The Templars
Editors Note: This is a repost of content that appeared on Edgefactor 2.0; it was originally published on August 23, 2004.
Founded in 1119, The Knights of the Temple of Solomon was an order of mystical warriors capable of miraculously appearing as central plot elements throughout modern fiction. Or so I thought. It turns out that the Templars were much more mundane than everyone since King Philip IV of France has made them out to be. Mix this stark revelation in with about 150 pages touching on the crusades and you’ve got a reasonably good history book. That is to say, this book is terribly boring but it’s not really the author’s fault.
In all fairness, I’m sure Mr. Read wasn’t intending this book for the same type of rabble who gobble up books like The Da Vinci Code and its ilk. This is the kind of book that is on the recommended reading list for a medieval history class. That’s probably why it took me almost five months to slog through all 320 pages, and if three of those months hadn’t been summer break, I probably still wouldn’t be done.
The book actually spends quite a bit less time discussing the Templars specifically than I expected. The book could be better described as a fluffy crusades pastry with some Templar powdered sugar scattered around the edges and sprinkled on top. But I guess you can’t really talk about the real history of the Templars without getting into the crusades. Without the crusades, you wouldn’t have many Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Lands during the 12th century, and without those pilgrims, the Templars would have had no raison d’etre. (Take that high-school English teacher!)
The best/most interesting parts of the book are the exploration of the rules governing the Templar Order and the final few chapters discussing how the “Most Christian” King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V sacked and pillaged the Templars out of existence. (It’s amazing what a well timed charge of heresy and homosexuality could do during the Inquisition…)
Overall, if you have some interest in medieval history, the crusades, or the Templars, this book is an enlightening way to put yourself to sleep each night. However, if you don’t have any interest in the aforementioned topics, this text may very well kill you.
Book Info
Title: The Templars
Author: Piers Paul Read
Pages: 350 (Including Appendices, Bibliography, Endnotes, and Index)
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