Remembering the Templars/Templars

< Remembering the Templars


Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of SolomonEdit

The first headquarters of the Knights Templar, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Crusaders called it the Temple of Solomon and it was from this location that the Knights took their name of Templar.


Around 1119, the French knight Hugues de Payens approached King Baldwin II of Jerusalem with the proposal of creating a monastic order for the protection of these pilgrims. King Baldwin agreed to the request, and granted space for a headquarters in a wing of the royal palace on the Temple Mount, in the captured Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Temple Mount had a mystique because it was above what was believed to be the ruins of the Temple of Solomon. The Crusaders therefore referred to the Al Aqsa Mosque as Solomon's Temple, and it was from this location that the new Order took the name of Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, or "Templar" knights. The Order, with about nine knights including Godfrey de Saint-Omer and André de Montbard, had few financial resources and relied on donations to survive. Their emblem was of two knights riding on a single horse, emphasizing the Order's poverty.

A Templar Knight is truly a fearless knight, and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armour of faith, just as his body is protected by the armour of steel. He is thus doubly armed, and need fear neither demons nor men."

Bernard de Clairvaux, c. 1135,
De Laude Novae Militae—In Praise of the New Knighthood[1]

The Templars' impoverished status did not last long. They had a powerful advocate in Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a leading Church figure and a nephew of André de Montbard, one of the founding knights. Bernard spoke and wrote persuasively on their behalf, and in 1129 at the Council of Troyes the Order was officially endorsed by the Church. With this formal blessing, the Templars became a favored charity throughout Christendom, receiving money, land, businesses, and noble-born sons from families who were eager to help with the fight in the Holy Land.

Another major benefit came in 1139, when Pope Innocent II's papal bull Omne Datum Optimum exempted the Order from obedience to local laws. This ruling meant that the Templars could pass freely through all borders, were not required to pay any taxes, and were exempt from all authority except that of the pope.


To do:
See wikipedia:History of the Knights Templar




Templar chapel from the 12th C. in Metz, France. Once part of the Templar commandery of Metz, the oldest Templar institution of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Templars were organized as a monastic order similar to Bernard's Cistercian Order, which was considered the first effective international organization in Europe. The organizational structure had a strong chain of authority. Each country with a major Templar presence (France, England, Aragon, Portugal, Poitou, Apulia, Jerusalem, Tripoli, Antioch, Anjou, Hungary, and Croatia) had a Master of the Order for the Templars in that region. All of them were subject to the Grand Master, appointed for life, who oversaw both the Order's military efforts in the East and their financial holdings in the West.


Ranks within the orderEdit

Three main ranksEdit

There was a threefold division of the ranks of the Templars: the aristocratic knights, the lower-born sergeants, and the clergy. Knights were required to be of knightly descent and to wear white mantles. They were equipped as heavy cavalry, with three or four horses and one or two squires. Squires were generally not members of the Order but were instead outsiders who were hired for a set period of time. Beneath the knights in the Order and drawn from lower social strata were the sergeants. They were either equipped as light cavalry with a single horse or served in other ways such as administering the property of the Order or performing menial tasks and trades. Chaplains, constituting a third Templar class, were ordained priests who saw to the Templars' spiritual needs.

Grand MastersEdit

To do:
Mine or import w:Grand Masters of the Knights Templar

Templar building at Saint Martin des Champs, France

Starting with founder Hugues de Payens in 1118–1119, the Order's highest office was that of Grand Master, a position which was held for life, though considering the martial nature of the Order, this could mean a very short tenure. All but two of the Grand Masters died in office, and several died during military campaigns. For example, during the Siege of Ascalon in 1153, Grand Master Bernard de Tremelay led a group of 40 Templars through a breach in the city walls. When the rest of the Crusader army did not follow, the Templars, including their Grand Master, were surrounded and beheaded. Grand Master Gérard de Ridefort was beheaded by Saladin in 1189 at the Siege of Acre.


