Osprey's Knights Templar

Author:

Graeme Davis

Publisher/Distributor

Osprey Publishing

Price

$17.95 MSRP

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

Notes: 80 pages, 7¼ x 9¼ inches, softcover
ISBN: 978-1-78200-409-7

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most wealthy and powerful of the Western Christian military orders and were among the most prominent actors of the Christian finance. The organization existed for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages.

 

Officially endorsed by the Catholic Church around 1129, the Order became a favored charity throughout Christendom and grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, innovating financial techniques that were an early form of banking. They built fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land.

 

The Templars' existence was tied closely to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the Order faded. Rumours about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created mistrust and King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, took advantage of the situation. In 1307, many of the Order's members in France were arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at the stake. Under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V disbanded the Order in 1312. The abrupt disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the "Templar" name alive into the modern day.

 

Here is where Osprey comes into the mix. The author ties in the Knights Templar with the Holy Grail legend and off we go with another interesting book that would do Hollywood proud. The author mixes in enough history along with veiled hints and suppositions to make for a very interesting read. It covers not only the Templar's movements of the Holy Grail, but also with acquisition of King Solomon's wealth and their fervent desire to create a world order when all people of all religions liven in harmony with each other in a world of enlightenment ruled by the Templars.

Supposedly the disbanding of the order in 1312 only forced the order to go underground. They still held the Grail and a vast wealth that allowed the Templars to allegedly control several events in history up to and including the fall of the Iron Curtain. There are many incidents concerning the Roman Catholic church that are caused by the Templars and their constant battling with the church. The Templars are also in conflict with the Freemasons as well in their quest to bring about a perfect world.

 

It all makes for some very believable reading and something that I found quite intriguing. It is a book that I found a nice mixture of history, the supernatural, and 'what if'. A book that I can quite easily recommend to you as something fun to read.

November 2013

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