Lost Relics of the Knights Templar

I recently started watching the TV series 'Lost Relics of the Knights Templar', which is showing on Blaze. It concerns items that were said to have been unearthed in Tomar, Portual by treasure hunters in the 1960s. These were sold to various buyers, and subsequently tracked down and reassembled by wealthy collectors Hamilton White and Carl Cookson, (who aside from these Templar items boast a marvellous and eclectic hoard of stuff, from gold bars to sports cars.)

Supposedly the people who unearthed the hoard in Tomar were looking for Roman gold and didn't really grasp the significance of what they had found. That seems rather odd, for though though there was a Roman settlement on the site of Tomar, the place is better known for its medieval, Templar history. The city was re-founded by the Master of the Templars in Portugal, Gualdim Pais, who now has a statue in the main square. Tomar became the regional headquarters of the Knights Templar, who had a fortress there complete with an impressive circular chapel. The city also boasts the church of Santa Maria Do Olival, where prominent templars were buried. When the Order of the Temple was suppressed, in the early fourteenth-century, by papal edict, a new military-religious order, called the Knights of Christ, arose to take their place. The Knights of Christ received all the Templar's lands and properties in Portugal, and Tomar became their HQ. Several other new orders in the Iberian Peninsula were beneficiaries of the Templar's confiscated assets, whereas elsewhere ex-Templar estates were mostly transferred to their long-standing rivals the Knights Hospitaller. It's not inconceivable that certain valuable items could have been hidden in the meantime. 

One must be cautious, of course. There are a lot of fake artworks and antiques out there, and a lot of clever forgers. It has been said that as many as half of the antiquities on the market may be fakes. (It is a similar story to the cult of religious relics in medieval times, with demand for these prestigious rarities out-stripping supply.)

One of the supposed 'Templar treasures' can't have come from the Tomar haul, if such there was. The 'Himmler Helmet' is a medieval (apparently) great helm, which has been augmented, with the emblem of the Ahnenerbe, on a brass plate attached to its brow, purporting to show that the helmet was around in Nazi Germany. This helmet is said to have been in a collection of medieval arms and armour of formerly kept by the SS at their HQ at Wewelsberg Castle.

Perhaps the most impressive 'Templar relic' that we are shown is a large chalice made of obsidian, a volcanic glass which is one of the hardest substances in nature. This is decorated with crosses of a type used by the Templars. The chalice was taken to be examined by Jonathan Tokeley Parry, former British Army officer, smuggler and apparently antiques expert and restorer. (He gained notoriety a few years back after receiving a criminal conviction for whisking authentic antiquities out of Egypt disguised as cheap tourist tat.) 'John T' reported that the obsidian of the cup could only be worked by scratching or tapping it with corundum, a harder stone. No metal tool would dent it, and therefore he estimated that it would have taken up to four years to make. He also found calcium deposits on the piece indicating that it had spent some time with water dripping on it, possibly in a cave. He identified the glue used in a mend as probably dating from the 1960s, when the chalice was discovered by the 'Portuguese Lovejoys', and he seemed to have few doubts about the chalice having authentic Templar origins. Later in the programme, he was shown a carving, on a stone, also in the collection of White and Cookson, of two monks venerating a chalice. This is said to be of twelfth-century Portuguese origin. He seemed to think this was not something that could have been shown outside without provoking a riot, and it was generally spoken of as evidence of some secretive 'grail-worshipping cult'. I wouldn't agree with that analysis. The liturgical chalice and holy wafer signified the Host, the body and blood of Christ, and would not have been particularly unorthodox objects of veneration. (The monks in the carving appeared to be Benedictions, as traces of brown paint remain on their habits.)

Another dubious claim, made in the programme, repeated by Tim Wallace Murphy, is that Obsidian was known as 'dragon stone', and that a winged dragon or serpent is one of the symbols of sacred knowledge. I'm not sure where this idea comes from. The narrator also refers to raw obsidian as 'dragon glass', (A fictional, obsidian-like substance called 'dragonglass' appears in the work of George RR Martin, in his 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series, but that is the only thing I can find. No reference to 'dragonglass', according to Google Ngram Viewer, predates the mid 1990s when these fantasy novels were written.)

Tim Wallace Murphy is one of those who present the Templars as Gnostic initiates. He sees them as members of an esoteric tradition in opposition to a repressive Catholic Church. In the imagination of such people, a perfectly common cross design, cut into a cup, becomes a symbol of secret knowledge that the religious authorities sought to supress. I'm not sure how such opinions can be justified.

Another item in the collection is a sword embellished with inlaid crosses, which somehow came to be associated with a Templar Grand Master, namely Guillaume de Beaujeu, who fell in 1291 at the Siege of Acre. The sword looks correct for the period, design wise, and suitably time-worn, but beyond that there is not much more that can be said. Apparently it was recorded that de Beaujeu's sword was saved after the disaster at Acre, which effectively marked the end of the Crusader presence in the Holy land, but what happened to it subsequently is unknown. 

Other featured 'Templar' items include a metal reliquary-type box, and a stone cup with four bearded faces carved around it. Neither of these initially struck me as particularly likely candidates for being authentic Templar objects. One thing I noticed is that the reliquary had a scene of a figure fighting a dragon, and the man is holding an oval shield. A templar-era object ought to show a kite-shaped or triangular shield, I would think. The box is believed by Hamilton White to be post-Templar, but in a style that harps back. He associates it with Henry the Navigator (d. 1460), the Portuguese Prince who was master of the Order of Christ. The collectors' hypothesis seems to be that these treasures from Tomar were not buried by the Templars, but by the successor Order, which itself came under scrutiny from the Inquisition in later centuries, and felt the need to distance itself from its Templar legacy. Hence the burying of Templar-related artefacts.

The vessel with the heads on it, identified as heads of John the Baptist, was supported as an authentic piece by John Tokeley Parry, who noted marks on it left by plant roots which apparently would have taken some time to develop while it was buried underground. (The plant roots gave off moisture which caused crystals in the stone to grow in affected areas). Similar evidence was found on a marble chalice which is also part of the collection, (similar in design to the obsidian one, although smaller.) It's hypothesised that these two stone vessels were buried in a wooden box which subsequently disintegrated. The stone chalice differs from the obsidian one in having four letters carved in the spaces between the four crosses, namely 'I H S V'. This would likely stand for 'In Hoc Signo Vinces', i.e. 'by this sign conquer', a reference to the vision of the Emperor Constantine, who was told to put a Christian sign on his soldiers' shields before the battle of Milvian Bridge. ('IHS' is also a common abbreviation of Jesus, and the 'V' could be for for Vincit. Hence it could also signify 'Jesus is victorious'). 

It is all very interesting, but I would not put it beyond the capability of a master forger to replicate signs of age, and thereby to falsify history, so would I remain cautious concerning the artefacts in question. 

Baghras Castle

The castle of Baghras in what is now South Eastern Turkey, was one of the first major fortresses donated to the Templars in the Latin East. They renamed it Castle Gaston and greatly extended it. It lay within the Crusader principality of Antioch, in the mountainous Amanus Marches. It guarded the strategic Belen Pass, on the road between Aleppo and Antioch and the ports of Alexandretta and Port Bonne. The castle was built on a high, rocky crag, and from there the Templars could control the border with Armenian Cilicia.
The Templars lost the castle to Saladin in 1188, and it was subsequently occupied by Armenian King Leo. The Templars took it back in about 1216, in alliance with Bohemond IV of Antioch, though it seems the Hospitallers sided with the Armenians against the Templars at this time. In the 1230s, the Templar garrison withstood a siege by the Muslim army of Aleppo.
The Catalan Rule of the Templars (a set or military regulations) contains various case studies for how breaches of Templar discipline have been dealt with. One of these accounts (in clause 180) sheds light on how Baghras was finally lost to the Mameluks (a Muslim warrior caste, based in Egypt, who were called 'Islam's Templars' by one Arab chronicler).

