Alet-les-Bains, Aude, Languedoc, France.
http://www.templar-quest.com/photographs.htm
Ruined Abbey - Cathedral
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Alet-les-Bains, Aude, Languedoc, France.
http://www.templar-quest.com/photographs.htm
Ruined Abbey - Cathedral
Kennst du Bill ? / Do you know Bill?
The Aude Gate, Cité, Carcassonne, Languedoc, France.
www.catharcountry.info
Just inside this gate was the thirteenth century house of the Dominican Inquisitors - there’s a plaque on the wall. Outside the gate was the “Wall” the Inquisitors’ prison where people were imprisoned in dark, cold, damp conditions, chained up without sanitation, living on stale bread and filthy water, often until they died.
Carcassonne is the largest surviving medieval walled city in Europe. Inside is the Château Comtal, the Castle of Raymond Roger Trencavel, Viscount of Carcassonne, Béziers, Albi and the Razès. He died in his own prison here in 1209, aged 24, after being taken prisoner while under a safe-conduct from the Cistercian Abbot Arnaud Amaury the papal legate and military leader of the Albigensian Crusade who was besieging Carcassonne (and who then appointed Simon de Montfort as military leader of the crusade in his place).
Château de Quéribus, Cucugnan, Aude, Languedoc, France.
http://www.catharcountry.info
The castle of Quéribus is high and isolated. From a distance it can be seen on the horizon, sticking up into the sky. Quéribus is sometimes regarded as the last Cathar stronghold. In a sense it was. After the fall of the Château of Montségur in 1244 surviving Cathars gathered together in the Corbières at this mountain-top stronghold on the border of Aragon (The present border between the Aude département and the Pyrénées-Orientales département). The Cathar deacon of the Razès, Benoît de Termes, took refuge here under Chabert de Barbaira, who was finally forced to surrender to Saint-Louis in 1255. The last stronghold to fall, eleven years after the fall of Montségur, Quéribus then became part of the French frontier defence system against Aragon.
This is one of the “Five Sons of Carcassonne”, along with Termes, Aguilar, Peyrepertuse and Puilaurens: five castles strategically placed to defend the new French border against the Spanish. It lost all strategic importance after the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 when the border was moved even further south to its present position along the crest of the Pyrenees.
William Marshal
International star jouster.
According to Stephen Langton the “best knight that ever lived.”
The “flower of chivalry”, known throughout Europe as ‘The Marshal’.
1st Earl of Pembroke.
Builder of great castles in Normandy, England, Ireland and Wales, including Pembroke Castle and Chepstow Castle.
Favourite of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Loyal friend to five Plantagenet kings – The Young Henry, Henry II, Richard I, John, and Henry III (and knighted two of them).
Regent of England.
In his 70's funded and personally led an army against overwhelming odds, winning the Battle of Lincoln and saving England from becoming a French kingdom.
Reissued Magna Carta on behalf of the infant Henry III under his own initiative, and under his own seal, in 1206 and 1207, to end the civil war after the death of King John. (This is the one that is the “Magna Carta” of English Law, not the one of 1215 which had been annulled)
Joined the Knights Templar just days before his death in 1219 (which is why he was buried in Temple Church - see photo of his tomb effigy damaged by bombing in the Second World War)
The most egregiously underrated man in history?
www.templar-quest.com/photographs.htm
The demon Asmodeus, supporting the holy water stoup in the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene Rennes-le-Château, Languedoc, France.
http://www.templar-quest.com
One of the curious features of this mysterious church, refurbished by Bérenger Saunière.
Sainte-Eulalie-de-Cernon Templar Commandery, Sainte-Eulalie-de-Cernon, Aveyron, France.
http://www.templar-quest.com
After1158, Raymond Béranger, King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona, gave the town of Sainte-Eulalie, and the surrounding area (the "Larzac") to Élie de Monbrun. Soon afterwards the Templers fortified the area from their new Commandery at Sainte-Eulalie.
Their properties passed to the Hospitallers in 1312. The present ramparts were built between 1442 and 1450. The town and Commandery was originally called Sainte-Eulalie-du-Larzac, but in 1889, it was renamed Sainte-Eulalie-de-Cernon, The inhabitants are officially called Saint-Eulaliens, but in Occitan they are still called Cristoulis, a reference to the town's past as the home to the Soldiers of Christ (Templars, then Hospitallers)
La Couvertoirade, Aveyron department, on the Larzac plateau, France.
www.templar-quest.com
From the twelfth century this fortified town was owned by the Knights Templar Commandery of Sainte-Eulalie. The Templars built a fortress here, though its two upper floors have since been removed. Following their dissolution in 1312, the Templars' property in the causses was taken over by the Knights Hospitaller (or Knights of St John of Jerusalem) who were responsible for building the curtain wall at La Couvertoirade between 1439 and 1450.
