The Templar treasure at Gisors / Jean Markale.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Markale, Jean.

Contributor:

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Standardized Title:

Gisors et l'énigme des Templiers. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Templars--France--Gisors--History.

Templars.

History.

France--Gisors.

Genre:

History.

Penn Provenance:

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Physical Description:

274 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Rochester, Vt. : Inner Traditions, [2003]

Summary:

When French king Philip the Fair ordered the arrest of the Knights Templar and the confiscation of their property in 1307, the Order of the Templars was one of the most powerful forces in Europe, answerable only to the pope. It was also in possession of vast riches despite its knights' vow of poverty. Yet after the order's demise, not a penny of its immense treasure was ever found. The hunt for these lost riches has centered on a number of locations, among which is the medieval city of Gisors, sited in the French province of Normandy and honeycombed with complex underground passageways and chambers. All attempts to discover what may be concealed in these subterranean corridors have been rigorously discouraged by local authorities. But the enigma of the treasure is only one of the many unsolved mysteries concerning the Templars. Celtic and medieval scholar Jean Markale asks the questions that have long haunted our imagination: Who were these "poor knights of Christ" and what were the true purposes of the order? If there was a treasure, what was it -- material wealth or something more powerful, such as the Holy Grail or the secret to the philosopher's stone? Why was the denial of Jesus a requirement of initiation into their order? What was the Templars' secret that drew upon them the wrath of the king of France? Was there a secret order within the Knights Templar that authorized the heretical practices for which they were condemned? In a search for answers, Markale goes back to original source documents in an attempt to clear away the assumptions that have sprung up about the Templars and to shine new light on their activities.

Contents:

The shadow of Gisors

The glory days of Gisors

The treasure of Gisors

The temple is elsewhere and everywhere

The founding of the Templars

The evolution of the Temple

The Templars on trial

The secret rule of the Temple

The mysterious head

The denial

The symbolism of the Templars

The Temple and the Grail

The Temple in ruins.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0892819723

9780892819720

OCLC:

51093082

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description