About the Series
The Templars are perhaps Europe’s oldest mystery. This is their Secret History. Throughout their formal history 1129 to 1312 a wealth of historical material is available, but after the deaths of King Phillip IV ,Pope Clement V and Templar Grandmaster Jacques de Molay, all in 1314, there is virtually nothing- except logic, clues, strong traditions, and ‘dots’ that needed ‘joining up.’ The books are about these extraordinary men, all volunteers who over nearly two centuries, belonged to this disciplined military elite, but were also expected to live as monks. How they were betrayed by the Pope, their own Supreme Commander, who was in turn controlled by a greedy ambitious king, whose creature he had become; and what then became of them and their fraternity in today’s Europe, known then simply as Christendom.
What this series is not about are: Holy Grails, Arks of the Covenant, Merovingian dynasties, hunting Templar treasure, etc; but it tells what happened to the betrayed Order and those many loyal Templars that had not been in France and so had escaped King Phillip’s coup, of October 13th, 1307.
Nine hundred years after their foundation as the first military Order of the Church …and seven centuries since they were falsely accused by the French King of heresy, most people even now in the western world, know something about “the Templars.” Their heroic story as men of action – for nearly two centuries, self-sacrificial soldiers fighting both the Saracens in the Holy Land and the Moors in Spain and Portugal – the aura of mystery that surrounded them has long fascinated western readers… (more)
Templar Knights: The End of an Epoch
BOOK ONE: ‘THE END OF AN EPOCH’
The action is spread across Europe from Paris to Cyprus to Cilicia, in modern day Turkey. Then across Europe to Scotland, an epic journey for the time (as the map shows), probably the furthest point away from Turkey, still in Europe.
The story is told partly through the adventures of a young Templar knight, Paul of Chatillon. He had been sent to Cyprus, the Templar’s main base in ‘Outremer,’ (as they called the middle-east),in early 1307, following basic training at the Temple, the Paris HQ of the Order. From Cyprus, now aged 17, he is sent on to one of the Templar castles in SE Turkey, then an Armenian principality, Cilicia, the only Christian region remaining in the middle-east. Paul earns his spurs in the fighting there and becomes a section commander in the garrison of a Templar castle, where our story commences.
…Paul and his Templar comrades are called together by their commander to be told of a report, relayed from Cyprus by carrier pigeon, that in Paris the Templar HQ has been occupied by royal troops, the Grand Master and other leaders imprisoned and incredibly, the Templar Order itself, has been outlawed.
All Templars to be found in France have been placed under arrest by the French King. Further, Templars everywhere in Christendom, are now subject to arrest. (more)
About the Author
Clive Lindley turned to writing after a successful career as an international business entrepreneur who founded and operated a number of prosperous companies. Success in business enabled him to indulge his passion for serious world travel. This melded with a number of other broad interests that he was able to research and develop further.
Among these interests is a fascination with UK and European medieval history, especially the extraordinary accomplishments of the military monks: the Knights Hospitaller, the Teutonic Knights and for him most importantly, the Knights Templar.
His special research has long been focused on the Templars. He has visited their former remaining fortresses and bases in today’s Turkey, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Majorca, Spain and Portugal. Clive continued this self-imposed mission throughout Europe for years, particularly in Spain, Portugal and France. There he lived for several years on Paris’s Rue du Temple, close to Templar headquarters, where evidence of their history is still omni-present.
Despite there being a wealth of knowledge about the massive enterprise which was the Templars, during their near two centuries of existence as an order of the Church, it suddenly all stopped with the infamous dawn raid of the French King on the unsuspecting Templars in their Paris HQ, on ‘Black Friday’ in October 1307… (more)
Templar Knights: Birth of a Nation
BOOK TWO: ‘BIRTH OF A NATION’
The Templars have sent a small expeditionary force to Switzerland responding to the Swiss Foresters request for help in becoming independent of their Austrian overlords. Sir Paul de Chatillon is a part of this group, led by the new Marshal. They have a long slow journey up the River Rhine, the military force masquerading as ‘freelances’ – mercenaries, travelling to Austria. With them are two river barges loaded down with war-like goods, including steel pike heads, caltrops,and armour, for their allies in Switzerland.
Paul is on the first barge, together with the leader of the Master Builders and Architects Fraternity, who is also on the Templars top council.He is visiting his cathedral project at Freiburgin the Black Forest. Paul is with him, purporting to be his pupil.
After five weeks on the river, the group eventually disembark at the ancient Rhine river port of Breisach,where they separate.The Architect, together with Paul leave the Marshal’s group here at the port to go to the city of Freiburg. There the Architect has much to do. Paul however, finds himselfby bad luck, in deep trouble with Dominican friars in the city, one of whom knows who he is,leading to his arrest with the terrifying prospect of being tortured. (more)