The Templars: History and Myth: From Solomon's Temple to the Freemasons

Front Cover
Profile Books, 2010 M07 9 - 299 pages

An order of warrior monks founded to protect pilgrims to Jerusalem, the Templars were among the wealthiest and most powerful bodies in the medieval world. Yet two centuries later, they were arrested, accused of blasphemy, heresy and orgies, and their leaders were burnt at the stake.

Part guide, part history, this book investigates the Templar legends and legacy - from the mysteries of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, via nineteenth century development of the Freemasons, through to Templar appearances in Dan Brown and Indiana Jones.

This book explains the whole context of Templar history, including the recent evidence discovered by the Vatican that the Templars were not guilty of heresy. It also features a guide to Templar castles and sites.

 

Contents

INTRODUCTION
11
The Contexts
15
The Rise 1099 to 1150
87
The Power 11501291
125
The Fall 12911314
205
The Aftermath
239
Locations
283
Templarism
327
INDEX
359
CHRONOLOGY
375
PICTURE CREDITS
383
A NOTE ON NAMES
384
Copyright

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About the author (2010)

Michael Haag has written widely on the Egyptian, Classical and Medieval worlds. He is author of the much-admired Alexandria: City of Memory (Yale University Press), and of bestselling Rough Guides to Tutankhamun and The Da Vinci Code.

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