Dictionaries & Encyclopedias : Knights Templar Encyclopedia The Essential Guide to the People Places Events and Symbols of the Order of the Temple
The Templars: The History and the Myth: From Solomon's Temple to the Freemasons | 
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- ISBN13: 9781564149268
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Highly Recommended
The Knights Templar Encyclopedia, by Karen Ralls, PhD is a highly recommended addition to anyone's library on the Order.
The author was a post doctoral fellow at the University of Edinburgh before continuing specialist in medieval history research at Oxford. She was a former deputy director of the Rosslyn Chapel Museum exhibition.
While the book is written in the format of an encyclopedia, it has much useful information, and is easy to read from cover to cover. Almost any student of the Templars (other than perhaps Malcolm Barber) will learn something.
For example, I had never associated the term "troy ounce" with the Templars. At pages 223-224, Ralls describes Troy Weights as being brought from returning crusaders and was adopted at the Champagne fairs.
Some terms may not be familiar to many participants at the school as they read some of the assigned texts. "Letter of Credit" is one of those terms. Someone will either have the familiarity to refer to them as "lc's" or not exactly know what they are. At p. 113 Ralls described how lc's developed at the Champagne fairs, where a debt incurred at one fair could be repaid at the next. There is a discussion of the term `Safe Deposit
Ralls handles the speculative topics accurately, and without condescension. For example, she says that with regard to the wife of Hugh de Payns, "nothing for certain is known of his wife or her lineage." She describes how modern Freemasons are not the same organization as the historical Templars, and that the founder of Rosslyn Chapel was not a Templar.
Some of the definitions are fun to read. Roger de Flor was a sergeant -brother, who was expelled for piracy. His flag may be the "Jolly Roger."
Some of the interesting terms include: "Templar Admiral"; a lengthy discussion of "Black Madonnas"; Office of "Templar Commander" a type of financial controller; the "Draper"; "Geometry"; how the Grand Masters were elected, by a council of 13 electors, eight knights, four sergeants, and a chaplain; the organization of the Templar Order; the Temple Church in London; the aftermath of the trial (a country by country discussion of what happened); and many others.
Also very useful are the five appendices and the list of recommended readings (14 pages). The appendices include a time-line, a list of Grand Masters, a list of Popes during 1119-1312, the charges against the Templars, and a listing of selected Templar sites.
This is an inexpensive, and important, addition to anyone's Templar library.
 A traditional interpretation of events
I am a former catholic monk and a Zen practitioner, and as such have a particular affinity for the Knights Templar.
My general observation on this book, and Dr. Rall's other tome on the Templars "The Templars and the Grail" (I have read most everything on the subject) as well as the rest of the scholarly books out there, is that they represent the traditional view. History is written by the victors. What we have has been passed down and approved by the powers-that-be for the last 700 years. It takes someone without a PhD in history, like Piers Paul Read (whom Dr. Ralls quotes) and Gordon Napier, to buck the trend.
Dr. Ralls is a religious scholar as well as a medieval historian, and I wish she would look into the Templars mystical practice. Clearly they were more than strictly Catholics. When she mentions Beauseant, the Templars' flag, composed of equal black and white stripes, she speculates that it symbolizes their sins (black) and the purity of the Order (white). A soon to be released historical novel (I read an advance copy) clarifies this point. Grigor Fedan in THE TEMPLARS, TWO KINGS, AND A POPE says that Beauseant meant "Be Whole" in the ancient Gnosticism practiced by the Templars and most likely Jesus as well. The black and the white meant the coming together of opposites, the "marriage" the Gnostics seek. Fedan also clarifies the Templars' veneration of the Virgin Mary, which Dr. Ralls tries her best to explain, but if you look into Sophia, the Gnostics' Holy Mother, this becomes clear. Dr, Ralls describes the Croix Patte, the Templars' red cross, and she mentions that all four extremities are equal. This happens to be the Gnostic cross, and it symbolizes balance. The six-sided star that Dr. Ralls mentions is found in Templar graffiti, is actually two intertwined spades. The upper spade symbolizes male, the downward, female. Together they portray the marriage of male and female. It's sad that it takes a novelist to point this out, but I guess you have to be well versed in esoteric practices to know these things. For someone like me who has Catholicism running in his veins and who wishes for nothing better than for all Christians to reclaim their true heritage, Fedan's novel is a panacea.
