Lost Relics Of The Knights Templar (2021) Season 2 Episode 3: Templar Chalice
Two treasure hunters head to France to continue investigating a rare white marble chalice used by the Knights Templar. They also explore the cult of the black Madonna and dig into the theories made popular by the novel and movie The Da Vinci Code.
#adventure
Two treasure hunters head to France to continue investigating a rare white marble chalice used by the Knights Templar. They also explore the cult of the black Madonna and dig into the theories made popular by the novel and movie The Da Vinci Code.
#adventure
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TVTranscript
00:00Obsessive antiquities hunter Hamilton White has built a world-class collection of rare and historic objects.
00:11Working with fellow collector and friend Carl Cookson, he investigated a group of artifacts that may be linked to the Knights Templar.
00:20Now, they're exploring the history behind some of the most important objects in Hamilton's collection.
00:30Assembled over a lifetime, Hamilton's prized pieces include ancient Celtic gold,
00:39a sword and helmet from the Crusades, and a mysterious white marble chalice from the Knights Templar treasure trove.
00:47It really is the best of the best.
00:51To solve the mysteries behind these artifacts, they're traveling across Europe and to the Middle East, seeking answers and making stunning new discoveries.
01:02They were heading for a purpose.
01:06It's changing history.
01:08The lost relic hunters are back on the trail, and what they uncover could rewrite history as we know it.
01:18Carl and Hamilton are investigating one of the most mysterious pieces in their Knights Templar treasure trove.
01:30Discovered in Tumar, Portugal in the 1960s, this white marble chalice with a knuckled stem is carved with four Templar crosses, known as the Croix Celeste.
01:42And between the crosses are some mysterious letters.
01:47I mean, this is the only chalice out of the hoard that actually has any lettering on it at all.
01:53I mean, the crosses are repeated on other vessels, but the four individual letters seem to be specific to this one chalice.
02:01The Order of the Knights Templar was formed in 1119 to protect Christian pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem.
02:08The Templars' power and influence grew until accusations of heresy drove the Order underground more than 700 years ago.
02:18Few Templar artifacts have survived, and very little is known about their beliefs and practices, which is why this chalice, engraved with lettering and the Croix Celeste, could hold the key to the secrets of their Order.
02:31To uncover the mysteries behind this vessel, Carl and Hamilton will journey across France to one of the most important cathedrals in Europe, and back to the UK to the Scottish Highlands.
02:46But first, they're meeting with medieval historian Dr. Janina Ramirez.
02:51Her expertise in interpreting ancient symbolism may help them decode this Templar chalice.
02:57Hi, Janina.
02:58Hi, Carl.
02:59Come in.
03:00Lovely to be back.
03:01Lovely to see you.
03:02Lovely to see you. Hi, Hamilton.
03:03Greetings. You have returned.
03:04I have.
03:05Oh, wow.
03:07Yeah, I knew you were going to have something special for me today.
03:09Oh, can't quite believe I'm seeing these.
03:13These are your Templar treasures.
03:15It's a bit of it, yeah.
03:17Wow. I mean, just one of these is taking my breath away.
03:21Seeing them together is something else.
03:24What am I looking at, Hamilton?
03:26Well, it's all part of the original Tomar hoard, which is the Templar pieces that disappeared in 1307.
03:34The initial find in 1960 was somewhere between 25 and 30 pieces.
03:39Good God.
03:40We don't bring them out all the time. When we bring them out, it's a fantastic feeling.
03:45I get to hold it.
03:46Yeah.
03:47I just, you know.
03:48And it's condition-wise, I mean, totally untouched. I mean, it's exactly as it came out of the ground in 1960.
03:54You pick a certain chalice up and, you know, your hair's on your back.
03:58They've got something about them, undoubtedly.
04:03The chalice, discovered by looters in the 1960s, was buried near the grounds of a 12th-century Templar stronghold,
04:10the Convent of Christ Church in Tomar, Portugal.
04:15For me, immediately, I want to start looking at the symbols, and I can see the Templar cross all the way around,
04:20but I can also see these letters, I-H-S-V, and that's from the Latin, in this sign, victory.
04:28Yeah.
04:29Going back to kind of constant time, seeing the cross as a sign of victory.
04:35So, it's...
04:36The start of Christianity, really, in the Western world, isn't it?
04:38It is.
04:39The Latin acronym I-H-S-V, which in English means, in this sign, victory,
04:44dates back to the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century.
