Knights Templar in popular culture. The original historic Knights Templar were a Christian military order, the Order of the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, that existed from the 1. Crusades. These men were famous in the high and late Middle Ages, but the Order was disbanded very suddenly by King Philip IV of France, who took action against the Templars in order to avoid repaying his own financial debts. He accused them of heresy, ordered the arrest of all Templars within his realm, and had many of them burned at the stake. The dramatic and rapid end of the organization led to many stories and legends developing about them over the following centuries. The Order and its members increasingly appear in modern fiction, though most of these references portray the medieval organization inaccurately. In modern works, the Templars generally are portrayed as villains, misguided zealots, representatives of an evil secret society,1 or as the keepers of a long lost treasure. Several modern organizations also claim heritage from the medieval Templars, as a way of enhancing their own image or mystiquecitation needed. Modern organizationseditSince at least the 1. Freemasonry has contained references to the Knights Templar, incorporating Templar symbols and rituals in a number of Masonic bodies. The most well known reference to the Knights Templar in Freemasonry, is the Degree of Knight of the Temple, or Order of the Temple, the final order joined in The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta commonly known as the Knights Templar. Freemasonry is traditionally open to men of all faiths, asking only that they have a belief in a supreme being, but membership in this Masonic body and others is open only to Freemasons who profess a belief in the Christian religion. These Knights Templar often take part in public parades and exhibitions, wearing distinctive uniforms and have had a number of high profile members such as Henry Ford, and Harry S. Truman. In the later 2. Knights Templar have become themselves the subject of pseudohistorical theories connecting them to the medieval order, even though such a connection is rejected by Masonic authorities themselves2 and the source known to historians. The Order of the Solar Temple is one infamous example of a neo Templar group, founded in 1. The Lost Templar' title='The Lost Templar' />Knights Templar there are several other self styled orders that also claim to be descended from, or revivals of, the Templar Order. Another Templar related order, the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, is a charitable organization founded in 1. United Nations. NGO special status. They are a part of the larger Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani OSMTH, commonly called Knights Templar International. Some members of the OSMTH claim to be the direct descendants of the original Knights Templar using the Larmenius Charter as proof however, this document is suspected to be a forgery. Scholarly receptioneditThe popularity of the Knights Templar in modern fiction and their presence in pseudohistorical or fringe literature has received scholarly attention. At the 2. 00. 4 Annual Conference of the American Culture Association, their call for papers was specifically about such conspiracy theories relating to the Templars and their association with other legends and mysterious organizations. Literary theorists puzzle over Umberto Ecos use in his novel Foucaults Pendulum, of the Templars as a symbol of postmodernist rewriting of history. Historian Malcolm Barber writes that Mystic Templars are omnipresent in all good conspiracy theories. On Day to Day, a program on American NPR, host Alex Chadwick discussed the literary fascination with the Knights Templar. In Poland, the Toru Museum had an exhibition entitled The Knights Templar History and Myth which offered a description, Apart from pieces of high art, the exhibit will grant equal importance to popular culture items literature, film, Internet content exploring the subject of the Knights Templar. Rajasthan Money Lenders Act 1963 Pdf here. And in 2. National Post editorial noted that the Templars remain a living presence in popular culture. This has happened precisely because the historical record concerning their sudden annihilation in the early 1. The Lost Templar Treasure' title='The Lost Templar Treasure' />Philip IV the Fair of France has been so sparse and ambiguous. Time and revolution have damaged and dispersed the sources, and made the Templars a magnet for speculation and imagination. Popular themeseditPopular themes are their supposed association with the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant, and the supposed historical connection to the Freemasons. The historical Templars had their first headquarters on the Temple Mount, which had been assigned to them by King Baldwin II of Jerusalem. They were in operation there for 7. Pseudo historical books such as The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail theorise that the Templars could have discovered documents hidden in the ruins of the Temple, possibly proving that Jesus survived the Crucifixion or possibly proving Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had children by her. BRIEF ON THE HISTORY OF THE MEDIEVAL KNIGHTS TEMPLAR. The medieval Knights Templar, best known to us today as the famed warriors of the Crusades, were a devout. Medieval Methods of Extraction. Stripped of their habits, chained, and cast into dungeons, the old men were tortured with rack and thumbscrew. The soles of their feet. Indeed, the supposition that the Templars must have found something under the Temple Mount lies at the heart of most Templar legends and pseudo historical theories, also popularised by French author Louis Charpentier 1. There is no physical or documentary evidence, however, to support such a supposition. It is true that they are documented as having carried a piece of the True Cross into some battles,1. Saint Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine. Relics and treasureeditThere are various legends concerning a treasure that some Templars managed to hide from King Philip and that was later lost. One particular story concerns Rennes le Chteau, where a treasure was supposedly found in the 1. G37.png' alt='The Lost Templar' title='The Lost Templar' />Templars. In 1. Joaqun Miret y Sans, the case is made that the Knights Templar hid and buried the great treasure in Vrana, Zadar County, because Ramn from Ser near Granja del Pairs in Noguera comarca in Catalonia gave a generous gift to the Knights Templar into the hands of their Grand Master Arnold of Torroja. This Ramn was the son of Romana the daughter of Benesmiro de Siponto who was the justitiarius of Monte SantAngelo and who was sent by Pope Alexander III as a notifier to ibenik. Hugh J. Schonfield 1. Knights Templar may have found the Copper Scroll treasure of the Qumran. Essenes in the tunnels beneath the Temple Mount. He suggested that this might explain one of the charges of heresy which were later brought against the knights by the Medieval Inquisition. Holy GraileditThe Holy Blood and the Holy Grail 1. Archmodels Vol. 105 here. Holy Grail found by the Order and taken to Scotland during the suppression of the order in 1. Rosslyn Chapel. A 2. Grail was instead taken to Northern Spain, and protected by the Knights Templar there. Ark of the CovenanteditGraham Hancock in his The Sign and the Seal 1. Templars discovered secrets of the Masons, builders of Solomons Temple, Zerubbabels Temple, and Herods Temple at the Temple Mount, along with knowledge that the Ark of the Covenant had been moved to Ethiopia before the destruction of the first temple. Hancock claims that allusion to this is made in engravings on the Cathedral at Chartres, the construction of which was greatly influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux, the Orders patron.