Product Description

This widely praised study of the rise and fall of the Knights Templar examines the fabrications and illusions about the Order, from the Renaissance magicians to varieties of Templarism in our own time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1081895 in Books
• Published on: 1990-05-01
• Released on: 1990-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 232 pages

From Scientific American
Illuminating and very well written...enlightening and entertaining.

From The New Yorker
A systematic examination of the Knights Templar around whom such great magical myths have arisen... Partner has created a rational, terrifying picture of the barbaric times when popes were cruel and kings killed with impunity...Excellent work.

Review
An excellent argumentative discussion...often original and always fascinating. -- London Times Literary Supplement

Refreshing reading. . . . Well worth reading . . . clear, to the point, and supported with numerous references. -- Mark Stavish, Voxhermes

Customer Reviews

A brilliant historical look at the Templar Knights
This book is not for anyone hoping to keep delusions about the Templar Knights. It does in places draw conclusions that are non-sequitur, but the history presented is factual according to reliable sources. As the author points out, it is possible that some of the crimes and 'heresies' attributed to the Templars could have been performed by some Templars, but it is unlikely that all of them performed the described rituals. The purported worship of 'Baphomet', for example, was probably created under the duress of torture. 'Baphomet' is the French word for Mohamad at the time, and the various descriptions given seem to be people searching for a way to stop being tortured. Did the Templars hold onto holy objects like the Ark of the Covenant, the Shroud of Turin, or the Holy Grail? These are questions that are not addressed in this book, except with an enduring scepticism. However, the author does leave room for possibilities. As a historically accurate depiction, it should preclude any such searches as a basis for knowledge. It is an interesting and factual look, with a fascinating plot.

Debunking the Myth of the 'Murdered Magicians'
Peter Partner's 'The Murdered Magicians: The Knights Templar and Their Myth' is a book no serious student of the Medieval crusading order of the Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon should be without. For anyone whose knowledge of the Templars comes from the nonsense written by Baigent and Leigh in 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail' Partner's book is a must-read-but only if they are interested in historical fact and not the fantasies of the type offered under the guise of scholarship by popular authors like Baigent and Leigh.

The first part of the book deals with actual Templar history; the second half deals with the subsequent myths which developed around them. Partner does a good job of documenting how nineteenth century Masonic Lodges appropriated the Templar story in order to legitimize and provide an ancient pedigree for the Craft.

Very good, very specific.
This is a very good little book requiring a great deal of rather obscure background knowledge to appreciate. The first half deals with the Knights Templar, from their conception in the aftermath of the first crusade to their utter destruction by inquisition after the loss of the final crusade two centuries later. The rest of the book explores how a strange mythology has grown around that extinct brotherhood; specifically how the rumors of hidden templar wealth and posession of secret knowledge has been integrated into the myth of Freemasonry.

To enjoy this book a substantial amount of background information is required. A somewhat throrough knowledge of the Crusades is reccomended; specifically Steven Runcimans Crusade Trilogy. The last half of the book would seem like a terribly confusing study in name dropping without some basic understanding of the Bavarian Illuminati, Freemasonry, or conspiracy theories in general. The paranoid diatribes of Robert Anton Wilson in his various Illuminatis Novels provide a nice foundation for this book to contrast against. Ironically, since these two schools of knowlege do not normally come together, this is a book written for an exceptionally small audience. It makes a facinating aside to students of the crusades, and an interesting counterpoint to the study of paranoid conspiracies.

Overall this is a very good book. Illustrating the most unlikely of Crusader legacies; the book should be read by those who enjoyed Runcimans work, but were dissapointed by his historical dead end conclusions regarding that bloody peiod in medieval history. It does loose a great deal of focus in the last few chapters, and with some more time devoted to fleshing out the authors argument it would have scored much higher than three stars. Unfortunately the reccomended background reading comprises roughly twenty three hundred pages of written material. I would very much enjoy a more detailed study of this subject matter.