Behaviour and dressEdit


One of the many reported flags of the Knights Templar

The knights wore a white surcoat with a red cross and a white mantle; the sergeants wore a black tunic with a red cross on front and back and a black or brown mantle. The white mantle was assigned to the Templars at the Council of Troyes in 1129, and the cross was most probably added to their robes at the launch of the Second Crusade in 1147, when Pope Eugenius III, King Louis VII of France, and many other notables attended a meeting of the French Templars at their headquarters near Paris.

To do:
Examine quotes
Barber, The New Knighthood, page 66: "According to William of Tyre it was under Eugenius III that the Templars received the right to wear the characteristic red cross upon their tunics, symbolising their willingness to suffer martyrdom in the defence of the Holy Land."

Martin, The Knights Templar, page 43: "The Pope conferred on the Templars the right to wear a red cross on their white mantles, which symbolised their willingness to suffer martyrdom in defending the Holy Land against the infidel."

Read, The Templars, page 121: "Pope Eugenius gave them the right to wear a scarlet cross over their hearts, so that the sign would serve triumphantly as a shield and they would never turn away in the face of the infidels': the red blood of the martyr was superimposed on the white of the chaste." (Melville, La Vie des Templiers, p. 92.)


In Scotland members of the order were referred as the Red Friars.




Battles involving TemplarsEdit


The Crusades: Siege of Ascalon (1153)Edit

Siege of Ascalon (1153)

To do:

The Crusades: Battle of Montgisard (1177)Edit

The Battle of Montgisard occurred in November 25, 1177, at Montgisard, near Ramlah (now Ramla and part of Israel). Where some 500 Templar knights helped several thousand infantry to defeat Saladin's army of more than 26,000 soldiers.

The Crusades: Battle of Jacob's Ford (1179)Edit

Jacob's Ford was the location of a strategic river crossing at the center of the Holly land. The river crossing was part of the regional route along the ancient Via Maris, dating from the early Bronze Age. This access to the territory that is toady Syria was always important for economic and military reasons but more so for the Crusaders / Catholic Church.

During the Crusades of the 12th century sections of the Mediterranean coastline of the territory that is now Syria were briefly held by Frankish overlords, forming the the Crusader state of the Principality of Antioch. The area was also threatened by Shi'a extremists known as Assassins (Hassassin). In 1260, the Mongols arrived, led by Hulagu Khan with an army 100,000 strong, destroying cities and irrigation works. Aleppo fell in January 1260, and Damascus in March of the same year, but then the attack breaks off as Hulagu Khan needed to return to China to deal with a succession dispute.

To do:
Probably move part of this to a larger section talking about the impact of the Mongols, that extended to the capture of Baghdad in 1258. They had a huge impact not only on Christian-hood but on the Islamic powers of the region, At some point the Mongols even allied with the Christians in 1260 to conquer Islamic Syria. Or probably start a section about the Syria at that time.

Even today, now in the form of a bridge, it maintains a high military strategic importance, straddling the border between Israel and the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights (Syria) and is one of the few fixed crossing points over the northern Jordan River which enable access from the Golan Heights to the Upper Galilee.

The Battle of Jacob's Ford occurred in August 23, 1179, at Jacob's Ford, in what is now Syria.

The Crusades: Battle of Hattin (1187)Edit


The Battle of Hattin Battle of the Horns of Hattin in 1187, can be defined as the turning point in the Crusades.

The Crusades: Siege of Acre (1190–1191)Edit

Siege of Acre (1190–1191)

The Crusades: Battle of Arsuf (1191)Edit

Battle of Arsuf (1191)

To do:

The Crusades: Siege of Acre (1291)Edit

Siege of Acre (1291)

To do:


To do:

