The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Jesus Christ and the Temple of Solomon -- more commonly known as the Knights of the Temple, or the Knights Templar -- were founded in Jerusalem on Christmas Day, 1119. The order was for all intents and purposes exterminated by Philip IV "the Fair" of France in 1314, when its members were accused of various heinous crimes, tortured, and burned for heresy. In between lies much fascinating history.
Piers Paul Read tells the story of the Templars, but he does so (wisely, in light of how little historical knowledge most modern readers have) in broad context. In this case, he backs clear up to the story of Abraham and Isaac, since the Temple in Jerusalem was later constructed on the site where that near-sacrifice occurred. Read traces the importance of the Temple and Temple Mount the the major faiths of the area (of course, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) as a way of helping understand why the Templars chose that site for their founding and that area for their works of defense of Christianity. Much of the story of the Templars is the story of the crusades, so if you're looking for a general history of the first few crusades, this is a good place to start. You'll learn about the intertwined politics and religion of the 12th and 13th centuries, as well as assorted other bits of history. Some of this was old ground for me (I've been fascinated with the Templars for years), but some was new -- I did not, for example, know that there was great excitement in Christendom in the year 1300 because it was understood that the Mongol chieftain Ghazan, about to conquer Jerusalem from the east, was going to then give it to the Christians. (In fact, he declared Islam the official faith of his domains, and was later shoved back out of the holy land by the Mamelukes and Turks).
The monastic fighting orders are one of the interesting social innovations of the middle ages. In addition to the Templars, the two other famous orders whose stories weave into this book are the Hospitalers (who have survived to modern times as the Knights of Malta, though they no longer battle the infidel) and the Teutonic Knights (who eventually moved from the Holy Land to Prussia to combat the infidels to the East, were the subject of a great deal of historical falsification by the Third Reich, and survive in much reduced form today as a charitable order). These military orders lived in common following variations of the Benedictine or Augustinian rules for monks and were chartered directly by the Pope. Unlike other monks, though, they had specific purposes beyond contemplation: all three orders were used as armies to fight for the purposes of Christianity (in the Templar period, chiefly in the attempt to take and hold Jerusalem and the surrounding areas), and the Hospitalers and Teutonic Knights in addition to care for the sick. The Templars, by contrast, became early bankers of Christendom, holding much property themselves, with chapter houses across Europe and the ability to loan money on a scale required by monarchs and transmit it safely for long distances.
Read presents the case that it was the Templar's wealth that led to their downfall. Philip's kingdom was in serious fiscal trouble due to many wars; he had already debased the currency, taxed the Catholic Church, and expelled the Jews so he could seize their property before turning his eye on the Templars. In well-coordinated raids he had all of the Templars in France arrested, and brought immense pressure to bear on the Pope to have the same done elsewhere. (At this period the papacy was to a large extent a de facto vassal of France; this was the beginning of the Avignon papacy, a subject to dig into some other time). The Templars confessed to all manner of things: idol worship, blashphemy, and homosexuality being the chief accusations. One must remember, though, that this was the time of the Inquisition; being tortured by, for example, having your feet held to the fire until the small bones fell out of the liquified flesh was probably enough to make anyone confess to anything. (Many of the Templars, including the last Grand Master James of Molay, later recanted their confessions and were burned as obstinate heretics.) Philip managed to get his hands on a good amount of Templar loot, as did monarchs in other lands, and the papacy got their share too.
Read ends the book by considering the place of the Templars in history. He quickly dismisses the modern fashionable conspiracy theories (such as the one propounded in the absurd bestseller _Holy Blood, Holy Grail_ that the Templars were secretly helping the descendants of an illegitimate union between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene in their quest for the French throne). He gives more space to the researches of later historians on whether the Templars were in fact guilty of anything. He finds the consensus to be that the Templars were not guilty of the charges -- though at this distance in time, it is difficult to be certain. Read's own attempt at interpretation is to position the Templars in the broad sweep of European history: "The two-hundred-year life-span of the Order of the Temple coincides almost exactly with the claim of the Papacy to a paramount sovereignty over the whole world." And indeed, it makes sense to see the crushing of one of the Pope's personal armies as a facet of his general humbling at the hands of the French king.
Overall, this is a well-written and enjoyable work. I particularly liked the broad context that Read sets the story of the Templars within, and his clear indications of the scope of the remaining evidence. I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in European history.