Knights Templar History and Medieval Resources: Unsolved Mysteries and Secrets

In 1997 two French researchers, Marion and Courage, claimed to have discovered previously unseen characters on the surface of the Shroud of Turin, using certain image processing techniques. The letters did not make a whole lot of grammatical sense, and few were convinced that they really exist. In 2009, Barbara Frale published a book where she gave her own reading of these words. She also provided additional support for the theory that the Shroud was in the possession of the Knights Templar. Possibly this relic was the actual object that started the rumors about a mysterious "head" worshiped by the Templars. As far as Frale's interpretation of the words on the Shroud, she took them to be Jesus' "death certificate". I have some doubts about the validity of the proposed readings, but before I even attempt to come up with my own it would be nice to independently reproduce the image processing technique. So far, the only source I have for this method is found on this page (in Italian):

Christianismus: Barbara Frale e le scritte sulla sindone di Torino

In essence, the method consists of removing the "fish bone" texture of the canvas, in order to bring up the writing. Unfortunately, I don't have any Photoshop filters to achieve the same result...

It must be added that by simply looking at the untraced results of the two most important words in the inscription, one can see that they are by no means distinct and unmistakable.

This one is supposed to be (Ι)ΗΣΟΥ(Σ) - Jesus:




This one is being interpreted as ΝΑΖΑΡΕΝΝΙΟΣ - Nazarite:



To say the least, I am not convinced that there is much to this theory. But I would still like to try the same imaging techniques!

It seems to me that the role of Cornelius Agrippa in originating modern myths about the Knights Templar has been exagerated. I will not bore the reader with multiple references to the works of modern researchers who borrow from each other's books the quote from Agrippa's De Occulta Philosopha. Nobody even bothers to indicate the exact place in the treatise that the quote originates from. So, first things first.

Chapter 39 of De Occulta Philosophia begins as follows:

Nemo ignorat malos daemones malis ac prophanis artibus allici posse, quemadmodum narrat Psellus gnosticos magos consuevisse, quos penes execrandae et abhominabiles turpitudines exequebantur quales olim in sacris Priapi et in servitio idoli quod vocabatur Panor, cui pudendis discoopertis sacrificabatur. Neque istis dissimile est (si modo veritas et non fabula est) quod legitur de Templariorum detestanda haeresi et similia horum de maleficis mulieribus constant, quae quidem anilis dementia saepe in eiusmodi flagitiis errare deprehenditur.

Everyone knows that evil spirits can be summonned through evil and profane practices (similar to those that Gnostic magicians used to engage in, according to Psellus), and filthy abominations would occur in their presence, as during the rites of Priapus in times past or in the worship of the idol named Panor to whom one sacrificed having bared shameful parts. Nor is any different from this (if only it is truth and not fiction) what we read about the detestable heresy of the Knights Templar, as well as similar notions have been established about witches, whose senile woomanish dementia is often caught causing them to wander astray into shameful deeds of the same variety.

Michael Haag ("The Templars. The History & the Myth") believes that by placing the Templars in the same context with witches Agrippa "thrust the order into the phantasmagoria of occult forces which were subject of the persecuting craze for which the Malleus Maleficarum was a handbook." Obvious anachronism aside (the Templars have been well put away by the early 16th century), Cornelius Agrippa says absolutely nothing that his contemporaries did not know. Marino Sanudo (c. 1260 – 1338) in his Historia Hierosolymitana comfortably discusses the worship of the gilded head, the practice of dissolving the ashes of deceased knights and drinking them for increased strength of their comrades, and of course smearing the idol with fat produced by roasting baby girls engendered Knights Templar. This account is often repeated by later writers. In Agrippa's time, for instance, Pietro Crinito (Peter Crinitus, 1475 - 1507) relates these horrific details in his work De Honesta Disciplina (incidentally, a book used by Nostradamus). The tradition continued in such works as Hofmann's (1635-1706): Lexicon Universale. Nicholas Guertler also mentions these allegations, but clearly does not find them to be grounded in reality.

As far as I am concerned, Cornelius Agrippa's brief mention of the Knights Templar is of very little importance. Agrippa himself certainly did not make much of it.

There is a site that goes into considerable detail about the ways Knights Templar held certain numbers in great respect and built their practices around them. Such as:

The number 3 (omnipresent)

* The 3 religious vows (common to all monastic orders).
* The 3 mandatory alms every week.
* The 3 annual fasts.
* The 3 meals per day.
* The 3 meat meals per week.
* The 3 presentations of the novice before the Chapter prior to the reception ceremony.
* The obligation to accept a 3 against 1 fight.
* The 3 assaults of the enemy before the Temple's counterattack.
* The 3 horses that the Knight Templar received when setting off on an expedition.

and the list goes on...

The number 8

* The 8 days of penitence to be suffered by a Knight Templar guilty of a venial sin.
* The 8 sacraments received by the Knights Templar.
* The 8 angles of the cross pattee humettee.
* The 8 articles of the oath taken by the future Knight Templar.


The number 9

* The 9 traditional founders of the order.
* The 9 Knights Templar required to form a commandery.
* The 9 provinces of the Temple of the West.
* The 9 years' preparation for the Temple (1118 to 1127).
* The 72 articles (7 + 2 = 9) of the Primitive Rule.
* The 180 years (1 + 8 + 0 = 9) for which the order was in existence.
* The 9 000 Templar commanderies (unverifiable number given by Matthieu Paris).
* The 117 (1 + 1 + 7 = 9) charges leveled at the order during the Inquisition.
* The death of the last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, also characterized by the number 9: he was executed on March 18 (1 + 8 = 9), 1314 (1 + 3 + 1 + 4 = 9).