Templar symbolismEdit

Gothic architecture

Fan vaulting and glass windows at Bath Abbey

Gothic architecture superseded the Romanesque style by combining flying buttresses, gothic (or pointed) arches and ribbed vaults. It was influenced by the spiritual background of the time, being religious in essence: thin horizontal lines and grates made the building strive towards the sky. Architecture was made to appear light and weightless, as opposed to the dark and bulky forms of the previous Romanesque style. Saint Augustine of Hippo taught that light was an expression of God. Architectural techniques were adapted and developed to build churches that reflected this teaching. Colorful glass windows enhanced the spirit of lightness. As color was much rarer at medieval times than today, it can be assumed that these virtuoso works of art had an awe-inspiring impact on the common man from the street. High-rising intricate ribbed, and later fan vaultings demonstrated movement toward heaven. Veneration of God was also expressed by the relatively large size of these buildings. A gothic cathedral therefore not only invited the visitors to elevate themselves spiritually, it was also meant to demonstrate the greatness of God. The floor plan of a gothic cathedral corresponded to the rules of scholasticism: the plan was divided into sections and uniform subsections. These characteristics are exhibited by the most famous sacral building of the time: Notre Dame de Paris.

To do:
Examine and mine or transwiki Knights Templar Seal - Rosslyn Chapel

Seal of the Knights Templar

as reproduced in T. A. Archer, The Crusades: The Story of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (1894), p. 176. The design with the two knights on a horse and the inscription SIGILLVM MILITVM XRISTI is attested in 1191, see Jochen Burgtorf, The central convent of Hospitallers and Templars: history, organization, and personnel (1099/1120-1310), Volume 50 of History of warfare (2008), ISBN 9789004166608, pp. 545-546.</ref> |dates= c. 1119–1314 |allegiance=The Pope |type= Western Christian military order |role= Protection of Pilgrims |size= 15,000–20,000 members at peak, 10% of whom were knights[2][3]

|garrison=Temple Mount, Jerusalem |garrison_label=Headquarters |nickname=Order of the Temple |patron=St. Bernard of Clairvaux |motto= Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam (Not to us Lord, not to us, but to Your Name give the glory) |colors=White mantle with a red cross |colors_label=Attire |mascot= 2 Knights riding one horse

|commander1=Hugues de Payens |commander1_label=First Grand Master |commander2=Jacques de Molay |commander2_label=Last Grand Master



The Templars were forced to relocate their headquarters to other cities in the north, such as the seaport of Acre, which they held for the next century. But they lost that, too, in 1291, followed by their last mainland strongholds, Tortosa (in what is now Syria), and Atlit. Their headquarters then moved to Limassol on the island of Cyprus,[5] and they also attempted to maintain a garrison on tiny Arwad Island, just off the coast from Tortosa. In 1300, there was some attempt to engage in coordinated military efforts with the Mongols[6] via a new invasion force at Arwad. In 1302 or 1303, however, the Templars lost the island to the Egyptian Mamluks in the Siege of Arwad. With the island gone, the Crusaders lost their last foothold in the Holy Land.[7][8]

With the Order's military mission now less important, support for the organization began to dwindle. The situation was complex though, as over the two hundred years of their existence, the Templars had become a part of daily life throughout Christendom.[9] The organization's Templar Houses, hundreds of which were dotted throughout Europe and the Near East, gave them a widespread presence at the local level.[3] The Templars still managed many businesses, and many Europeans had daily contact with the Templar network, such as by working at a Templar farm or vineyard, or using the Order as a bank in which to store personal valuables. The Order was still not subject to local government, making it everywhere a "state within a state"—its standing army, though it no longer had a well-defined mission, could pass freely through all borders. This situation heightened tensions with some European nobility, especially as the Templars were indicating an interest in founding their own monastic state, just as the Teutonic Knights had done in Prussia[10] and the Knights Hospitaller were doing with Rhodes.[11]

