About Us

At Veneman-ARMS we pride ourselves in merging ancient history and practices with present day technologies through our creation of handcrafted Damascus Steel Forged Blades and Weaponry. Our mission is to create blades with the highest quality and unique artisan character. Our name, “Templars Choice”, we believe evokes a historical lineage of Medieval Guild craftsmanship and an artisan’s approach to precise functional blades. We are proud to continue to produce the quality product that our customers in Saint Augustine and abroad have come to expect from the name “Templars Choice”. We are proud to produce products that exemplify those standards every day.

Who were the Knights Templar and what were they known for?

          Around the year 1119, contemporary sources begin to speak about a brotherhood of Knights devoted to Christ. However, they are not formerly endorsed by the Catholic Church until Pope Innocent II issues the Papal bull, known as Omne datum optimum (in English: every perfect gift) in March of 1139. This papal bull formally approved the rule of the Poor Fellows- Soldiers of Christ and the Order of the Temple of Solomon or more simply, The Order of Solomon, (the Knights’ Templar). This bull promised the Order spoils from its Muslim conquests, allowed the Order to construct certain religious locations such as churches, cemeteries and houses.

The bull also allowed the Order to place a chaplain in each of its religious houses, expel unworthy members, allowed the construction of chapels for the members and their burials, forbid elections of Grand Templars that were not official members of the Order, and provided the Order with an exemption from tithing and homage from being extracted on the church’s behalf. The Knights’ Templar was a brotherhood that consisted of three ranks. These ranks were noble-Knights, Sergeants, and Chaplains, led by several Grand Templars throughout their history. At its peak this Order had about 15,000 to 20,000 members. Ninety percent of the members were non-combatants with the remaining ten percent making up the Knights’, who fought in battle on behalf of Christendom.

The Order’s members were said by some contemporaries to have lived like monks and dedicated themselves to die as martyrs for the glory of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Knights’ Templar had roots in Medieval guilds. The Medieval guild was an association of merchants and craftsman who decided to come together for the benefit of the group and its protection. Guild members included such people as Weavers, Stonemasons, Metalworkers (Hammerman) and Bakers. This helped the Templars to build a reputation for being known as the best metalworking swordsmiths in the Western world for the time. This brotherhood, from its earliest days to its end, was known for their skillful fighting in the effort to support the armies of Christian Kings against non-Christians, especially the Kings of Jerusalem during the crusades.

During their peak, the Knights’ Templar was politically influential concerning affairs in Europe and Jerusalem. They were also known as exemplary custodians of various temples and fortresses, placed in their charge by the Kings their efforts supported. The way certain Kings of Europe and Jerusalem treated the Templars, is testament to their effectiveness on the battlefield. The controlling powers of Europe and Jerusalem very often tended to blame the Templars for any conquest failures or defeats. It was believed that because the Templars were considered such a formidable fighting force, if there was a defeat in battle, the fault must lie with the Templars, even though they acted as nothing more than a unit of support. Despite this fact, the Templars cemented their place in history as devote craftsmen and brave Knights, who’s downfall was brought about by the lust for power and greed that infected the leadership of the Order, clearly at this point, the Order had lost the quality, care and devotion that served as its foundations in its early days.