Templars, The

The Knights Templar were the wealthiest, most powerful - and most secretive - of the military orders that flourished in the crusading era.

Their story - encompassing as it does the greatest international conflict of the Middle Ages, a network of international finance, a swift rise in wealth and influence followed by a bloody and humiliating fall - has left a comet's tail of mystery that continues to fascinate and inspire historians, novelists and conspiracy theorists.