The loss of Baghras happened soon after the fall of Antioch to the Mameluk Sultan Baybars in 1268. When the Mameluks were marching on the northern Principality, the Templar Brother Geraut de Saucet, Preceptor of Antioch, based in Baghras, knew that the castle had inadequate provisions to make much of a defence. He appealed to Thomas Berard, the Grand Master, 'for the love of God to send supplies and reinforcements'. No reply was forthcoming and the garrison grew nervous about the prospect of encountering Baybars in their parlous state. One of them, Gins de Belin, turned traitor. He mounted his horse while the others were eating and rode to deliver the castle keys to the Sultan. Meanwhile the rest of the garrison decided that they could not defend the castle and so decided to destroy its contents before withdrawing to la Roche Guillaume, farther north. This as it happened was exactly what the Grand Master issue orders for them to do, but they went ahead with the evacuation before the orders arrived. Subsequently the garrison were charged at Chapter with abandoning the caste without permission. Geraut de Saucet and his brethren faced expulsion from the Order, but argued that as they had correctly anticipated the Grand Master’s command, they should escape punishment. (If they had waited for the order to come they might have died waiting.) The Chapter at Acre decided that under the circumstances the deserters of Baghras should be allowed to retain their Templar mantles.
The ruins of Baghras may still be seen. A steep winding track leads up to the massive walls of the lower bailey. There is a gaping hole in the courtyard resulting from the collapse of part of the ceiling of the great vaulted undercroft.



A Turkish friend of mine, a distinguished surgeon, visited Baghras in August 2008, and I am in his debt for the photos included here. He was told by the local villagers that the Templars used slave labour in the construction of the castle. Evidently the knights are not well remembered. He also mentioned the presence of sinister tunnels leading below the ruins. Apparently not long ago some local boys were playing in the ruins ; two, aged aged 15 and 13, went into these tunnels and were never seen again.

'Two of them said to the other two that they will enter the tunnles. They all were in second floor. And they leaved from second floor. Two of them were in second floor still... then... they waited... but nobody came back. Then they went to village maybe their friends came back to village... but no... they were lost.'

'This story (the slave labour) was told to me by local villagers. I dont know more... but I saw deep tunnels, tunnel entrances... but not their exits. It was very terrible... There are 2 buildngs also one of them is a bath... villagers said me that soldiers in here dont permit to good foreign people before they get a good shower. But they said me that maybe this bath buildng was built by seljuks...not templars.'

Sojourn in Scotland (2006) part 1

Sojourn in Scotland:
A visit to some Templar and Medieval Locations in the Border Regions
By Gordon Napier, 2006

