The Templars (Paperback)

This approach takes Read back into the Dark Ages and the context for the first Christian Crusade that culminated in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099.In an attempt to hold on to Jerusalem and one of the holiest sites in Christendom, the Temple of Solomon, the Templars were formed as a strict religious-military order, committed to poverty, chastity and the protection of pilgrims en route to the Holy Land. Read charts their rise to political and financial power and influence throughout Europe and the Holy Land, and their bloody (and ultimately unsuccessful) conflict with the forces of Islam over the subsequent two centuries. Read's account is painstakingly recounted but often lacks the verve and pace demanded by the colourful cast of characters, including Saladin and Richard the Lionheart. The best sections of the book deal with the shockingly cynical destruction of the Order by Pope Clement V and King Philip the Fair in 1312, preceded by the torture and death of hundreds of Templars who had already fought bravely for the cross in the Holy Land. The Templars are fascinating but in his attempt to avoid the more colourful and conspiratorial stories associated with the Order, Read's book may strike some as a little turgid, despite its admirable historical detail. --Jerry Brotton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
For almost 800 years the Templars have received a bad press. At the time of their downfall in 1307 they were accused of crimes so 'horrible to contemplate' that they were 'set apart from all humanity': crimes of devil-worship, blasphemy, sodomy and treachery, with the added sins of avarice and pride. That they were, in fact, innocent of these crimes is now received wisdom in academic circles, but to the public at large the charges stand - added to by the lunatic claims of modern conspiracy theorists and pseudo-historians, for whom the Templars guarded variously the Ark of the Covenant, the Shroud of Turin and the Holy Grail, worshipped the embalmed head of Jesus, and kept secret the truth of his marriage and children. Against this nonsense Read's book comes like a breath of fresh air. Dismissing such modern lunacies, he sets the Templars firmly in the context of their times and their primary purpose: to safeguard the newly recovered Holy Land for pilgrims and to keep it in Christian hands. And yet the foundation of his book is not the 'Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Jesus Christ' themselves, but the temple at Jerusalem from which they took their name. In concise and elegant prose Read takes us through the history of the temple and of the three religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - for whom it was a supreme religious symbol. The history of the Templars is essentially the history of the Crusades, that long and ultimately doomed struggle to wrest back the Holy Land from the Muslim invaders who had seized it by force, and Read deftly interweaves the two, guiding us with a sure hand through a maze of political, ecclesiastical and dynastic rivalries and follies, and through the parallel ebb and flow of the tides of war up to the Templars' final defeat in 1291. Driven back to Europe, the final act in the Templars' tragedy was their destruction at the hands of the cynical and greedy Philip IV of France, and it is a tribute to Read's skill that he can disentangle the strands of this complex and sordid affair with such seeming ease. But his real success is in showing the humanity of the Templars through their everyday lives. Neither monsters nor supermen, they were simply inspired to be both monks and warriors: to take up the cross and the sword in defence of their faith. And in this they were second to none. (Kirkus UK)

See all Product Description

• Books > History > Europe > Vikings, Dark Ages, Medieval Europe 501-1500
• Books > History > Religious History > Christianity
• Books > History > Religious History > Other Religions
• Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity
• Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Conflict

• Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
• I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
• I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.