'''{{PAGENAME}}''' is a :Category:Deus Ex books, magazines and newspapers|newspaper appearing in ''Deus Ex''. It is a book written about the history of the Templar order by Richard Baigent.
==Transcripts==
===Volume One: Defenders of the Faith===
...Upon the deliverance of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem Jerusalem, the Holy Lands remained in a precarious
state, surrounded on all sides by hostile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammedan Mohammedan neighbors. It was then that
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_de_Payens Hugues de Payens, a knight from Champagne, bound himself and eight fellow
knights in a vow to forever protect the "Kingdom of Christendom." Accepted in
1118 by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_II_of_Jerusalem Baldwin II, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, they were given charitable
lodgings in the city temple where they became the "pauvres chevaliers du
temple," or the "poor knights of the temple."
It was not until later at the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Troyes Council of Troyes that the Templar Knights adopted
the austere, monastic Rule of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Benedict St. Benedict, along with the white garments of the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cistercians Cistercians -- adding to them the characteristic red cross that symbolized their
willingness to spill their own blood in the defense of the One True Faith.
The Templars quickly became a popular order, renowned as "lions at war and lambs
at the hearth." They were soon exempted by the popes from all secular and
episcopal authority save that of the popes themselves, and their lands exempted
from all taxation...
===Volume Two: Lions of God===
...and every sovereign of Europe made donations to the order, be it land, money,
arms, or men. They triumphed in battle after battle, the first to attack and the
last to retreat, "rough knights of the battlefield" as described by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_de_Vitry Jacques de Virty; if taken prisoner they refused all efforts to secure their freedom,
instead becoming martyrs to the cause of God. With every success, the order
prospered even further -- at their height they were said to have owned over 9000
estates throughout Britain, France, Italy, and the Holy Lands, including a
network of castles and commanderies built to protect the frequent pilgrims to
Jerusalem. In all but name, the Templars virtually ruled Jerusalem and -- in
what can only be termed hubris -- recognized no temporal authority over their
affairs save that of the Church.
By 1250 the coffers of the order had grown so large that it was not uncommon for
pilgrims to deposit their money with a temple in London or Paris, and then cash
in their receipt upon arriving in Jerusalem, thus establishing the foundations
for modern banking and checking accounts...
===Volume Three: Fall of the Knights===
...while many charges can be disputed, it is clear that the more the Knights
prospered, the less they became the austere monastic order that had originally
been envisioned by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugues_de_Payens de Payens a century before. Eventually even excommunicated
men and criminals were accepted -- as long as they pledged blind obedience to
the order. Rumors of secret initiation rituals and the "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osculum_infame osculum infame" ("infame
kiss") flourished, as did stories that they worshipped Baphoment and other false
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagan pagan gods.
But it was their rivalry with the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Hospital Order of the Hospitalers and their continued
arrogance that were most responsible for their downfall. When Jerusalem was
finally lost to the mighty forces of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin Saladin, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_the_fair Philip the Fair saw an opportunity
to bring the Templars to heel... and greatly expand his own holdings. With the
cooperation of the French pope http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_V Clement V, Philip accused the Templars of heresy
and in 1304 placed all members of the order in France under arrest, subsequently
subjecting them to brutal interrogations in an effort to determine whether the
rather fanciful charges of sodomy, apostasy, and devil worship were true...
===Volume Four: Descent Into Shadows===
...but despite Clement's later efforts to annul the proceedings, the confessions
had become matters of record. Those who repented were spared the flames, while
fifty knights who chose to recant their confessions -- becoming "relapsi,"
relapsed heretics -- were promptly burned at the stake. The remaining members of
the order in France quickly admitted their guilt, and in 1311 an Apostolic
Decree was issued dissolving the order. The Templar Knights had once been
subject to no king or law; but in the end, they were swallowed by history.
Many have debated whether the rather ignominibus dissolution of the order was
entirely accidental, while some have even gone so far as to suggest that it was
part of a larger plan on the Templar's part. Such a massive, powerful
organization -- the argument goes -- could not have been brought so low, so
easily. Obscure speculation concerning a mysterious hay wain that departed their
commandery in Paris has led certain researchers to believe that they may have
been protecting the secret of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_grail Holy Grail, or the secret of transmutation,
but still others contend that the Templar Knights merely went underground and
founded the powerful, secretive banking societies of Switzerland...
Category:Deus Ex books, magazines and newspapers