Synopses & Reviews
In 1099, the city of Jerusalem, a possession of the Islamic Caliphate for over four-hundred years, fell to an army of European knights intent on restoring the Cross to the Holy Lands. From the ranks of these holy warriors emerged an order of monks trained in both scripture and the military arts, an order that would protect and administer Christendom's prized conquest for almost a century: the Knights of the Temple of Solomon, or the Templars.
In this articulate and engaging history, Piers Paul Read explores the rise, the catastrophic fall, and the far-reaching legacy of these knights who took, and briefly held, the most bitterly contested citadel in the monotheistic West. Drawing on the most recent scholarship, and writing with authority and candor, Read chronicles the history of the blood-splattered monks who still infiltrate modernity in literature, as the inspiration for secret societies, and in the backyard fantasies of any child with access to a stick and a garbage can lid.
More than armed holy men, the Templars also represented the first uniformed standing army in the Western world. Sustaining their military order required vast sums of money, and, to that end, a powerful multinational corporation formed. The prosperity that European financiers enjoyed, from the efficient management of Levantine possessions and from pioneering developments in the field of international banking, would help jump-start Europe's long-slumbering Dark Age economy.
In 1307, the French king, Philip IV, expropriated Templar lands, unleashing a wave of repression that would crest five years later. After Templar leaders broke down and confessed, under torture, to blasphemy, heresy, and sodomy, Pope Clement V suppressed the Order in 1312. Was it guilty as charged? And what relevance has the story to our own times? In this remarkable history, Piers Paul Read explores the Crusades and the individual biographies of the many colorful characters that fought them.
Review
"Read discredits legends...with tact and good sense...An unblinking account." --
Financial Times"The careful build-up pays off by giving depth to a subject astonishing enough without fantasies." --The Sunday Telegraph
"Lucid and accessible."--Literary Review
"[Read] is judicious...and his book is a pleasure to read." --The Spectator
Review
“An engrossing and beautifully written work of popular history that unfolds like a well-structured crime novel.” —Booklist
“In his preface Read credits the influence of a new generation of Crusade historians . . . With The Templars he can now take an honored place among them.” —The Washington Post
“An unblinking account.” —Financial Times
Synopsis
In 1099, the city of Jerusalem, a possession of the Islamic caliphate for over four hundred years, fell to an army of Christian knights intent on liberating the city from Islamic rule. From the ranks of these holy warriors emerged an order of monks trained in both scripture and the military arts: the Knights of the Temple of Solomon, called the Templars.
In this engrossing chronicle, spanning three centuries, Piers Paul Read tells the bloody story of the Templars rise to political and financial power throughout Europe and the Holy Land, their catastrophic fall, and their far-reaching legacy. Drawing on the most recent scholarship, Read blends historical authority with novelistic excitement to create a comprehensive history of the vaunted and feared warriors whose remarkable order still captures our imaginations today.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 325-329) and index.
About the Author
Piers Paul Read studied history at Cambridge University and has authored fourteen acclaimed novels and seven works of nonfiction, including the international bestseller Alive. His novels have won the Hawthornden Prize and the Geoffrey Faber, Somerset Maugham, and James Tait Black awards. He lives in London.