Voir History Specials - Episode 77

For nearly two centuries, the Knights Templar was the most powerful order in the medieval world. Despite the Knights' long reign of power, the order experienced a sudden collapse in the early fourteenth century when certain members stood accused of unspeakable crimes and were subsequently tortured and killed. Today, the group's legacy has been popularized in the writings of Dan Brown, and is played out in an array of Hollywood blockbusters and numerous other works of literature. This insightful program from HISTORY interviews some of the world's leading biblical scholars and visits historic sites throughout Europe and the Near East to probe the remarkable rise and rapid descent of this powerful and obscure order. Did the Knights Templar, as many believe, guard the Holy Grail? Or was the object of their attentions buried a thousand years before the birth of Christ?