The Temple and the Crown

Knights Templar #2

by Katherine Kurtz, Deborah Turner Harris

This sequel to "The Temple and the Stone" features the Knights Templar, medieval warrior monks with magical powers. In 1306, as Edward I of England challenges Scottish freedom fighters and France's Philip IV usurps control of the papacy, both kings are puppets of the Order of the Black Swan. The order's true goal is to capture the sacred relics guarded by the mystic Knights.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Alternate History, Religion

560 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Katherine Kurtz is an American fantasy novel writer. She is best known for her Deryni series. She currently lives in Virginia.

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The struggle for Scottish independence parallels the struggle of the Templar Order to survive. Nogaret and the Order of the Black Swan steal the High Priest's breastplate, but it resists their efforts to control it. Arnault and Torquil go to Jerusalem to recover a shard from the original Tablets (10 Commandments) in order to combat the Black Swan. Nogaret is defeated by Le Cercle, and the Templars ride to Robert Bruce's rescue at Bannockburn, helping him rout the English army. The Fifth Temple is established at Loch Ness using the Stone of Destiny and the Shard as a cornerstone.

[Annemary Noble · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad book but personally this wasn't such an engaging read for me. I relly liked the historical descriptions and the mix of the realistic story with the fantasy elements. However, I found the text immersive but difficult to read and even though the battle at the end was epic, it just felt so long. And honestly the french characters and a couple templars had the best personalities, not the Scots.
Also being a foreigner and not knowing a thing about this time period didn't help with reading this but at least I learned something.

P.s. Rest in pepperoni Bartholeme, you were my fave french sorcerer. You slayed and outfabbed your peers.

[Sean Helms · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books contain elements from two of my favorite subjects: Scotland and the Knights Templar. With those two teamed up is outstanding!
Begins with the sad destruction of the Knights of the Temple on the infamous Friday the 13th and ends with the amazingly wonderful victory of Scotland over the Sassenach English at the celebrated Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
I could read this kind of stuff every day!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an appealing account of Robert Bruce’s war to take control of Scotland in the early 1300s and the role the Templars may have played. It also uses historical ideas of the Pope and Guillarme de Nogaret to complete the tale, as well as suggestions that the Stone of Destiny is not the real one, that the real one is at the bottom of Loch Ness as part of the Fifth Temple. The inclusion of the demons is a bit much, but whatever makes the story more interesting, I guess.

[mariangiongiangela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is probably one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. The plot is just fantastic and the stories of the Templar’s Knights and the Order of the Black Swan are just awesome. Well written, I got completely into this book. Loved it!!

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book and the prior one (The Temple and the Stone) are very much old-school style fantasies, which is OK because these are books I would have read and enjoyed in my unsophisticated late teens/twenties (I did in fact read the Deryni series when it first came out - and loved it.) While the premise goes way out to left-field, there's a lot of solid European history in here regarding the time period, which I always find interesting. And despite the fact that these books are about the Templars, the Christianity represented here is pretty much in the vein of mysticism, so it doesn't get my back up like it does in some fantasies (the ones that try to line up their plot and events with the existence of one God, who created the universe, blah, blah, blah.)

I enjoyed both books and will be going on to the Camber of Culdi series at some point. For me, this was a nice dip into an older catalog.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the author and her style of writing. I don't know much about Scottish history nor do I know much about the Knights Templar. I realize much of this is conjecture but what fun conjecture!

[LAURENCE O GORMAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. A really engrossing read with such attention to detail. I have read Temple and the Stone and now just finished ....Crown and liked them so much I've started on the Deryni books starting with Deryni Rising currently on third chapter. Definitly big admirer of Katherine Kurtz books.

[Tabitha Ormiston-Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gott sei dank! It's finished!

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars