frogdog*
The First Hughes....
….which is my surname, and such a relief to discover it ain’t Welsh, which it is commonly thought of being. Anyway, I’d rather be of French descent than a bloody Taffy! So here’s the history of Hughes de Payens, (1070 –1136, not a bad age for that time in history) who was a French knight from the Champagne region (mmmm, Bolly and Stolly, such a decadent cocktail), and was the co-founder and first Grand Master of the Knights Templar.
In any event, this first great group of "warrior monks," (a task I seem to be carrying on with drinking copious amounts of Belgian beer) the Knights Templar was an important international military and financial institution throughout the Christian west until it was charged with heresy and other crimes by the French Inquisition (bloody inquestadors and their red hot pokers, ouch and wince at the thought of it) under the influence of the French King Philip IV and was forcibly disbanded in the early 1300’s. At the height of their power and influence, the order fielded a large army, answered only to the Church and not the temporal princes of the earth, had acquired large tracts of land both in Europe and the Middle East, built churches and castles, was involved in manufacturing and trade, and had its own fleet of ships. In their two centuries of glory, the Templars owned considerable land in southern Italy (I like Perroni beer too); and operated monastery-like estates, trading, and resupplying their soldiers in the Holy Land from the ports of Puglia. That much has always been uncontroversial, therefore true.
The secrecy around the powerful medieval Order of the Knights Templar, and the speed with which they suddenly disappeared over the space of a few years, has led to many different Knights Templar legends. These range from rumors about their association with the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant, to questions about their association with the Freemasons. Many legends surround the location of the Templars' first headquarters on the Temple Mount. They were in operation there for 75 years.
The Temple Mount is sacred ground to Jews (rhymes with Hughes huh?), Christians, and Muslims, and is believed to be the location of the ruins of Solomon's Temple, and the ancient resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, which Indiana Jones won’t discover ‘till many many years later. Pseudo-historical books such as The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and Monty Pythons movie The Holy Grail, claim that the Templars discovered documents hidden in the ruins of the Temple, "proving" that Jesus survived the Crucifixion or possibly "proving" Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had children by her. Indeed, the supposition that the Templars must have found something under the Temple Mount lies at the heart of most Templar legends and pseudo-historical theories, which I dig. There is no physical or documentary evidence, however, to support such a supposition, but in my head I know it’s true, as it’s also true that they are documented as having carried a piece of the “True Cross” into some battles, but this was likely a portion of a timber that was used as a toothpick as the barbequed goat was so damned tough and stringy and plastic wasn’t invented until around a thousand years later, so no real landfill sites were established. I feel quite proud to be possibly related to a murderous Knight Templar;o)
The First Hughes....
….which is my surname, and such a relief to discover it ain’t Welsh, which it is commonly thought of being. Anyway, I’d rather be of French descent than a bloody Taffy! So here’s the history of Hughes de Payens, (1070 –1136, not a bad age for that time in history) who was a French knight from the Champagne region (mmmm, Bolly and Stolly, such a decadent cocktail), and was the co-founder and first Grand Master of the Knights Templar.
In any event, this first great group of "warrior monks," (a task I seem to be carrying on with drinking copious amounts of Belgian beer) the Knights Templar was an important international military and financial institution throughout the Christian west until it was charged with heresy and other crimes by the French Inquisition (bloody inquestadors and their red hot pokers, ouch and wince at the thought of it) under the influence of the French King Philip IV and was forcibly disbanded in the early 1300’s. At the height of their power and influence, the order fielded a large army, answered only to the Church and not the temporal princes of the earth, had acquired large tracts of land both in Europe and the Middle East, built churches and castles, was involved in manufacturing and trade, and had its own fleet of ships. In their two centuries of glory, the Templars owned considerable land in southern Italy (I like Perroni beer too); and operated monastery-like estates, trading, and resupplying their soldiers in the Holy Land from the ports of Puglia. That much has always been uncontroversial, therefore true.
The secrecy around the powerful medieval Order of the Knights Templar, and the speed with which they suddenly disappeared over the space of a few years, has led to many different Knights Templar legends. These range from rumors about their association with the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant, to questions about their association with the Freemasons. Many legends surround the location of the Templars' first headquarters on the Temple Mount. They were in operation there for 75 years.
The Temple Mount is sacred ground to Jews (rhymes with Hughes huh?), Christians, and Muslims, and is believed to be the location of the ruins of Solomon's Temple, and the ancient resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, which Indiana Jones won’t discover ‘till many many years later. Pseudo-historical books such as The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and Monty Pythons movie The Holy Grail, claim that the Templars discovered documents hidden in the ruins of the Temple, "proving" that Jesus survived the Crucifixion or possibly "proving" Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had children by her. Indeed, the supposition that the Templars must have found something under the Temple Mount lies at the heart of most Templar legends and pseudo-historical theories, which I dig. There is no physical or documentary evidence, however, to support such a supposition, but in my head I know it’s true, as it’s also true that they are documented as having carried a piece of the “True Cross” into some battles, but this was likely a portion of a timber that was used as a toothpick as the barbequed goat was so damned tough and stringy and plastic wasn’t invented until around a thousand years later, so no real landfill sites were established. I feel quite proud to be possibly related to a murderous Knight Templar;o)