In 1119, Godfroi de St. Omer and Hugues de Payns of Burgundy went to Jerusalem with the stated intention of giving up worldly chivalry, living in poverty, chastity, and obedience, fighting for the true and supreme King (Christ), and guarding the public roads so that pilgrims could travel in safety. Six other knights joined them. Baldwin II, who was king of Jerusalem from 1118–31, gave the Templars part of his palace. This area was close to the al-Aksa Mosque, which was popularly referred to as Solomon’s Temple. From that location the order took its name. Graham Hancock, in The Sign and the Seal,[1] makes some very interesting and well-researched alternative historical suggestions about the earliest days of the Templars. In his view, the nine original founders (not eight!) went to the Temple site for a completely different purpose. Hancock points out with a fair degree of logic that eight or nine knights would have been hopelessly inadequate defenders over the many miles of road that the pilgrims had to cover.
What do You think about The Oak Island Mystery (2012)?