Arrests, charges, and dissolutionEdit


On Friday, October 13, 1307 (a date sometimes spuriously linked with the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition)[13][14] Philip ordered de Molay and scores of other French Templars to be simultaneously arrested. The arrest warrant started with the phrase : "Dieu n'est pas content, nous avons des ennemis de la foi dans le Royaume" ["God is not pleased. We have enemies of the faith in the kingdom"].[15] The Templars were charged with numerous offences (including apostasy, idolatry, heresy, obscene rituals and homosexuality, financial corruption and fraud, and secrecy).[16] Many of the accused confessed to these charges under torture, and these confessions, even though obtained under duress, caused a scandal in Paris. All interrogations were recorded on a thirty metre long parchment, kept at the "Archives nationales" in Paris. The prisoners were coerced to confess that they had spat on the Cross : "Moi Raymond de La Fère, 21 ans, reconnais que (J'ai) craché trois fois sur la Croix, mais de bouche et pas de coeur" (free translation : "I, Raymond de La Fère, 21 years old, admit that I have spat three times on the Cross, but only from my mouth and not from my heart"). The Templars were accused of idolatry.[17]


Templars being burned at the stake.


Convent of Christ in Castle Tomar, Portugal. Built in 1160 as a stronghold for the Knights Templar, it became the headquarters of the renamed Order of Christ. In 1983, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[21]


As for the leaders of the Order, the elderly Grand Master Jacques de Molay, who had confessed under torture, retracted his statement. His associate Geoffroi de Charney, Preceptor of Normandy, followed de Molay's example and insisted on his innocence. Both men were declared guilty of being relapsed heretics, and they were sentenced to burn alive at the stake in Paris on March 18, 1314. De Molay reportedly remained defiant to the end, asking to be tied in such a way that he could face the Notre Dame Cathedral and hold his hands together in prayer.[23] According to legend, he called out from the flames that both Pope Clement and King Philip would soon meet him before God. His actual words were recorded on the parchment as follows : "Dieu sait qui a tort et a pëché. Il va bientot arriver malheur à ceux qui nous ont condamnés à mort" (free translation : "God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death").[15] Pope Clement died only a month later, and King Philip died in a hunting accident before the end of the year.[24][25][26]

With the last of the Order's leaders gone, the remaining Templars around Europe were either arrested and tried under the Papal investigation (with virtually none convicted), absorbed into other military orders such as the Knights Hospitaller, or pensioned and allowed to live out their days peacefully. By papal decree, the property of the Templars was transferred to the Order of Hospitallers, which also absorbed many of the Templars' members. In effect, the dissolution of the Templars could be seen as the merger of the two rival orders.[27] Some may have fled to other territories outside Papal control, such as excommunicated Scotland or to Switzerland. Templar organizations in Portugal simply changed their name, from Knights Templar to Knights of Christ – see Order of Christ (Portugal).[28]

Chinon ParchmentEdit

To do:
See wikipedia:Chinon Parchment

In September 2001, a document known as the "Chinon Parchment" dated 17–20 August 1308 was discovered in the Vatican Secret Archives by Barbara Frale, apparently after having been filed in the wrong place in 1628. It is a record of the trial of the Templars and shows that Clement absolved the Templars of all heresies in 1308 before formally disbanding the Order in 1312,[29] as did another Chinon Parchment dated 20 August 1308 addressed to Philip IV of France, also mentioning that all Templars that had confessed to heresy were "restored to the Sacraments and to the unity of the Church". This other Chinon Parchment has been well known to historians [30][31][32] having been published by Étienne Baluze in 1693,[33] and by Pierre Dupuy in 1751.[34]

The current position of the Roman Catholic Church is that the medieval persecution of the Knights Templar was unjust, that nothing was inherently wrong with the Order or its Rule, and that Pope Clement was pressed into his actions by the magnitude of the public scandal and by the dominating influence of King Philip IV.[35][36]


Temple Church, London. As the chapel of the New Temple in London, it was the location for Templar initiation ceremonies. In modern times it is the parish church of the Middle and Inner Temples, two of the Inns of Court. It is a popular tourist attraction.

To do:
See wikipedia:List of places associated with the Knights Templar

With their military mission and extensive financial resources, the Knights Templar funded a large number of building projects around Europe and the Holy Land. Many of these structures are still standing. Many sites also maintain the name "Temple" because of centuries-old association with the Templars.[37] For example, some of the Templars' lands in London were later rented to lawyers, which led to the names of the Temple Bar gateway and the Temple tube station. Two of the four Inns of Court which may call members to act as barristers are the Inner Temple and Middle Temple.


