Tim Wallace-Murphy - The Knights of the Holy Grail: The Secret History of the Knights Templar

1. Departing for the Crusades.

2. St Bernard of Clairvaux, the founder of the Knights Templar.

3. The Chapter of the Order of the Templars held at Paris, 22nd April 1147.

4. Early 12th Century Masonic symbolism in the Church at Utelle, Les Alpes Maritimes.

5. Templar Cross on the wall of the Church at Roquebilliere, Les Alpes Maritimes.

6. The Ark of the Covenant being carried on a cart, carved on a pillar at the Portal of the Initiates, Chartres Cathedral.

7. Rex Deus symbolism within the church at Roquebilliere, Les Alpes Maritimes.

8. Pilgrims under escort of Knights Templar in front of Jerusalem in the 12th century.

9. Remains of the citadel in the Templar village of Les-Arcs-sur-Argens, Provence.

10. Templar church near Castellane, Provence.

11. Templar church, La Luade, Provence.

12. Templar Castle at Trigance near the Gorges du Verdon, Provence.

13. Templar Seal showing the Temple of Solomon.

14. Templar Seal of two brothers on one horse.

15. Crusaders surrounded by Saladins army.

16. Saladin I in Jerusalem.

17. Decorated tile with roundels of Richard I and Saladin, from the Benedictine Abbey at Chertsey, Surrey, 13th century

18. Guillaume de Clermont defending Ptolemais (Acre) in 1291.

19. Jacques de Molay, the last Templar Grandmaster.

20. Burning of the Templar leaders.

21. The Templars before Philippe IV and Pope Clement V.

22. The Black Virgin in the Chadaraita.

23. The Black Madonna, Notre Dame-sous-Terre, Chartres Cathedral.

24. Intricate basket-work carving on the capital of the Journeymans Pillar, Rosslyn Chapel.

25. The sublime carving on the Masons Pillar, Rosslyn Chapel.

26. Rex Deus symbolism of the Staffordshire Knot on the Apprentice Pillar, Rosslyn Chapel.

27. Lintel carved with a quotation from Esdras, Rosslyn Chapel.

28. Carving of the head of the Murdered Apprentice, Rosslyn Chapel.

29. Carving of the head of the Grieving Widow, Rosslyn Chapel.

30. Carving of a Green Man on the String Course in Rosslyn Chapel.

31. Badly weathered carving of a Templar Initiation, Rosslyn Chapel.

32. Carving of Melchizedek with a Grail Cup, Rosslyn Chapel.

33. Carving of the Hungarian Knight, Ladislaus Leslyn and Princess Margaret on one horse, South Wall, Rosslyn Chapel.

34. The famous Apprentice Pillar, Rosslyn Chapel.

T he origins of the Order of the Knights Templar are shrouded in mystery and a matter of dispute that is under active investigation, yet the order grew in size, power and influence with amazing speed and attained an apparently unassailable position within Christian Europe with bewildering rapidity. Rightly renowned for their bravery in battle, they soon displayed a multifaceted modus operandi that had more in common with a modern multinational conglomerate than with a medieval monastic order.

Warriors of immense skill and commitment, they displayed an astounding commercial genius and, in many respects, laid the foundations of the modern commercial world. Fighters and farmers; they raised sheep; modernized the wool trade; grew grapes, made and traded in wine; built churches, castles and cathedrals; operated stone quarries; were millers, merchants and miners and founded an international banking system that lent money to priests, prelates and popes, nobles, kings and emperors. Yet, despite this almost unbelievable record of achievement, they are still sometimes described by their critics within the Catholic Church as illiterates.

Accused, with some justification, of arrogance, they were, in their later years, regarded with suspicion due to the respect they gave to the religious beliefs of their Muslim opponents. Finally, arrested en masse under charges of heresy, their leaders were tortured by the Inquisition before being ritually burnt over a slow fire and, despite the fact that they were never convicted of any crime, the order was disbanded by the pope because it had fallen into disrepute.