From Ivanhoe onward, the Order of the Knights Templar has been a favorite subject of novelists. Though it makes for great reading, little of what has been written is factual. The truth, however, is equally compelling as the fiction. In this book, one of his most elusive titles, G. Legman turned his far-ranging scholarship and acute analysis to the history and trial of the Knights Templar. Charged with heresy, sacrilege, blasphemy, and sexual perversion, the Templars were arrested, tried, and burned at the stake, bringing about their official end in 1312. Whether the suppression of the Order was justified and whether the Templars were guilty or innocent are questions that continue to fascinate anyone interested in the development of Western civilization. Drawing from the actual depositions and confessions of the Templars, and probing far deeper than just the religious, financial, or political issues, Legman offers a searching analysis of the effects of suppressing normal sexuality.

On 18 March 1314, Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Templars, was burned at the stake. For almost two centuries, the knights of the Order of the Temple had flourished during the Crusades in Palestine and Syria, and in the West, notably in France. But in 1307, the Templars in France were arrested by King Philip IV's officials in the name of the Inquisition, their property seized and the men charged with serious heresies, including the denial of Christ, homosexuality and idol worship. Confessions, extracted under torture, were brought before royal and papal tribunals, but in 1310 a number of Templar brothers mounted a defence of their Order, refuelling the controversies which continued for a further four years before the final executions. Malcolm Barber's fascinating account, assessing the charges brought against the Order, once again puts the Templars on trial.

• An examination of the interactions of the Christian Knights Templar and their Muslim counterparts, the Assassins, and of the profound changes in Western society that resulted. • Restores the reputation of the secret Muslim order of the Assassins, disparaged as the world's first terrorist group. • Dispels many myths about the Knights Templar and provides the most incisive portrait of them to date. A thousand years ago Christian battled Muslim for possession of a strip of land upon which both their religions were founded. These Crusades changed the course of Western history, but less known is the fact that they also were the meeting ground for two legendary secret societies: The Knights Templar and their Muslim counterparts, the Assassins. In The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven, occult scholar and secret society member James Wasserman provides compelling evidence that the interaction of the Knights Templar and the Assassins in the Holy Land transformed the Templars from the Pope's private army into a true occult society, from which they would sow the seeds of the Renaissance and the Western Mystery Tradition. Both orders were destroyed as heretical some seven hundred years ago, but Templar survivors are believed to have carried the secret teachings of the East into an occult underground, from which sprang both Rosicrucianism and Masonry. Assassin survivors, known as Nizari Ismailis, flourish to this day under the spiritual leadership of the Aga Khan. Wasserman strips the myths from both groups and penetrates to the heart of their enlightened beliefs and rigorous practices, delivering the most probing picture yet of these holy warriors.

In Masonic Temples, William D. Moore introduces readers to the structures American Freemasons erected over the sixty-year period from 1870 to 1930, when these temples became a ubiquitous feature of the American landscape. As representations of King Solomon’s temple in ancient Jerusalem erected in almost every American town and city, Masonic temples provided specially designed spaces for the enactment of this influential fraternity’s secret rituals. Using New York State as a case study, Moore not only analyzes the design and construction of Masonic structures and provides their historical context, but he also links the temples to American concepts of masculinity during this period of profound economic and social transformation. By examining edifices previously overlooked by architectural and social historians, Moore decodes the design and social function of Masonic architecture and offers compelling new insights into the construction of American masculinity. Four distinct sets of Masonic ritual spaces—the Masonic lodge room, the armory and drill room of the Knights Templar, the Scottish Rite Cathedral, and the Shriners’ mosque – form the central focus of this volume. Moore argues that these spaces and their accompanying ceremonies communicated four alternative masculine archetypes to American Freemasons—the heroic artisan, the holy warrior, the adept or wise man, and the frivolous jester or fool. Although not a Freemason, Moore draws from his experience as director of the Chancellor Robert R Livingston Masonic Library in New York City, where heutilized sources previously inaccessible to scholars. His work should prove valuable to readers with interests in vernacular architecture, material culture, American studies, architectural and social history, Freemasonry, and voluntary associations.

On the 18th March 1314, in Paris, Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and Geoffroi de Charney, preceptor of the Knights Templar in Normandy, are led to the stake. Before the pyre at their feet is set alight, Jacques de Molay speaks to the watching crowd, proclaiming a curse on those who had wrongly condemned them. A month later Pope Clement V, who had helped to condemn the Knights Templar, died. Their chief persecutor, Phlip IV of France, followed him to the grave a few months later. And famine, plague and revolt were to follow. Was the Templar’s curse coming home to roost? The Templar’s Curse shows the Knights Templar under arrest, torture and trial, followed by penance for life. Chronicling the dissolution of the order after the trial in 1307, this fascinating new book investigates the consequences of the Templar’s persecution and their mysterious legacy. Curses, cruelty, political intrigue, revenge...the true story of the Knights Templar is better than fiction!

Why do the powerful medieval Knights Templar, the famed warriors of the Crusades, still intrigue many today? A secret society long shrouded in mystery, the Templars were believed to conduct mystical rituals, to guard the Holy Grail, and to possess the priceless treasures of the Temple of Jerusalem. Did they bring their treasure to North America, as some legends say? This definitive work about the Templars and their presumed hidden knowledge addresses many such fascinating questions, with rare photos from the Rosslyn Chapel Museum (Scotland) included.

A highly readable look at the lifespan of the famous Knights Templar, who were warrior monks and the first disciplined, regulated, and uniformed standing army since antiquity throughout Europe and the Holy Lands—an economic force to be reckoned with and perhaps an institution guarding dark secrets. The origins of the concept of Holy War are explored, from Biblical times through the rise of Islam and the Christian movement, which inspired untold thousands to set out to recapture Jerusalem, as warriors and as pilgrims. This book explains how nine knights led by Hugues de Payens came from France to guard pilgrims in the Holy Land, how they gained the site of the Temple of Solomon, and what they did there, including a reevaluation of the historical evidence. Other topics discussed include how an unprecedented religious Order grew and pledged to bloodshed in defense of pilgrims, the territory conquered by the Crusaders, and the role and agenda of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and other powerful backers. The Order's contribution to the ongoing Crusades is explained, as well as their military tactics and organization and the fortresses and bases they established. Discussion of the fate of the Order after the failure of the Crusades includes a detailed examination of the charges of occult rituals involving idol worship, spitting on the Cross, and obscene kisses, through to the burning of the last Grand Master Jacques de Molay in 1314.