This statue of William Marshal holding a copy of Magna Carta stands behind the monarch's throne in the House of Lords.
Why? Because the version of Magna Carta that survives in English law was not the one sealed under duress by King John in 1215, but the one sealed voluntarily by Marshal as Regent of England in 1216. Marshal's statue stands behind the monarch as a reminder of the provisions of Magna Carta that he issued on behalf of the Crown.
Why is this mentioned here? Because this is the 800th anniverary, and because Marshal joined the Knights Templar just days before he died. He is buried in the Temple Church in London.
www.templar-quest.com
Shugborough Inscription - from afar the 18th century monument in Staffordshire, England resembles a recreation of the famous painting “Arcadian Shepherds”, but a closer look reveals a sequence of letters: DOUOSVAVVM. It is a code that has eluded decipherment for over 250 years. No one knows who carved it, but some believe it to be a clue left behind by the Knights Templar in regards to the location of the Holy Grail. Many of the world’s greatest minds have tried and failed to decipher the code.
The Knights Templar — Warrior Monks, Warrior Bankers
During the Middle Ages the Knights Templar was an order of warrior monks whose duty was to defend Christendom, defend the Holy Land, and to protect Christians on pilgrimage. Today due to their popularity in the media, the Knights Templar are perhaps the most well known knightly orders of the Middle Ages, while at the same time the most misunderstood. Often modern depictions of the Templars is that of mystery, mysticism, and intrigue, as authors such as Dan Brown and History Channel/Discovery Channel documentaries speculate that they were the keepers of dangerous secrets and powerful relics. Others depict the Templars as Medieval super soldiers who hacked apart infidels without mercy. Today there is one major aspect of the Templars which is seldom mentioned and rarely discussed. While many Templars devoted their lives as holy warriors who defended the faith, the vast majority of those in the Order were not soldiers, but bankers.
Originally the Knights Templar was an order of penniless monks who lived a life of poverty and humility. Officially called “The Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon” the Templars would ironically become the wealthiest organization in all of Europe. It all started with the First Crusade (1096 – 1099) when Jerusalem was conquered by the Crusaders. In 1129 a group of eight influential knights found the Templar Order and set up headquarters at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem with the goal of protection Christians on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. As the Templars won victory after victory against Muslim armies, their influence and power grew until the Order numbered in the tens of thousands with enclaves all over Europe and the Middle East. As the Templars became an established organization they began to offer special financial services to the pilgrims they swore to defend. Often a knight, noble, or monarch could be gone for years while on Crusade. While gone, many of Europe’s elite began to hire the Templars to protect and manage their finances while absent. Today this type of action is called “power of attorney”. As the Templars began to make a nice hunk of cash from their dealings, the Templar Order began to transform from an organization of “Poor Soldiers of Christ” to the wealthiest financial institution in Christendom.
One of the Templars most innovative services was the issuance of “bills of credit”. Say there was a French Crusader who had become fabulously wealthy raiding and plundering the Holy Land. It was time to return home, but there was the issue of transporting his wealth back home to France. After all, it would be very difficult to travel thousands of miles while carrying a heavy bag full of gold and silver and he was at risk of being robbed as the journey home was rife with bandits, outlaws, and highwaymen. One way the Crusader could protect his money was to get a bill of credit from the Knights Templars. He simply deposited his money at the Templar’s headquarters in Jerusalem, where they drew up a bill which included the amount deposited and a description of the depositor (for identification purposes). When the Crusader returned home to France, he simply presented the bill to the Templar headquarters in Paris where he could withdraw his money on demand. At the height of Templar power the Order controlled over 800 castles, forts, and monasteries, all which served as bank branches where customers could deposit and withdraw their cash. In essence, the Templars had invented one of the earliest forms of the checking account.
As the Templar Organization grew, so too did its financial services. The Templars grew especially wealthy by offering mortgages and loans. At the time charging interest was illegal and a sin (called the sin of usury), but the Templars managed to skirt the law by reasoning that they were not charging interest, but charging rent for the goods and property purchased with the money the loaned. The Templars also invested heavily in business and trade, at one point even buying an entire merchant fleet of their own. At the height of their power the Knights Templars numbered over 20,000 members. However, ironically by that time the vast majority of the “Poor Soldiers of Christ” were actually powerful bankers, financiers, accountants, and businessmen rather than poor soldiers.