In June (2006) I returned to Temple Church, London, the circular-naved church at the centre of the headquarters of the Knights Templar in England, this time busier than usual on account of its having become, thanks to Dan Brown (and this year to Ron Howard), part of The Da Vinci Code trail. Living fairly near London, I have been privileged to have this site within easy reach. The Templars’ history in Britain began when the founder of the Order, Hugues de Payens, crossed the channel from Normandy where he had met Henry I, to raise support for the new brotherhood in England. Hugues had established the fraternity in Crusader Jerusalem, around a decade before, with the support of the Crusader King Baldwin II, and of the Latin Patriarch Warmund. Soon after coming to England, Hugues was invited north by David I of Scotland, and it was in Scotland, at a place called Balantradoch (Stead of the Warriors) that the Templars received one of their first properties in Europe. The year was 1127. I visited the site 879 years later.
Hugues had laid the foundations for the Order of the Temple in the British Isles where it would endure for two centuries, sending men, money and produce to support the defence of the Holy Land. The Templars become part of the landscape, as well as part of the political establishment. In England at least, the Templars were suppressed in 1307, Edward II having been compelled to move against the brethren by Pope Clement V (puppet of Philip the Fair, King of France). Scotland at the time was ruled by King Robert the Bruce. Robert was an excommunicant on account of having murdered a rival in a church. It is possible, many believe, that a quantity of refugee Templars- from Britain and perhaps from France- found sanctuary under Robert and supported his struggle for an independent Scotland. It is said that the Order may have survived in secret; that the Templars merged with or evolved into Freemasons and eventually deposited their treasure in Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian; or at least encoded their secret knowledge in the mysterious carvings covering the building. This is an idea I first came across over a decade ago, and though I since came to have doubts, I had also long desired to visit this chapel, to see if I could detect any Templar presence there, or glean some insight. If Rosslyn is a Templar building it is the last. As it happens, Rosslyn Chapel is a mere five miles from the ruined Templar church of what was the Order’s earliest Preceptory- that of Temple, formerly Balantradoch. If the stories are true then this stretch of countryside is where the Templars’ history in Europe came full circle.
In August 2006 the opportunity arose to visit this part of Scotland, and to spend some time exploring these sites, and a few other places that would also prove of interest and relevance to the story of the Templars, and perhaps of the Grail. I was accompanied by my father, who also takes an interest in matters historical. It happened that we crossed the border on August 19 as dawn was breaking, and the hills and evergreens were enveloped in a hazy golden light which added enchantment to that picturesque landscape.
At about six in the morning we passed the sign to Abbotsford, and decided to park up and have a look. Abbotsford appeared, a romantic sight, its towers and turrets set against the distant hills, pale purple in the morning light. Walter Scott, who built this place, seemed to have conjured something out of one of his romantic novels (he was indeed known as the Wizard of the North). We would return here later. The next destination, meanwhile, was the village of Temple (Balantradoch). The ruin of the Templar church is in a secluded spot. The best way to find it is to ask a bearded old local.
Balantradoch was the Templars’ first and most significant Preceptory in Scotland. It is situated near the River Esk, in a particularly lush spot. The river’s rushing waters can be heard through the trees from the ruined church that remains. Today, aside from the church, little remains of the once extensive Preceptory besides an archway in an adjacent field, near the village. The ruined church is atmospheric in its un-restored state. The church is oblong in plan with steep gabled ends with mullioned windows, now lacking glazing or a roof overhead. The stones seem to give off a plaintive air. Features within the ruin include a niche for a tomb effigy and a piscina. The graves surrounding indicate that the church continued to serve the village for many centuries after the suppression of the Order of the Temple, and it only fell into ruins in the nineteenth century when a new parish church was built nearby. Some of the graves around the ruin seem to contain Masonic symbols. The square and compass are visible on one close to the church. Others show the skull and crossbones, a memento mori (reminder of mortality).

The next stop was Roslin, and Rosslyn Chapel, where we arrived at about 7.30. Down what passed for the main street in the tiny village of Roslin, I noticed the gate of what was presumably the local Masonic Lodge, with the square and compass containing a letter ‘G’ silhouetted above it. The surrounding location was very pleasant and the Rosslyn Chapel itself seemed bigger than one might expect, although its modern, barn-like protective casing, the metal roof and the scaffolding surrounding the structure, rather diminishes it aesthetically. We arrived at the chapel just as some gentlemen, smartly suited in black, with red and white cloaks folded over their arms, some carrying swords, were sneaking out surreptitiously past some of the international tourists who had already arrived. A clergyman also passed by and down the hill, his black cope billowing out behind him like batman’s cape, as my father observed. Entering the chapel the air was still thick with the candle smoke from the ceremony recently performed by these neo-Templars.
Roslin has an air of enchantment about it, there is no denying. It feels something like a mini-Cathedral, its rich surfaces belying its relatively modest scale. The building style is highly ornate, almost grotto like. It is far removed from the Perpendicular style which was prevailing elsewhere in Britain and if anything resembles the Portuguese ‘Manueline’ style, which it slightly predates. (This rich style was preferred by the Order of Christ- the Templars successors in Portugal).

