The Knights Templars

"The history of the Knights Templars, the medieval order of warrior monks who fought in the Crusades, is a centuries-spanning epic that encompasses such conflicting elements as idealism and cynicism, valor and cowardice, piety and depravity." "Officially, they were The Order of the Poor Knights of Christ, and their mission was to create a safe passage for pilgrims visiting war-torn Jerusalem in the early twelfth century. Despite their vows of poverty, the Templars turned out to be brilliant businessmen, renowned for their honesty. Their monasteries served as "banks" in which Europe's rulers and nobles felt safe enough to deposit their money. The Templars also operated highly regarded medical schools, invented cashier's checks, and commanded a naval fleet that allowed them to engage in trade throughout the Atlantic and Mediterranean." "But the Templars' wealth and influence provoked jealousy and resentment, as their detractors accused them of betraying their original role as poor men of God. In the early fourteenth century, King Philip the Fair had all the Templars in France arrested on trumped-up charges of heresy, witchcraft, and homosexuality. Condemned by a series of kangaroo courts and subjected to years of imprisonment and torture (history has since acquitted the Templars of almost all charges), all but two Templars (including the Grand Master of the order, Jacques de Molay) ultimately confessed to crimes they didn't commit, accepted offers of clemency, and retired to monasteries. In 1314 A.D., de Molay and his fellow unrepentant monk were burned at the stake in the Parisian garden of the French king." "The monastic order was outlawed everywhere in Europe, but the Templars have survived in myth and legend until the present day; fringe historians and conspiracy buffs claim they still exist as secret members of the order of Freemasons and even the Shriners!"--Jacket.