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Foreword
By Rear Admiral [Ret.] James
J. Carey, GCTJ, GMTJ
Grand Master of the Order
When Author Leo Thys first asked me to read the draft version
of his upcoming Templar book, I agreed to do so during a particularly busy
time in my life, so I printed it out and put the pages into a folder to read
later in the month at my office. I must honestly say that my initial
reaction was “another Knights Templar book---- what is there to say that
hasn’t already been said in the 200+ books that have already been written on
the Templar Order over the past 900 years?”. I now admit this reaction
could not have been more wrong. I read what Leo sent me and have concluded
that, whether the subject is ancient Templar history or recent Templar
accomplishments, he has captured the ancient history portions, often
confused and rambling by others, into concise, short summaries of the more
important occurrences in the medieval history of the Order. And equally if
not more so for modern Templar history, he has captured important
achievements and accomplishments that I have not seen in any of the other
Templar books.
But probably most important, he takes on the topic of The
Knights Templar in our modern day while many of those that have been a part
of that history are still alive and can provide that history in their own
words from their own memories. These are people that were actually present
at the events as they transpired and as the Order progressed through the mid
and late 20th Century and into the new Millennium. He includes
histories and events never before published and he provides documents and
narratives never before shared or seen by anyone outside of the Order or,
for that matter, by many within the Order. He documents for all time and in
the words and memories of the Templars that attended the events, the history
and progress and growth and expansion of the Modern Templar Order, so that
all who wish will know the factual accounts and the personal observations of
these Templar Knights and Dames while they are still alive on this earth and
while their memories have not yet been dimmed by the labors of life and the
fading remembrances of age.
I first met Leo Thys at several of the Knights Templar Order
Grand Magistral Council meetings in Europe in the mid-to-late 1990’s. I
found him to be uniquely dedicated to the memory of the Templar Founders of
the early 1100’s, and committed to researching and documenting and bringing
clarity to the entire history of the Templars. For many, this has been a
history that had become muddied and confused over time through the hundreds
of books that have been published, most of which present their author’s
opinions and theories more so than actual history and facts. Leo Thys’ book
is different. He documents the actual writings of the Founding Knights in
the 1100’s, the words of the Knights that lead the Order throughout medieval
times, the Knights that went through the persecution of Kings and
nations------- and he includes accounts covering the middle period from
1314 until Napoleon’s reconstitution of the Order in the early 1800’s, and
on through to the present day and the Order as it presently exists and
functions. He provides a factual account of the 21st Century
recognition of the Templar Order by the United Nations and the recent
history of the Order’s growth and expansion around the world. He includes
the dramatic increases in interaction and recognition of the Order by all of
the Major Christian Churches and their Senior Leadership, as well as the
historic and substantive Templar outreach to the Jewish, Islamic, and other
Non-Christian World Religions.
I feel that all who have an interest in the Knights Templar
Order, be they present-day Knights and Dames of the Order, or religious
leaders, or government officials, or academia, clergy, military, or the
professions------ all will gain from the facts and the documents which Leo
Thys brings to them for the first time through this book. He brings to all
a realization of the history of a knightly order formed almost 900 years ago
to make the world a better place, that still today [I write this in the
Spring of 2005] has that same focus, to bring aid to the less fortunate and
to help the lame, needy, blind, and afflicted. What he documents through
history and memories and pictures helps bring to those who read his book a
reminder that, whether it be in the 12th Century or the 21st
Century, the absolute and unselfish good that mankind can exhibit if only
given the tools of an honorable life and the desire to make ours a better
world for everyone, still lives in our time as it did in medieval times. If
this book can show just one single human being what great good can be
accomplished on our planet if good men and women will band together in
commitment to do so, then Leo Thys’ efforts as an author will have truly
been successful and can serve as a living example to others that all can
serve mankind, each in his or her own way and each through their own efforts
to care for or educate or aid and comfort others.
