The Templars

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: The Templars - The Dramatic History of the Knights Templar, the Most Powerful Military Order of the Crusades by Piers Paul Read. 

The Templars were a multinational force of religious warriors, the first uniformed standing army in the Western world. They owned and managed vast estates and were pioneers in many fields, including fighting, travel, banking and building. Were they guilty of the charges to which they pleaded guilty under torture of blasphemy, heresy and sodomy yet withdrew their guilty plea knowing that death by fire awaited them? What relevance has their story for our modern times? 

Each of the Jerusalem temples are detailed, the founding of the Templar Order, their daily lives and responsibilities, each of their battles, including Acre and its fall, and the many colourful characters, Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, Louis of France, etcetera are covered. The author provides a balanced account, and documents some interesting scandals, errors and tragedies. Each success and defeat is described and the many complex circumstances that led to their demise are detailed, including a major internecine dispute about the marriage of a Princess in Tripoli. A tracing attempts of the Templars to protect their treasure takes it from Sidon then to Cyprus, with many lost battles along route. An interesting piece, page  249, about Roger of Flor, son of a falconer of Emperor Frederick II, extortionist, commander of the  Falcon galley and the Olivetta, expelled from the Templar Order, he sailed to Marseilles, then Genoa, making vast sums through piracy, leading Catalan mercenaries, in 1302 he commanded 32 galleys and a force of 2,500 men, and was eventually assassinated. He was one of the very few recorded renegade Knights Templar.

An account of the life of the last Grand Master of the Order is detailed, referring respectfully to him by his real Christian name, James, not by the common name of Jacques. The last chapters, The Temple Assaulted and The Temple Destroyed, describes the extremely complex political situation James found himself needing to cope with in the last years of his long life that had been devoted to the Order. In 1294, James travelled to Europe to gain support for a new crusade. He was in Rome in December when Pope Celestine V abdicated, to be succeeded by one of his Cardinals, Boniface VIII. From Rome, he traveled to central Italy, then to Paris and London. He was in contact with all the monarchs of Western Europe. He had particularly cordial relations with King Edward I in England who wrote to him in 1302 when he exempted the Order from the general prohibition on the export of treasure so that the funds collected by the London temple could be sent to Cyprus. Thus began the downfall of the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon - and of James, their Grand Master. 

 A list of Templar Grand Masters is provided. 

 

I enjoy this very well researched book immensely. It is well worth reading for new material. The prize winning London based author, Piers Paul Read, attended Cambridge University where he read History and is the author of twelve acclaimed novels and three works of non fiction. 

Recommended! Review by Wendy Stokes https://WendyStokes.co.uk