h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The Templars downfall was their collection of wealth and power (absolute power corrupts absolutely). Many leaders were jealous and thus very watchful of the Knights. The Knights, formerly founded on chivalry and Christianity, had earned a reputation for being unscrupulous in their banking. They also began practicing rituals linked to druidism (hence the heresy charges) and separated themselves from the church. By distancing themselves from the church they felt no need to be charitable and felt no moral constraints. There were rumors of wild drunken orgies, human sacrafices, and evil conspiracies. The accusations were mostly from those who the Knights Templar had surpassed in wealth and power, and may be only accusations, but with the fall of their society and hiding of their members all evidence either way quickly faded.

Interesting. I could have sworn that I saw a documenter on the Discovery Chanel or some such station recently that mentioned modern day Knights Templar. The show was about the search for the Ark of the Covenant, which continues to this day. The Knights (or whoever it was) claimed that they did, indeed, posess the Ark, but that it was buried in their secret chambers which no one -- including them -- had entered in centuries.

~Irving

Browsing about the web, and I found a couple of organisations claiming links to the Knights Templar and one that carries the same name to this day with many links worldwide, so at least a front of the former organisation exists. They put out a newsletter and organise trips to the Holy Land among other things.

As for the Templars' demise, it was very much about the jealously of the French king, and his association with the Pope.
The Templars had a great amount of money and Philip owed them rather a lot. Philip placed his puppet Pope as head of the Roman Catholic Church, then sent out a secret order calling Templars to be seized instantaneously across France, as the Pope issued a Papal Bull condemning the Templars.
The formal list of charges brought against the Knights went to the point of absurdity.
Most of the initial damning reports came from two renegade knights of the order who claimed that the secretive meetings of the Templars included such things as urinating and stamping on the cross, kissing the navel, forehead, backside and genitals of other knights, kissing and worshipping graven images, and heresy.
Heresy is the most important charge that was laid, for if the church could prove that they denied their God, then they would have the excuse they needed to shut the Templars down, and confiscate everything.
Once arrested, the inquisitors subjected those held to torture to gain what they wanted to hear. Much of the torture killed and maimed many knights. If they confessed under torture, then recanted their confession they were 'recanted heretics' (or something close to that) and were burned at the stake as this was a spiritually grave crime.

The Templars went to trial, and successfully defended themselves against all charges. The Crown was unable to gain any foothold, though one day in court, the defendant knights failed to turn up to the hearing. I'm not sure whether they were heard from again.

The inquisition was only enforced immediately and totally in France. Templars in other European states were given sufficient warning, as monarchs that owed much to the Templars refused to condemn them till the Papal Bull was issued, and only then leniently followed out the orders, or risk excommunication.

Only Spain and Portugal refused to condemn the Knights' Templar.

The demise of the Knights Templar was a largely political affair, for they existed outside of the heads-of-state and the Church, the two political powers of the time.

It was rather difficult to win such a confrontation with the Church in the Dark Ages.

If you are interested in the Knights Templar, here is one of the better websites:

http://www.web-site.co.uk/knights_templar/content01.html

Some good books are:

"The History of the Knights Templars"
By Charles G. Addison and David Hatcher Childress
- dry but very factual

'Dungeon Fire and Sword : The Knights Templar in the Crusades'
By John J. Robinson
- very readable in a knightly/romantic way.

King Philip I mostly made up those charges himself, and then turned over the knights to Inquisitors, who naturally led the men to confess to all sorts of things, Paganism, witchcraft, satan worship, etc. When the purge began, those Templars who managed to escape formed, from all evidence, the movement known as Freemasonry, as well as related sects such as the Rosicrucians. As far as that 'defended themselves against all charges,' I think you are referring to the first investigation, when the Grand Master Jaques de Molay was first brought up on charges. The crown failed to generate enough evidence to damn anybody, so the two knights who turned witness came forth. I am not certain whether they were ever knights at all, or just a real pair that Philip was able to bribe, but their testimony was the opening Philip needed to sick the Inquisition on them.

The Templars were not guilty of the stuff they were charged with, but they were far from pious Catholics, too. They truly believed in God, but many of their beliefs had gnostic leanings that the church would have deemed heretical, had they been aware. One charge that was repeated confessed to was that they worshipped a devil named 'Baphomet,' but the word baphomet actually signifies something about hidden knowledge. I'd be more specific, but someone is still reading my book. *grumble* I'm fairly certain that that hidden knowledge is what the original knights discovered in Herod's Temple (which they believed to be Solomon's Temple, hence the Solomon reference in the full name), and whatever that was is the basis for most of the 'Holy Grail' myths.

Aye, in the more conspiricy driven books that I read on the Temple, some did suggest that the Templars did indeed find an ancient knowledge buried under the Temple of Solomon. Such things as geometry and other 'lost' knowledge hidden there by an ancient civilisation. Others claimed it was knowledge the Jews had gained from the Egyptian sorcerors of ancient Egypt.

From this knowledge they built their fortresses and cathedrals. Also within this knowledge supposedly was documents from before and during the time of Jesus, claiming that Jesus was one of their tribe, and not the son of God at all. I think this is the root of the heresy charges that perhaps may have been suggested.
One source said that Baphomet was an ancient word for Wisdom in Sumerian or something.

Problem is that they were a secretive organisation, and it happened a long time ago.

I think I would have rather have liked being a Knight Templar.

That was it... Sumerian for Wisdom. The Greek version of this word: Gnosus. Just one of the many ways Gnosticism and Hermeticism permeated the Templars and everything they did.

Gnosticism and Hermeticism:

What are these guys all about?

Hermeticism and Gnosticism are two different yet similar religions. You can find links to H2G2 articles on them at my Freedom From Faith Foundation's link library near the bottom. CD4 is way into Hermeticism, so he wrote one on it titled 'Alchemy.' The one on Gnosticism is one that I wrote, entitled 'The Nag Hammadi Codices.' The Foundation is right here: http://www.h2g2.com/a254314

You might also be interested in checking out the annex to the Foundation, the Hall of Records. We're compiling a reading list there of some of the books that we've read that involve the dodgier, conspiracy theory type books on the Templars, among other things.

Does anyone know of any un-deciphered texts attributed to the Templars? I know they were fond of incorporating word squares into their fortresses based on Pater Nosta: something like SATOR, OPERA, TENET, AREPO, ROTAS. Are there any other examples?

As far as I know the Templars were wiped out as an organisation in Europe during Philip's purge. They left behind several legacies:
- Several 20th Century mystic groups who used their name and (what remained) of their belief structure (not much) - a bit like modern druids.
- unsubstantiated stories about the flight of the Templar fleet (& treasure) to the new world.
- The freemasons.

Read 'The Hiram Key' by Chris Knight & Robert Lomas if you're interested in this sort of stuff.

I've read The Hiram Key... in my opinion the best book ever written on the subject. Still, I wish they would get on with the excavation of Rosslyn Chapel, already!

It's wierd innit. I was reading some book about it the other day, and it causally mentions how the Templars discovered America by way of Greenland in the 1300's. I had to re-read it a few times to see if they were serious.