1Ibo Wasil, in The Arab Historians of the Crusades, ed. and tr. Francesco Gabrieli (Dorset: New York, 1957) p. 294.”
How to Tell if You Are Reading Pseudohistory
In the past few years many books have been published about the Templars. The order has been the basis for entertaining works of fiction, from Ivanhoe through various works about the crusades to the thrillers of the present that are based on Templar legends and myths. Like the medieval romances, these are not meant to be taken as real history.
But there are also a number of books that are meant to be nonfiction. Some of them are serious studies by trained scholars who have spent years studying the original documents. Others contain theories that may seem fascinating and also well researched, but are actually based on little primary research and a lot of illogical conclusions. I call these books “pseudohistories.”
In this book I have tried to give the history of the Templars as it is known by historians who have learned dead languages and worn out their eyes reading handwritten manuscripts in order to find out what really happened. I have also tried to address some of the most popular of the myths written about the order. This has been difficult. Every time I think I’ve heard them all, new Templar stories pop up like dandelions on a lawn.
Many of the pseudohistories are very well written and sound authoritative. So how can the reader tell if the book can be trusted?
Here goes.
1. Is the book published by a university press? If yes, then it’s been checked by other historians and, while there may still be errors, it’s likely to be as accurate as possible.
If no, then . . .
2. Do most of the footnotes list primary sources that any scholar can find? If yes, then you may be okay, and, if you doubt something, you can go look it up.
One mark of pseudohistory is that most of the footnotes list other pseudohistories or “secret” books (see number 4) and it’s impossible to trace down the original information to check it.
If no, then . . .
3. Does the author use phases like “everybody knows” and “historians agree”? If yes, then don’t bother reading further. There is nothing that “everybody” knows. That’s just a quick way of saying, “I haven’t done my research and want to make you feel too ignorant to call me on it.”
Historians do agree on things like, “There was a Battle of Hastings and William of Normandy won,” or “Machu Picchu is an amazing feat of engineering.” Beyond that, everyone has a different way of evaluating the available data. One other thing historians agree on is that a person who presents work that’s not based on information that others can check isn’t going to last long in the rough-and-tumble academic world.
4. Does the author insist that the theory can’t be proved with available data because there was an immense cover-up or that the knowledge is guarded by a select secret society? If yes, then how did the author find the information? How was it authenticated?
An alternate to this is that the author has a “secret” source, a lost book or a document that reveals all. This was used often in the Middle Ages. The most famous is from Geoffrey of Monmouth, who wrote some of the earliest King Arthur stories. He found the information in a book “in the British tongue”—that is, Breton or Welsh. Since no one else had the book and Geoffrey wouldn’t show it to anyone, only he could transmit the truth. I must admit, he did well with it.
Finally . . .
5. Does the author pile one supposition upon another, assuming they are all true? For instance, a book may begin with a known fact, such as “The Templars had their headquarters at the al-Aqsa mosque,” and then continue with something like, “As is well-known, the area in front of the mosque is large enough to land a helicopter in.”3 Then the author might continue by wondering why the space was there before helicopters had been invented. Perhaps he has found, by chance, a manuscript illustration that resembles a helicopter about to land. Even though the manuscript was made in, say, Ireland, the author of a pseudohistory will imagine a previously unknown Irish monk coming to Jerusalem in time to see the Templars’ secret helicopter landings. “Everybody knows” the Irish were great pilgrims.
From this, the author will claim to have established that there were helicopters flown by Templars and that it is proved by the picture made by the phantom pilgrim monk. Of course, the only way this could be is if the Templars were really time-traveling soldiers of fortune determined to grab all the artifacts they could, including mystical talking heads (really a twenty-fourth-century communication device) that would give them the secret of the universe. This makes perfect sense because “everyone knows” that this is the site of Solomon’s Temple and Solomon, as you must have heard, was a great magician who hid advanced technology in the basement of the Temple to keep ignorant and superstitious people from gaining knowledge that their primitive minds couldn’t handle.
The author is sure that now is the time when all should be revealed.
You heard it here first.
Templar Time Line
Recommended Reading
ON THE TEMPLARS
Barber, Malcolm. The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1994. The most accurate and comprehensive of the histories.
Bramato, Fulvio. Storia dell ’Ordine dei Templari in Italia (2 volumes). Rome: Atanò, 1994.
Nicholson, Helen. The Knights Templar: A New History. Sutton, 2001. Full of fascinating information and beautifully illustrated.
Partner, Peter. The Knights Templar and Their Myth. Rochester VT: Destiny Books, 1990.
ON THE TRIALS
Barber, Malcolm. The Trial of the Templars. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Riley-Smith, Jonathan. “Were the Templars Guilty?” The Medieval Crusade. Susan J. Ridyard, ed. Woodbridge: Boydell. 2004. See especially pp. 107-24.
