ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses valuable information about the Templars that has been effectively concealed within the documents drawn up at the time of the Templars’ arrests in Britain and Ireland and during the proceedings against the Templars. In the novel The Da Vinci Code, a cryptic code holds the key to valuable knowledge held by the Templars that has been hidden from the world for centuries. The Templars in England and Wales were arrested in the second week of January 1308, and in Ireland early in February 1308. The detailed contents of the account rolls reveal many important facets of Templar economy, in particular its agricultural aspects. A careful reading of the Templar account rolls reveals there were some visible changes in agricultural patterns when their estates passed under the control of royal officials. The surviving account rolls for the former English demesnes of the Templars reveal some fascinating aspects of the Order’s economy.