"Templeisen" (plural) or "Templeise" (singular)
The Templeisen tradition is the symbolic lineage of the Sons of Solomon, dedicated to the spiritual and material rebuilding of the Temple.
"Temple Lords" or "Temple Knights."
the Temple being a metaphor for the body, the soul, and the cosmos—the true object of alchemical and Gnostic labor.
“Templeise” (sg.) / “Templeisen” (pl.) is transparently built on “Tempel” (temple) plus a relational suffix (-ise / -isen), used for people defined by affiliation. It denotes “men of the temple,” “temple-knights,” or “those belonging to the temple.”
- used in Middle High German by Wolfram von Eschenbach in his epic poem Parzival (written around 1200–1210).
This is Wolfram's name for the brotherhood of knights who guard the Holy Grail, a sacred relic depicted not as a chalice (as in later traditions) but as a luminous stone called the "lapsit exillis" (possibly meaning "stone fallen from heaven" or a corruption of "lapis elixir," the philosopher's stone).
The Grail stone grants eternal youth, heals ailments, provides boundless sustenance (food and drink appear magically in its presence), and sustains life—preventing death for a week after viewing it and preserving one's appearance except for graying hair. A white dove renews its power annually on Good Friday by placing a wafer upon it.
These knights reside in the hidden castle of Munsalvaesche (also called Montsalvat or "mountain of salvation" in some interpretations), located in the mythical Terre de Salvaesche, which cannot be found intentionally but only by divine chance or worthiness.
In the story, the Templeisen are an elite order of chaste, prayerful warriors selected from across the world—baptized men of noble birth who renounce worldly love (except for their lord), maintain purity, avoid incontinence and excessive pride, and dedicate themselves to protecting the Grail from heathens and unworthy seekers.
Their ranks include 12 core Christian spiritual knights, alongside maidens (25 are mentioned) who assist in tending the Grail while preserving its sanctity by renouncing falsehood. They are often depicted as somber and sorrowful due to the suffering of their lord, Anfortas (the Fisher King), who is afflicted with an incurable wound from a poisoned spear (thrust through his testicles in a forbidden joust for a woman's love, violating the order's rules).
The knights defend the surrounding forests and cannot leave the castle freely, with their names mysteriously inscribed on the Grail's edge when called to service, only to fade away afterward.
Symbolically, they wear garments emblazoned with the Grail's emblem (a turtledove, representing innocence and the Holy Spirit, rather than a cross) and embody "spiritual chivalry of the heart”.
The order's origins trace back to Titurel, a high initiate and the first Grail guardian (Parzival's great-grandfather), who received the relic from angels after it was left on Earth following the fall of neutral angels during Lucifer's rebellion.
Titurel passed it to his son Frimutel, then to Anfortas (Frimutel's son and Parzival's uncle). The Grail was said to have been brought to Europe (specifically northern France in esoteric traditions) during the Crusades, containing Christ's blood from the Crucifixion and the spear that pierced his side.
In the plot, the protagonist Parzival (a mixed-race knight, son of the Angevin Gahmuret and the Moorish queen Belacane) first encounters the Templeisen during his initial visit to Munsalvaesche, where he witnesses a grand feast with the Grail providing sustenance but fails to ask the compassionate question ("Uncle, what troubles you?") that would heal Anfortas—due to misguided advice about not prying.
Later, after years of wandering, atonement with the hermit Trevrizent (Anfortas's brother and a former Templeise), and battles (including defeating a Templeise knight in the forest), Parzival returns, asks the question, heals Anfortas, and becomes the new Grail King.
Other notable figures include Repanse de Schoye (Anfortas's sister, who carries the Grail), the sorceress Cundrie (a Grail messenger with a grotesque appearance who guides Parzival), and Lohengrin (Parzival's son, a Templeise who later features in swan-knight legends).
Regarding their connection to the historical Knights Templar (founded around 1118–1119 as the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon), Wolfram is credited with the first literary link between the Templars and the Holy Grail, portraying the Templeisen as Grail guardians in a way that mirrors the real order's chaste, militant monasticism and defense of sacred sites.
The historical Templars predated Parzival by nearly a century and were already prominent during the Crusades. Wolfram, who may have visited Jerusalem and encountered Templars (or drawn from Crusader patrons' experiences), likely modeled the Templeisen after them for thematic resonance, providing "good PR" for the order in German-speaking regions.
He claimed his version was based on a superior source, the Provençal poet Kyot (whose existence is unverified and possibly invented), correcting earlier Grail tales like Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval (ca. 1180s), which lacked the Templar-Grail tie.
The name "Templeisen" was deliberately chosen to evoke the Templars, deriving from "temple" (as in Solomon's Temple, where the historical Templars were headquartered on Jerusalem's Temple Mount). This parallels the Grail castle as a symbolic "temple" housing divine mysteries, with the knights as its protectors—much like the Templars' role in safeguarding holy relics and pilgrimage routes.
In later esoteric traditions (e.g., Rosicrucianism, influenced by Templar lore), the Templeisen are seen as inheritors of Oriental Grail wisdom brought West by the Templars, passing it onward.