ON THE CRUSADES
Edbury, Peter, and Jonathan Philips, eds. The Experience of Crusading: 2: Defining the Crusader Kingdom. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Mayer, Hans Eberhard. The Crusades. Oxford University Press, 1972.
Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Crusades. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
ORIGINAL SOURCES
Recently there has been a serious attempt to have many of the most important chronicles of the crusades translated into modern languages. I have been happy to use these very good translations and am grateful to have them. But in some cases, I can only suggest that the reader consult the originals.
Archives de l ’Orient Latin, (2 volumes). Paris, 1884.
The Chronicle of the Third Crusade: The Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi. Helen Nicholson, tr. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1997.
The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade. Peter Edbury, tr. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1996.
Crusader Syria in the Thirteenth Century: The Rothelin Continuation of the History of William of Tyre, with part of the Eracles or Acre Text. Janet Shirley, tr. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999.
The History of the Holy War: Ambroise’s Estoire de la Guerre Sainte (2 volumes). Marianne Ailes, tr., and Malcolm Barber, notes. Woodbridge: Boydell, 2003. Old French text and English translation.
Joinville, Jean de. Vie de Saint Louis. There are a number of translations for this.
Oliver of Paderborn. The Capture of Damietta. John J. Gavigan, tr. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1948.
The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin or al-Nawadir as-Sultaniyya we’l-Mahasin al-Yusufiyya, by Baha’ al-Din ibn Shaddad. D. S. Richards, tr. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2002.
The Templar of Tyre. Paul Crawford, tr. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003.
The Templars: Selected Sources. Manchester University Press, 2002. Malcolm Barber and Keith Bate, eds. and tr. A good selection of material covering the entire existence of the order.
Vitry, Jacques de. Histoire Orientale. Marie-Genviève Grossel, tr. and notes. Paris: Honoré Champion, Paris 2005.
TEMPLAR
CHARTERS
Marquis d’Albon, Cartulaire Général de l’Ordre du Temple 1119?-1150. Paris, 1913.
Cartulaires des Templiers de Douzens. Pierre Gérard and Élisabeth Magnou, eds. Paris, 1965.
Le Cartulaire de La Selve: La Terre, Les Hommes et le Pouvoir en Rouergue au IIXe siècle. Paul Ourliac and Anne-Marie Magnou, eds. Paris: CNRS, 1985.
Index
Abelard, Peter
Acre. See also Order of St. Lazarus in Acre; Order of St. Thomas at Acre
blame for
capture of
defense of
fall of
Adoptive masonry
Aimery of Villiers-le-Duc
Alchemy
Alexander
Alfonso
Almaric
Andrew
Andrew of Montbard
Antioch ruling of Templars in
al-Aqsa mosque
Archbishop of Canterbury
Armand of Périgord
Armenia
Arnold of Bedocio
Arnold of Torroja
Arrests of Boniface of Templars
Arthurian legends
Ascolon
Assassins Damascus and dispersion of fanaticism of founding of Nizari as Templars and William of Tyre and
Assise sur la liege
Atlit
Aycelin, Gilles
Aymeric
Aymeri de Narbonne
Baldwin
Baldwin
death of as Jerusalem’s king
Baldwin
Baldwin
Banking
Baphomet
Barber, Richard
de Baron, Robert
de Barres, Everard
Battle of Cresson Springs
Battle of Hattin
Beguines
Benedictines
Benjamin of Tudela
Berengaria
Bérenger, Guillaume
Bernard of Clairvaux
canonization of
as charismatic
as monk
persuasion of
as Templars supporter
Bernard of Tremelay
Berry, Steve
Bertrand of Blancfort
Blanc, Imbart
Blasphemies
Boaz
Bogomils
Boniface arrest of de Nogaret’s charges against Philip the Fair and
Bornholm Island
Bosnia
Boyle, Robert
Bradley, Marian Zimmer
British Isles. See also England; Scotland
Brown, Dan
Calatravans donations to formation of hospitals of military activities of Castel, Rostand
Castles
Cathar Heresy
Cathars beliefs of consolamentum of credentes decimation of growth of organization of perfecti Templars and
Celestine
Celestine
Chanson des Chétifs
Chansons de geste
Charlemagne
Charles
de Charny, Geoffrey
de Charute, Peter
de Chatillon, Reynald
La Chevalerie ’Ogier de Danemarche
Chivalry
Churches. See also Rosslyn Chapel Church of the Ascension Church of the Holy Sepulcher Dome of the Rock of Hospitallers St. Paul’s Cathedral Temple Church
