Knights of the Black and White : HarperCollinsPublishers : 9780007207459 : 000720745X : 01 Oct 2007 : The exciting first book in a brand new fictional trilogy about the most important events in the history of the Order of the Knights Templar. The Templars represent a widely popular period of history, but the roots of their fellowship have been shrouded in contemporary conspiracy theory and media glamour....this trilogy tells the true tales of the Knights Templar; beginning with why they formed after the First Crusade and why they continued to grow in power and influence. Immediately after the deliverance of Jerusalem, the Crusaders, considering their vow fulfilled, drifted back to their homes. But some considered that the defence of this precarious conquest, surrounded as it was by Mohammedan neighbours, still remained. In 1118, during the reign of Baldwin II, Hugues de Payens, a knight of Champagne, and eight of his companions bound themselves by a perpetual vow, taken in the presen