In December 2024, the regime of Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in Syria and the dictator fled into exile. But there are now concerns for the future of Christians – and other religious minorities – who have a long and turbulent history in Syria stretching back to the Crusades and the Roman Empire. What will happen…
How did the Knights Templar get so rich? Tony McMahon investigates in a new book from the publisher Pen & Sword out in November 2024
The Knights Templar faced two sets of charges during their trials between 1304 and 1314 that fell under Heresy and Sodomy. One crime involved denying the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the supremacy of the Roman Catholic church. The other crime, sodomy, was the use of sex to undermine the natural order of things. Both…
Did the Knights Templar know they were going to be arrested? It’s a key question because all those theories about the Templars burying secret treasure in various locations rests on the knights having advance knowledge that the French king’s forces were coming to round them up. Mainstream historians – and contemporary chroniclers – are almost…
On November 30 this year, my new book on the Knights Templar is published by Pen & Sword. It’s the first of a trilogy from this publisher – all authored by me – covering every aspect of this enigmatic order of holy warriors. This will answer every question you’ve ever had on the Knights Templar…
Great news that William Shatner is back with another season of The UnXplained and I’m featuring yet again talking about a range of topics with the great man. This is one of my favourite documentary shows on History – brought to you by the very talented production and creative team at Prometheus Entertainment. I’ve now…
Make sure to watch an amazing episode of Laurence Fishburne’s History’s Greatest Mysteries on the Templars, in which I appear revealing secrets about our favourite holy warriors. Season five is now airing and in episode two – The Lost Fortune of the Knights Templar – we discuss stories of lost treasure and why the knights…
It might amaze you to know that today, several organisations claim to be direct descendants of the Knights Templar. They assert a direct line linking them to the last grand master – Jacques De Molay – who was burned at the stake in 1314. But how many of these organisations – if any – really…
One thinks of The Crusades as being a very macho affair full of swinging swords and the clash of steel – and indeed it was for over two hundred years. During that period, some of the leading warriors provoked gossip over their preference for men between the sheets. Being gay didn’t in any way diminish…
Around the year 1119, a band of knights in Jerusalem formed the order of holy warriors we have come to know as the Knights Templar. But what was their motive? One reason given is that they were shocked by the massacre of hundreds of Easter pilgrims by the Saracens in that year, by the river…
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