The Knights Templar

It is no surprise that interest in the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon – the Templars – has never waned. This secretive organisation, the wealthiest and most powerful of the Christian military orders, existed for two centuries. Renowned warriors, builders of fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land and at the same time pioneers of modern banking systems, the Templars were destroyed over a few short years by the King of France and the Pope. Claims that the Order lives on through freemasonry today are persistently made. Ernest Coleman has researched in archives and explored the Holy Land over several years to answer many intriguing questions about the Order. He begins with the ‘lost’ mount of Heredom (which still features in the higher orders of Freemasonry). It is not, as some claim, in Ayrshire. What is the evidence for the Templar treasure? Was it found under the Temple Mount and concealed from King Philip IV on the dissolution of the Order in 1307-12? The author has a new theory based upon his research. In fact, the wealth of the Templars is the mainspring of most of the myths and legends. The author has consulted with theologians and clergy to explore the possibility that Bernard of Clairvaux (the Templars’ ecclesiastical champion) used his access to the lost Gospel to blackmail the Pope. Why was the Order given so many privileges, to the fury of most of the Roman clergy? Is there a genuine unbroken link from the Templars to 19th-century freemasonry? Did the brotherhood’s ‘Reception’ or initiation ceremony include spitting on the cross and if so, why?