In the 14th century, with their popularity waning as the Crusades drew to a close, the business practices of the Templars became their biggest liability. Pretty much everyone in Europe owed the Templars money, as the order had transformed from a group of warrior monks, to wealthy bankers, to predatory lenders and legalized loansharks. Many who had borrowed from the Templars were so heavily indebted they could not pay back and were in near default. One such person was King Philip IV of France, who was so deeply indebted due to wars with England that his monarchy teetered on the brink of collapse. Taking advantage of rumors that the Templars were heretics and devil worshippers who practiced secret ceremonies, King Philip pressured Pope Clement V (who was also disgruntled with the Templars) to issue a Papal Bull ordering all of Europe’s monarchs to arrest Templar members. Hundreds were rounded up, tortured into confessing to heresy, and burned at the stake. The rest melted away or were absorbed by other religious orders.
While the Knights Templar are gone, the legacy of their Order is still with us today, as the banking practices they pioneered make up the framework for modern finance today.
The Chinon Parchment is a document discovered in September, 2001, by Barbara Frale, an Italian paleographer at the Vatican Secret Archives. On the basis of the Parchment, she has claimed that, in 1308, Pope Clement V absolved the last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, and the rest of the leadership of the Knights Templar from charges brought against them by the Medieval Inquisition.
http://www.templar-quest.com/photographs.htm
The Parchment is dated August 17–20, 1308, at Chinon, France, and was written by three Cardinals: Bérenger Fredoli, Etienne de Suisy and Landolfo Brancacci. The Vatican keeps an authentic copy with reference number Archivum Arcis Armarium D 218, the original having the number D 217.
The existence of this document had long been assumed. In the bull Faciens misericordiam, promulgated in August of 1308, Clement V explained that Templar leaders were supposed to be brought to Poitiers in order to be questioned by the Pope himself, but "since some of them were so unwell at that time that they could not ride and could not by any means be brought into our (i.e. the Pope's) presence" three cardinals were sent out to perform the necessary inquires at Chinon. The commissioned envoys were instructed to create an official record of their investigations and, according to the bull, upon returning they presented the Pope with "the confessions and testimonies of the aforementioned Master and Commanders written down as spoken as a legal record by notarial attestation." In addition, a letter written by the three cardinals to King Philip IV, in which they inform him of the absolution granted to the high-ranking officers of the Knights Templar (published by Étienne Baluze).
Tour Magdala, Rennes-le-Château, Languedoc, France.
www.templar-quest.com
The Tour Magdala (Magdala Tower) was built by the Abbé Saunière shortly after the renovation of the village church (around the year 1900) . This tower is built on the model of medieval towers, overlooking more than twenty villages. It is connected by a walkway to a glass tower also built by Sauniere. He had the Tour Magdala built as his library and place of meditation, but it has now become emblematic of the mystery of Rennes-le-Château.
Turret of the Tour Magdala at Rennes-le-Château, Languedoc, France.
http://www.templar-quest.com
Viala-du-Pas-de-Jaux, Aveyron, Midi-Pyrénées, France.
www.templar-quest.com
The top floor of a six-story tower built by the Knights Templar, later taken over by the Knights Hospitaller.
La Couvertoirade, Aveyron, France.
http://www.templar-quest.com/photographs.htm
La Couvertoirade is located on the Larzac plateau. The Templars built the fortress here during the 12th and 13th centuries, under the Commandery of nearby Sainte-Eulalie, Following the Templars dissolution in 1312, Templar property in France was taken by the Hospitallers (Knights of St John of Jerusalem). The Hospitallers were responsible for building the curtain wall at La Couvertoirade between 1439 and 1450.
Montségur is a castle in the foothills of the Pyrenees, not far from Lavelanet in the Ariege, France.
http://www.templar-quest.com
Some 225 Cathars were burned alive at the Château de Montsegur in 1244 for the crime of not being Catholic. A Garrison of around 200 had defended them for 10 months against a French Crusader army of 5,000 - 10,000 before they surrendered. A monument on the site reads
EN CE LIEU LE 16 MARS 1244 PLUS DE 200 PERSONNES ONT ÉTÉ BRULÉES. ELLES N'AVAIENT PAS VOULU RENIER LEUR FOI.
IN THIS PLACE ON 16th MARCH 1244 MORE THAN 200 PEOPLE WERE BURNED. THEY WOULD NOT ABJURE THEIR FAITH
There were so many victims that a special wooden pen had to be constructed, filled with heaps of brushwood, to burn them. A clerical chronicler preened that they passed directly from the flames of this world to the flames on the next.