long Range
Crossbow (Knights Templar): The Crossbow is a ranged weapon that consists of an assembly similar to a bow mounted on a wooden frame that fires projectiles referred to as 'bolts'. During the time of the Second Crusade, the crossbows used by knights could be spanned by hand rather than using special devises to span the bowstring. A typical crossbow of this period had a length of about 40.25 inches with the length of the arms being 33.5 inches and weighs 10.31 pounds.
Composite Bow (Jewish Zealot): The Composite Bow is a type of bow used by many cultures where it's composed of various materials such as horn, wood, and sinew. The bow used by the Zealots were most likely a recurve bow as it may have been inspired by the Arcus Bow used by the Romans. This bow has a length of about 50 inches and weighs about 1.79 pounds.
Verdict: The Composite Bow gets the edge, but it's closer than one would think. This kind of debate often depends on various factors, like the Crossbow being more suited for armor piercing and the bow being able to fire more arrows. In this case, the fact that the Crossbow can be spanned by hand does mean that it can fire more bolts, but the Composite Bow still beats it and its very light weight allows it to be easier to be carried and used in battle. It isn't much due to the Crossbow being spanned by hand, but it's still an edge.
Special Weapons
Mace (Knights Templar): The Mace is one of the earliest of melee weapons with examples of this era having a small iron head with small, triangular points to maximize the force behind a strike. This mace has a length of 20.63 inches and weighs 1.21 pounds.
Khopesh (Jewish Zealot): The Khopesh is a sickle sword that had continued to be used into the Iron Age and remained in use by the Egyptians along with many other cultures. This sword has a 17.5 inch iron blade with a total length of 24.19 inches and weighs 2.12 pounds.
Verdict: The Mace gets the edge, but not by much. The Mace even in this form is able to harm an opponent wearing armor, but the Khopesh is a sword and has a larger area to use in comparison. However, as both of these warriors will be wearing armor, the Mace does have a better chance of causing injury compared to the Khopesh.
Armor
Chainmail over Gambeson, Cervelliere over Mail Coif, and Kite Shield (Knights Templar): During the time of the Second Crusade, the Knights Templar and many other knights typically wore riveted mail hauberk, or shirt, under their tunics. This mail hauberk was typically made of usually iron rings riveted together to provide the user protection from slashing attacks. While it can fail to thrusting attacks, trying to pierce through riveted mail with a thrusting attack isn't an easy task and the wrong type of weapon may even ruin the chances to actually pierce through it. However, as added protection, chainmail was often worn over a gambeson.
Gambeson, also known as a 'padded jack', is a type of cloth armor made to be used either on its own or under other armor such as chainmail or plate armor. Depending on the thickness of the gambeson, this armor is typically able to protect the user in close quarters and even stop arrows from killing the wearer. In combination with the chainmail, this armor is able to protect the user even if the mail is pierced and ensure an arrow won't get through the armor. Along with this, a knight would commonly wear a cervelliere helmet over a mail coif as head protection.
The cervelliere helmet is a hemispherical and close fitting skull cap made of steel that can protect the top of the head of the wearer. To compensate for this lack of protection, the wearer would wear a mail coif either under the helmet and over the helmet. A mail coif is a flexible hood of riveted mail to cover the user's throat, neck, and the top part of the shoulders. Unfortunately, both the cervelliere helmet and mail coif leave the user's face unprotected.
Finally, the knights of this time period made use of the Kite Shield which is a large shield that is rounded at the top and curving down to a point at the bottom. Typically made of wood, this shield has a domed iron boss and at this point equipped with enarmes, or leather straps, to better grip the shield.
Lorica squamata, Imperial Gallic helmet, and Wicker shield (Jewish Zealot): During their war against the Roman Empire, the Jewish Zealot made use of the armor used by their enemy with them wearing the lorica squamata. The lorica squamata is a shirt of iron scales shaped in the same way as the lorica hamata used by the Romans. These iron scales are able to protect the user from slashing attacks and offer a bit more protection from piercing and blunt attacks than typical chainmail.
Along with this, the Zealots made use of the Imperial Gallic helmet as a means to protect their head. This hemispherical helmet is made of iron which has a sloping neck guard to protect the back of the wearer's neck and cheek guards attached to it for added protection. However, it leaves the user's face and the front of their neck unprotected. Finally, the Zealots made use of Wicker shields with a rectangular shape similar to the Roman scutum shield.
