Vatican to sell Templar secrets

2007-10-13 11:53

Vatican City - It's not the Holy Grail, but for fans of The Da Vinci Code and its tantalising story line about the Knights Templar, it could be the next best thing.

Ignored for centuries and found in the Vatican secret archives in 2001, a parchment about the early 14th-century heresy trial of the ancient Christian order is the basis of a limited edition volume being published with an $8 375 price-tage.

According to the Vatican archives website, the parchment shows that Pope Clement V initially absolved the Templar leaders of heresy, though he did find them guilty of immorality, and planned to reform the order.

But pressured by French king Philip IV (Philip the Fair), Clement later reversed his decision and suppressed the order in 1312.

Limited edition

Only 799 copies of the 300-page volume "Processus Contra Templarios" (Latin for "Trial against the Templars") are for sale - each priced at $8 377, Scrinium publishing house, which prints documents from the Vatican's secret archives, said on Friday.

An 800th copy would go to Pope Benedict XVI, said Barbara Frale, the Vatican archives researcher who found the parchment tucked away in the archives in 2001.

The Vatican will hold a news conference about the publication on October 25.

The order of knights, which ultimately disappeared because of the heresy scandal, recently captivated the imagination of readers of the best-seller The Da Vinci Code, which linked the Templars to the story of the Holy Grail.

The Vatican work reproduces the entire documentation of the papal hearings convened after Philip arrested and tortured Templar leaders in 1307 on charges of heresy and immorality.

- AP