Knights Templar History: Dan Brown's new book on the Knights Templar's deepest, darkest and baddest secrets: Solomon Key

I was convinced that the theme of the Knights Templar would die out for a few years after being exploited to the max just recently. Apparently, Dan Brown thinks otherwise:

The whole industry is impatient. Book sales are generally sluggish, and one explosive, high-profile title can jump-start sales across the board as customers pour into the stores and walk out with a bagful of titles. When Bertelsmann AG reports 2007 results in March, it will be the first time since 2002 that it didn't get a boost from "The Da Vinci Code."

Meanwhile, the nation's biggest retailers can barely restrain themselves. "We're constantly asking," says Bob Wietrak, vice president of merchandising at Barnes & Noble Inc.

So where is the new novel? It's a mystery worthy of the deepest secrets of the Knights Templar. Mr. Brown, holed up in New Hampshire, isn't saying. His agent, Heide Lange, isn't, either.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120122061077215305.html

Well, I bet anything that Brown has been looking at this old book:

"Geschichte des Tempelherrenordens, nach dem vorhandenen und mehreren bisher unbenutzten Quellen" by Wilbelm Ferdinand Wilcke.

It is a rather early publication (1826-27) that seems to be full of all sorts of speculations, some of which possible went unnoticed in the ensuing amateurish Templar lore-passing.

Legends about the deaths of Pope Clement V and King Philip the Fair, according to Nicholas Guertler (Latin text included):


The initiators of the Templars’ destruction, the Pope of Avignon and the King of France, did not outlive them by much. As a matter of fact, Clement V concluded his last day on the 12th day before the Calends of May, 1314, the eighth year and the tenth month of his pontificate, afflicted with various illnesses, after suffering from dysentery and pain in his sides. Philip the Fair also did not have a long road ahead of him after this, because his son Louis X was anointed with holy oil by the archbishop of Reims on the feast day of St. Steven, the first martyr, of that very year. Fuglosus reports in Wirth and Wolf that a certain Templar, Neapolitan by birth, who was condemned to be burned at the stake in Bordeaux screamed out in loud voice, while the Pope and King Philip were seen in the window: Clement, ruthless tyrant, I don’t have anyone among mortals who is left for me to appeal to for my grievous death that you have caused through injustice. I call upon Christ, the just judge, who redeems me, and summon you to His tribunal, along with King Philip, so that within one year and one day you both appear there. There I will plead my case, and uncorrupted justice will be administered to each one. And within this period of time both Clement and the King died. As far as I am concerned, there is not enough to either confirm or deny this story. However, I see that Drexelius, a Jesuit father, both believed this story and took it so close to his heart that in book 2 on the judgment of Christ (chapter 3) he exclaims: Who would deny that there is a congeniality and divine intervention here, by the determination of Supreme Will?



Excidio Templariorum non diu supervixere ejus auctores, Papa Avenionensis et Galliarum Rex. Etenim Clemens V. ad XII. Calend. Majas anno. Ae.V. 1314. Potificatus autem octavo, mense decimo, variis diu aegritudinibus afflictatus, post dysenteria, et stomachi laterumque dolore confectus diem clausit extremum. Philippus autem pulcher non diu post eandem ivit viam; nam ejus Filius Ludovicus X die S. Stephani primi Martyris, dicto anno, a Remensi Archi-Episcopo est sacro oleo inunctus. Refert Fulgosus apud Hospian. et Wolf. Templarium quendam, gente Neapolitanum, in urbe Burdegala ad ignem damnatum, conspectis ad fenestram Pontifice ac Philippo Rege, magna voce in haec verba prorupisse: Saevissime Clemens Tyranne, posteaquam mihi inter mortales nullus jam superest ad quem appellem pro gravi morte, qua me per injuriam assicis, ad justum judicem Christum, qui me redemit, appello, ante cujus tribunal te voco, una cum Philippo Rege, ut intra annum diemque ambo illic compareatis, ubi caussam meam exponam, et jus sine pravo affectu ullo administrabitur. Intra id quoque tempus Clementem ac Regem mortuos. Equidem quo historiam aut confirmem aut refellam, mihi non suppetit; video tamen Drexelium Societatis Jesu Patrem et credidisse, et cordi adeo habuisse, ut l. 2. de tribun. Christ. c. 3. exclamarit: Quis neget, geniale aliquid, et divinum hic intervenisse, supremo Numine consciscente?

For many years I have been working on a little leisurely project, translating Nichlas Guertler's Historia Templariorum. I will be making little excerpts from it available on this site.

Some Latin sources regarding the foundation of the Templar order

The expanded edition of "National Treasure" on DVD has a 5-minute documentary about the Knights Templar? Hmm, is that really enough?

"Arn, the son of a high-ranking Swedish nobleman is educated in a monastery and sent to the Holy Land as a knight templar to do penance for a forbidden love."

The movie opens in Sweden on Christmas Day. From what I have heard, it was a rather expensive production - $30 million or so.

Official site:

http://www.arnthemovie.com/

Over a period of several years I managed to collect a fair amount of information about the Knights Templar, including some translations of documents in the original Latin. I am now starting this project in order to make these materials available to anyone out there.