04:50It is said that on the battlefield, he prayed for the one true God to reveal himself,
04:55and saw a cross emblazoned with this phrase.
04:59He took this as the sign he was looking for and became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity.
05:05Changing the course of history.
05:07But what does this acronym, used 800 years later by the makers of this chalice, tell us about their beliefs?
05:14The symbolism is sort of layered, isn't it?
05:16Because it's Christianity, but it's also this idea of military prowess.
05:20You know, this is...
05:21These letters are tying it back to the emperors, to the power of the past.
05:24It's God's military army, isn't it?
05:26That's it.
05:27It's all layered up in this, in the simple symbolism,
05:30It's almost like an initiation of brotherhood.
05:33There's all this secrecy wrapped up in it.
05:36There's another one with a slightly different facet on the stem.
05:40Same crosses, but without the lettering.
05:42So you've got more of these?
05:44Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:46Good God.
05:47And that does give an impression, then, that the Templars are wrapped up in chalice symbolism.
05:52And is it a chalice, or is it the Holy Grail?
05:54That's the question.
05:55That is the question.
05:56Yeah.
05:58Some of Hamilton's pieces appear to show monks worshipping a grail,
06:03a depiction the Catholic Church would have denounced.
06:07It's uncomfortable symbolism for me, actually, as a medievalist reading that,
06:11because to me, that seems almost heretical.
06:15You know, it's like, you know,
06:17The way they're touching it, the way they're interacting with it,
06:20it's very unusual imagery.
06:23And this one even more so.
06:24You know, the chalice is on an altar, it's raised up.
06:26There's no indication of Christ worship there.
06:29It's chalice worship.
06:31Well, it's all specifically Templar, isn't it?
06:33That's why, obviously, the whole lot was buried together,
06:36because it is the sacred, or the most sacred, of everything they've got.
06:39Yeah.
06:40There is no doubt that the people of the medieval period,
06:43going back 800, 900 years,
06:46they were fascinated by the grail.
06:49And the grail has all these layers of symbolism.
06:52It's connected to Christ.
06:54Is it the grail he used at the Last Supper,
06:56or the grail that caught his blood on the cross?
06:59But every time you see an image of a chalice,
07:03it's totally different.
07:05But every time you see an image of a chalice,
07:09it's tying back to this deeper symbolism.
07:13And for me, all of these chalices,
07:16these things that I'm seeing in carvings and in the flesh,
07:20they're all supposed to act as sort of mental portals
07:25to take you back to Christ,
07:27but also taking me straight back to that time of medieval romance,
07:31of Arthurian legend.
07:36In their quest to uncover the meaning of the chalice
07:40and to understand the Knights Templar obsession with the Holy Grail,
07:44Carl and Hamilton are traveling to France.
07:4755 miles southeast of Paris
07:50stands one of the most famous and majestic cathedrals in Europe,
07:54Notre-Dame de Chartres.
08:00The building features some unusual carvings
08:03that Carl and Hamilton suspect are related to the Templar order.
08:09Finally got here to this amazing place.
08:12Mightily impressive, isn't it?
08:14Wow.
08:15Yeah, I mean, it's an incredible piece of architecture.
08:19What stands today was built during the height of Knights Templar power
08:23and influence in Europe near the end of the 12th century.
08:27Some believe that the Templars played a key role
08:30in the cathedral's construction.
08:32It's got so much glass on all sides in this.
08:36Before that, Romanesque cathedrals, they were very dark inside.
08:41So to build something of this size and scale, it needed...
08:44Revolutionary architecture.
08:46Yeah, it was radical design.
08:48It would have looked space-age and absolutely mind-blowing majestic.
08:53In the world of the Templars in period,
08:56when they were at the height of their power,
08:59this was the most important building that they had.
09:03And on the north portico of the cathedral,
09:06Carl and Hamilton find a carving
09:08with a striking resemblance to their chalice.
09:12God, it's so similar.
09:13Very close, isn't it?
09:16TEMPLAR CHALICE
09:27Carl and Hamilton are at the iconic Notre-Dame de Châtre Cathedral in France
09:32to investigate a mysterious artifact.
09:35A marble chalice carved with Templar crosses,
09:38an ancient Latin phrase, and a distinctive knuckle stem.
09:43As they make their way to the north portico of the cathedral,
09:46they spot the link to the chalice that they were looking for.
09:52God, it's so similar to the other one.
09:54Very close, isn't it?