I also wish with all my heart that Dr. Ralls would follow suit. At least she doesn't claim that Baphomet (the apocryphal idol the Templars were accused of worshiping) was archaic French for Mohammed as her colleague Peter Partner says (whom she also quotes). I grant her that, she's a careful and thoughtful historian, and her Encyclopedia contains valuable information. There's no better source for Templar sites in England and Scotland, or the succinct history of the Order. I also like the explanation of (Sacred) Geometry, the description of Templar prayers, the legend of Roger de Flor.
Fedan's description of the Templars' trial is correct. Dr. Ralls takes the traditional view expounded by Malcolm Barber, and exonerates the Pope, implying that he was strong-armed by Philip. The truth is that the Pope was doing Philip's bidding, to whom he was beholden for his position.
I wish Fedan had written a scholarly work so his findings could be duly considered. But he chose to write a novel, I assume because the events covered lent themselves to a fast-paced thriller. My hope is that it will spur someone like Dr. Ralls into exploring his remarkable findings.
A Ray of Light on the Templar Enigma
Confused about all the speculation & stories centered around the secret society known as the Knights Templar? Do you want to sort out the fact and fiction of Mary Magdalene and The Holy Grail? Find it hard to know just who to believe in all the so-called "codes" & "ancient mysteries?" Were the Templars guilty of witchcraft, Satanism & homosexuality as charged by The Church? Do you want FACTUAL history of the Templars presented in one well-written & engrossing format? Would you like a real encyclopedia of the subject that reads like an exciting novel?
Then get this book.
Inside you will find information about the history of not only the mysterious & romantic Templars, but also that of the Cathars, the journey of mystical relics, Gnostic sects & their persecution by The Church, the floor plans of the famous Rosslyn Chapel, Agnes Dei, and much, much more.
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR ENCYCLOPEDIA is a gem of investigative reporting & analysis, in contrast to which other books of similiar genre should be compared. It is a fully engaging & intelligent work.
The Secret History of Freemasonry: Its Origins and Connection to the Knights Templar
Holy Blood, Holy Grail
History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Opening the Ark of the Covenant: The Secret Power of the Ancients, the Knights Templar Connection, And the Search for the Holy Grail
Bloodline of the Holy Grail: The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed
The Stone Puzzle of Rosslyn Chapel: The Truth behind its Templar and Masonic secrets
Rosslyn and the Grail
The Gospel of Mary Magdalene
The Gnostic Gospels: Including the Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Mary Magdalene (Sacred Wisdom)
An excellent guide on the Templar trail!
Dr Ralls is an engaging and reliable source of information on the subject all too prone to modern myth-making. In lively and readable prose, she leads us on the trail of the Templars via solid historical evidence that avoids the marshes of speculation. Along the way, she offers us fascinating glimpses into related windows of 12th century culture and religion, including the Holy Grail, the Black Madonna and Alchemy. An excellent resource!
Easy To Use Reference on the Knights Templar
When Dr. Ralls asked me to submit a few of my past photos for inclusion in her latest book, I had no idea she was working on an encyclopedia of the Knights Templar. However, I was delighted to see and read the final product of her research. It is at once both an excellent reference about the Knights and an easily readable narrative of who they were, their historical activities, places, and symbols.
While I first found myself reading the book from cover to cover, I now use it to look up specific subjects relating to the Templars. I find the guide very thorough for that purpose, and, as an experienced traveler, I find especially valuable Appendix E, the Selected List of Templar Sites. While Dr. Ralls' Bibliography is quite complete, as an avid researcher I particularly appreciate her inclusion of a section on Recommended Reading of books and articles organized by subject.
Karen Ralls is no stranger to the study of the Order of the Temple. When I decided to travel 4 years ago to England, Scotland, and France to study the sacred architecture for which the Knights are responsible, I was told to contact Dr. Ralls. I found she had not only been past deputy director of the Rosslyn Chapel Museum exhibition, but that she had been lecturing on medieval history at Oxford University. And, that's where I met up with her.
Also being a stickler for accuracy and details, Karen and I talked the same language. I got many good tips from her on where to concentrate my efforts in my own search, and I subsequently enjoyed reading her book The Templars and the Grail. Keep in mind that all this was before the arrival of the Da Vinci Code novel and movie. Dr. Ralls put me way ahead of the game, so to speak, and was instrumental in encouraging me to follow through on my lecture circuit about the meanings behind the art, architecture, and symbols of the Templars.
The Knights Templar Encyclopedia is a fitting culmination of many years of scholarly work by a fine academic historian. As I have, I think you will find it an enjoyable read as well as a stepping stone to your own further quest for knowledge about the mystical Knights of the Temple.
While this book is a milestone in the efforts of Dr. Ralls, we certainly know it will be followed by many other significant contributions from her in this field of study.
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