It has been revealed that the Vatican is going to publish documents about the heresy trial of the order the Knights Templar. The secret documents about the trial include a long-lost parchment showing that Pope Clement V initially absolved the order of heresy. The 300 page volume entitled “Processus Contra Templarios” (Latin for “Trial against the Templars”) came out in a limited edition of 799 copies (with one going to Pope Benedict). The Vatican will hold a news conference about the publication on 25 October.
The Knights Templar have long intrigued writers and historians. Ivanhoe by Walter Scott features the classic villain Brian de Bois-Guilbert - a corrupt Templar Knight. Our own Sam Neill gave a brilliant spin to the role in a 1982 tv remake.
The popularity of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code introduced the Templar Knights and their history to a whole new audience.
- Library resources on the Templar Knights
- Vatican Publishes Knights Templar Papers Associated Press
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After 700 years, Vatican comes clean on history’s good knights The Age