William St Clair, Lord of Roslin and Prince of Orkney, began building Rosslyn Chapel in 1446, as a collegiate chapel where retained priests would perform masses for the benefit of his soul. The chapel, dedicated to Saint Matthew, seems to be only one wing of an envisaged cruciform building, for unfinished transepts extend from the east wall. (It was hurriedly finished on a less ambitious scale by Oliver St Clair, William’s son, who evidently didn’t want to spend all his inheritance on it). It is believed that William St Clair employed foreign as well as local craftsmen on his chapel. The chapel has an unusual barrel vaulted roof and flying buttresses surround its exterior.
Knowing of its fame, one cannot help but gravitate towards one of the pillars, more ornate than the rest, that which has come to be called the Apprentice Pillar, and to be placed at the centre of so many conspiracy theories. In the same corner of the Chapel is the stairway leading down to the crypt or sacristy, where there are carvings of angels and of St Peter in the corbels and a skeleton with a scythe on a plinth (called the King of Terrors).

In the Chapel proper, the carvings include musician angels, an upside down angel bound in rope (Lucifer falling from heaven, perhaps), numerous ‘Green Man’ heads, a horned Moses, a knight with an apparent passenger on his horse (which some see as a version of the Templars’ two riders motif) dragons and a devil. I also noticed a unique carving of a skull with foliage growing from its mouth, a green-man skull. My father also spotted what looked like an eye staring down from the foliage carved above the Lady Chapel. Rosslyn may contain secrets and mysteries but it is unclear whether it ever had anything to do with the historical Knights Templar, who were suppressed 136 years before the chapel was founded.
There is a small grave slab in Rosslyn carved with the name ‘William de St Cler’. Adjacent to the name is a floriated cross with a long stem and a stepped base, and on the other side is a sword. Below is a more modern inscription ‘William de St. Clair Knight Templar’. The grave is of a type used by the Templars but there is nothing to say that the William St Clair in question (he of 1297-1330) was affiliated with the Order. The slab evidently predates the building that houses it.
On the exterior of the building, near the lower frame of the window on the south west corner, is a carving claimed by some to resemble the First Degree ritual of Freemasonry. There are two figures, the one behind appearing to hold the end of a noose around the other’s neck. Some have discerned a blindfold, too, but the carving is really too eroded to tell. The chapel suffered somewhat during the Reformation and the Civil War, and for a time lay derelict. It was later restored as a place of worship. It then suffered from weathering, tampering, and shoddy restoration, for example in the 1950s when the interior was painted with a grey concrete paste, which was supposed to help protect the carvings. All it did, in fact, was to obscure their fine details, and to trap moisture in the stones- which subsequently became saturated and rotten. The ‘barn’ is a modern attempt to allow the chapel to dry out. The consolation is that it allows visitors to walk around a platform and to get a closer look at the upper parts of the chapel, as well as a better view of the verdant and lovely surrounding area. One can also see where certain parts of the chapel were bodged, when it was rushed to be completed. This is also apparent on the inside, in the Lady Chapel behind the altar, where the arches do not meet the wall properly but hang in space. From a structural standpoint this makes no sense, and can only be a mistake- the end wall seems to be a foot too far out! Elaborate stone projections have been put in place to mask the misaligned springing points.

The final unexpected sight at Rosslyn was a Italian bishop in his black and purple finery. He seemed to be in the company of some of the neo-Templars spotted previously. The specialist guide with the group including the (now dressed-down) Templars was heard to say something about the ‘genaeology of Christ’, while the official guide avoided committing himself to any theory of the speculative bloodline of Chist/Holy Grail/Templar kind, thankfully. The shop, meanwhile, was fully stocked with books exploiting the Da Vinci Code bandwagon.