09:56That form of curved bowl,
09:58and also that stem with a little knuckle.
10:01But what is interesting, that's Melchizedek,
10:05and the Templars obviously thought he was so important
10:09that he's held a natural chalice.
10:12Yeah.
10:13I mean, the actual history of the Templars in this location,
10:17why they chose to have him holding it
10:20as any other apostle or anybody else.
10:25The Christ-like figure of the priest Melchizedek,
10:28also known as the King of Righteousness,
10:31appears in the Book of Genesis
10:33as the first priest directly descended from King David.
10:37He has also been associated with the secretive society of the Freemasons.
10:41He's one of the most important characters to the Templars, definitely.
10:47Well, it's a very prominent place within the church
10:50when you look at how many carvings there are.
10:52Yeah.
10:53You know, that's next to one of the main doors.
10:55It's not hidden away, is it? That's full-on in your face.
10:58Yeah.
10:59This gate's known as the Initiate's Gate, isn't it?
11:02Yeah.
11:03You know, with the whole Templar thing, the secret knowledge,
11:06maybe you only came in here if you were initiated
11:09or if you were an upper member of the Templar order
11:12and the standard member came in through another door, possibly.
11:15Yeah.
11:16What can't be argued is the fact that, well,
11:19you're in the finest Templar building of the period,
11:23Templar chalices existed, there is a Templar carving holding one.
11:28Because, I mean, the actual number of 100% unquestionable
11:33Templar chalice images really is very, very small across the world.
11:37That's it, isn't it?
11:38That's it.
11:39Carl and Hamilton believe that a chalice like theirs
11:42may have been used for secret initiation ceremonies
11:45by the order of the Knights Templar at Chartres Cathedral.
11:50And they see a Templar connection in another carving
11:53on the exterior walls of the cathedral.
11:57Below the figures, a Latin inscription reads,
11:59Hic amititor arca cederis, or,
12:02Here things take their course, you shall work through the ark.
12:06This is a reference to the Holy of Holies,
12:08the Ark of the Covenant,
12:10believed to contain the Ten Commandments.
12:14Some claim that when the Knights Templar
12:16were headquartered in Jerusalem,
12:18they dug tunnels beneath the ruins of the Temple of Solomon
12:21to search for relics including the Ark.
12:29The Temple of Solomon is of such significance
12:32within Judaism, within Christianity.
12:35This beautiful building on Temple Mount in Jerusalem,
12:40we know it was sacked and destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans.
12:44And the treasures that were inside that building were lost.
12:49The Ark of the Covenant, that powerful symbol
12:52that still kind of holds us in Indiana Jones films
12:55and in stories today.
13:00This is one of the only known depictions
13:02of the Ark being moved from the Temple
13:04and transported to safety.
13:08But why would it be shown here,
13:10on the pillars of this 12th century cathedral?
13:13Every image has been chosen carefully
13:16in this particular cathedral,
13:18and it's built by Templars.
13:20So it's the best source you're ever going to get
13:23to take some sort of analysis out of it.
13:26It's the original Ark of the Covenant,
13:28lived on Temple Mount in the original Temple of Solomon.
13:32Nobody other than the highest priest
13:35was ever allowed to look at it.
13:37You know, I find it very odd
13:39that it would be depicted like that with a lid open.
13:42It just, to me, it makes no sense whatsoever.
13:44No.
13:49According to legend,
13:50the Templars discovered the Ark of the Covenant,
13:53smuggled it out of the Holy Land,
13:55and hid it within the foundations of Shatrach Cathedral.
13:59For true believers,
14:00the building is full of hidden symbols
14:03that support this wild theory.
14:05The stained glass rosettes are divided into 12 segments,
14:09known as the number of perfection.
14:12And the labyrinth design on the floor of the cathedral
14:15is said to represent the hidden knowledge
14:17that lies at the heart of the building.
14:23As they explore inside the cathedral,
14:25Carl and Hamilton find a shrine
14:27that may have a connection to the Templars.
14:30A depiction of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus
14:33that has recently become a source of controversy.
14:37Well, that's the famous Black Madonna of Sharps,
14:41but as you can see, isn't black.
14:43Yeah, why?
14:44Somebody's decided to give it a coat of paint.
14:48The term Black Madonna
14:49refers to depictions of the Virgin Mary and child
14:52with darker skin tones.
