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.
Author(s): Barbara Frale; Gregory Conti (transl.); Umberto Eco (foreword)
Edition: 1st. English-language ed.
Publisher: Arcade Publishing, Inc.
Year: 2009
Language: English
Commentary: First published in Italy as I Templari by Società editrici Il Mulino, Bologna : Societá editrici Il Mulino, 2004.
Pages: 246
City: New York
Tags: Templars—History; Military religious orders—History; Orders of knighthood and chivalry—History.
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
