In this video we’re going to talk about
the Knights Templar the wealthiest and
most powerful Christian military order in
the medieval Europe .
They build the first multinational banking
system in history and legends say
they were the ones who discovered the Holy
Grail that is traditionally thought to be
the
cup that Jesus used at the last super.
You might know the Templars from the bestselling
novel “The Da Vinci Code” or the game
“Assassin’s Creed”.
Their rapid growth to prosperity and sudden
downfall story has fascinated many historians
and
there are tons of myths and speculations around
them.
The superstition that “Friday the 13th ” to
be considered as an unlucky day also comes
from the Knights Templar
so if this sounds interesting to you keep
on watching.
But just before we dive into it..
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Okay the Knights Templar was founded in Jerusalem
in 1119 after the armies of the first crusade(1096
– 1099)
had seized the holy land from Muslim rule.
Their mission was to protect pilgrims that
were starting to travel to the holy land and
guard them from being
robbed or killed by paganism.
The French knight ”Hugues de Payens” was
the founder along with 8 of his relatives
and acquaintances.
The order increased to 20 thousand members
at their peak.
Their headquarter was based on the Temple
mount in Jerusalem which was believed to be
above the ruins of King Solomon’s Temple.
The order grew rapidly and gained extreme
power throughout Western Europe in just 20
years.
There were also other military orders founded
in the same era like “Order of Saint John”
and “Teutonic Order” but none of them
had expanded like the Knights Templar did.
In 1129 the Templars were officially sanctioned
by the Catholic Church.
And in 1139 they were given special rights
from Pope Innocent the second which allowed
the Templars to pass freely through borders
,
to owe no tax, and to be subjected to no one’s
authority except the Pope.
How were they able to gain such tremendous
success in such a short time?
That’s the biggest mystery of all time and
the reason why it captures people’s curiosity.
The researchers say the Knights Templar were
digging down the Temple mount to discover
something precious
from the ruins of King Solomon’s Temple.
What did they find ?
One of them is said to be the Holy Grail .
The legendary Holy Grail is the cup Jesus
used to drink from at the last supper and
which Joseph used to catch Jesus’s blood
at the Crucifixion.
But in “The Da Vinci Code”, the Holy Grail
is defined more dramatically.
That Jesus was actually married to Mary Magdalene
and had at least one child with her.
That Mary Magdalene herself was the Holy Grail
because she carried Jesus’s blood inside
her and Jesus’s descendants are the Holy
Blood.
In the “The Da Vinci Code”, the Knights
Templar are described as the guardian of the
Holy Grail and the Holy Bloodline.
And that there was a cover up by the Roman
Catholic Church that wanted to preserve the
Church’s authority not by Jesus’ actual
bloodline.
Another legend on what the Templars’ found
is the Ark of the Covenant.
The Ark of the Covenant is a sacred chest
that contains the two stone tablets that the
Ten Commandments are written on.
There are also legends and speculations that
the Templars found relics such as the pieces
of the True cross which Jesus was crucified.
Or some say they might of found the genealogy
of Jesus’ family tree or the shroud of Jesus
or simply King Solomon’s treasure.
But regardless of how fishy these legends
may sound, there are actually evidence
that the Knights Templars were digging a tunnel
underground the Temple Mount because the Templars’
belongings
were found deep down there.
In the initial stage of the order there were
only 9 members of the templar and researchers
say that the number shouldn’t be enough
to protect the pilgrims visiting the holy
land from attacks in the first place.
And so their real secret mission was to dig
and find the holy relics.
Later on the Templars were donated a vast
extent of land from the French king and in
1163 Pope Alexander the third
gave the Templars the special rights of independence
and the protection of their property.
It’s quite natural to think that the King
and Pope had already received something in
return from the Templars.
Something big.
If you think of the purpose of the crusade,
their purpose was to recover the holy land.
And when you get to the core of this , the
ultimate purpose might be to find and recover
the
Holy Grail and Ark of Covenant.
If the Templars were lucky enough to discover
this and donate it to the Pope it would make
sense
why they were given all the special rights.
The truth is unknown but there would be no
good reason why they were treated so exceptional
without a
really good reason behind.
The Templars are also known as building the
first multinational banking system.
They had the freedom to cross borders and
they used this privilege to issue “travelers
checks” to
the pilgrims and crusades that were visiting
the holy land.
It allowed the pilgrims to deposit assets
in their home countries and withdraw funds
in the holy land to make them
less attractive targets for the thieves.
The Templars took 10% commission fee which
normally was forbidden in that era to take
any interests
and was one of the reason why they could make
a fortune along with donations.
