The Knights Templar, Part 1: the Templars in History (with Steve Tibble)

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Today’s episode is the first of a two-part series on the notorious Christian military order, The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, more commonly known as the Knights Templar.  This first episode deals with the historical Templars; the second, with the Templar legend  My cohost for both is a veteran of this podcast, Dr. Steve Tibble whose newest book is Assassins and Templars, A Battle in Myth and Blood (Yale University Press, 2025). 

In this episode, Steve and I talk about the evolution of Christian ideas about warfare that allowed for crusading and for military orders such as the Templars; the Templar origin story; the growth, organization, and development of the order; and the Templars' core mission and activities, in war and peace. 

The second episode begins with the trial of the Templars in 1307 by King Philip IV 'the Fair' of France, and the subsequent suppression of the order by the papacy.  We then discuss the Templars' "afterlife," their transformation into a mythic secret society beloved by paranoid conspiracy theorists. And, as is the wont of this podcast, we look at how the historical and mythic Templars are represented in novels, movies, and even video games.

I hope you will join us!

This episode includes quoted passages from St. Bernard of Clairvaux's recruitment letter for the Second Crusade and his treatise on the Templars, The New Knighthood. Both are included in The Crusades: A Reader, ed. S,J. Allen and Emilie Amt, second edition (University of Toronto Press, 2014)

It also has a short snippet from the thirteenth-century chant "Dies Irae," performed by Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU9qrdrswO8)

Listen on Podurama https://podurama.com

Intro and exit music are by Alexander Nakarada

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at richard.abels54@gmail.com