Modern organizationsEdit

To do:
See wikipedia:Knights Templar and popular culture

The story of the secretive yet powerful medieval Templars, especially their persecution and sudden dissolution, has been a tempting source for many other groups which have used alleged connections with the Templars as a way of enhancing their own image and mystery.[39] There is no clear historical connection between the Knights Templar, which were dismantled in the 14th century, and any of the modern organizations, of which the earliest emerged publicly in the 18th century, and are referred to as Neo-Templars by some authors.[40][41][42][43][44] However, there is often public confusion and many overlook the 400-year gap.

Legends and relicsEdit

To do:
See wikipedia:Knights Templar legends

The Knights Templar have become associated with legends concerning secrets and mysteries handed down to the select from ancient times. Rumors circulated even during the time of the Templars themselves. Freemasonic writers added their own speculations in the 19th century, and further fictional embellishments have been added in popular novels such as The Lost symbol Ivanhoe, Foucault's Pendulum, and The Da Vinci Code;[45] modern movies such as National Treasure and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; and video games such as Assassin's Creed and Broken Sword.[46]

Many of the Templar legends are connected with the Order's early occupation of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and speculation about what relics the Templars may have found there, such as the Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant.[45][10][47][48] That the Templars were in possession of some relics is certain. Many churches still display holy relics such as the bones of a saint, a scrap of cloth once worn by a holy man, or the skull of a martyr; the Templars did the same. They were documented as having a piece of the True Cross, which the Bishop of Acre carried into battle at the disastrous Horns of Hattin.[49] When the battle was lost, Saladin captured the relic, which was then ransomed back to the Crusaders when the Muslims surrendered the city of Acre in 1191.[50] The Templars were also known to possess the head of Saint Euphemia of Chalcedon,[51] and the subject of relics came up during the Inquisition of the Templars, as several trial documents refer to the worship of an idol of some type, referred to in some cases as a cat, a bearded head, or in some cases as Baphomet. This accusation of idol worship levied against the Templars has also led to the modern belief by some that the Templars practiced witchcraft.[52] However, modern scholars generally explain the name Baphomet from the trial documents as simply a French misspelling of the name Mahomet (Muhammad).[45][53]

The Holy Grail quickly became associated with the Templars, even in the 12th century. The first Grail romance, Le Conte du Graal, was written around 1180 by Chrétien de Troyes, who came from the same area where the Council of Troyes had officially sanctioned the Templars' Order. Perhaps twenty years later Parzival, Wolfram von Eschenbach's version of the tale, refers to knights called "Templeisen" guarding the Grail Kingdom.[54] Another hero of the Grail quest, Sir Galahad (a 13th-century literary invention of monks from St. Bernard's Cistercian Order) was depicted bearing a shield with the cross of Saint George, similar to the Templars' insignia: this version presented the "Holy" Grail as a Christian relic. A legend developed that since the Templars had their headquarters at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, they must have excavated in search of relics, found the Grail, and then proceeded to keep it in secret and guard it with their lives. However, in the extensive documents of the Templar inquisition there was never a single mention of anything like a Grail relic,[7] let alone its possession by the Templars, nor is there any evidence that a Templar wrote a Grail Romance.[55] In reality, most mainstream scholars agree that the story of the Grail was just that, a literary fiction that began circulating in medieval times.[45][10]

Another legendary object that is claimed to have some connection with the Templars is the Shroud of Turin. In 1357, the shroud was first publicly displayed by a nobleman known as Geoffrey of Charney,[56] described by some sources as being a member of the family of the grandson of Geoffroi de Charney, who was burned at the stake with De Molay.[57] The shroud's origins are still a matter of controversy, but in 1988, a carbon dating analysis concluded that the shroud was made between 1260 and 1390, a span that includes the last half-century of the Templars' existence.[58] The validity of the dating methodology has subsequently been called into question, and the age of the shroud is still the subject of much debate[59] despite the existence of a 1389 Memorandum by Bishop Pierre D'Arcis to the Avignon Antipope Clement VII mentioning that the image had previously been denounced by his predecessor Henri de Poitiers (Bishop of Troyes 1353-1370), stating "Eventually, after diligent inquiry and examination, he discovered how the said cloth had been cunningly painted, the truth being attested by the artist who had painted it, to wit, that it was a work of human skill and not miraculously wrought or bestowed."[60]


