Terry Jones of Monte Python fame did a very good video series on the crusades. I highly recommend it for general background information.
Simon Brighton has a good book about Templar sites in England. It talks about their demenses in the
UK as well as gives some overall history on them.
If you don't mind a drier read, pick up a copy of the rule of the Knights Templar. There are many versions, and most usually give some side detail about the various rules. This will give you a working knowledge of what they thought.
I'll look through my books when I get home and give you some more concrete recommendations.
In brief, the orders were similar but different in terms of foundational intent.
The Templars were founded to provide military protection for pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem and other key holy sites. Brigandage was regular enough that they developed to protect the common man on the road. The original group was promoted by Bernard of Clairvaux sufficiently that the pope gave them their own orders and set them as their own entity within the church. Their European possessions were there to earn money to support crusade efforts as well as provide banking institutions so that people could travel to the holy land. Much of the world's modern banking system is based on the Templars (checking, traveler's cheques, remote branches, etc were all created by the Templars for the purposes of facilitating pilgrimage to the holy land). Their rule was adapted by pretty much every other religious order in some way, shape, or form.
The Hospitalers were founded to care for the poor and the sick pilgrims. So while military in nature, their primary reason was not straight up fighting like the Templars. Both came to be the leading fighting institutions for monastic warriors, but not the sole ones (Knights of
St. Lazarus, Teutonic Order, Livonian Order, and many others). The Hospitalers moved into southern Europe with their headquarters in Malta following the loss of the holy land. They successfully adapted to the changing climate and had a career fighting Arab pirates. They actually at one point helped colonize the New World, even owning what is now US territory for a brief period (
St. Croix in the USVI). They still exist today as a religious order for the care of the sick and infirm.
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They are okay supplements, but poor if you want to really get in depth (I have them, and recommend them, but take them for what they are, cliff notes that skim over the surface in many cases).
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Well, a blown engine means I'm home sooner than expected.
Some good Crusade books:
The Crusades by Michael Paine
Warriors of God by James Reston
First Crusade by Thomas Asbridge
Gesta Tancredi by Ralph of Caen (though this will be hard to find and expensive, it is written by Ralph of Caen, the biographer and eye witness of Tancred
de'Hautville and the First Crusade)
Crusades by Terry Jones and Alan Ereira
For Templars:
In Search of the Knights Templar by Simon Brighton (Templar sites in the
UK)
The Templars: Knights of God by Edward Burman
Books on the Norman Conquest of Italy and Sicily may also be useful, as you'll understand some of the key players in the First Crusade better.
Osprey's stuff is reasonably good, but like dipping your toe into the water if you want to really dig into the military orders (and they are fascinating in my opinion).
