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Temple grounds, and evidence points to the fact that they might have found something. In
March, 1952, a copper scroll found in cave III at Qumran, near the Dead Sea, revealed that more
than 138 tons of gold and silver were buried in 64 locations, before the Romans destroyed the
Temple. It is believed that 24 of these locations were under the Temple Mount, which was
plundered by the Knights Templar and taken to Europe, where it became the basis for the
establishment of the international banking system.
In 1153, a nobleman, Bertrand de Blanchefort, who lived only a couple of miles from
Rennes-le-Chateau, became the 4th Grand Master of the Knights Templar He escalated their
growth into the diplomatic and political circles, and established a Templar presence in the area.
Their numbers soon increased to 9,000, and the Order spread to Tripoli, Antioch, Cyprus,
Portugal, Castile, Leon, Arragon, France, Flanders, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, Ireland,
Germany, Italy and Sicily. They had a presence in most areas adhering to Christianity.
In 1187, after the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin, they were forced to move their headquarters to
the island of Cyprus; and in 1188, the Prieuré de Sion withdrew their control from the Knights
Templar and separated from them. They moved their headquarters to a Temple in Paris, and
through their organization and wealth, the Knights became the bankers of Europe.
By the end of the 12th century, they had 30,000 members (mostly French), and they fought in
the wars of their own countries. They soon gained so much power, that their Grand Master
Jacques de Molay became a challenge to the authority of King Philip IV (‘the Fair’). Between
1303-05, King Philip had Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303) kidnapped and killed, and had his
successor, Pope Benedict XI (1303-05) poisoned; then had his own man, Clement V (1305-16),
elected to the vacant papal throne. Pope Clement worked with Philip to begin a campaign to
destroy the power and the influence of the Knights, the Merovingian bloodline, and to confiscate
their treasures.
In Germany, Spain, and Cyprus, they were acquitted of any charges; but not in England,
Italy, and France. On October 13, 1307, all the Templars in France were arrested, amidst charges
by a former member (Esquian de Horian), and an investigation by Pope Clement, who said that
they appeared to serve Christ, but actually worshipped Lucifer. Accusations included:
immorality, heresy, denying Christ and the Virgin Mary; spitting and stepping on the cross;
burning the bodies of dead Templars and giving the ashes to initiates to mix in with their food
and drink; carrying out rituals with a skull, believed to be that of founder Hugues de Payen; and
worshipping a demon who took on the form of a cat. When King Philip’s men broke into the
Templar castle in Paris, they discovered a silver bust of a woman’s head, with a hinged top,
which when opened, contained two head bones wrapped in a white cloth, with a red cloth around
that. They were believed to be part of the skeletal remains of Mary Magdalene.
It was revealed, that part of the initiation, required the initiate to deny, curse, and spit at the
cross, as part of a gesture symbolizing St. Peter’s denial of Christ, thus introducing the candidate
to the Order as a sinner, so they could teach him the ways of Christianity. In actuality, the
Knights had actually become opposed to the Pope, when they realized the Vatican’s pagan
relationship to sun worship; and since the Catholic Church had become so identified with St.
Peter, the Knights had renounced Peter, and became followers of John.
In 1312, Pope Clement ordered that the Knights Templar were to be suppressed. On March
18, 1314, Jacques de Molay, the 22nd Grand Master of the Knights, Geoffrey de Charney (who
possessed the Shroud of Turin, which was stolen from Constantinople), and two of their highest
officers were burned at the stake for trying to overthrow the government. In England, Edward II
joined in the denunciation by arresting and torturing 140 knights, 54 of whom were burned at the