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Knights Templar
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A prodigal book on Knights Templar conspiracy theory is the infamous "Holy Blood and Holy Grail" by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln. It has masses of text. The authors are known to be unreliable in places, but it's an important book nonetheless. It's quite a famous book, especially for holy grail mystics. There is at least one Magister in the Church of Satan (go figure) who is involved with obscure and disreputable holy grail research.
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The Knights Templar is a Christian-oriented fraternal organization that was founded in the 11th century. Originally, the Knights Templar were laymen who protected and defended Christians travelling to Jerusalem. These men took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, and were renowned for their fierceness and courage in battle.
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At first the Knights Templar had difficulty getting papal sanction for their military order. The papacy refused to recognise them until a vindication of their aims was written by Saint Bernard, whose uncle joined the order and became a Grand Master. The Templars' original charter, signed by Pope Innocent II, granted them freedom from papal claims on their property, even from church taxation. This financial independence was to prove their downfall.
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The mysterious Knights Templar had an extensive sea network and may have inherited some of the maps and other secrets of the Phoenicians. When the Templars were outlawed and arrested in 1307 by King Philip IV of France, the huge Templar fleet at La Rochelle, France, vanished and many Knights Templar sought refuge in lands outside of France. Portugal was one of the few places where they could find some asylum, and it is likely that the Templar fleet made a stop at Almourol castle before continuing to its final destination.
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The Knights Templar found a way around this restriction which allowed them to lend considerable sums of money at interest without being subjected to the charge of usury. It was quite permissible to charge rent for the leasing of a house or land, so the Templars used this principle in their money lending and charged 'rent' rather than interest for their services rendered. The rent was payable at the time the loan was granted and was added to the capital sum borrowed. By this euphemism the Templars avoided being brought before the courts on the un-Christian charge of usury. Templar wealth was such that their financial services were not only sought by the merchants and landowners of feudal Europe, but by the princes of the Church and State. They lent to bishops to finance church building programmes; to princes, kings and emperors to finance state works, building programmes, wars and crusades.
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The Knights Templar operate on a local, state and national level. But their religious activities extend across international borders as well. Nationally, there is The Grand Encampment of Knights Templar. This unit defines the 11 rituals and laws governing state and local level organizations. The state level is called A Grand Commandery of Knights Templar. This organization represents members of a state or an area of equivalent size.
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Knights Templar