These shields, typically made of reed or willow, weren't as strong as the scutum but were able to take a few strikes before breaking. In addition, the use of this type of shield made it easier to repair and replace unlike the Roman scutum.
Verdict: The Knights Templar gets the edge for armor, but not by much. When comparing their body armor, I would say that it's either a draw or leaning a bit towards the lorica squamata. It can protect the body more than the chainmail, but the addition of the gambeson allows the mail to be even with the Roman scale armor. In terms of their helmets, the cervelliere helmet over the mail coif gets the edge slightly over the Imperial Gallic helmet. While both offer similar protection through different means and leaves the user's face unprotected, the addition of the mail coif offers protection to the user's throat unlike the Imperial Gallic helmet which leaves it unguarded.
Finally, the shields obviously goes to the Templars since the Kite Shield provides better protection and is more durable compared to the Wicker Shield used by the Zealots. In short, both are even with their body armor while the Templars have a slight edge with helmets and the shields go to the knights. As such, the Knights Templars get the edge overall, but only because of their cervelliere helmet over mail coif and kite shield.
X-Factors
Experience: Since they were first created to protect pilgrims on their journey to the city of Jerusalem, the Knights Templar had to battle against both raiders and highwaymen who often targeted those on pilgrimages. However, this role changed later on during the Crusades to being the shock troopers in key battles that took place. On the other hand, the Jewish Zealots had to battle against the Roman Empire for seven years as a guerrilla force. They even had to commit assassinations against Romans and Greeks along with killing anyone who wished to surrender during the brief civil war.
Training: This is where the Knights Templar gets an edge in X-Factors. As the warriors of the Templar order were trained to be shock troopers of the Holy Lands, they were trained to battle against the foes of the Crusaders on both horseback as well as on foot. In comparison, the Jewish Zealots were rebels against the Roman Empire who had to make use of guerrilla tactics and assassinations while being more of a faction among their people.
Fanaticism: This is where these two are actually rather similar. The Knights Templar were said to have been motivated by the Lord to take back the Holy Lands from the forces of Islam. In addition to this, they spread their Christian belief by using fear and terror. The Jewish Zealots sought to eradicate the Roman rule from the city of Jerusalem and committed violence while urging others to their cause. In addition to slaying Romans, they also killed some of their own people who they considered Roman sympathizers or who wished to surrender to the Romans.
Extremism: Again, these two are rather similar. The Knights Templar sought to take back the Holy Lands and protect them as a mission from the Lord. On the other hand, the Jewish Zealots attempted to eradicate Roman rule from Jerusalem and even killed their own people including those they saw as sympathizers.
Match Information: This would be a one vs. one battle with the Templar having a horse at the beginning of the match.
The Set Up: In a rocky valley, a Knight Templar is on horseback while hunting as a Jewish Zealot goes to attack a politician in a new Roman settlement.
BATTLE
In a rocky valley located in the Holy Lands, a man wearing a white tabard with a red cross on it over mail and leather boots is on a horse as it walks through the area. The man has a Cervelliere helmet over a mail coif and has a Kite Shield with a guige strap on it to hang onto his back. He has a Crossbow in his right hand while holding a Lance in his left hand and has an Arming Sword sheathed on his belt with a Mace strapped to his horse's saddle. This man, a member of the Knights Templar, has left from the city to go out hunting.
Nearby, another man is making his way through the valley while using the rocks and boulders to hide him. This man is wearing Lorica squamata over a white tunic and is wearing an Imperial Gallic helmet with him holding a rectangular Wicker Shield in his left hand and a Composite Bow slung over his right shoulder. He has an Iron Spear in his right hand while having a Sica sheathed on the left side of his belt and a Khopesh strapped to the right side of his belt next to a quiver full of arrows. This man is a Jewish Zealot who has been given the mission of going to the Roman city and take out a politician that has arrived.
The Jewish Zealot is walking to a boulder when he sees the Knight Templar stopping his horse about forty feet away from him. Seemingly not seeing the other man, the knight starts to dismount from his horse as the rebel gets behind the boulder he was walking to. The Zealot's easily able to hide behind it before thrusting his Iron Spear into the ground and placing his shield against the boulder before taking his Composite Bow off his shoulder. At the same time, the Templar places his Lance against a rock a few feet from his horse before he spots a white oryx grazing nearby.
