The Templars: The Secret History Revealed - Softcover

Frale, Barbara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1611450195 ISBN 13: 9781611450194

Publisher: Arcade, 2011

Synopsis

With a Foreword by bestselling author Umberto Eco, The Templars chronicles the rise and fall of the organization against a sweeping backdrop of war, religious fervor, and the struggle for dominance,

Barbara Frale gives us an explosive, exhaustively researched history of the medieval world’s most powerful military order, the Templars. At its height, the Order of the Knights Templar rivaled the kingdoms of Europe in military might, economic power, and political influence. For 700 years, the tragic demise of this society of warrior-monks amid accusations of heresy has been plagued by controversy, in part because the transcript of their trial by the Inquisition—which held the key to the truth—had vanished. The table of contents includes:

1. Jerusalem, the Holy Sepulchre, and the Temple
2. An Order of Holy Warriors
3. The Templar Code of Honor
4. In Service to the Holy Land
5. Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Papacy, Philip the Fair, and Jacques de Molay
6. On Trial

Historian Barbara Frale happened to be studying a document at the Vatican Secret Archives when she suddenly realized that it was none other than the long-lost transcript! It revealed that Pope Clement V had absolved the order of all charges of heresy. Let her finally lift the centuries-old cloak of mystery surrounding the world’s most intriguing secret society.

About this title

About the Author:

Dr. Barbara Frale is a historian on staff at the Vatican Secret Archives. An expert in ancient documents, the Templars, and the Crusades, Frale is the author of several books including The Last Battle of the Templars, The Papacy and the Trial of the Templars, and The Templars. She is also the author of the acclaimed The Templars: The Secret History Revealed. Frale earned her PhD at the University of Venice.

Gregory Conti is a professor of modern Italian history at the University of Rochester, a lecturer in English at the University of Perugia, and a freelance translator. He lives in Perugia, Italy.

Umberto Eco is a professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna and the author of Foucault’s Pendulum, The Name of the Rose, and other international bestsellers. He lives in Milan, Italy.

From Booklist:

Founded just after the First Crusade, the Knights of the Temple was a military-religious order subject only to the pope and dedicated to Christian rule of the Holy Land. It lasted beyond the fall of the Crusader states by becoming a bank for Western Europe’s superwealthy. Choosy about lending, the Templars frustrated French king Philip IV, who in 1307 had every Templar he could reach condemned by the Inquisition and arrested. He didn’t tell Pope Clement V because he was still smarting from Boniface VIII’s censuring him for taxing and trying to bring the French church under his control. Clement eventually disbanded the Templars, and Philip executed its leaders, but its property went to another military order. Clement didn’t condemn the order, however, and didn’t say why, though it was long rumored that he had interrogated the leaders. In September 2001, Frale found the record of that interrogation. She discloses its revelations immediately, which doesn’t vitiate the ensuing historical overview. Indeed, consider this little book the first-choice primer on its legend-laden subject. --Ray Olson

About this edition

• Publisher: Arcade
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1611450195
• ISBN 13: 9781611450194
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256