The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple (Canto Classics)

Over the past twenty or thirty years the Templars have become the subject of some really silly religious conspiracy theories which say more about the authors who espouse them than they actually do about the Templars themselves. Don't buy these religious conspiracy books about the Templars expecting to actually learn the history of the Order. Instead, get "The New Knighthood" and "The Trial of the Templars" by Malcolm Barber. Dr. Barber's "The New Knighthood" is perhaps THE single best history of the Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon available, written by one of the Order's foremost historians (though Dr. Helen Nicholson's books are also extremely good). Particularly useful and interesting are detailed chapters chronicling the Order's founding, early years and explosive growth, and chapters on the suppression and dissolution of the Order as well as its transformation into modern fantasy through the spurious history and wild assertions of religious conspiracy theorists. The chapters on the Order's founding and early growth are especially fascinating. Barber's book is well-grounded in well-documented, scholarly fact; in those cases where the facts are unknown or open to differing interpretation, he tells you. Barber's books (and Dr. Peter Partner's "The Mudered Magicians: The Templars and their Myth") should be required reading for anyone about to write a religious conspiracy book involving the Templars.

As others have previously stated this book is written in a scholarly vein. This fact should not discourage anyone from proceeding with this well written, very informative source. I fall far short of being remotely classified as a scholastic reader, but that fact did nothing to prevent me from throughly enjoying this and also ordering his other book on the fall of the Templar’s. This is one of the most comprehensive books on the subject written by a person that’s made it his life’s work.

Only started reading and can tell it's worth buying if you want to get into the history of this topic

The Knights Templar "corporation" lasted some two centuries - from their beginnings about 1191 to their leaders arrest in France on Friday 13 October 1307. Many of us first came across the Templars in books such as "Ivanhoe" when we were young, but the reality of overseas military operations in "Outremer" (the Christian crusader states) during the 12th and 13 centuries was far more complex. Enormous expenditures of money and men were required, which in turn, necessitated a very large support organization throughout Europe for money, men, and supplies. Raising money, men, and horses was an ongoing effort. I was surprised at the cost to equip and maintain just one knight in Outremer, and the consequences to the Order of sometimes losing several hundred knights in a single battle. There was never enough knights. The author concisely and in detail describes the Templar history from records as are now available, both western and eastern, as the Templar archives in Cypress were destroyed by the Ottomans in 1571. The first five chapters discusses the origins of the order, the concept of a military monastic organization, the rise of the Templars from their simple roots, to the last years of the Order in Outremer. There are chapters on Templar life and rules, the support and supply network, and the end of the Order in the early 14th century. The last chapter discusses several legends that have grown up around the Templars. The very detail may, however, put off the reader looking for a casual history. The book needs a glossary to define medieval military and religious terms. All in all an excellent book, but one which may require more than one reading. It is recommended.

Very historical and interesting

Excellent book. Well written , precise and meticulously researched.

If you are looking for an exciting read, this is not it. However, if you are looking for content and research that is backed up with documented sources, this book is worth its weight in gold. This book is already a valued addition to our research collection, and we aren't even halfway through it.

Every single thought, fact, item in this book is backed up by a source in the bibliography. Provides a great overview of the history of the Templars.

Interesting Book..as aspected from this author.

Outstanding historical, not fantasy, analysis and history of the knights Templar and their organization. If you are seeking a QUALITY historical monograph, this would be it.

I recently read this summary of Templar History over the course of few days and it is excellent. The author is very clear about his sources of information, he comments extensively on their backgrounds and biases, and is very thorough in his treatment of the topic. He gives voice to both the the contemporary supporters and critics of the Templars from their earliest days to their later years. When the causes of events are uncertain, whether defeats, scandals, or the final suppression, he presents multiple possibilities and their probabilities of being correct. The best part is that the author never goes beyond the evidence available. There are serious gaps in Templar history. The most significant gap was caused by the destruction of the Templar archive in Cyprus during the Ottoman invasions in the sixteenth century. The author mourns its loss, but points out that it the Templar archives remained in Cyprus untouched for over a century after the suppression of the order without anyone in Christendom showing any interest in what they may contain. Had the Templars actually reinvented themselves as a secret order, someone among the thousands of surviving brothers would certainly have found a way to access, copy, or otherwise preserve the Templar archive in the century or so between the order's suppression and the Ottoman invasion. The overall impression of the Templars is as a very well organized, very well financed, and very high-profile religious-military order. Their primary founding mission was to guard pilgrims and pilgrim routes in the Holy Land, which they did very effectively throughout their history. But soon after their founding, they began to receive large financial donations from wealthy benefactors, and special privileges and exemptions from the Pope. Because of this, their role rapidly changed from mere pilgrim protection into a high-profile service organization having princes and kings as clients. As time passed, the situation in the Holy Land changed, the costs of crusading rose dramatically, and their costs outpaced their resources (in money, people, and goodwill). Facing a crisis of his own, Philip the Fair moved against an easy target. In the final chapter, Barber presents the origin of Templar mysticism as originating in the early 19th century Freemason pseudo-histories as the middle class struggled to deal with the consequences of the French Revolution. He shows the influence of contemporary critics of the Templars on later nineteenth century writers such as the fiction of Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. He shows how multiple writers starting with Ramon Lull accepted the charges of blasphemy against the Templars on face value, and that created the seed for the myth that the Templars actually had heretical secrets. This book has given me a new appreciation and respect for the Templars.

Great service,superb quality copy.

Great for my dad