14:54Pilgrims journeyed to Shatrach
14:56to see this formerly black Madonna
14:58carved out of dark walnut wood
15:00before a contentious restoration project
15:02transformed the statue
15:04to how experts believe it originally looked.
15:09Quite why nobody seems to want to explain.
15:12I just wouldn't have known.
15:14Walking up to it,
15:15it just looks to me like a normal Madonna.
15:18While the restorers argue
15:19that the dark complexion of this particular sculpture
15:22was not the intent of the artist,
15:24there are hundreds of other Black Madonna statues
15:27and paintings enshrined in churches across Europe.
15:34Some were made locally
15:35and others were brought back from the Middle East and Africa
15:38by crusaders like the Knights Templar.
15:41In many churches,
15:42the Black Madonna is believed to have been
15:45In many churches,
15:46a cult of worship grew around these shrines.
15:49But why is this particular depiction
15:51of the Virgin and child
15:52so important to the Order of the Knights Templar?
15:56To find out,
15:57Carl and Hamilton are traveling
15:58to a region in the south of France
16:00where Black Madonna worship
16:02has taken on a special meaning.
16:09Halfway between the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees,
16:12in the heart of Cathar country,
16:14lies a stunning green pond
16:16that is shrouded in legend.
16:19That's fantastic.
16:37Carl and Hamilton are in Cathar country
16:39in the south of France
16:40to investigate a controversial theory
16:42dismissed by most historians and scholars
16:45that certain depictions of the Black Madonna and child
16:48are not meant to be the Virgin Mary,
16:50but portray a different mother and child instead.
16:55This book explodes on the world stage.
16:58It's called Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.
17:01Academics quickly become nervous about it
17:04because the claims it's making are huge.
17:07It potentially asks readers to reassess
17:11the foundations of Christianity.
17:15The writers of Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
17:17extrapolate that maybe Mary Magdalene
17:20was the wife of Christ.
17:22Maybe she was the lover of Christ.
17:24Maybe together they had a child.
17:26And that is a part of the Christian story
17:30that in the early centuries of the church
17:33they tried to write out.
17:35The argument is that Mary Magdalene
17:38arrives in southern France
17:40and it is in this area, this region,
17:42that a sort of protective arm of early Christianity
17:46grows up around the family of Jesus.
17:49And that later on,
17:51when we start to see the emergence of chivalry,
17:53of courtly love, of knightly culture,
17:55and ultimately of the Knights Templar,
17:57that they are protecting somehow
17:59this century-old tradition
18:02that they are protecting somehow
18:04this century-old connection
18:06to a bloodline of Christ.
18:12Based on these theories,
18:13some believe that Mary Magdalene
18:15baptized people here in these waters.
18:20We were never taught this at school,
18:22that there was these biblical characters
18:24in the heart of Western Europe.
18:27So it's very plausible for me
18:29that Mary Magdalene could have come here.
18:32Well, there's a lot of Aramaic inscriptions,
18:35aren't there, on stonework around here,
18:37the Arabic language of the biblical times.
18:41You know, why should it be here?
18:43The idea that Jesus' bloodline lived on
18:45in the south of France
18:46may be nothing more than biblical fiction.
18:49But some have suggested
18:50that it is one of the secrets
18:52hidden in Knights Templar symbols
18:54like the chalice carved on Chartres Cathedral.
18:59From this mysterious spot
19:00in the south of France,
19:01Carl and Hamilton's investigation
19:03takes them back to the UK
19:05and eventually to Scotland
19:07to find out what became
19:08of the Order of the Knights Templar
19:10and whether their secrets died with them.
19:14Carl and Hamilton are returning to England
19:16to learn more about the legends
19:18surrounding medieval Black Madonna statues
19:21and possible links to the chalice
19:23in Hamilton's collection.
19:28They've come to the church of Our Lady at Willoughby
19:31to learn more about the origins
19:33of the Black Madonna statue.
19:35It's the first time
19:36they've visited the church of Our Lady
19:38at Willoughby.
19:40They've come to the church
19:41of Our Lady at Williston
19:43in northwest London.
19:45In the Middle Ages,
19:46Christian pilgrims flocked to this site.
19:49Today, a Victorian replica
19:51of the Black Madonna statue
19:53is venerated
19:54in honor of the original
19:5512th century shrine.
20:04It's absolutely gorgeous.
20:06It really is.
20:08Very similar to the one in short.
20:10Oh, it's a very European-looking face, yeah.
20:13But, I mean, it's a lot more unusual
20:14to have something in England.