Quickly placing his Crossbow to the ground, the knight reaches down and starts to span the weapon as the Zealot is still behind the boulder as he nocks an arrow onto his bow. The rebel quickly gets out from behind the boulder as the Templar finishes spanning the Crossbow and picks it up. Aiming his bow at the man, the Zealot fires an arrow at the knight as said man is about to load a bolt onto his Crossbow. The arrow flies through the air before striking the Templar's helmet and deflecting off due to its shape.
The knight takes a step to his right as he gets stunned from the arrow as the rebel quickly gets another arrow out and nocks it onto his bow. The Templar shakes his head before seeing his attacker and quickly getting the bolt onto his Crossbow. Just as the Zealot takes aim at his foe, the knight raises his Crossbow before firing his weapon off first. The bolt manages to strike the rebel and just barely penetrates a scale, causing him to cry out from the blow and fire his arrow up away from his target.
Quickly getting back behind the rock, the Zealot grabs the bolt and takes it off before throwing it away as the Templar placing his Crossbow on the rock with his Lance. Taking his Lance from the rock, the knight quickly gets onto his horse as the rebel nocks another arrow onto his Composite Bow. As the Templar gets ready to charge, the Zealot gets from behind the boulder and fires the arrow off. However, the knight easily uses his Kite Shield to protect himself before quickly having his horse galloping towards his attacker.
The rebel quickly pulls out another arrow and fires it to stop him, but the Templar easily uses his shield to block it. The Zealot quickly jumps to his left to avoid the horse with the knight unable to strike him with his Lance. Getting back to his feet, the rebel throws his bow away before running towards the boulder and grabbing his Iron Spear and Wicker Shield. The Templar quickly has his horse as the Zealot runs towards an open area without rocks. Seeing this, the knight has his horse gallop towards his attacker with his Lance ready to be impaled through them.
Just as the rebel reaches the center of the open area, he turns around with his foe charging towards him before leveling his spear in front of him. Seeing what his opponent is doing and realizing what he's planning, the Templar tries to have his horse turn away from his foe to prevent his steed's death. However, despite the knight managing to veer his horse, the Zealot thrusts his Iron Spear and stabs his foe in their right leg. The rebel pulls his spear out as the knight passes which causes him to be pulled off his horse and landing on his back with his Lance falling out of reach.
Not taking any chances, the Zealot runs up to his fallen foe and tries to use his Iron Spear to impale his foe. However, the Templar is able to use his Kite Shield to block the spearhead and it just barely goes into the shield. As the rebel takes his spear out of the shield, the Templar draws his Arming Sword from its scabbard and swings it at the spear. The blade cuts through the wood and takes the spearhead off the shaft before the Zealot steps back as the knight starts to get up.
With the now destroyed weapon, the rebel swings the wooden shaft at his opponent only for the Templar to easily block the strike with his shield. The Zealot quickly throws the broken weapon away before drawing his Sica and attempts to slash his foe. Using his shield, the knight easily blocks the slash and groans as he leans a bit on his wounded leg. Acting quickly, the Templar counters with a slash with his Arming Sword and the Zealot uses his Wicker Shield to block it. However, the end of the sword is able to cut through into the shield before stopping.
As the knight takes his sword from the shield, the rebel uses his slightly broken shield to push his foe back who groans again from his wound as he gets back into a fighting stance. The Templar and Zealot swing their swords and clash them against each other before the rebel starts to perform a stab. This causes the knight to use his Kite Shield to try to deflect the strike, but the forward curve allows the blade to impale itself into his wounded leg.
Crying out from the pain as the rebel takes the Sica out, the Templar puts some strength into a swing of his Arming Sword and manages to knock the weapon out of its owner's hand. Pulling the sword back, the knight attempts a thrust with the Zealot putting his shield in front of him and reaches to his belt for his Khopesh. Despite the Arming Sword going into the shield, it stops the weapon from the rebel as it gets stuck. Getting his Khopesh and not taking a chance, the Zealot performs an overhead strike that hits the knight's helmet and stuns the Templar.
