Templars

[Preston Pittman]

this is just an update on some thoughts raised by Rosina a week or so ago,
of the Templars.

I thought, by reading a lot of the postings here, that some people may
wonder what the Templars have to to with the Camino.

As briefly as I can:  The Templars, were a knightly order that took vows
much like the Franscicans.  They were made up of the sons of the major noble
families of western Europe.  And what concerns us here, their stated purpose
was to act as a "police force" guarding all the pilgrimage routes of the
Church - Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago.  To achieve that, they established
important fortresses and churches (including along the Camino) and
established the first "banking" system in Europe - so a pilgrim could make a
"deposit" in Paris and draw on it in Burgos or Leon.  The kings of France
and England borrowed a lot of money from the Templar banks and came to be
deeply in debt to them.  They had the Church charge them with heresy and the
Church order the temporal authorities to seize and keep all of their
property.

In Spain,Portugal and Scotland, the monarchs saw this move for what it was
and refused to comply.  In Aragon, this was the situation:  The father of
James I of Aragon had been murdered by Simon de Montfort while defending his
personal property in what is today southern France, during the Albigensian
Crusade.  The orphaned James was raised at the main Spanish Templar
stronghold, Monzon, in Aragon by the Templar Master, Guillem de Montrodon.
Monzon is not on the Camino itself, but south of San Juan de la Pena on the
Somport-Jaca branch, (where the Grail was said to be kept).  James was
instilled with a deep loyality to the Knights of the Temple which he passed
on to his heirs.  At the time the Templars were "found guilty of heresy",
James II not only refused to confiscate their property and arrest them, but
he gave refuge to any foreign Templars to could escape to Aragon.  He
renamed them the Order of Nuestra Senora de Montosa.  He convinced his
cousin, King Denis of Portugal, to do the same.  In Scotland they were also
protected and because of the vulnerability and closeness to England, went
under cover.  It is believed by many that they formed the beginings of the
Masonic Lodge, and the authors of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" wrote a book
about this, called "The Temple and the Lodge".  There have been several
other books written about this - someone else mentioned one of them, I
think, called the Hiram Key?

Rosina, and other interested parties, I hope this helps a little.
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