Jerusalem 1119. A small group of knights seeking a purpose in the violent aftermath of the First Crusade decides to set up a new order. These are the first Knights of Templar, a band of elite warriors prepared to give their lives to protect Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. Over the next two hundred years, the Templars would become the most powerful religious order of the medieval world. Their legend has inspired fervent speculation ever since. But who were they really and what actually happened?

Jerusalem 1119. A small band of knights seeking a purpose in the violent aftermath of the First Crusade decides to set up a new order. These are the first Knights Templar: a group of elite warriors prepared to give their lives to protect Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. Over the next two hundred years, the Templars would become the most powerful religious order of the middle ages - until they were rounded up an accused of heinous crimes. But who were they really, and what actually happened? In this groundbreaking narrative history, the bestselling author of The Plantagenets tells for the first time in a generation the true story of the Templars, drawing on extensive original sources to build a compelling account of a group of Christian holy warriors whose heroism and alleged depravity have so often been shrouded in myth. The Templars were protected by the pope and sworn to strict vows of celibacy. They fought the forces of Islam in Spain and on the sunbaked hills where Jesus lived