A religious order of knighthood, Instituted about the year 1119, and so called because the members dwelt in a part of the temple of Jerusalem, and not far from the sepulcher of our Lord. They entertained Christian strangers and pilgrims charitably, and their profession was at first to defend travelers from highwaymen and robbers. The order was suppressed A. D. 1307, and their substance given partly to the knights of St John of Jerusalem, and partly to other religious orders. Brown.