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The Lost Warriors of God: The True History of the Knights Templar
Professor Madden examines one of the most fascinating organizations in world history: the Knights Templar, whose members gave up home, family, and worldly possessions to defend the Holy Land and the Christian pilgrims who journeyed there.
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First published January 1, 2013
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About the author
Thomas F. Madden
43 books157 followersThomas F. Madden (born 1960) is an American historian, the Chair of the History Department at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, and Director of Saint Louis University's Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.
He is considered one of the foremost historians of the Crusades in the United States. He has frequently appeared in the media, as a consultant for various programs on the History Channel and National Public Radio.
In 2007, he was awarded the Haskins Medal from the Medieval Academy of America, for his book Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice, which was also a "Book of the Month" selection by the BBC History magazine.
He is considered one of the foremost historians of the Crusades in the United States. He has frequently appeared in the media, as a consultant for various programs on the History Channel and National Public Radio.
In 2007, he was awarded the Haskins Medal from the Medieval Academy of America, for his book Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice, which was also a "Book of the Month" selection by the BBC History magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 7, 2024
Sometimes I’m in a mood to listen to some history. Nothing earth shattering, no brilliant revelation of a new theory, just a straightforward lecture about historical facts. Somehow it’s soothing.
I felt that way yesterday (maybe it was the after effect of reading The Driver's Seat), but I knew I didn’t want 20 hours worth of lectures. This book of 8 half hour lectures fit my mood perfectly.
Yes, I already knew that the Hollywood/Dan Brown version of the Knights Templar was a far cry from reality and I really didn’t need to know any more about them than that. But it was interesting to learn their story from beginning to end, with just enough detail to be satisfying but not so much as to be boring.
Madden is a pleasant lecturer, not talking down to the listener and not trying to be entertaining. It irks me when a recorded lecturer circles back to some key point repeatedly, as if the listener can’t hold that thought from one session to the next. Madden also assumes a certain basic understanding about the geography of the Crusades, and the overall world order at the time, which allows him to move along briskly.
The lectures were well organized, working logically from the beginnings of the Order through its demise and providing at the end a brief analysis of historians’ takes on their downfall. It was just what I needed, and I can recommend it to anyone wanting to know a bit more about the Knights Templar’s role in the Crusades.
I felt that way yesterday (maybe it was the after effect of reading The Driver's Seat), but I knew I didn’t want 20 hours worth of lectures. This book of 8 half hour lectures fit my mood perfectly.
Yes, I already knew that the Hollywood/Dan Brown version of the Knights Templar was a far cry from reality and I really didn’t need to know any more about them than that. But it was interesting to learn their story from beginning to end, with just enough detail to be satisfying but not so much as to be boring.
Madden is a pleasant lecturer, not talking down to the listener and not trying to be entertaining. It irks me when a recorded lecturer circles back to some key point repeatedly, as if the listener can’t hold that thought from one session to the next. Madden also assumes a certain basic understanding about the geography of the Crusades, and the overall world order at the time, which allows him to move along briskly.
The lectures were well organized, working logically from the beginnings of the Order through its demise and providing at the end a brief analysis of historians’ takes on their downfall. It was just what I needed, and I can recommend it to anyone wanting to know a bit more about the Knights Templar’s role in the Crusades.
July 31, 2023
A good short introduction to the Templars without all the Masonic lodge myths and Hollywood movie fantasy. Dr. Madden is an expert on the crusades and it shows. However, he has a strange statement he makes throughout the lectures when he says, “We don’t know where the temple of Solomon was located.” True the Al-Aqsa mosque is not equal to the temple of Solomon, but we know the Temple was built on what is today called the Temple Mount, upon which the mosque is located. Regardless of this small quibble, these lectures are worth your time if you want to learn about the Templar order.
July 28, 2016
This is an audio lecture in 8 half-hour parts.
I'm guessing this is the most Templar-friendly history one could find. If you're looking for something to help you dig dirt on the Crusades, this is not for you. The seemingly cynical cross-religion alliances that both Christians and Muslims engaged in during that period are not ignored, but it is treated in a dispassionate way. There's no list of Crusader atrocities here, although I don't know if that's because the Templars tended not to be responsible for them or because the professor regards them as unremarkable for the time. This is not (quite) a general history of the Crusades.
What the professor does make clear is that the Templars were created to be a kind of police force to patrol the highways between Crusader fortresses, which were threatened by local bandits and Muslim guerilla fighters. Later, the order became wealthy and powerful and lost sight of its mission, although even then the professor is mainly an apologist. (European resentment of the Templars' wealth is portrayed as a lack of appreciation for the vast expense needed to maintain armored knights, their horses, and attendants in faraway places.) The suppression of the Templars by the King of France is described as an atrocity committed by a deeply paranoid ruler who had previously believed wild accusations about Jews and others. (And yes; the King wanted the Templar wealth as well.)
