Many legends and fables originated in the history of the Order of the Knights of the Temple of Zion, who were also called the Templars. Opponents of Catholicism have always portrayed them as innocent victims of the Catholic Church and King Philip IV of France.
Documents have been found in the Vatican archives that prove that the Templars did indeed become apostates from the Catholic faith. In the acts of the commission created by Pope Clement V, which included Etienne de Soucy, Berenger Fridoli and Lndolphe Brancatius among the cardinals, and which investigated the Templar case without the influence of the French crown, after interrogating the members of the Order without using torture, concluded that those wishing to join in the Order, candidates were forced to trample on crucifixion and deny Jesus Christ. The commission also expressed doubts about magical practices, pantheistic doctrine, which the order allegedly supported. In addition, the members of the commission completely ruled out the accusation of members of the Order of homosexuality. All defendants were eventually declared blasphemers and expelled from the order.and in April 1312, Pope Clement V dispersed the Knights Templar. Bulla about the dissolution of the Order does not duplicate the charges of the French crown.
These documents also refute the accusations against King Philip IV of allegedly wanting to appropriate the property of the knights, since all the property of the Templars was transferred to the Order of the Knights of St. John, also known as the Order of Malta.
Such research results were presented by the historian Dr. Barbara Frail. Back in 2002, data on these studies were published, but the general public learned about them from the book by Michael Gesemann.
