The Templars: The Dramatic History of the Knights Templar, the most powerful military order of the Crusades

First published in Great Britain by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 1999. This paperback edition published in 2001 by Phoenix Press / a division of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd, London. Alabados por su ascetismo, castidad y defensa a ultranza del cristianismo, denostados por los herejes, sodomitas y traidores capaces de vender Tierra Santa a los infieles musulmanes, fuente de inspiración del genio creativo de Wagner en Parsifal y Walter Scott en Ivanhoe, los caballeros templarios formaron uno de los ejércitos más temidos y poderosos de la historia. La orden de los templarios, cuyos miembros recibían una rígida educación religiosa y militar, se formó en la primera cruzada, tras la conquista de Jerusalén, con el fin de defender de la amenaza musulmana la Ciudad Santa, el templo de Salomón y la los peregrinos que acudían a Tierra Santa. Tal formación se convirtió en el primer ejército estable uniformado en el mundo occidental y alcanzó un elevado poder financiero al desarrollar una forma casi precursora del sistema bancario internacional, cuya influencia se dejó sentir durante dos centurias hasta ser aplastada totalmente por Clemente V en 1312. Haciendo alarde de su indudable habilidad para plasmar los acontecimientos del pasado, el historiados y novelista Piers Paul Read separa en esta emocionante crónica realidad y ficción y relata con detalle el ascenso y declive de los monjes guerreros, situándonos en un vasto contexto y social. The Templars - Front Cover Half-title Author Biography / Also by Piers Paul Read Title Page Printer's Imprint Contents Acknowledgements Maps Preface Part One: The Temple 1. The Temple of Solomon 2. The New Temple 3. The Rival Temple Map 1. The high tide of Islam 4. The Temple Regained Map 2. Christendom at the time of the First Crusade Map 3. France at the time of the First Crusade Part Two: The Templars 5. The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Jesus Christ Map 4. Outremer 6. The Templars in Palestine 7. Outremer Map 5. Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in the twelfth century Map 6. Principal Templar strongholds in Syria and Palestine 8. Saladin [photoplates] 9. Richard the Lionheart 10. The Enemies Within Map 7. Templar preceptories and castles in the West in the mid-twelfth century 11. Frederick of Hohenstaufen 12. The Kingdom of Acre 13. Louis of France 14. The Fall of Acre Part Three: The Fall of the Templars 15. The Temple in Exile 16. The Temple Assaulted 17. The Temple Destroyed Epilogue: The Verdict of History Appendices The Later Crusades Grand Masters of the Temple Bibliography End notes Index Rear Cover Piers Read tells the dramatic and ultimately tragic story of the Knights Templar, the largest and most powerful military order of the Crusades until their brutal suppression in 1312. Their story is told in the context of the Middle Ages, a period of history in which idealism and religious fervour were mixed with unusual cruelty, greed and ambition. 'My mother was a whore,' Alec told the author John Le Carre and his wife Jane, standing in the kitchen of Le Carre's house, Tregiffian, on the cliff top of the south coast of Cornwall. The dramatic, ultimately tragic history of the Knights Templar, the largest and most powerful military order of the Crusades. On maps drawn on parchment in the Middle Ages, Jerusalem is shown at the centre of the world.