But the Templars existence was tied closely
to the crusades’ destiny and the tide began
to turn when Jerusalem
was recaptured by Muslim in 1244.
The Templars military base were lost one by
one and when the crusade ended in 1291 the
Templars lost their
mission to protect the Holy land.
They still had many businesses running such
as function of a bank to store peoples’
personal valuables or
by employing people at Templar’s farm and
vineyards.
But their privilege started to bring resistance
from the people because they no longer had
the well-defined mission.
And then comes the Friday the 13th!!
The French king Philip the fourth had a lot
of debt to the Templars because he had inherited
an impoverished kingdom from his father.
The Templars were declaring to form its own
state in southeastern France or the island
of Cyprus which threatened
king Philip the 4th .
Templars were already a “state within a
state”. They were wealthy , paid no taxes,
and had an army that could move
freely through borders but now without a battlefield.
And that’s what King Philip laid eyes on.
On Friday, October 13th , 1307 which is the
reason why Friday the 13th is known as an
unlucky day,
the Grand Master of the Templar “Jasques
de Molay” and hundreds of French Templars
were suddenly
arrested and accused of heresy.
The Templars had a secret initiation ceremony(which
is similar to the freemason) and the king
used this to
accuse them for false charges like devil worshipping,
spitting on the cross, homosexuality and more.
The Templars were trained worriers with iron
discipline, so the battle between the King’s
army
spread blood all over the cities.
Well this reminds me of the scene in the movie
“Star Wars episode 6” when the Jedi knights
got betrayed and attacked by the
Republic and got murdered.
Actually Star Wars was also deeply inspired
by the Knights Templar because they were the
model of the Jedi knights.
In 1312 the order of the Templar was officially
dissolved by Pope Clement the 5th and their
properties were confiscated.
In 1314, the Grand Master of the Templar “Jasques
de Molay” and the leaders in France were
tortured and burned to death.
Before Jasques de Molay died he cursed King
Philip the 4th and Pope Clement the 5th by
saying
“Evil will befall on those who have condemned
us and God will avenge our death.”
Strangely Pope Clement died only a month later
and King Philip also died in a hunting accident
within a year.
But there are still questions as to what became
of all the tens of thousands of Templars across
Europe.
Where did they go?
And where did the Holy Grail and holy relics
go?
The Templars were either arrested or absorbed
into other orders like the Knight Hospitaller
or changed
its name to “Order of Christ” in Portugal.
Some say that they took the Holy Grail and
treasures on a fleet just before the leaders
were arrested in 1307
and escaped to Rosslyn in Scotland.
This was the last scene in the “ Da Vinci
Code” and even though people deny this to
be true
it’s a quite interesting story.
Rosslyn Chapel was built in 1446 by William
Sinclair but has many Templar symbols in it
which brings close
relation to the Templars.
Some say that the Sinclair family had a marriage
relationship with the first Grand Master and
founder of the Templar
” Hugues de Payens”.
Which makes it natural to think that the doctrine
of the Templars and Holy Grail were hand down
to the Sinclair family.
Well there are more bizarre speculations like
Henry Sinclair the first lord of Sinclair
evacuated the Templars to North America.
And to back up this theory, they would say
that you could see some plants carved in the
Rosslyn Chapel like corns and aloes
that weren’t existing in Scotland and only
were in America.
And that the piece of True cross was carried
with them and lies now under the world trade
center.
Some say that the twin towers are a symbol
of the two pillars that stood on the entrance
of Solomon’s temple .
Okay I admit that this might have possibility
to be way off from the truth but there shouldn’t
be a single truth to everything.
Every history has multiple stories and depending
on which angle you look from it any story
can be true.
Especially when there is no clear evidence
and archive found about the Templars, any
bizarre imagination could
be worthwhile thinking.
The Knights Templar the rock stars of the
medieval Europe , left many puzzles and mysteries
to the world.
The order founded with just 9 members gained
tremendous power and wealth in a short amount
of time
and one day they suddenly disappeared from
history.
This keeps on making the fantasists and myth
makers room to think of creative stories on
what might of happened .
And this keeps on fascinating people in any
era.
Thank you for watching.
In this channel I summarize great Japanese
business and self-development books.
And yes I know you might be thinking why I’m
reading a Japanese book about the Knights
Templar .
For the people living in Europe this might
be common sense but in Japan the story of
the Knights Templar
aren’t that famous and I was personally
fascinated in the story by reading the two
books written in the description.
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Question of the day.
Which do you think had the justice on their
side , the Templars or King Philip the 4th?
Please post your comments below because I
would love to hear your opinions .
Okay see you in the next video bye bye.
