Wednesday, October 24, class 10am-12, 1-3pm, served lunch 12-1pm
Lifelong Learning, Instituto Allende
$475

The Knights Templar, Lifelong Learning

Ron Parker. One-Day Course, 475 Pesos (including lunch)

These are the storied Crusader knights that Dan Brown writes extensively about in The Da Vinci Code. Clothed in an iconic white tunic emblazoned with a red Coptic cross, they were the Church’s first military order. Founded by papal decree in 1128, they were originally tasked with protecting those on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. What started out as nine knights answerable only to the Pope grew by donations, banking and travel services to become the richest order in all of Christendom. Their power became so great that even kings were in their debt. The king of France, unable to repay their loans, had the leaders arrested on Friday, October 13, 1307 — the origin of the myth that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day. We will trace their colorful history, separating fact from fiction, from their beginning in 1128 until the order was finally dissolved by Papal Bull in 1312.

Ron Parker was a U.S. History teacher, previously taught an LLP course about Henry VIII, and has read widely about the Middle Ages.

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