I am honored to have been given the opportunity to read this
wonderful compilation of the true history of the Templar Order in both
ancient and modern times. I am convinced that it will do much to clarify
the goodness and honor of the Knights Templar and their commitment to all
mankind of all religions and of all nations and of all languages. Perhaps
if the world can learn the truth about the Knights Templar through accurate
history of their accomplishments and achievements of the past --------- and
first-person recitations of this history-in-the-making of the present, then
more and more will become interested in the true Templar movement and the
Templar Order that is carrying on the Templar ideals from the past into the
Templar care for others in our own day.
The world owes Leo Thys a large debt of gratitude for his
dedication in seeing through the huge effort of formulating and writing and
publishing this book. Let us hope all who read it will also choose to give
back as much to humanity as Leo has now given to our own world and our own
time of the 21st Century through this book.
May GOD
Bless All Who Read These Words,
Rear
Admiral [Ret.] James J. Carey, GCTJ, GMTJ
Grand Master
The Knights Templar
Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani
BOOK REVIEW
by
Chev. William Reed Colby-Newton, KCTJ
of
History of
the Order of the Temple of Jerusalem: From 1118 to 2005
by Chev. Leo Thys, KCTJ
In recent
years, there has been an increasing number of books published on the subject
of the Knights Templar. Renewed interest in the subject may not have
started, but was certainly spurred on, by the publication in the early 1980s
of Holy Blood, Holy Grail. The authors of that book – a team of
writers and documentary filmmakers for the BBC -- have since turned the
purported mystery of the obscure French village of Rennes-le-Chateau and its
supposed connection to the Templars into something of a cottage industry;
other authors have eagerly followed suit. Dan Brown, of Da Vinci Code
fame, is the latest author to throw his hat in the ring; but he will
doubtless not be the last.
As I am a
Templar, I have dutifully taken it upon myself to buy copies of as many
Templar, or Templar-related, books, as I can find. At the very least, I feel
it important to find out what others are saying about us. Unfortunately,
what they are saying generally obscures more than it enlightens; and some of
the Templars described in these books bear little or no resemblance to the
Templars, either of historical record or of the present day.
Chev. Leo
Thys’ book is therefore a refreshing and notable exception. Chev. Thys is
the OSMTH Grand Archivist, and is uniquely qualified to write about the
entire history of the Order, not just from its beginnings but up to the
present day.
Unlike most
historical books, History of the Order of the Temple of Jerusalem: From
1118 to 2005 is broken down into succinct, numbered sections, each
covering a specific topic. Some of these topics are not found in other books
on Templar history. For example, the section of the book on Templar
architecture includes a discussion of Templar houses and farmhouses in
Western Europe, as well as the more expected treatments of Templar churches
and fortresses in the Holy Land. The lands the Order owned in Western
Europe, and the monetary income derived from them, not to mention the grain,
equipment, and, above all, horses, in addition to other gifts and benefices
granted to the Order, made the campaigns in Outremer possible. Chev. Thys’
descriptions of these important European holdings, both in text as well as
in superb full-color photographs, make them immediately accessible to the
reader.
A further
service Chev. Thys provides the reader are the several chronologies of
important dates in the history of the Order. These chronologies help to fix
in the mind of the reader the relative positions in history of the events
that shaped the Templars, and serves to put them into the broader historical
context. At the very beginning of the book, we learn what the great events
were that led to the first Crusade, and, ultimately, to the formation of the
Order itself. The Order did not begin in a vacuum, but was an extraordinary
response by people of its day to extraordinary circumstances. Chev. Thys’
chronologies help to provide us with a framework through which we can
understand both the response and the circumstances that made that response
necessary.
One of the
most remarkable things about this book is that Chev Leo Thys has managed, in
only 115 pages (format A4), to provide a complete and detailed historical
account of the Order; and many of these pages are filled with stunning color
photographs, maps, and reproductions of art works, which augment the text
and grant the reader a sense of immediacy which text alone could not.