Here is my take on this. Notice that there is a lot more things and entities listed under the auspices of number 3. It seems that 3 is just a good number for most things that are not in particularly great supply. So, there was nothing specifically "Templar" about using 3. 8 and 9, although both numbers with substantial numerological pedigree, are more difficult to come by in most cases. It seems to me that 9 was of particular importance, because the Templars for a long time insisted that there were only 9 members, even when undoubtedly daily operations of the Order required more knights and servants (who technically are also Templars).

http://www.maisnie-champenoise.org/uk/temple2.html

Just a quick note. The much awaited book by Barbara Frale "The Templars: The Secret History Revealed" well, has been revealed... I haven't received it yet. Was the release of the book meant to capitalize on the interest in all things Templar when NBC shows its mini-series "The Last Templar" in late January?

The Templars: The Secret History Revealed

Barbara Frale's new book is due in January. A few quotes from the Citizen:

In 2001, a second-year student of ancient documents at the Vatican stumbled across the Chinon chart, a 58- by 70-centimetre parchment misfiled in the secret archives for 400 years. "I thought I was dreaming," Barbara Frale told the Citizen in an e-mail. "It took six months for me to fully grasp that it was real."
...
Ms. Frale, who is writing a book about her find, says the document shows that Pope Clement V did not excommunicate the Templar leaders, but absolved them of heresy and brought them back into the church. Rumours about sodomy and idolatry were misunderstood military hazing rituals. "Historians had concluded that the Templars were innocent, but most people still thought they were heretics, occultists and the like," she wrote.

"Now we have definitive proof. The Templars were not heretics. The order, which was a military brotherhood, simply practised a secret ritual that was grossly misunderstood and misinterpreted."
...
Ms. Frale went on to get her PhD at the University of Venice and is now a historian on staff at the Vatican Secret Archives. Her book, The Templars: The Secret History Revealed is to be published by Arcade in January. Her publishers advertise it as "an explosive new history of the medieval world's most powerful military order, the Templars -- and the momentous discovery that finally allows the full story to be told."

"The revelations will be extremely interesting," Ms. Frale told the Citizen. "For now, I can't say a word."
Mythbusting manuscript

I am sensing that there will be a lot of hype building up in the media. But most curiosly, did Ms. Frale discover something else? All these recent Templar-related events are beginning to sound somewhat orchestrated. I would also like to point out that the title of Frale's book is strikingly non-academic. It is definitely appealing to a very wide audience.

A new book claims that the Holy Grail is most certainly in Wales. The funny thing is that the author actually argues with Dan Brown as if his opinion was in some way academically and methodologically valid. I also like this passage in the article:

More recently a theory was put forward by former Western Mail journalist and bard, Owen Morgan, who claimed the Grail was not an object but the beautiful landscape of Wales.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... -21328768/

In my personal opinion, the Holy Grail is also not an object. It has become a symbolic representation of the money that can be potentially spent by tourist in any given location. As the peddlers at Renaissance fairs cry out: "Holy Grails! Get them while their holy!"

The book's title is:
Eternal Chalice: The Enduring Legend of the Holy Grail (I.B.Tauris, £18.99)

The Washington monument in the eponymous capital of the United States is crowned with a metal cap. Among other inscriptions, the cap displays the words LAUS DEO, which in Latin means "Praise be to God", or more literally "Praise to God". The inscription most likely reveals some sort of Masonic connection.

More interestingly, Wikipedia informs us of the following:

Halfway up the steps of the monument is an inscription in Welsh: Fy iaith, fy ngwlad, fy nghenedl Cymru — Cymru am byth (My language, my land, my nation of Wales — Wales for ever). The reason for this inscription or its author is unknown.

Washington Monument (Wikipedia article)

At the very least we know that this is not some sort of Elfish language :) But seriously, "the reason for this inscription or its author is unknown"? You may wait for Dan Brown's new novel, "The Solomon Key", to find out what this inscription is all about. I am sure the truth will be most entertaining, as Dan Brown explores the dark secrets of Masonic symbolism in the nation's capital. But if you don't feel like waiting, here is what I uncovered:

"In 1834 a dinner was held by the Welsh residents of New York, presided over by E. W. Davis, and aided by T. Ingram Tones and the late Daniel L. Jones. The success of the dinner suggested the idea oi organizing a Welsh national society, and a draft of the constitution nnd by-laws for such a society was made. Out of this initiative grew the present St. David Society, which has helped hundreds of distressed Welshmen who have stranded on their arrival In the United States. Daniel L. Jones was president in 1863. Among its presidents have been Gen. Thomas L. James. Hon. Noah Davis, Ellis H. Roberts, the present United States Treasurer, and a score of other prominent Americans. It was through Mr. Jones that the government permitted a stone to be placed in the Washington monument to represent the little principality. This stone was imported from a quarry near Swansea. It bears the following inscription: Fy iaith. Fy Ngwlad, Ky Nghenedl. Wales. Cymru am Byth! Mr. Daniel L. Jones was a faithful, consistent and patriotic Welshman."

The Cambrian, a monthly magazine, Vol. XVIII, 1898.

Of course, it is still very suspicious that Welshmen be ever allowed to express their patriotic (and hence non-American) sentiments on this great obelisk. So, we shall see what Mr. Brown will be able to dig up.