Resources > Ask Jeff The Knights Templar Posted by CCC CyberMinistry on May 5, 2006, 12:50

The days were dangerous. Religious life in the Middle Ages would often include a pilgrimage to the Holy Land for those that were especially devout in their faith. Because the journey was filled with such danger in 1118 the Burgundian knight, Yves de Faillon, founded a monastic order to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. This order was comprised entirely of soldiers, a type of warrior monk, or think of them as Christian samurai. The Order’s official name was “Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon,” and the last part of their title came from their place of residence on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and that is where we get their name, The Templars.

The Knight’s Templar became wealthy, as Dan Brown points out in The DaVinci Code, because they invented modern banking. There is probably a great element of truth to this and that may be the greatest historical significance of this group. However drive-thru banking was still unheard of and would be for years to come! Some of the wealth also came from their collection of religious relics. The Templars were said to have amassed a treasury full of religious artifacts including the Holy Grail itself. (Now, unlike Dan Brown, for years the Holy Grail was actually thought to be the cup of Christ used at the Last Supper…think Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade…) whether they really possessed such a cup is unknown, but with artifacts came wealth and power.

As always, power and wealth create something else…jealousy. On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip the Fair ordered the arrest of the Templars on charges of heresy, which gave the King the opportunity to seize their assets. Of 138 Templars questions, 105 admitted they had denied Christ during their secret reception into the Order. From a historical perspective such confessions were pretty standard under creative means of torture. If they had been anti-Jesus or anti-Rome it would be impossible to deduce from their confession. Most credible historians suspect the charges against them were invented as a reason to take their wealth-which was a pretty standard way of operating in that day and age.

Following this travesty it appears the Knights were folded into other orders, and yet there were rumors that the Knights lived on in some clandestine from. While there is little or no evidence for this, Brown as a writer masterfully picks up on this and weaves this thread throughout his work and story.

Remember that when you hear the Legends of the Knights Templar…the key word is legend. Whether or not the legend has any truth to it is another matter.

The book The Templar Revelation was used by Dan Brown as one of his "historic references." However, the difficulty comes when you realize this book was not written by a real historians. The book is based upon myth and legend and the history is not credible to say the least. However, that has not stopped some people from taking what in many ways is an interesting legend and mindlessly ignoring all rational and relevant facts embraced the legend as reality. This takes a great deal of faith on the part of those who seemed to be so bothered by how people are able to put their faith in the Jesus we find in the Bible.