  1. Stephen A. Dafoe. "In Praise of the New Knighthood". Retrieved March 20, 2007. 
  2. Burman, p. 45.
  3. a b Barber, in "Supplying the Crusader States" says, "By Molay's time the Grand Master was presiding over at least 970 houses, including commanderies and castles in the east and west, serviced by a membership which is unlikely to have been less than 7,000, excluding employees and dependents, who must have been seven or eight times that number."
  4. Martin, p. 99.
  5. Martin, p. 113.
  6. Demurger, p.139 "During four years, Jacques de Molay and his order were totally committed, with other Christian forces of Cyprus and Armenia, to an enterprise of reconquest of the Holy Land, in liaison with the offensives of Ghazan, the Mongol Khan of Persia.
  7. a b Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Worlds
  8. Nicholson, p. 201. "The Templars retained a base on Arwad island (also known as Ruad island, formerly Arados) off Tortosa (Tartus) until October 1302 or 1303, when the island was recaptured by the Mamluks."
  9. Nicholson, p. 5.
  10. a b c Sean Martin, The Knights Templar: The History & Myths of the Legendary Military Order, 2005. ISBN 1-56025-645-1.
  11. Nicholson, p. 237.
  12. Barber, Trial of the Templars, 2nd ed. "Recent Historiography on the Dissolution of the Temple." In the second edition of his book, Barber summarizes the views of many different historians, with an overview of the modern debate on Philip's precise motives.
  13. "Friday the 13th". Retrieved March 26, 2007. 
  14. David Emery. "Why Friday the 13th is unlucky". Retrieved March 26, 2007. 
  15. a b "Les derniers jours des Templiers". Science et Avenir: 52–61. July 2010. 
  16. Barber, Trial of the Templars, p. 178.
  17. Edgeller, Johnathan (2010). Taking the Templar Habit: Rule, Initiation Ritual, and the Accusations against the Order. Texas Tech University. pp. 62–66. 
  18. Martin, p. 118.
  19. Martin, p. 122.
  20. Barber, Trial, 1978, p. 3.
  21. "Convent of Christ in Tomar". World Heritage Site. Retrieved March 20, 2007. 
  22. Martin, pp. 123–124.
  23. Martin, p. 125.
  24. Martin, p. 140.
  25. Malcolm Barber has researched this legend and concluded that it originates from La Chronique métrique attribuée à Geffroi de Paris, ed. A. Divèrres, Strasbourg, 1956, pages 5711-5742. Geoffrey of Paris was "apparently an eye-witness, who describes Molay as showing no sign of fear and, significantly, as telling those present that God would avenge their deaths". Barber, The Trial of The Templars, page 357, footnote 110, Second edition (Cambridge University Press, 2006). ISBN 0521672368
  26. In The New Knighthood Barber referred to a variant of this legend, about how an unspecified Templar had appeared before and denounced Clement V and, when he was about to be executed sometime later, warned that both Pope and King would "within a year and a day be obliged to explain their crimes in the presence of God", found in the work by Ferretto of Vicenza, Historia rerum in Italia gestarum ab anno 1250 ad annum usque 1318 (Malcolm Barber, The New Knighthood, pages 314-315, Cambridge University Press, 1994). ISBN 0-521-55872-7
  27. "The Knights Templars". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
  28. Martin, pp. 140–142.
  29. "Long-lost text lifts cloud from Knights Templar". October 12, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2007. 
  30. Charles d' Aigrefeuille, Histoire de la ville de Montpellier, Volume 2, page 193 (Montpellier: J. Martel, 1737-1739).
