The Templars: The Secret History Revealed

Description

Barbara Frale gives us an explosive, exhaustively researched history of the medieval world’s most powerful military order, the Templars. At its height, the Order of the Knights Templar rivaled the kingdoms of Europe in military might, economic power, and political influence. For 700 years, the tragic demise of this society of warrior-monks amid accusations of heresy has been plagued by controversy, in part because the transcript of their trial by the Inquisition—which held the key to the truth—had vanished. Templar historian Barbara Frale happened to be studying a document at the Vatican Secret Archives when she suddenly realized that it was none other than the long-lost transcript! It revealed that Pope Clement V had absolved the order of all charges of heresy. The Templars chronicles the spectacular rise and fall of the organization against a sweeping backdrop of war, religious fervor, and the struggle for dominance, and finally lifts the centuries-old cloak of mystery surrounding one of the world’s most intriguing secret societies. Foreword by Umberto Eco The Discovery I: Jerusalem, the Holy Sepulchre, and the Temple Alpha and Omega—Beginning and End Take Back the Promised Land Liberate the Holy Sepulchre, Bring Peace to Europe “Venerunt Gentes” (The Heathen Have Come) Constant Risk Sentinels II: An Order of Holy Warriors The Powerful Take Interest Institutional Problems The Moral Question East and West—War and Self-Denial The Power of an Ideal Monks in Arms? III: The Templar Code of Honor The Nobility of the Chivalric Code Marks of Humility, Marks of Excellence A Harmonious Balance of Body and Spirit To Live and Die under a Flag The Sacred Bond of Solidarity Regulations and Hierarchy The Financial Face of the Temple Politics and Diplomacy IV: In Service to the Holy Land Outremer Bernard of Clairvaux The Horns of Hattin From the Sepulchre of Christ to the Tomb of Peter The Tragedy of the Fourth Crusade The Excommunicated Emperor and the Holy King Courtier Gossip From Lyon to Cyprus V: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Papacy, Philip the Fair, and Jacques de Molay The Manifesto of Lunghezza The Armed Guard of the Roman Church War Games: The Owl and the Warlock The Two-Headed Monster Church and State Scandals in Paris Disquieting Rumors Achilles’ Heel VI: On Trial “Will You Be Able to Bear the Unbearable?” The Secret Initiation Test Fall 1307 Molay’s Retraction and the Struggle over the Papal Investigation The Chinon Parchment Either the Temple or the Church of Rome From the Council of Vienne to the Death of Jacques de Molay Afterword Bibliographic Note Index