Preposterous Templar Fiction

For me it was an opportunity to both tell a fun story as well as try and explore some issues that I thought were important, especially right now, given what is going on in the world.

Where have I heard that before? How long do you think it will be before he claims his rant is only fiction?

*Spoiler Alert (though not much to spoil, and you could have guessed it anyway)*

The issue is that–guess what–the Templars had a secret, and the secret–no it couldn’t be anything like the Da Vinci Code, could it?–the secret is that Jesus kept a diary in which he claimed he was man and not God. So very original.

“Vatican plot, you say? Oh, how interesting. Sure we’ll publish it.”

And you’ll be happy to know that we can look forward to a Canadian television adaptation of the novel. Thank God for the Canadian border!

A Breath of Fresh Common Sense from Chesterton

A recent exchange on this blog sent me back to the writings of the Apostle of Common Sense in order to make sure I was not going insane. I am quite sure that definitions and distinctions, principles and conclusions are very important to human thought, both in terms of ordinary human discourse and the exercise of faith. Unfortunately, as Chesterton has observed, common sense has been replaced with “uncommon nonsense.”

I thought I might post a bit of Chesterton in honor of common sense. It would seem to me that in the great chivalric tradition of the Military Orders like the Knights Templar and the Knights of St. John, the importance of fighting for a fixed truth should easily be seen. I think I have found a neat synthesis of Chesterton on the point of establishing first principles and fighting for them. Interestingly, I have done this by taking the last paragraphs from both the introductory and concluding chapters of Heretics, which are entitled respectively, “Introductory Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy” and “Concluding Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy”.

Several really important things to note about the book Heretics are that when G.K. wrote it he was not yet a Catholic, and that while he was intellectual enemies with those he criticizes, he was also personal friends with some of them, like George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells. In other words his dicussion of heretics had nothing to do with defending a certain religious creed, nor had he any personal animosity for those with whom he disagreed. He respected them as honest men, but he found their thought, not only disagreeable but dangerous. Very often it was not only this or that proposition that was at stake but thought itself.

Templar Baloney Every Bit

I am obliged to follow up on my previous Templar posts (category), regarding the events surrounding the release of the Chinon Parchment. As it turns out, the reports released by the secular press, which included interviews with Templar pretenders, gave the impression that the absolution of the Templars, recorded in the Chinon document, was an effective rehabilitation, that is, an acknowledgment that the Templars were unjustly accused. This is in no way the case. The rough translation of the Chinon Parchment, which until now, remains unchallenged, makes it clear that the Templars were guilty of grave sin, confessed their sin and were mercifully absolved by the Church.

“The Pope, the Friar and the Mystery Knights”

(Wind blowing, creaking hinges, lightning and spooky organ music)

MaryVictrix makes the English News and a Holy Grail blog. What a hoot.

I guess some news is just too good not to print (?):

On the site, called Mary Victrix, Father Angelo Mary Geiger said: “I just find it ironic that a rehabilitation of the historic order of the Temple is somehow being translated by modern imitators as a validation of their silliness.”

In the rest of the article the reporter lets Ben Acheson cryptically affirm very little and imply very much. I will do some more fair minded research on the Hertford “Templars.” It all sounds very interesting; however I am still singularly unimpressed by the Hertford claims to Vatican influence.

I think my real criticism gets lost in all the excitement over such statements as

“but he refused to be drawn further on this point, “I have already said too much to be honest.”

It is this kind of garbage that I object to:

Rome is understood to have given the request for an apology serious consideration. Ben Acheson said the Hertford Temple had received a secret letter from the Vatican, but this had not been seen by any except a select few at the top of the order.

Why doesn’t Ben Acheson just come out and positively repudiate these reports as not coming from him, or come up with the alleged letter? Instead we get this:

Several years ago some letters between the Vatican and the Knights Templar were leaked to a London newspaper which used local records to trace Timothy and I. We told reporters what little we could and the story later appeared in numerous other places. It was reported that every October 13th for almost a century a request for the truth and an apology had been sent. There are reports that a response was recently received. I can’t confirm this.

BTW, I have not yet seen any reports of the promised public apology, or perhaps that is the secret letter itself! I guess we will have to wait 700 years in reprisal for the Vatican delay before the creaking doors of the Hertford Templar Secret Archives swing back. At least our august descendants will know the truth.

In Praise of the Newer Knighthood

Well, with all the controversy (here, here and here) over Plan B in Connecticut, and other distractions, I have dropped the ball a bit, but not entirely.

Since some can’t seem to get enough Templar stuff, whether baloney or a real cut of meat, here is some juicy red meat–something of substance about the spirit of the Knights Templar. It is a spirit that needs to be recaptured and perfected.

This article will end up with The Spirit of Lepanto, under “Further Reading” in the Knights of Lepanto section.

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In the early 12th century, St. Bernard of Clairvaux responded to a letter from Hugh de Payens, one of the founders of the Knights Templar, in which he wrote “a few words of exhortation” for the fledgling brotherhood in arms. This response came in the form of a treatise entitled In Praise of the New Knighthood. This “new” kind of knighthood merits a newer kind of appreciation on the part of today’s Catholic man.

Templar Fairplay

Ben Acheson has responded to my last post on the Templar rehabilitation. You may want to follow the thread of comments here. However, in the interests of fairness I want to give his comment prominent attention:

Dear All

I would like to clear up a few misconceptions.

First and foremost, my brother and I make no claims about the Knights Templar or about ourselves.

