Knights Templar - Warriors of God

National Geographic Knights Templar Warriors of God

Knights Templar: Warriors of God Delve into the myths and mysteries of the legendary medieval order - the Knights Templar. The Templar have recently attracted global attention following Dan Brown's best selling novel The Da Vinci Code, where they are presented as mysterious protectors of the Holy Grail. Modern Conspiracy theorists suggest that the Knights Templar still exists in secret to this day and still protects a vast and mysterious treasure. Using historical re-enactments of battles and long secret rituals, we separate fact from fiction behind these legendary warriors.

The medieval Knights Templar were warrior-monks, mostly aristocratic men who took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in return for assurances that they would enter heaven. Thus guaranteed salvation and eternal life, they fought in the Crusades with reckless abandon. Sanello (The Opium Wars) pedantically traces the order's rise and fall over the course of two centuries. It originated in the 12th century to provide protection to pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land, and Templars fought courageously in various Crusades. By the beginning of the 13th century, they had become victims of their own courage, suffering tremendous military losses in Palestine. But their presence in Europe grew and their reputation as bankers developed. As Sanello points out, the Templars invented the check and established the first branch banks, where pilgrims could take out loans for their travels to Jerusalem. By the early 14th century, however, the order had fallen on hard times, accused by the Inquisition of homosexuality, greed and heresy. Their Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1314, and with this the order was banned. Through a focus on various legends that have since arisen-that the Templars were the precursors of Masons and keepers of the Holy Grail-Sanello shows how the order has been kept alive in name if not in reality.

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For nearly two centuries, the Knights Templar was the most powerful order in the medieval world. Today, the group's legacy is played out in an array of Hollywood blockbusters and numerous works of popular literature.