Customer Reviews

The Knights Templar

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was an excellent history of the Templars and the Crusades. No conspiracy theories are present; Howarth just gives the known history of the Templars, and he does it in a very, very good manner. This was the most interesting history book that I have ever read, and one of the most enjoyable books I can ever remember reading. I had no idea the Crusades were so interesting before reading this book. Stories like King Richard (the Lion-Hearted) trying to steal a peasant's hawk and almost getting killed by the owner make this book a delight to read. Reynald de Chatillion and Richard were definitely the best characters in this book. Their exploits are simply amazing (and hilarious). I got this book to study the Templars and ended up getting so interested in the Crusades that I got some more books on the subject.

As for the content about the Templars, I cannot imagine a better presentation of their deeds. He does not hypothesize about their having the Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant; he simply gives what we know with reasonable certaintly about the development and actions of the Knights Templar, and he does not give it in a vacuum as conspiracy theorists do. Conspiracy theory books about the Templar tend to just report the Templar's deeds and take them out of context. Howarth gives the context. In fact, he gives about as much context as he does actual information about the Templars. Conspiracy theory books point to the fact that the Templars got away with nearly anything as evidence that they had some dirt on the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, they fail to mention that anyone else also got away with nearly anything back then: Crusading kings (i.e. Richard) would sack Christian cities on the way to the crusade and receive not even a scolding. This context is important for understand the Templars. They cannot be viewed in a vacuum, or else conspiracy theories start popping up. They look very strange to us nowadays, but when looked at in the company of other Medieval events and people, they look far more normal.

To the best of my knowledge, Howarth is very accurate in his presentation of the Templars (I especially liked his treatment of the Templar trials when the order was dissolved by Pope Clement). He cites a large number of primary sources, and I do not think that he makes conclusions beyond the merits of the evidence. If you are interested in studying the Knights Templar, this is an excellent book to begin with. With the context that this book provides, you will be able to critically examine the claims made about the Templar by other authors. The only complaint I have is that it should have included a map of the Holy Land.

Overall grade: A+

As other reviewers have said before me, this is pretty much a book to introduce someone to the legend and history of the Templar Knights. I could sense that reading the book myself, and I even had an incident where I was reading this book in a hotel lobby - the clerk told me he had read it, and it indeed skips through much of Templar history.

Does this mean its a bad read? Well, no not really, in fact it's quite a good read for any one who wants to read non-fiction and doesn't want to sit through 500 pages. Stephen Howarth weaves events and characters well, and keeps you turning the page like any author should. The only problem is, as I already suggested, it tends to glance over much of the church's order. The strongest points in the book are the opening, (with a great description of Philip and his executions) the rise of the Order, and the very end when the Templars are betrayed by church and nobility alike. Much of the pages inbetween these sections focus on Medieval and Crusade history. Now, it's all well and good to explain the time period to the read and make sure they understand the current timeline, but sometimes I wondered just how much we needed to know. Reading about Crusaders pirating down the Red Sea for several pages made me wonder just what the heck it had to do with the Templar Knights. All I understood about the Templar role in the Crusades was 1) they defended travellers, 2) they defended castles, and 3) they were often scapegoats. And lots of the latter, apparently. Howarth spends half the book apologizing for the order or saying something along the lines of, "Well, OK, just because they did this doesn't mean they were bad, someone did it worse..."

This book has made me interested in going out and buying other books on the Templar Knights, and like I said I enjoyed reading it. However, if you already have some knowledge of the Crusades or the Templar Order itself, then you may want to skip it.

Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code' while entertaining, has had the unfortunate effect that many of the so-called 'historical' books written today are based more on assumptions and opinions than on facts.

Brown's book has inspired renewed interest in the Knights Templar, the Holy Grail, Freemasons etc etc.. And with this renewed interest comes people ready to capitalize on it.. and in order to sell books, the themes surrounding them have become more and more outrageous.

Fortunately, this book was written 2 decades before Brown's book, and you can be assured that this is a fact based book, and not one of conjecture.

To someone who has knowledge about the cruisades and the Knights Templar, this would probably be a very boring book. However, since this is the first book that I have read about the Knights Templar, and one of the first that I have read about the crusades, I really enjoyed it.

Having said that, I must add that even though this book is really a 'Knights Templar for Dummies' we aren't treated like dummies. There is one (count it - 1) map, and that is barely legible. I had to get out other maps and atlases to help me figure out exactly where these places were.

In addition, while other books (See Dungeon, Fire, and Sword by Robinson) have lists and tables helping the reader identify who is who, this book has nothing...

This book was interesting enough to make me want to delve deeper into the cruisades and the KT, so much so that the next book that I read was also a book about the KT.

"Knights Templar" is a good introduction to the Templar military religious order. However, I don't believe it represents any new scholarship on the subject.

Howarth's prose is clear and concise. The book adopts a strict chronological order.

Unfortunatly, the book lacks proper maps to support the narrative. Place names and scaled maps for the medieval Levant and Europe are sorely needed. The strategy of the Order's Holy Land garrissons is impossible to understand without them. In addition, in many sections the Order are mere "spear carriers" to more famous historical figures (Richard the Lion Hearted and Philip I of France to name two).

The book is a good introduction to the Order. It is very readable. However, a more quantitative analysis of the Order's finances, logistics, population, and strategy for defense of the Holy Land would have been appreciated.

This was the first book I have read about the Templars, and did not know much about their history before I read this book (except the usual mythos that follows their name). I found the book interesting, easy to read, and it has sparked my interest to read more about the knights and the political and military aspects of the times. Without having other resources to compare it to, it still seemed like the author tried to give an objective interpretation of what really occurred in those times.

A balanced unbiased introduction to the history and workings of the Knights Templar, minus any of the Dan-Brown-DaVinci-Code-Holy-Grail sensationalism. This book details the struggles of the knights to fight the Muslims, other greedy Christians, and the competing holy order of Hospitalers as well as their struggle to maintain personal vows and political organization. Having just a read a book on the 3rd Crusade prior to reading this I would say there are some differences between the books re: historical accuracy of the plots, people and plans of the crusades in large, but either way this book is gives a good understanding of the 300-year existence from birth of the Knights in the desert of Arabia, their life as the heroes of crusading Europe, to their death by a greedy French King and a puppet Pope as the Templar property is seized, the knights are imprisoned or scattered and the Grand Master is burned alive at the stake in front of Notre Dame in Paris.

I have not read books on this subject before. Howarth's book is not only easy to read (reads like a novel), but has sparked an interest in me to read other books on related subjects. While maps and other aids may be helpful, I found it a good read and will probably re-read it in the future.

Good, solid but not for someone looking for the deeper facts.

Start with Howarth's book if you want a real history on the Templars. No conspiracies and unsupported, wild assertions, only documented history. Often far more interesting than the psuedohistories out there. See alsoThe Templars: The Secret History Revealed and Dungeon, Fire and Sword: The Knights Templar in the Crusades.

This is a "popular" account and not very profound. Clearly the Templars were not guilty, but the forced confessions may have misled the Church authorities. It is a sad story. In fact its recounting of the Crusades added little to my knowledge, but the couple chapters on Philip the Fair's destruction of the order were informative, as was the information on the structure of the order.