The Hardest Word

I found it quite a coincidence that having just finished the draft of my piece for Brave New Complex, which includes reference to the Knights Templar, they should appear in the news. A very round 700 years after Pope Clement V ordered the disbandment of the order, the Chinon parchment has revealed he did not find the order guilty of heresy, of which they had been accused by King Philip IV of France. You can have a look at the truth yourself for a little under £4,000, as the Vatican has made a limited edition of 800 numbered copies available.

If you start digging into the whole affair, it gets even more confusing as one scholar (the name and book title escapes me) suggests that the Knights Templar had foreknowledge of the accusations and many made good their escape as a result; but that’s for another day and another bog, I should think. In the meantime, I should expect when it hits the shelves, “Brave New Complex” will provide you with a chance to play as a member of the Knights Templar as one of man Secret Orders at odds with the rule of Avignon Papacy – and it won’t set you back the cost of a secondhand car.

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