Sword and the Cross

Between 1129 and 1187, the Knights Templar experienced their most extraordinary period: that of absolute peak. From the official legitimization granted at the Council of Troyes to the catastrophic collapse at the Horns of Hattin, this second installment narrates the history of an institution that challenged all categories of its time, combining monastic devotion with military efficacy, spiritual austerity with financial power, and absolute obedience with an institutional autonomy that the kings of Europe looked upon with equal parts respect and distrust.