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07.09.08 :: Welcome to the un-official launch of my website! Please excuse the mess while Jax, my web designer, continues with the graphical and text changes. There will be construction going on around here, so just refresh if the page starts looking funky. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoy my historical series! |
| In
the year of our Lord 1307, King Philip IV of France conspired to dissolve
the Order of the Knights Templar. Having been denied entrance to the
Order, and in debt to the Templars for an enormous sum of which he
was unable to repay, King Philip plotted to destroy the order and
seize the vast wealth and property it possessed. In connivance with
Pope Clement V, the Templars were accused of heresy, sorcery, and
sexual perversion, arrested and tortured in an effort to gain confessions.
Of the estimated two thousand Knights Templar, many were killed or committed suicide as a result of the Inquisition. Only a handful of Templar mariners were able to escape persecution by sailing for England, where torture had been outlawed. Seeking the protection of Edward II, the English Templars were spared the fate of their French brother knights. After their order was banned by papal decree in 1312, the surviving Templar mariners formed the Order of the Brethren of the Coast and swore allegiance to the Crown. Even today, descendants of the Templars serve in silence. These are their stories. |
