ABSTRACT
Few medieval institutions have attracted as much interest as the Knights Templar, whether from academic historians, pseudo-historians or the general public. This Military Order was founded after the First Crusade and played a hugely significant role in the fortunes of the crusader states. After the fall of Acre in 1291 it eventually fell foul of the machinations of King Philip IV of France and was suppressed in the early fourteenth century after a dramatic series of accusations, arrests, trials and confessions. 1 However, although academic historians have, for the most part, confined their attention to the history of the Order up to this point, many pseudo-historians have focused particularly on its ‘after-history’. This term is used here to include the myths that surround the Order either during its documented existence from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries or its supposed existence to the present day. This after-history ranges from the barely credible to the downright absurd and encompasses a vast range of subjects that will be discussed in this paper. However, it should be emphasized that this study is not intended to be an exhaustive survey of the literature and the myths they present, as that would be impossible in an article of this length. Instead, it aims to provide an introduction to the subject, showing the types of myths that are associated with the Order before considering why these myths appear in such great variety and why it is important to challenge the publication of such material.