  31. Sophia Menache, Clement V, page 218, 2002 paperback edition ISBN 0-521-592194 (Cambridge University Press, originally published in 1998).
  32. Germain-François Poullain de Saint-Foix, Oeuvres complettes de M. de Saint-Foix, Historiographe des Ordres du Roi, page 287, Volume 3 (Maestricht: Jean-Edme Dupour & Philippe Roux, Imprimeurs-Libraires, associés, 1778).
  33. Étienne Baluze, Vitae Paparum Avenionensis, 3 Volumes (Paris, 1693).
  34. Pierre Dupuy, Histoire de l'Ordre Militaire des Templiers (Foppens, Brusselles, 1751).
  35. "Knights Templar secrets revealed". CNN. October 12, 2007. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2007. 
  36. Frale, Barbara (2004). "The Chinon chart—Papal absolution to the last Templar, Master Jacques de Molay". Journal of Medieval History 30 (2): 109–134. doi:10.1016/j.jmedhist.2004.03.004.!&_cdi=5941&view=c&_acct=C000053912&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=1589142&md5=cc8dc869d6bc4326929c25a42c118a60. Retrieved April 1, 2007. 
  37. Martin, p. 58.
  38. Barber, New Knighthood (1994), pp. 194–195
  39. Finlo Rohrer (October 19, 2007). "What are the Knights Templar up to now?". BBC News Magazine. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
  40. J.M. Roberts, The Mythology Of The Secret Societies (London: Secker and Warburg, 1972). ISBN 0436420309
  41. Peter Partner, The Murdered Magicians: The Templars And Their Myth (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982). ISBN 0192158473
  42. John Walliss, Apocalyptic Trajectories: Millenarianism and Violence In The Contemporary World, page 130 (Bern: Peter Lang AG, European Academic Publishers, 2004). ISBN 3-03910-290-7
  43. Michael Haag, Templars: History and Myth: From Solomon's Temple To The Freemasons (Profile Books Ltd, 2009). ISBN 978-1-84668-153-0
  44. A brief history of Neo-Templarism is given in James R. Lewis (editor), The Order of The Solar Temple: The Temple of Death, pages 20-28 (Ashgate Plublishing Ltd, 2006). ISBN 978-0-7546-5285-4
  45. a b c d Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named HC
  46. El-Nasr, Magy Seif; Maha Al-Saati; Simon Niedenthal; David Milam. "Assassin's Creed: A Multi-Cultural Read" (PDF). pp. 6–7. Retrieved 2009-10-01. "we interviewed Jade Raymond ... Jade says ... Templar Treasure was ripe for exploring. What did the Templars find" 
  47. Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named TR
  48. Louis Charpentier, Les Mystères de la Cathédrale de Chartres (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1966), translated The Mysteries of Chartres Cathedral (London: Research Into Lost Knowledge Organisation, 1972).
  49. Read, p. 91.
  50. Read, p. 171.
  51. Martin, p. 139.
  52. Sanello, Frank (2003). The Knights Templars: God's Warriors, the Devil's Bankers. Taylor Trade Publishing. pp. 207–208. ISBN 0-87833-302-9. 
  53. Barber, Trial of the Templars, 1978, p. 62.
  54. Martin, p. 133.
  55. Karen Ralls, Knights Templar Encyclopedia: The Essential Guide to the People, Places, Events and Symbols of the Order of the Temple, page 156 (The Career Press, Inc., 2007). ISBN 978-156414-926-8
  56. Barber, The New Knighthood, p. 332
  57. Newman, p. 383
  58. Barrett, Jim (Spring 1996). "Science and the Shroud: Microbiology meets archeology in a renewed quest for answers". The Mission. Retrieved February 13, 2009. 
  59. Relic, Harry Gove (1996) Icon or Hoax? Carbon Dating the Turin Shroud ISBN 0-7503-0398-0.
  60. English translation of the Memorandum in Ian Wilson, The Turin Shroud, p. 230-235 (Victor Gollancz Ltd; 1978 ISBN 0 575 02483 6)