The 1970s was a golden age for weird conspiracy theories, often involving beings from outer space. Between 1972 and 1974, the French sci-fi author Claude Avice published two novels about the Knights Templar where they helped out an extraterrestrial called Baphomet and then flew with their new alien friend to other galaxies to conquer alien civilisations and convert them to Christianity.
You will recall that Baphomet was the devilish creature that the Knights Templar were accused of worshipping when the knights were put on trial in the year 1307. In confessions obtained under torture, the knights often referred to a head that was placed on an altar and venerated. Descriptions of this head vary but think of the classic Satanic goat’s head and you’ve arrived. The head allegedly spoke to the Templars and directed their operations.
FIND OUT MORE: The Templars and the head of Baphomet
So, along comes Avice in the 1970s speculating that Baphomet was not a devil but a being from another solar system. Two novels told the story: The Empire of Baphomet in 1972 and Stellar Crusade in 1974. For whatever reason, Avice wrote these two books under a pseudonym, Pierre Barbet. I’ve seen the 1972 book title also translated as Baphomet’s Meteor with a subheading: In the Sign of the Atom – Conquer! This is a play on the ancient war cry of the Templars (and the Roman emperor Constantine), by this sign you shall conquer. There was also a release of both books under the title Cosmic Crusaders.
Basically, an extraterrestrial called Baphomet crash lands his spacecraft in France around the year 1118. The same year that the Knights Templar are believed to have been founded. He meets a penniless knight called Hugh de Payens who thinks he is a demon. But he explains (presumably at some length given that we are in the Middle Ages) that he is from outer space and needs help to repair his ship. To get Hugh fully on board with this plan, Baphomet hands him a bar of gold, guarantees a steady supply of food, and promises to make Hugh both famous and invincible.
FIND OUT MORE: The Knights Templar and Baphomet
And Baphomet is as good as his word. Hugh forms the Knights Templar, becoming the first Grand Master, and they sweep through the Middle East overwhelming the Saracens and Mongols. Fast forward 150 years and Hugh has long gone. The Grand Master then is a man called William de Beaujeu who is told by a Tibetan holy man that the order is the creation of an extraterrestrial, Baphomet, and since Hugh’s time they had been under its total control. William apparently knows Baphomet is from another world but is unaware that his own mind was being manipulated by the alien.
I won’t spoil the rest of the plot for you – but it ends happily for those Templars who get off planet Earth in time to avoid being burned at the stake by the Catholic church!
If you would like to know more about the Knights Templar, then get your hands on a copy of my book: The Knights Templar – History & Mystery. Published by Pen & Sword and available on Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, and WHSmith. Don’t miss out on your copy!
Wow thats Wild:0