Using this to his advantage, the rebel pulls his shield to the side and takes the Arming Sword with it as he throws his shield away. The Zealot easily performs a slash to his foe's chest, but his Khopesh fails to cut through his foe's mail and his foe gets his senses back. The Templar looks down as his foe's sword leaves and sees his tabard ripped with an arm of the red cross seemingly cut off from the slash.
The knight looks at his foe in anger from the symbol's destruction as the Zealot attempts another slash, but the Templar uses his Kite Shield to block it. Seemingly spurred by the desecration of the cross on his chest, the knight quickly pushes himself forward to slam his shield against his opponent. This causes the rebel to fall onto his back before the Templar hears something and sees his horse standing nearby. Realizing something, the knight quickly limps towards his steed as his foe starts to get to his feet as they see his foe getting to his horse.
As the Zealot gets to his feet, he starts to run towards his foe just as the knight reaches his horse and starts messing with its saddle. The Templar quickly gets his Mace from his horse before turning around as the Zealot tries to slash him. Simply holding his Kite Shield up to block the blow, the knight swings the Mace at the rebel's left arm and causes his foe to scream in pain. With his arm hanging loosely next to his body, the Zealot tries to perform another slash to his foe's right side. However, the knight is quicker and gets another swing in with the mace slamming into his foe's stomach.
The rebel steps back as they double over in pain before the Templar steps forward and bashes them with the boss of his shield. Just as the Zealot falls onto the ground, the knight quickly gets over him and uses his Kite Shield to pin down his right arm. The rebel tries to bring his left arm up, but this attempt is in vain as the knight brings his Mace down in an overhead strike. The weapon smashes down into the Zealot's face and stuns him before the weapon is brought down again with another strike. As the rebel seemingly looks up with his face starting bleed, the knight moves his shield onto his back before using his left hand to take off the man's helmet.
Tossing the helmet to the side, the Templar grabs his foe's shoulder and brings his Mace up before it comes down in another overhead strike. This time striking the Zealot's forehead, the weapon caves in a bit of the area as the man stops moving and the knight sees the light leave his eyes. Getting off his foe despite the pain from his right leg, the Templar steps back as he looks upon his defeated foe with his horse just standing behind him. The knight stays quiet before kneeling down with him placing his weapon down and cupping his hands together before saying a silent prayer.
Final Verdict: Despite the fanaticism behind these warriors, it was ultimately the Knights Templar who gained victory with a possible outcome of 5.4 out of 10 battles. In this battle, the Knights Templar had the advantage in the battle at close range with their Arming Sword and Mace while the Jewish Zealots had the long range edge with their Composite Bow. When looking at the X-Factors of these two, the Templars have more Experience and Training haven been used as shock cavalry while the Zealots are slightly more fanatic and extreme in their views due to turning their weapons against their own people. However, the biggest factor in this fight was the armor sets used by these warriors and more importantly the advantages the Templars had. While the Mail Hauberk over Gambeson are on par with the Lorica squamata, the Templar armor protects them more as it can stop arrows and slashing attacks which can stop most of the Zealot's arsenal. On the flip side, the Lorica squamata doesn't offer much protection against the Templars weapons with the Mace being the best weapon against it. The slightest advantages in the Cervelliere helmet over Mail Coif gives the Templars more protection, especially since the Imperial Gallic helmet doesn't protect the Zealot's throat. However, the Kite Shield was the biggest factor in this since the shield is more durable than the Wicker Shield and the shield allows the Templars to protect themselves from all of the Zealot's weapon. Ultimately, the Knights Templar have more protective armor and their shield ensures a protection from the Zealot's weaponry and their better training and experience in battle is what makes this match swing in their favor.
Got a battle you want to see? Tell me and I'll see if I can get it into the series! Next time, two cavalry units of the Middle East during the medieval ages will go head to head.
Ray Tanaka: Okay, not many things I have to say about this battle. Though, I can safely say that I made my best effort to ensure no animals were harmed in the writing of this battle. Other than that bit, the only other thing is that the Arming Sword getting stuck in the wicker shield is more just how I see that event happening. I think it really depends on the shape of the shield and how thick it is, since the Romans used wicker shields in training and practice from what I found and I wouldn't be surprised if that's what inspired the Zealot's shield. So, overall, a pretty standard battle that I was still interesting to write about. Hope you all enjoyed!
