Knights Templar in Britain - Softcover

Lord, Evelyn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1405801638 ISBN 13: 9781405801638

Publisher: Routledge, 2004

Synopsis

The Knights Templar In Britain examines exactly who became knights, what rituals sustained them, where the power bases were, and how their tentacles spread through the political and economic worlds of Britain before their defeat at the hands of the Inquisition some two hundred years later.

Founded in the early twelfth century, the mysterious Knights Templar rose to be the most powerful military order of the Middle Ages. While their campaign in the Middle East and travels are well-known, their huge influence across the British isles remains virtually uncharted.  For readers interested in Medieval History.

  

 

About this title

Review:

Review of Hardback Edition

'A usefully original volume....clearly presented and carefully documented.'

Northern History

From the Back Cover:

The Knights Templar, a secret society whose rites and rituals are shrouded in mystery, are a familiar part of the Crusades story. Yet until now, very little has been known of their existence in Britain. Opening with their stunning rise to power in the twelfth century, Lord charts the spread and range of the political and economic worlds of Britain they inhabited, until their inquisitorial defeat two hundred years later. Lord’s groundbreaking focus on Britain reveals new sites, sources and realms of the Templars.

 

The Knights Templar in Britain traces the way in which the Templars received support from the Kings and became a part of feudal society, with diverse holdings across the entire country. Lord charts the increasing power of the Templars, which led to the exploitation of land and people in order to finance the Crusades. She also shows the earlier origins of the financial system in England and how the royal and financial roles of the Temple spread to connections across Europe. It is these dubious allegiances with the Kings that led to their downfall and, ultimately, the loss of the Holy Land. Charged with heresy and witchcraft, the Templars were arrested, dispersed and defeated.

 

The Templars have been linked with Freemasons, King Arthur, and even the pyramids. In her final chapter, Lord sifts through these myths, highlighting the discrepancies between fact and fiction regarding the Templars of Britain.

 

Enhanced with a full gazetteer of Templar sites and a guide to their remains in Britain, this book is vital reading for anyone interested in the Templars, the Crusades and the medieval world.

 

 

Evelyn Lord works as Course Director of the Masters Degree in Local History and on the Board of Continuing Education at the University of Cambridge. She is author of Investigating the Twentieth Century (2000) and The Stuart Secret Army: The Hidden History of English Jacobites (Longman, 2004).

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1405801638
• ISBN 13: 9781405801638
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368