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A group of people claiming to be the heirs of the legendary Knights Templar are suing Pope Benedict XVI, seeking more than $150 billion for assets seized by the Catholic Church seven centuries ago. They also want to restore the order's good name. Founded in 1119, the Knights Templar was a secretive order of Christian warriors who protected pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem during the Crusades. They fell out of favor years later, and members were accused of denying Christ, worshipping the devil and practicing sodomy. Many Templars were tortured and burned at the stake. In 1307, Pope Clement...

Unique Book Dedicated to Trial against Templars on Display in Sofia 30 May 2008, Friday A copy of the unique book dedicated to the trial against templars, issued by Secret Vatican City archive, was presented Friday in Sofia's National Archeological Museum. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency) The unique book dedicated to the trial against templars issued by Secret Vatican City archive was presented Friday in Sofia's National Archeological Museum. The publication, called "Processus Conta Templarios", is an expensive limited edition of the proceedings of the 1307-1312 papal trial of the mysterious medieval crusading order of warrior-monks who were...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- It was billed as the Vatican's effort to "come clean" and reveal secret documents about the mysterious Knights Templar, the medieval crusading order that has inspired ancient legends and modern novels. But after seeing exaggerated press reports for two weeks, Bishop Sergio Pagano apparently had had enough. "I've read in the papers that this is about discoveries. In no way can one talk about discoveries -- every one of these texts was already known," he said Oct. 25. You could almost feel the air going out of the balloon in the packed Vatican conference room, where...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Knights Templar, the medieval Christian military order accused of heresy and sexual misconduct, will soon be partly rehabilitated when the Vatican publishes trial documents it had closely guarded for 700 years. A reproduction of the minutes of trials against the Templars, "'Processus Contra Templarios -- Papal Inquiry into the Trial of the Templars'" is a massive work and much more than a book -- with a 5,900 euros (4,125 pounds) price tag. "This is a milestone because it is the first time that these documents are being released by the Vatican, which gives a stamp...

The Vatican is to publish a book which is expected to shed light on the demise of the Knights Templar, a Christian military order from the Middle Ages. The book is based on a document known as the Chinon parchment, found in the Vatican Secret Archives six years ago after years of being incorrectly filed. The document is a record of the heresy hearings of the Templars before Pope Clement V in the 14th Century. The official who found the paper says it exonerates the knights entirely. Prof Barbara Frale, who stumbled across the parchment by mistake, says that...

Oak Island News Release NEW READING OF MYSTERIOUS OAK ISLAND INSCRIPTION Theory points to possible connection with nearby Birch Island FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE HALIFAX, Nova Scotia: Wednesday, July 12th, 2006 - - For the past two centuries, the tunnels of Nova Scotia’s Oak Island have piqued the imagination of historians and treasure hunters alike. Now, a new theory by First Nations researcher Keith Ranville may add fresh speculation to the mystery. Based on a unique reading of an inscription once found in the “Money Pit,” Mr. Ranville believes that the answer to the riddle may be found on nearby Birch...

First Knights Templar are discovered April 10, 2006 LONDON: The first bodies of the Knights Templar, the mysterious religious order at the heart of The Da Vinci Code, have been found by archaeologists near the River Jordan in northern Israel. British historian Tom Asbridge yesterday hailed the find as the first provable example of actual Knights Templar. The remains were found beneath the ruined walls of Jacob's Ford, an overthrown castle dating back to the Crusades, which had been lost for centuries. They can be dated to the exact day -- August 29, 1179 -- that they were killed by...

GERMAN film-makers' quest for the Holy Grail brought them to Royston Cave in search of clues left by the Knights Templar. The film crew from state TV channel ZDF — the German equivalent of the BBC — visited the cave last Friday to examine carvings by the Templars, who were warrior monks thought to be the guardians of the Holy Grail. Peter Houldcroft, manager of the caves, said: "The cave is completely man-made and it has been believed for some time that there was somebody connected to the Knights Templar who carved the cave. "The appeal of the cave is...

The Knights Templar were a monastic military order formed at the end of the First Crusade with the mandate of protecting Christian pilgrims on route to the Holy Land. Never before had a group of secular knights banded together and took monastic vows. In this sense they were the first of the Warrior Monks. From humble beginnings of poverty when the order relied on alms from the traveling pilgrims, the order would go on to have the backing of the Holy See and the collective European monarchies. Within two centuries they had become powerful enough to defy all but...