The Knights Templar.

@SugarcoatedStacie Said

Yes, the Templar's existed. They were warrior monks sent out by the Church to take back lands and push back attacks from the Turks (Muslims) They bulit a large group of warriors, monks and had worldwide pull. And yes, they were some of the first Europeans to become interested in banking and credit worldwide.
Their fortifications are beautiful, truly masterfull.
They threatened the Pope's power, yes. They began to yeild more power then the popes had intended- so the Pope said that they were heretics and commited several acts of sin (he said that their rites included blood-rituals, devil worsip and sodomy.) With these made-up charges the church launched a full scale attack on the Templar knights and did away with them ruthlessly and quickly. [Yes, this did happen on friday the 13th as the above poster said.]

Any myths about them and the 'Holy Grail' both in ledgend and in Dan Brown's novel the DaVinci code are however untrue. These knights did not protect the holy grail.

The History Channel has done a lot of really nice programs about them- ex. Lost World's episode The Knights Templar is available on DVD + they did quite a few things in reference to the historical accuracy of Dan Brown's novels, including one show proving using DNA evidence to see if the french Marovinigan kings could have orriginated in the middle east and could have been decendents of Jesus Christ.

@curiouskat Said

Did they really exist or is it all just a fairytale?

The only info i can find on them comes from Wiki or different religious sites, so im thinking i have nothing factual to work with here, what do you guys think??

Is their any proof of their existance that anyone knows of?

@WeNowSix Said

According to one of my grandkids, (therefore it must be true,

Post #11 has the basic truth of the Templars. They built castles, which one can go see if one has a mind to, in Europe and the Middle East, so they must have had large resources in labor and capital. The standard histories of banking don't mention Templars, so maybe they were not bankers in the modern since. Their power threatened the Pope. That was somehow the reason for their destruction, and that could be related to the fact that they don't have a place in our politically correct history.

@Erimitus Said

WAS this gradkid named Ming?

@WeNowSix Said

According to one of my grandkids, (therefore it must be true,

Post #11 has the basic truth of the Templars. They built castles, which one can go see if one has a mind to, in Europe and the Middle East, so they must have had large resources in labor and capital. The standard histories of banking don't mention Templars, so maybe they were not bankers in the modern since. Their power threatened the Pope. That was somehow the reason for their destruction, and that could be related to the fact that they don't have a place in our politically correct history.

@WeNowSix Said

I've always spelled Philipino with an F, Filipino or Filipina.

@epicnessincarnate Said

Good to know.
Im fairly sure its ph but i cant be bothered with google.

@WeNowSix Said

I have always thought one should spell Filipino with a P rather than an F because that is the way Tagalog speakers say it. I think of myself as something of an expert on this subject because my son lived with a Filipino hooker during the Vietnam War. When he married, he and his wife lived with this rather colorful woman, known as Blizzard. She was not really Filipino, but rather Ifugao, which is (was?) a tribe of head hunters.

8)

@epicnessincarnate Said

Indeed. Have you ever attempted to sound cultured and then suceeded to the point that when you yell MOTHER f***ER! when you stub your toe people sorta go wait whaaaaaaat?

@WeNowSix Said

I have always thought one should spell Filipino with a P rather than an F because that is the way Tagalog speakers say it. I think of myself as something of an expert on this subject because my son lived with a Filipino hooker during the Vietnam War. When he married, he and his wife lived with this rather colorful woman, known as Blizzard. She was not really Filipino, but rather Ifugao, which is (was?) a tribe of head hunters.

8)

@epicnessincarnate Said

Indeed. Have you ever attempted to sound cultured and then suceeded to the point that when you yell MOTHER f***ER! when you stub your toe people sorta go wait whaaaaaaat?