Churchill, Winston
Church of the Ascension
Church of the Holy Sepulcher
Cistercians
de Clari, Robert
Clement
Clement
bribes and
Council of Vienne and
death of
Templars investigated by
weakness of
Collegium
Company of the Star
Compass
Confessions of de Molay of Templars
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (Twain)
Conrad
Constantine the Great
Constantinople looting of relics from
Cornelly, Wido
Corrodians
Cosmos
Council of Troyes
Council of Vienne
Clement and
decrees of
end of
opening of
Templars and
Counter-Reformation de Courtenay, Robert
Croatia
Crockett, Davy
Crown of Thorns
Crusader states
Crusades. See also Fifth Crusade; First Crusade; Fourth Crusade; Second Crusade; Third Crusade
new
purpose of
tradition of
Cyprus
Dalmas, John
Damascus Assassins and Saladin in
Dante
d’Auerac, Peter
“The Daughter of the Count of Pontieu,”
da Vinci, Leonardo
The Da Vinci Code (Brown)
Demurger, Alain
Denial of Christ
Denmark Templars in
Divine Comedy (Dante)
Divine Office
Dome of the Rock
Dominicans
Donations to Calatravans of Fulk of Anjou to Templars
Dubois, Pierre
Durbec, Joseph-Antoine
Edward
Egypt Saladin as vizier Templars in
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Ellington, Duke
Enfances Guillaume
England
Enlightenment
Eskil
Eugenius
Euphemia of Chalcedon
Europe
Excommunication
Executions by Philip the Fair by Richard the Lionheart
Fenne, William de la
de Fenouillet, Pierre
Fiction Holy Grail as Templars in
Fifth Crusade
First Crusade
Fisher King
de Floyran, Esquin
de Folliaco, Jean
Fortress of Montségur
Fourth Crusade
Franciscans
Francis of Assisi
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick
Frederick of Alvensleben
Frederick of Salm
Freemasonry beginnings of spread of
Freemasons . See also Masons beginnings of order of rituals/rites of Templars and
French army
Friday the thirteenth
de Fuentes, Bernardo
Fulk of Anjou death of
donations of
family of
as Jerusalem’s king
Melisande and
Templars first encountered by
Garmund
Genghis Khan
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Rancon
Gerard of Ridefort
Germany
Gilbert Erail
Gnostics
Godfrey of St. Omer
Goethe, Johann, Wolfgang von
Grand Masters Andrew of Montbard () Armand of Périgord () Arnold of Torroja () de Barres, Everard () Bernard of Tremelay () Bertrand of Blancfort () Gerard of Ridefort () Gilbert Erail () de Molay, Jacques () Odo of St. Amand () Peter of Montaigu () Philip of Nabulus () Philip of Plessis () Renaud of Vichiers () Robert of Sablé (/) Robert the Burgundian (de Craon) () Thibaud Gaudin (/) Thomas Bérard () William of Beaujeu () William of Chartres () William of Sonnac ()
Gregory
Guilds
Guillaume de Nangis
Haagensen, Elring
Hadrian
von Hammer-Purgstall Joseph
Henry
Henry
Henry
Henry
Heresy. See also Cathar Heresy; Cathars
Hermetic teaching
Hildebert
Hiram of Tyre
Holy Grail as fiction legend of Templars and
Holy Land. See also Crusades defending loss of
Holy Roman Empire
Holy Sepulcher
Horse breeding
Hospitallers
as charitable group
churches of
as military order
papal privileges of
papal protection of
sea power of
as Templars’ brothers
Templars’ property to
as Templars’ rivals
today
Houdini, Harry
Hubert Walter
Hugh, count of Champagne
as first Templar
marriages of
de Payns as supporter of
pligrimages of
Hugh of Argenten
Hugh of Boubouton
Hugh of Salm
Humbart of Beaujeu
Hund, Karl von
Hundred Years’ War
Hungary
The Idylls of the King (Tennyson)
Income
Innocent
Innocent
Interdict
Interrogation
Islam
Isma’ili
Italy
Ivanhoe (Scott)
James
James
Jerusalem Baldwin as king fall of Fulk of Anjou as king loss of Melisande as queen Saladin’s capture of Templars in Temple of Solomon in throne of
Jews Philip the Fair and
Joachim
John
John of Salisbury
John the Baptist
John the Evangelist
John
de Joinville, Jean
Jordan, Alphonse
de Jotro, Elias
Khoury, Raymond
Kipling, Rudyard
Kissing
Knights. See also Calatravans; Hospitallers; Templars
Knights of Malta Order of Alcántara Order of Avis Order of Dobrin Order of Montesa Order of Santiago Order of St. Julián del Pereiro Order of St. Lazarus Order of St. Lazarus in Acre Order of St. Thomas at Acre Teutonic Knights
Knights of Malta. See also Hospitallers
Knights Templar. See Templars
The Knights of the Black and White (White)
Ku Klux Klan
The Last Templar (Khoury)
Latin Rule. See also Rule
The Lay of the Last Minstral (Scott)
Lazarus
de Lenda, Jimeno