Just a point of interest:- The Knights of Malta (Knights Hospitalers) and the Knights Templar are as chalk and cheese. The warrior monks(Templars) were almost all of them illiterate and fought mainly for money/land. Hence they weren't clever enough to see what was coming! While the more clever Hospitalers....what can I say? They did amazingly well out of the Templars, and are still alive today to tell the tale (if you can find one who talks in his sleep) Time to forget the Templar legends...Lets talk about the Cathars.....Now they are souls worth a word or two!!
Yes, the KT didn't do themselves any favours. Mind you they were clever enough to remove their wealth from france before King Phil got his greedy hands on it.
ps, the cathars, agree very interesting. I think some of the KT were quite sympathetic towards them, something else that may not have gone in their favour.
Originally posted by Greenjack: Yes, the KT didn't do themselves any favours. Mind you they were clever enough to remove their wealth from france before King Phil got his greedy hands on it.
As I said....the Hospitalers did exceedingly well out of them....alive and well in Malta (and the rest of the world) today. Even with a seat in Rome...can't be bad can it?
While the more clever Hospitalers....what can I say? They did amazingly well out of the Templars, and are still alive today to tell the tale (if you can find one who talks in his sleep) 
Time to forget the Templar legends...Lets talk about the Cathars.....Now they are souls worth a word or two!!