The final lecture is an entertaining look at the rise of Templar conspiracy theories. The Templars are linked to the Masons in ways I did not know, and this (false) linkage was promoted both by Masonic haters and some Masons themselves. Odd stuff.
I'm guessing this is the most Templar-friendly history one could find. If you're looking for something to help you dig dirt on the Crusades, this is not for you. The seemingly cynical cross-religion alliances that both Christians and Muslims engaged in during that period are not ignored, but it is treated in a dispassionate way. There's no list of Crusader atrocities here, although I don't know if that's because the Templars tended not to be responsible for them or because the professor regards them as unremarkable for the time. This is not (quite) a general history of the Crusades.
What the professor does make clear is that the Templars were created to be a kind of police force to patrol the highways between Crusader fortresses, which were threatened by local bandits and Muslim guerilla fighters. Later, the order became wealthy and powerful and lost sight of its mission, although even then the professor is mainly an apologist. (European resentment of the Templars' wealth is portrayed as a lack of appreciation for the vast expense needed to maintain armored knights, their horses, and attendants in faraway places.) The suppression of the Templars by the King of France is described as an atrocity committed by a deeply paranoid ruler who had previously believed wild accusations about Jews and others. (And yes; the King wanted the Templar wealth as well.)
The final lecture is an entertaining look at the rise of Templar conspiracy theories. The Templars are linked to the Masons in ways I did not know, and this (false) linkage was promoted both by Masonic haters and some Masons themselves. Odd stuff.
December 31, 2025
I highly recommend.
They had a vow to never surrender a fortification without orders to do so or leave a battlefield before the departure of all the Christian flags even those of other monasteries.
This is the first time that I’ve understood why French Revolutionary masonry (1789) adopted the Templars as their predecessors, even though they had been closed already for over 450 years before (1314).
They were “enlightened” nobles who wanted to have a social club without birthright (nobility), against the Church and against the King. The reimagined origin story of masonry involving the Templars allowed them to pretend they were getting revenge for the unjust closing of the Templars by the king and Pope (King Phillip the Fair and Pope Clement) and enjoy the esteem knighthood enjoyed in France.
The English freemasonry never felt the need to include the Templars in their origin myth
This is my oversimplification of one of the 45 minute lectures by Thomas Madden.
They had a vow to never surrender a fortification without orders to do so or leave a battlefield before the departure of all the Christian flags even those of other monasteries.
This is the first time that I’ve understood why French Revolutionary masonry (1789) adopted the Templars as their predecessors, even though they had been closed already for over 450 years before (1314).
They were “enlightened” nobles who wanted to have a social club without birthright (nobility), against the Church and against the King. The reimagined origin story of masonry involving the Templars allowed them to pretend they were getting revenge for the unjust closing of the Templars by the king and Pope (King Phillip the Fair and Pope Clement) and enjoy the esteem knighthood enjoyed in France.
The English freemasonry never felt the need to include the Templars in their origin myth
This is my oversimplification of one of the 45 minute lectures by Thomas Madden.
March 8, 2018
Enjoyable lectures (!) on the history of the Knights Templar, from their beginnings to their relatively sudden disappearance. The Professor also describes the post-demise history of the Templars in more modern times, including appearances in film and literature. This provides the background to better understand Dan Brown plots. Strange but true. I would listen to another of Professor Madden’s classes – he has an entertaining way to describe the past and doesn’t overwhelm with detail.
December 13, 2022
If you are interested in the real history of the Knights
Templar, there isn’t a better way to understand it than from this professor. It was very well laid out and easy to understand. I couldn’t get enough!
Templar, there isn’t a better way to understand it than from this professor. It was very well laid out and easy to understand. I couldn’t get enough!
October 21, 2021
Excellent lectures. Highly recommended.
May 4, 2019
Professor Thomas Madden presents long pondered information about the Knights Templar. This religious military order was also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple or just as the Templars. Founded in 1139 and active until 1312, this Catholic Military Order was comprised of men who
gave up wealth, privilege and ownership of property to protect Christian pilgrims. The templar knights wore white mantles with large red cross and were skilled fighting units of the Crusades. The order was also skilled at handling finance. Professor Madden also presents information about the Order of Knights of St. John of Jerusalem or Hospilitallers. The Hospitallers arose in the early 11th century, at the time of the great monastic reformation, as a group of individuals associated with an Amalfitan hospital in the Muristan district of Jerusalem, dedicated to John the Baptist and founded around 1023 to provide care for sick, poor or injured pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land. Many battles, and friction over finances led to the slow demise of the order, which some speculate had reappeared as Masonic Temples or Freemasonry in the 17 & 18 centuries. A fascinating history about secret orders their history.
