The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors Paperback – September 18, 2018

This author does not disappoint - a great discovery for me based on a terrific recommendation!The author Dan Jones placed a fact-based History to the telling of the Knights Templars. When I ordered this book in early August prior to its September 2017 release, I had no idea that the book would also be a backdrop for “Knightfall” on the History Channel beginning 6 December. I have seen enough commercials and watched Dan Jones hosting 2-minute infomercials on the series on my History Channel App on my iPhone. This was more of a pleasurable shock than anything else. The focus on this work by Dan Jones however, is sincere. Facts to History is what the author sticks too with an acceptable level of intelligence and he takes nothing for granted; however, in my opinion it also not only a story worth telling – it is a story that needs to be told. Far too many myths exist, some started centuries ago – some are myths based on Hollywood movies. Sad matter here is that some people only get their History from movies, whether they are factually based or not. (I am still looking for my money back from that lousy movie “Pearl Harbor” starring Ben Affleck btw.)As with “The Plantagenet’s”, this book was tough to put down – I found myself waking up at night with the book as I lay in bed with the book folded open to where I dozed off to sleep. This is always the telltale sign of a book worth reading. In its History, the Knight Templars would have a total of 23 Masters of The Order of The Temple. Beginning with Hugh of Payns (1119-1136), to Arnold of Torrolla (1180-1184), to Gerard of Ridefort (1184-1189), to the last Master James of Molay (1292-1314). The order was fully disbanded thanks to King Philip IV of France. We now know where bad luck “Friday the 13th” began – it begins Friday 13 October 1307 with the mass arrest of Templars throughout France. James of Molay would be put to the flame in 1315 in a time where “due process” existed only in name and not in any sense of royal court. Magna Carta or no Magna Carta in British realm – King Philip IV was the self-proclaimed “Christ King.”The Muslims, Mamluks, Mongols – all who fought the Templars were formidable foes to say the least. Saladin was certainly a thorn in the side – however one cannot overlook his ability to fight, defend, thwart, and/or otherwise upset plans established by an honorable Knighthood whose original intentions were to protect pilgrims visiting the Holy Land. The Temple of Solomon, Al-Aqsa Mosque – the Dome of the Rock was once the home to Templar Knights and Hospitallers. The Mosque stands today where it is in Jerusalem though there is a West Wall for believers of another faith.Many interesting persons of History throughout this book – the most interesting to me were King Louis IX of France and King Richard I “Coeur de Lion.” Both equally effective leaders of their time, both quality representatives of what being on the Throne of a Kingdom meant. The author encapsulated their existence with exquisite poetic detail and equally managed to not linger beyond the information needed for the interested reader.Interested readers of this time frame will not be disappointed with Dan Jones – he comes through here “swimmingly” in educating the 21st century reader. As an American and with the sort of work I do it was of additional interest to me that the author references modern day uses of “The Knights Templar.” Particularly that of drug cartels south of the American border. One in particular that has been gaining strength not only in Mexico but in El Salvador is Los Caballeros Templarios – simply put they are nothing more than another group of drug runners, extortionists, human traffickers, and other deeds of ill repute. It was refreshing to see the misuse of modern times to the cause that was once so just and unjustly removed from existence.After having read “The Plantagenet’s”, “The Magna-Carta”, and now this book – I am forever glad I took a detour before tackling “The War of the Roses.” It has helped to formulate the background in real Historical terms – terms that are descriptive without being phony.

Dan Jones gives the reader a clear account of the rise and fall of the storied Templars, from their origin to their ghastly fall at the hands of Philip IV (The Fair) and his Machiavellian henchman Guillaume de Nogaret. Jones takes us through the various crusades of the Christian West to set up and maintain the various polities of the fervid believers in hegemony over the bemused and underappreciating residents who had already endured the Romans, Byzantines, and their Muslim successors. The Templars were important in the various campaigns to ‘reclaim’ the Holy Land for the Christians, which leads to what could be a tedious account of the inability of the crusaders to learn from their military and political mistakes over the years. It is Jones’ gift to keep this dismal tale interesting and illuminating, all along describing how the Templars handled the often idiotic parade of Western kings, counts, and other notables, and there is a sense that they got a little tired of campaigning with these same people who never seemed to learn anything from their failures, let alone the character and fervor of their Muslim opponents who, on the other hand, often seemed more interested in betraying their coreligionists.After being expelled from Palestine once and for all, the sudden demise of the order under the utterly inimical French king almost comes as an anticlimax. This last part of the book is dismal, but clear, and Jones makes it plain that King Philip’s impecuniousnous, abetted by the French Pope Clement V was the immediate reason for the fall of the Templars in France. It is telling that the kings of England and Aragon refused to follow the French example, at least at first. As an aside, Jones gives a concise description of Clement’s role in all this and his subsequent moving of the papacy to Avignon which eventually led to the ‘Babylonian Captivity’ of the papacy for decades.All in all a good book with just a few nitpicking objections: whatever happened to editing and proofreading in the publishing industry? There are occurences of mangled syntax, florid sentences that cry out for editing, and the somewhat insulting practice of talking down to the reader, as in the usage of ‘of’ for ‘de’ in French names. Thus Jacques de Molay is changed to James of Molay, and just about every French name is similarly bowdlerized. Having read Maurice Druon’s series of novels, Les Rois Maudits, it was jolting to read William of Nogaret, instead of Guillaume de Nogaret over and over again, as the French ‘de’ has connotations of prestige.Four stars for this book as it could easily have been given greater depth, especially the reasons that Philip’s motives were more than a lack of money. This begs the question: why were the French so eager to collude in the fall of the Templars and how did the rise of the Italian bankers affect the fiscal management services of the Templars?Five stars, however, for readability, and the peppering of the narrative with arch and humorous mots.

To the person at the factory who hurt themselves to get me my Hardcover copy, this is a big THANK YOU and I hope your day gets better.Also yeah the book itself is good with lots of sources in the index, notes, and bibliography that are all cited and can be looked up in the case anyone wants to double check them.Me, personally, I think the paper cover art over the hardcover is really pretty, and a shame that the title isn't hard-sealed into the red cover of the book itself, but that's just a minor pet peeve of mine.

Very interesting, authoritative, and a pleasure to read! I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the true history of the Knights Templar!

A detailed but highly readable history of one of the many spin-offs of the Crusades. An object lesson in the value of not overshadowing one’s government. And never lose sight of of your core competencies…