Several years ago some letters between the Vatican and the Knights Templar were leaked to a London newspaper which used local records to trace Timothy and I. We told reporters what little we could and the story later appeared in numerous other places. It was reported that every October 13th for almost a century a request for the truth and an apology had been sent. There are reports that a response was recently received. I can’t confirm this.

More Templar Baloney

Now the story is that some crackpot masquerading as a real descendant of the Templars occasioned the latest revelation of Vatican-Templar relations. Please let it not be true.

According to one blog, this particular “Templar,” Ben Acheson, is connected with a conspiracy theory site run by his twin brother Tim, or perhaps they are not twins but the same person.

Acheson listed himself as a journalist and independent researcher, writing for an online ‘conspiracy-news’ publication called The Insider. (Its onsite metatags describe it as about “Conspiracy Theory News: New World Order, Conspiracy Theories, News, Government, Secret Societies, Freemasons, Extraterrestrials, War… News and reports on serious current Conspiracy Theories, including the New World Order, Freemasons, extraterrestrials, religion, and secret societies“). A whois lookup on the Insider.org web domain shows it registered to Tim Acheson, of United Lodge, Ware (the adjoining town to Hertford). His posts evidently quoted his own Insider articles as news.

I hope the bureaucrats in the Vatican didn’t really fall for this. Anyway, nothing would surprise me.

For years now, Catholic scholars have admitted that political chicanery was involved in the surpression of the Templars. That is not to say, however, that there is any reason to admit, that the Freemasonic, new age, neopagan posers should be given any credibility on account of the rehabilitation of the historical order. Heaven knows, though, that they will.

And yes they are posers. Wikipedia has it right:

The story of the secretive yet powerful medieval Templars, especially their persecution and sudden dissolution, has been a tempting source for many other groups which use alleged connections with the Templars as a way of enhancing their own image and mystery. For instance, since at least the 1700s the Freemasons have incorporated some Templar symbols and rituals, and have a modern degree called “Order of the Knights Templar”. The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, founded in 1804, has achieved United Nations NGO status as a charitable organization.

Though there is no clear historical link between the Templars (abruptly dismantled in the early 1300s), and any of these organizations (the oldest of which only emerged in the 1700s), there is often public confusion between the two, and many overlook the 400-year gap.

What True Knights Do When Asked to Be Disloyal

The following is an eyewitness account of the imprisonment and release of St. Louis of France by the Saracens, according to his friend, seneschal and biographer John of Joinville. These events took place during the Seventh Crusade in late April 1250 in Mansoura, Egypt, not far from Damietta.

It is unimaginable that St. Louis, the Flower of Chivalry would have ever even pretended to apostatize, as the Act of Chinon, allegedly suggests the Templars did.

The text is taken from The Life of St. Louis By John of Joinville. Trans. by René Hague, New York: Sheed and Ward. 1955. 107-110.

We had been there but a short while, when they took away one of the chief men who was with us and led us to another pavilion. The Saracens were holding many knights and others in a courtyard which was shut in by an earthen wall. They had them brought in one by one from this enclosure in which they had confined them and asked them, “Will you renounce your faith?” Those who refused were put on one side and their heads were cut off; the renegades were put on the other side.

At this moment the Sultan sent his Council to speak with us. They asked to whom they should address the Sultan’s message, and we told them that they should speak to the good Count Peter of Brittany. There were men present called dragomans, who knew both Saracen and French and they translated the Saracen into French for Count Peter. Their message was, “Sir, the Sultan sends us to you to know whether you wish to be set free.” “Yes,” answered the Count.

Crusaders Taking Up the Cross?

Oh, Please. The press or the academy has gotten something mixed up. People will believe anything about the Church. Much of what is said of the Templars is blarney, and I am sure this will not help clear things up.

The document, known as the Chinon parchment, reveals that the Templars had an initiation ceremony which involved “spitting on the cross”, “denying Jesus” and kissing the lower back, navel and mouth of the man proposing them.

The Templars explained to Pope Clement that the initiation mimicked the humiliation that knights could suffer if they fell into the hands of the Saracens, while the kissing ceremony was a sign of their total obedience.

The Pope concluded that the entrance ritual was not truly blasphemous, as alleged by King Philip when he had the knights arrested. However, he was forced to dissolve the Order to keep peace with France and prevent a schism in the church.

Since when is it possible for a sacriledge to be anything but a sacrilege?

Update:

The Vatican Secret Archives website gives offers a description of The Parchment of Chinon — The Absolution of Pope Clement V of the Leading Members of the Templar Order, which is the basis for the report above. Nowhere does the parchment mention the blasphemous initiation rite. Apparently, the historians who are publishing the book on the subject have made this statement about “spitting on the cross” and “denying Jesus.”

In the annals of ecclesiastical history Clement V is known for his weakness and irresolution, as for example, in his inability “to oppose himself to the will of the King of France, Phillip the Fair,” who sought the suppression of the Templars (Secret Archives website). The Act of Chinon seems to be documentation of this.

Pope Clement absolved the Templars of the charge of heresy, but nevertheless suspended the order’s juridical existence, “by means of a non-definitive sentence” (ibid.), sort of a half-hearted way complying with the King of France’s wishes. From this, I suppose, it would not be surprising that human weakness might have led the pope to declare that “spiting on the Cross” and such could be justified in certain circumstances. The only other possibility, it seems to me, is that significant information is missing from the above report.