20:16I wonder why, say,
20:18a specific church
20:19elects to have a Black Madonna.
20:23Was it a separate cult worship?
20:25Was it a separate belief system?
20:27I'm still, in myself,
20:29struggling to...
20:30Don't know why.
20:31...to work the mystery out.
20:32Is it connected
20:33to the whole bloodline theory?
20:35Is it something we don't know?
20:37The Templars were part of...
20:38The knowledge is lost, really.
20:44While Hamilton explores the church,
20:46Carl wants to find out more
20:48about the origins
20:49of the shrine in Williston.
20:53Just a short walk away
20:54is St. Mary's Church,
20:55where he's meeting Lynn Picknett,
20:57an author and expert
20:58on historical and religious mysteries,
21:01to help understand
21:02the possible Templar connection.
21:05This site dates back
21:06more than a thousand years
21:08and once held
21:09the oldest Black Madonna shrine
21:11in the U.K.
21:14The original icon
21:15from this church
21:16was burned in the 16th century
21:18and was finally replaced in 1971.
21:21Carl wants to find out
21:23why this image
21:24of mother and child
21:25disappeared for so long.
21:31Why do you think
21:32they've decided in the 70s
21:34that we need the Black Madonna back?
21:36I think there is
21:37an incredible power
21:39kind of implied
21:41by the Black Madonna
21:43much more powerful
21:44than the white equivalent.
21:46Yes.
21:47The important thing, though,
21:48is that wherever she's portrayed
21:49or whenever she's portrayed,
21:51it's always part
21:52of the same ancient tradition,
21:55which is quite mysterious,
21:56you know,
21:57because people don't really know
21:58for certain
21:59why she's portrayed as Black.
22:01Why is she?
22:02Well, there are lots of theories.
22:04Is it actually because
22:06the original archetype
22:08or the original woman
22:09was a woman of color?
22:11That is possible, of course.
22:12Or is she Black
22:14because it's a kind of metaphor
22:15for some hidden tradition?
22:17And it's very interesting
22:18that every single time
22:19you have a Black Madonna,
22:21there is a cult
22:22growing up around her
22:23and most of them
22:25are in the south of France,
22:27particularly.
22:28There's the cult of Mary Magdalene.
22:30And then further back
22:32with pagan goddesses,
22:34specifically Isis,
22:36who was often portrayed
22:37as Black skin.
22:39Isis is a goddess
22:40in ancient Egyptian mythology,
22:42first mentioned
22:43over 2,000 years before Christ
22:45but worshiped
22:46by Egyptians and Greeks
22:48up to the time of Christ
22:49and beyond.
22:51Like the Virgin Mary,
22:53she is often depicted
22:54nursing her son,
22:55the god Horus.
22:57That's where all the iconography
22:59of the Virgin and Child
23:00comes from.
23:01She represented
23:02all of womankind.
23:04She was goddess of birth
23:06but she was also very much
23:08a bit of a naughty goddess,
23:09you know.
23:10So all women could relate to her
23:12whereas the church
23:14kind of invented
23:15the Virgin Mary
23:16as a direct result
23:18of people saying
23:19we don't have a goddess,
23:20we want a goddess.
23:21So they came up
23:22with a very sort of
23:23pallied version
23:24of the pagan goddesses.
23:26And the problem with that
23:28is that the Virgin Mary
23:30set the bar impossibly high.
23:32She's a virgin mother
23:34for a start.
23:35It was very much
23:36the male-dominated church,
23:38they wanted to keep women down.
23:40And the really
23:42interesting thing there
23:44is that there was another
23:46potential Christian goddess
23:48which was of course
23:49Mary Magdalene
23:50but she was far too feisty.
23:52She was far too knowing,
23:54she was far too authoritative
23:56and they could not possibly
23:58have generations of women
23:59looking up to her
24:00and following her example.
24:02So basically,
24:03Virgin Mary.
24:05For early Christians,
24:06the Virgin Mary
24:07became the paradigm
24:08of femininity,
24:10replacing pagan goddesses
24:11like Isis.
24:14But where did that leave
24:15the other Mary,
24:16Mary Magdalene?
24:17Carl wonders
24:18if she was worshipped
24:19in secret by groups
24:20like the Templars.
24:22I mean could it be
24:23Mary Magdalene with child?
24:25Well it could be.
24:26I personally think
24:28the evidence points
24:29to them being in a
24:31very close
24:32non-marital relationship.
