Knights Templar History and Medieval Resources: Knights Templar in the Movies

Well, I finally got to watch Arn: The Knight Templar (Swedish title "Arn - Tempelriddaren"). The movie is based on a trilogy by Jan Guilou, available in English. I am mentioning the book because the main thing you will notice if you watch the movie is that most plot lines are only initiated in the movie and will need to find their resolution later. So, you just may have to get a hold of the books, to learn what happened.

The main character's story follows a generic hero plot line. Nothing unusual. Arn Magnusson is likable and for the most part believable. He seems to journey from naivete to experience quite quickly in a well-depicted atmosphere of a Medieval feudal society. Arn's Templar activities are really not the main focus of the movie. However, if you would like to see some scenic views of Scandinavia, this is a movie for you! There is just a little bit of fighting and violence throughn in for good measure. On the whole, no masterpiece, but if you like the subject matter (I would stress that it is primarily Middle Ages vs. Templar history specifically) you might enjoy it. Oh, yeah, there is a nice shot of a Templar sword with the "In Hoc Signo Vinces" motto. That explains why I have seen replicas of this sword for sale!

Every once in a while a movie comes out that manages to demonstrate with perfect clarity how bad the original book was and then adds more levels of ridiculousness to the whole deal. NBC's "Last Templar" is such a movie. The first night of the mini-series was completely unnecessary. It did not establish anything that could not have been told in a few words. Sure enough, you can't have Templars without a Templar treasure. And there should be a document describing the whereabouts of the said treasure. Can we get to the point now? Well, apparently not without showing Mira Sorvino fight crime Amazon style!

My favorite thus far is the miraculous delivery of a small group of Templar Knights during a storm. They way they rise victoriously out of the sea, wearing their chainmail suits of armor weighing over 50 pounds... And don't forget the swords!

I wish it was possible to come up with a more believable name for the Turkish town. When I read the book it became immediately clear to me that the word "Fonsalis" probably has something to do with the Latin words FONS and SALIX. And yet it took an almost revelatory experience on Tess' part to figure this out. She is supposed to know Latin, you know.

Still I am waiting to see if the script writers managed to escape one little mistake that the author of the book made. I will have to wait until later today to find out...

I feel this is sort of an obligation :) The trailer for The Last Templar is out:



Once again, this is a NBC Mini-series that will be shown in the winter of 2009. In my personal opinion, this will not be a huge hit, but for those of us who enjoy codes, Knights Templar and that sort of stuff it will be a nice little distraction.

A scene from the 2005 French TV series called "Rois Maudits".

FilmSwords is a company makes medieval decorative swords "as seen in the movies." This makes me believe that the Swedish film "Arn: The Knight Templar" is more popular than I thought.

Peter Johnsson (who works as designer for Albion) modelled it on a type of sword being used at the end of the 1100s. A well-known representative of this type exists and is preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna: the sword of Saint Maurice, part of the imperial regalia of the Holy Roman Empire.

Arn was given his sword by his master and mentor, monk and one-time Templar, Brother Guilbert.

The sword bears an inscription "In hoc signo vinces" - "With this sign though shall be victorious." This motto is not exclusively a Templar device, but it was somewhat favored by the Knights of the Temple. Other than that I have nothing to say about the authenticity of the sword. Buy at your own risk!

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I haven't researched the promises and premises of this project personally (it seems to needlessly bring vampire stories into the realm of Templarism), but this comment is truly precious:

Besides, this movie will just lead to many guys showing up at the Renaissance Faire dressed as Knights Templar, but packing stakes and garlic alongside their swords. Yeah, that matters to me. I don't lace myself up in a corset to see guys in painted bedsheets, you know.

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/no ... plar_up_to

Lambuth University has acquired a reproduction of the rare text Proceedings Against the Templars for display in the Luther L. Gobbel Library. An unveiling ceremony will take place at 4 p.m. today, according to a Lambuth press release.
...
On Monday, Lambuth will host an overview lecture about the Knights Templar at noon; "The Da Vinci Code" will be shown in the library at noon on April 1; Lambuth University Religion professors Gene Davenport and Cindy Wesley will debunk The Da Vinci Code and discuss myths of non-mainstream faiths in the library at noon on April 2.

Seriously? They will actually show "The Da Vinci Code" as a part of the festivities commemorating the purchase of a $9000 book published by the Vatican?

http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 80309/1002