gave up wealth, privilege and ownership of property to protect Christian pilgrims. The templar knights wore white mantles with large red cross and were skilled fighting units of the Crusades. The order was also skilled at handling finance. Professor Madden also presents information about the Order of Knights of St. John of Jerusalem or Hospilitallers. The Hospitallers arose in the early 11th century, at the time of the great monastic reformation, as a group of individuals associated with an Amalfitan hospital in the Muristan district of Jerusalem, dedicated to John the Baptist and founded around 1023 to provide care for sick, poor or injured pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land. Many battles, and friction over finances led to the slow demise of the order, which some speculate had reappeared as Masonic Temples or Freemasonry in the 17 & 18 centuries. A fascinating history about secret orders their history.
March 10, 2018
An enjoyable and decently informative overview of a part of history that I am otherwise not particularly interested in. I think the Templars (and the other knightly orders from the same period) are kind of interesting for their unique nature for the time, namely that they were essentially corporations in Medieval Europe, which otherwise had no conception of such structures. Which I suppose makes them a bit less interesting in the modern world where corporations are commonplace.
Another review I read here pointed out that the lecturer kind of glosses over the nitty-gritty details of the history of the Crusades and the involvement of the Templars in various conflicts, except some key ones that related to how the world perceived them. But as the subtitle of this work indicates, I think the main thrust of this relatively short lecture series was to counter all of the crazy myths and conspiracy theories that surround the Templars in current popular literature, an issue directly addressed in the final lecture, though indirectly addressed by all of the preceding lectures that showed the mundanity of the Templar actions and decisions relative to the situation in which they formed.
Another review I read here pointed out that the lecturer kind of glosses over the nitty-gritty details of the history of the Crusades and the involvement of the Templars in various conflicts, except some key ones that related to how the world perceived them. But as the subtitle of this work indicates, I think the main thrust of this relatively short lecture series was to counter all of the crazy myths and conspiracy theories that surround the Templars in current popular literature, an issue directly addressed in the final lecture, though indirectly addressed by all of the preceding lectures that showed the mundanity of the Templar actions and decisions relative to the situation in which they formed.
August 22, 2022
In 8 lectures ,Prof Madden outlines the history of the famous Knight Templars who began as a military order of monks in 1119 with only a handful of warriors ,rose to be one of the most significant military forces in the middle east, created the first multinational banking institution ,then fell as rapidly as it had risen ,when the King of France in 1307 arrested the leaders of the order in order to steal their wealth.Madden is a prominent historian of the Crusades so covers the 200 active years of the Templars well but I was especially intrigued by his last lecture on the post history of the order as the Templars have becomd fodder for conspiracy theorists and popular fiction fantasies.
June 13, 2019
Just finished watching season 2 of Knightfall on "History" channel and was looking for something to help me sort out the fact from the fiction. This audiobook was 8 lectures that really gave an easy to understand overview of how the Knights came to be, what their real functions were and what led to their downfall. Also touched on, and invalidate much of the fantasy surrounding them. I really enjoyed it.
June 9, 2018
Truly Fascinating . This is a well researched and thoroughly written history of the Knights that fought in the Crusades. The author did an excellent job clearly relating the what was really happening during the Crusade era and dispels the myriad of myth Land falsehoods surrounding the order or the Knights Templar.
January 26, 2018
He brought so much clarity on this topic. I’m especially happy that he brought up the modern lies, twists, and superstition. I read the chronicles of the Crusades from two eye witnesses, but this lecture filled in the gaps.
March 16, 2023
Very interesting history. So looks like there really aren't any secret templars guarding the Grail hidden somewhere in Mississippi...
March 21, 2023
I'm not sure why, but this course didn't really hold my attention. Not bad.
June 11, 2023
Audio. Fantastic. Supper informative. I loved how he dealt with all the conspiracy theories.
July 10, 2023
Interesting for sure, but I think I'd like it better as a documentary or taped lecture with pictures to help explain the subject matter.
June 3, 2024
Well written and skilfully narrated.
February 9, 2016
Great book! He does an excellent job cutting all the myth and laying out the facts around this legendary group of Knights. He devotes some time in the last couple of chapters for the conspiracies and even gives a pretty good theory behind them! The last bit about the hospitallers made me pause too.
October 18, 2015
An excellent book. A compact yet detailed account of the Knights Templars. Found something new myself. Recommend.
April 23, 2016
Another great lecture series by Prof Madden. Well written, well researched, well presented. Seems to give a balanced view about the topic.
December 26, 2016
fascinating, engaging, sassy at times. exactly what I want in a lecture series.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews