The rise and fall of the Knights Templar - Gordon Napier

The Knights Templar were an order of warrior monks, the first regulated and uniformed standing army in Europe and the Holy Land since antiquity. They were also an economic force to be reckoned with and perhaps an institution guarding dark secrets. The origins of the concept of Holy War, from Biblical times through the rise of Islam, and the Christian movement which inspired untold thousands to set out to recapture Jerusalem, as warriors and as pilgrims. How nine knights led by Hugues de Payens came from France to guard pilgrims in the Holy Land, how they gained the site of the Temple of Solomon and what they did there, including a reevaluation of the historical evidence. How an unprecedented religious order grew, pledged to bloodshed in defence of pilgrims and the territory conquered by the Crusaders, and the role and agenda of St Bernard of Clairvaux and other powerful backers. The order's contribution to the ongoing Crusades, their military tactics, their organisation and the fortresses and bases they established. The fate of the order after the failure of the Crusades, including a detailed examination of the charges of occult rituals involving idol worship, spitting on the Cross and obscene kisses, through to the burning of the last Grand Master Jacques de Molay in 1314.