Anders Breivik, the accused perpetrators of bombings and shootings that killed 76 people in Norway, last Friday, reportedly always wanted to be a perfect knight. The desire was listed in the diary he wrote last winter.
The Manivesto Tells Everything
Can not be confirmed whether the diary, titled “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” was written Breivik. According to the diary, as reported by CNN, Breivik is a soldier who tried to save Europe from the Islamic conquests. Breivik apparently wanted the world to know that he is a member of an order a new Knights Templar, an order of medieval church history with the task of protecting Christian pilgrims from the Muslims in the holy land in the 12th century to 14.
Breivik writing, the his diary, the new order was devoted to fight the influx of Muslims and non-European citizens to the West. The cover of the manifesto and the medals that he has made for his fake military uniforms have a Templar symbol, a cross of blood red colored with white background.
Scotland Yard and the right-wing extremism experts do not rule out the possibility of such modern groups named Knigths Templar. But they have no evidence about it, other than those said by Breivik.
The His Story About Knight Templar
So who or what the Knights Templar? Paul Crawford, historian of California University who has devoted his career to studying the real Knights Templar, said the Knights Templar was not the gods or heroes. “Knights Templar were human. Sometimes they are heroic and virtuous, but sometimes they are not heroic and dirty. That is, it’s humane,” he told CNN.
But he said, a true member of the Knights Templar is not a hater. “Most people join the Templars as an act of love. That’s according to the modern mind is very strange. We do not believe people go to war for love. (But) they follow the commands of Jesus in the New Testament. He (Jesus) said, ‘No one which have a greater love than those who give his life for his friends’. ”
Knigths Templar formed in the 12th century. The group is a religious order of knights that aims to protect Christians from Muslims in Israel, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon during the Crusades and prevent the spread of Islam. Starting from these ideals, the Knights Templar order developed into a wealthy and very influential in the world in medieval times. But then disappeared after the age of 200 years.
They disbanded in 1307 after King Philip IV of France bombarding the order with the allegations, among others, that the members of the Knights Templar harassing Cross and involved sodomy, an accusation that is very dirty so that Pope Clement V felt compelled to ban the order.
Until the emergence of the name of the order in Breivik manifesto last week, the Knights Templar actually exist only in literature scholars like Crawford and British historian Malcolm Barber. But the myth of the Knights Templar is something else again. Myths about the Knights Templar have been woven into a film, book and TV series like in the movie “Indiana Jones”, “The Da Vinci Code” and “The Last Templar.” In the popular consciousness based on fiction and film, the group is a secret society that holds the holy grail, or as a mysterious group with a secret knowledge about Jesus.
From which the beginning of all the myths that? Crawford said there were a number of traces in history. For example, the initial base of the Knights Templar in Jerusalem is situated on the site of Solomon’s Temple. The room was a shrine to the three major religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and King Solomon had his own place in the popular imagination.
“Solomon had a reputation as one of the wisest that ever existed and in Arab mythology he was the one who can put the devil and the genie in the bottle,” said Crawford. “Maybe people think, if you live in a place where Solomon used to live, you will be able to get kebijaksanannya through osmosis process.”
In addition, the Knights Templar have wealth that they collect from those devout Christian who donated money and possessions to the order. The Templars also manages money and property of the nobility and the wealthy members in such a banking system. “What people see at that time was the extensive network of Templar properties throughout Western Europe. People see they absorb large amounts of money and resources, then they continue to get bad news from the Latin East, that Muslims continue to prevail and Christians continue lost. It raises the question of the Templars, “Crawford said.
There is also a story about the lost treasure of the Templars in Cyprus. No one knows where to go or why the property can be lost. Thus, Crawford said, there are many things that could be a legend and myth, or utilized by a freak like Breivik.
Crawford said he did not know why Breivik interested in the Templars. But he said, Breivik was a misunderstanding about the Templars. “I do not know whether they involved any kind of terrorism against unarmed people. If they feel the need to oppose Islam, they do it on the battlefield. When there is a chance, they have a mutually respectful relationship with their Muslim neighbors as human beings.”
But, of course, is history. And, the strength of the Knights Templar is located in the empty spaces of history, the space can be easily influenced man and the film director.
