Guest Author - Colette

Once during a college Humanities course we were discussing great works of literature and the conversation turned towards the Bible. One girl in the class insisted that Jesus literally spoke in red. When the professor began discussing the history of the Bible and the different versions ending with the King James Version, this same girl became so upset she complained to administrators afterwards and withdrew from the class.

I recently had a discussion with a group of friends over the Davinci Code and was absolutely amazed at the number of people who were vehemently opposed to the book. Despite all of the Hoopla of the Davinci Code, I didn’t see what was so great about it. To me it was just another book, not great but not bad either. Of course there were those who thought that it was phenomenal — on the other hand I know countless people who thought that the book was blasphemous. Keep in mind that this particular crowd tend to be the same people who swear by the merit of Mel Gibson’s movie The Last Temptation of Christ, and also believe in the Omen, The Exorcist.

The Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple Solomon aka the Knights Templar aka the Order of the Temple began as nine men who set out on a mission after the first crusade to protect European travelers taking a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. For two hundred years the Order flourished, but after the loss of the Holy Land to Islam the main reason for their existence was gone. Additionally for two hundred years the Order accumulated vast wealth and power and as is the case even today no good thing lasts forever. Amidst growing rumors about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created mistrust, and King Philip IV of France took advantage of these rumors to deal with his debt to the order. At his urging Pope Clement V took action. The very first “Black Friday” took place Friday, October 13, 1307 when Philip the Fair (so called because of his striking appearance not his mental disposition) had many of the Templars arrested. These arrests resulted in tortures and forced confessions for which the knights were burned at the stake. With the cooperation of Pope Clement, King Philip forcibly disbanded the entire Order. The tumult surrounding the disappearance of a major part of the European society provided the perfect fodder for the ensuing speculation and legends keeping "Templar" alive in modern fiction.
Historical documents prove that this much of the Templars’ story is true. The rest of the Davinci Code is what we writer’s like to call fiction.