Among the
many topics covered are the Templars’ role as bankers, a role at which they
excelled and which formed the basis for modern banking, and which ultimately
brought down upon them the greedy wrath of King Phillippe IV, of France.
Chev. Thys’ gives a succinct summation of the possible reasons why the Order
was suppressed, which is helpful for any person trying to understand that
dark time in the Order’s history.
For the
modern Templar, however, perhaps the greatest benefit to be gained from
reading Chev. Thys’ book are the insights regarding what happened after
the Suppression of the Order. Part Two of the book is aptly named “The
Period of Silence.” This is the period from 1315 to 1803, about which
relatively little has been written. Chev. Thys’ provides us with a survey of
Orders, groups, and geographic locations which may have had a Templar
connection. Templar survival has long been a matter of conjecture in Spain,
Portugal, and Scotland; however, some places where the Templars possibly
survived are a little surprising. Chev. Thys’ research, for example, has
unearthed the possibility that the Templar fleet, after vanishing from La
Rochelle, found its way to Mexico!
Part III,
“The Birth and Rise of the Modern Order during the last two Centuries: From
1804 to 2004”, fills in the gaps in our knowledge of the Order to the
present day. Chev. Thys is aided in this section of the book by the Grand
Historian Emeritus of the SMOTJ Grand Priory of the USA, Dr. Chev. Robert J.
Kovarik, GCTJ.
The history
of the Order during the 18th and 19th Centuries is far
from clear. Many competing and often contradictory strands of tradition vie
for our attention. Scottish Rite Freemasonry, Strict Observance Freemasonry,
the Charter of Larmenius -- Dr. Kovarik does a masterful job in pulling it
all together for the reader to form a coherent picture.
The
culmination of the book is its discussions of the Order from 1995 to today.
In this section of the book, the reader gains valuable insight into what
exactly the issues were, and what exactly happened, in the crucial years of
1995 and 1996, when disputes arose between Don Fernando de Sousa Fontes,
purported Grand Master of the Order, and the Grand Priors of 16 national
Grand Priories. Rather than relying on hearsay, Chev. Thys has documented
the proceedings of meetings and events from that time, with references and
footnotes, to which the interested reader can refer his- or herself. Indeed,
in the interests of fairness, Chev. Thys’ book includes a statement by one
Robert Dale Fazzio, who is a supporter of Don Fernando de Sousa Fontes. A
decade has passed since these disputes first erupted, and, hence, their
relevance has perhaps diminished accordingly. However, in his book, Chev
Thys has presented the issues and recorded them for future reference –
precisely what a historian would be expected to do.
The book
ends with a survey of the activities of the Order in approximately the last
decade. The Concluding chapter was partly written by the current Grand
Commander of the Order, Brigadier General Chev. Patrick E. Rea, GCTJ, GMTJ.
General Chev. Rea states the mission of the modern Order – to “assist
Christians at risk” – and shows in several telling examples the great work
we as an Order have undertaken and will continue to undertake.
Several pages of pictures
from recent events and pertinent appendices round out the work.
Having now
read this book several times in its entirety, having found occasion many
more times to refer to its pages, and having now purchased additional copies
of it to give to potential members, I can say that I recommend this book
wholeheartedly and with no reservations whatsoever to anyone who wishes to
learn more about the medieval Order of the Temple in an accessible and
highly readable way. Further, I say that this book must be on the
bookshelf of every Templar, and no opportunity should be missed to make use
of it as a tool for educating and instructing current and future Knights and
Dames of the SMOTJ.
History
of the Order of the Temple of Jerusalem: From 1118 to 2005, by Chev. Leo
Thys, KCTJ, ISBN 9-0901-9317-0, costs €30.60 (Europe) - US$42.70 (America)
- £19.40 (U.K.) per copy, sending cost included.
Better rates if more copies
are ordered.
For more information or to
order copies, the OSMTH Secretary-General can be reached via email at:
secretarygeneral@osmth.org
Respectfully submitted,
Chev. William Reed
Colby-Newton, KCTJ
Priory The Holy Grail, USA |
