The Knights Templar: A History Strange and True - Dorsey Armstrong, The Great Courses

Written by Dorsey Armstrong, The Great Courses
Read by Dorsey Armstrong
Format: M4B
Bitrate: 128 Kbps
Unabridged

The Knights Templar: A History Strange and True
By: Dorsey Armstrong, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Dorsey Armstrong
Release date
26-09-2025
Language
English
Format
Lecture
Length
10 hrs and 58 mins
Publisher
The Great Courses
Categories
Religion & Spirituality

Hidden treasures. Secret societies. War and plunder. You’ve heard the stories, seen the movies, pondered the conspiracy theories. You know that the Knights Templar are said to be connected with the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, the Freemasons—even Oak Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia. But who were they really?

Embark on a thrilling journey through the Middle Ages with The Knights Templar: A History Strange and True. Over 24 riveting lectures, Dr. Dorsey Armstrong, a distinguished medieval scholar at Purdue University, peels back the layers of legend to reveal the flesh-and-blood reality of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon. Founded around 1119 to protect Christian travelers in the wake of the First Crusade, the Templars evolved from a humble band of knights to a military and financial powerhouse, responsible for managing the wealth of nobles and defending Crusader states.

Your course takes you from Pope Urban II’s call for the First Crusade in 1095 to the dangers that faced traveling Christians in the Levant. After the 1119 massacre of 300 pilgrims near the Jordan River, two knights—Hugues de Payens and Godfrey de Saint-Omer—vowed to protect future travelers. Dr. Armstrong traces their cinematic arc from 1119 to the aftermath of October 13, 1307, when King Philip IV of France orchestrated a mass arrest, accusing the Templars of heresy, idolatry, and treason.

What happened at the end of their era? Did they all disappear back into Europe? Or did something of their order live on? Look beyond conspiracies around the Freemasons or The Da Vinci Code to discover the real legacy of the Knights Templar: a unique fusion of faith, finance, and warfare that shaped medieval Europe and continues to spark our imaginations today.

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