Secret Societies of the Middle Ages: The Assassins, the Templars, and the Secret Tribunals of Westphalia

by Thomas Keightley

Secret Societies of the Middle Ages explores the foundations of modern secret societies, examining the history and known facts of three very different organizations. 1. The Assassins of the Middle Easthow they evolved from an Islamic religious sect into one of the most feared groups in all the world and how the very name of this ancient order became the word used for political killings of this nature. 2. The Templars of Europefrom a pious group of protectors and dedicated crusaders to their bitter end persecuted as heretics, they introduced the concept of banking to the world while amassing a fortune of incalculable wealth. 3. The Secret Tribunals of Westphaliathe feared and selfappointed judicial group who passed judgment and performed executions in a time of lawlessness in Germany. They enjoyed popular support, providing a rudimentary and vigilante law at a time when warlords ruled and the emperor was ineffective. The echoes of these particular societies are still heard todayfrom presidential offices to battlegrounds in the Middle East. Secret Societies of the Middle Ages , originally published in 1846, was the first book to gather information on these secret orders. This foundational reference work, upon which many contemporary histories have relied, is now back in print with an introduction by James Wasserman, author of The Templars and the The Militia of Heaven .

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Ebooks

428 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Irish writer known for his works on mythology and folklore

Reviews

[Валерій Калниш · Rating 1 out of 5]

1. Це найгірша книга про таємні товариства, яку я читав.
2. Це має своє пояснення - її перша публікація відбулася у 1837 році) Тому для сучасного читача вона не має жодної цінності.
3. Вся книга це переповідання хронології правлінь. По суті та структурі таємних товариств тут майже нічого немає, оскільки це не дослідження, а переповідання відомих (на початок 19 сторіччя) фактів. Так, тамплієрів автор взагалі не вважає таємним товариством)
4. Не витрачайте час на цю книгу.

[The Esoteric Jungle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This work is actually passable on the data side of retaining sources for us and tracing a few groups down in a basic way. But on the meaning side, it, as usual, gets almost every incident almost entirely diametrically backwards from what really happened and from what it really meant (according to sources predating their late coming popularized victorious redactors).

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. A detailed but very dated account of three secret societies from the Middle Ages that even today remain fodder for conspiracy theories. There is some interest today, of course, due to the characterization by some of the assassins as prototypes of the modern Islamic extremist terrorists, but that seems a little "off" to me. Anyway, worth reading if you have an interest in the particular subjects, but otherwise, I wouldn't recommend this one.