The Knights Templar Encyclopedia, by Karen Ralls, PhD is a highly recommended addition to anyone's library on the Order.
The author was a post doctoral fellow at the University of Edinburgh before continuing specialist in medieval history research at Oxford. She was a former deputy director of the Rosslyn Chapel Museum exhibition.
While the book is written in the format of an encyclopedia, it has much useful information, and is easy to read from cover to cover. Almost any student of the Templars (other than perhaps Malcolm Barber) will learn something.
For example, I had never associated the term "troy ounce" with the Templars. At pages 223-224, Ralls describes Troy Weights as being brought from returning crusaders and was adopted at the Champagne fairs.
Some terms may not be familiar to many participants at the school as they read some of the assigned texts. "Letter of Credit" is one of those terms. Someone will either have the familiarity to refer to them as "lc's" or not exactly know what they are. At p. 113 Ralls described how lc's developed at the Champagne fairs, where a debt incurred at one fair could be repaid at the next. There is a discussion of the term `Safe Deposit
Ralls handles the speculative topics accurately, and without condescension. For example, she says that with regard to the wife of Hugh de Payns, "nothing for certain is known of his wife or her lineage." She describes how modern Freemasons are not the same organization as the historical Templars, and that the founder of Rosslyn Chapel was not a Templar.
Some of the definitions are fun to read. Roger de Flor was a sergeant -brother, who was expelled for piracy. His flag may be the "Jolly Roger."
Some of the interesting terms include: "Templar Admiral"; a lengthy discussion of "Black Madonnas"; Office of "Templar Commander" a type of financial controller; the "Draper"; "Geometry"; how the Grand Masters were elected, by a council of 13 electors, eight knights, four sergeants, and a chaplain; the organization of the Templar Order; the Temple Church in London; the aftermath of the trial (a country by country discussion of what happened); and many others.
Also very useful are the five appendices and the list of recommended readings (14 pages). The appendices include a time-line, a list of Grand Masters, a list of Popes during 1119-1312, the charges against the Templars, and a listing of selected Templar sites.
This is an inexpensive, and important, addition to anyone's Templar library.
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 24, 2021
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Top reviews from other countries
DJG
A relatively slim volume for an Encyclopedia
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 28, 2013Manteau D'orient
If you know nothing about Templar you might enjoy dipping in and out of this volume
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 5, 2017Mrs. R. E. S. Leach
Nights templar book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 6, 2021
James Macdonald
Excellent research tool.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 21, 2017