24:33I'm ruling nothing out.
24:35And it's interesting
24:36because you read about
24:37her preaching and baptising
24:39in the south of France
24:40and everybody assumes
24:41it was what we know today
24:43as Christianity.
24:44Yes.
24:45But what if it actually
24:46was different?
24:47And it would seem to be
24:48very goddess-friendly.
24:51So I think she'd fit into
24:53the general pagan background
24:55of the south of France
24:56at that time
24:57like a glove.
24:58I mean seamlessly.
25:00We have heard
25:01that there's a link
25:03between the Templars
25:04and the Black Madonna,
25:06but can you add
25:07any light to that?
25:08Why?
25:09From the very beginning,
25:11the guy who kind of
25:12kicked off the Templars,
25:13Saint Bernard of Clairvaux,
25:15he was heavily involved
25:16with the Black Madonnas.
25:17He grew up
25:18in a Black Madonna centre.
25:20He called the Second Crusade
25:21from a Black Madonna centre.
25:23He was also passionate
25:24about Mary Magdalene
25:26who was central
25:27to the Knights Templar oath.
25:30And indeed,
25:31their absolution
25:33was in the name
25:34of the penitent Mary Magdalene.
25:36So that's been
25:37from inception?
25:38Absolutely.
25:39And the two,
25:40Black Madonna and Magdalene,
25:41in his mind
25:42and in the Knights Templar mind
25:43was like that.
25:44Yes.
25:45Yeah.
25:46Wow.
25:47I didn't realise that.
25:48According to Lynn,
25:50the Black Madonna
25:51was so significant
25:52to the Templars
25:53that the founder
25:54of the order,
25:55Bernard of Clairvaux,
25:56used her image
25:57to rally the Knights
25:58and their allies
25:59to launch the Second Crusade
26:01in 1147.
26:04But does the Templars'
26:05possible worship
26:06of the Black Madonna
26:07and veneration
26:08of Mary Magdalene
26:09in their oaths
26:10have a connection
26:11to Hamilton's chalice?
26:13And did these Templar
26:14beliefs and rituals,
26:15which would have been
26:16perceived as heretical
26:17by the Catholic Church,
26:19lead to the persecution
26:20and destruction
26:21of the order itself?
26:28One thing is for certain.
26:30By 1307,
26:31less than 200 years
26:33after their formation,
26:34the Order of the Knights Templar
26:36was accused of heresy
26:37by King Philip of France
26:39and its members
26:40were arrested,
26:41tortured and executed.
26:461307 is a critical year
26:48for the Knights Templar.
26:50They have reached
26:51such a point of power
26:53and influence
26:54across Western Christendom
26:56that they are a threat
26:57to almost all
26:58the earthly rulers
26:59at that point.
27:00King Philip IV
27:01is the one
27:02that really wants
27:03to put an end
27:04to this institution
27:06and take their wealth,
27:07take their power,
27:08take their influence.
27:09So he sends out orders
27:13that are to be opened
27:14simultaneously
27:15that declare
27:16all the Knights Templars
27:17to be heretics.
27:19This is an annihilation.
27:21He goes big.
27:23They are to be eliminated
27:25and many of them
27:26are being executed.
27:29It is believed
27:30that some members of the Order
27:31survived this brutal crackdown
27:33and sought sanctuary
27:34in sympathetic countries,
27:36taking their relics
27:37and ceremonial artifacts
27:38with them.
27:39Some made it to Portugal,
27:41where Hamilton's hoard
27:42was discovered.
27:43Others may have traveled
27:44to Scotland,
27:45which is where
27:46Carl and Hamilton
27:47head next
27:48in their attempt
27:49to unravel
27:50the mystery of the chalice
27:51and the Templars'
27:52dramatic fall from grace.
27:56They're meeting
27:57master stonemason
27:58Sean Williamson
27:59in the tiny village
28:00of Kilmartin in Argyle.
28:05Sean brings them
28:06to Kilmartin Church.
28:07Built in the 18th century,
28:09the graveyard here
28:10houses a collection
28:11of stone monuments
28:12engraved with
28:13mysterious symbols.
28:17What are we actually looking at?
28:20Tombstones of warriors
28:23with some Templar symbolism
28:25on them as well.
28:27I mean, from your perspective,
28:29there's loads of ideas
28:31going on in my mind,
28:32but what's the Templar
28:34connection with these stones?
28:36Now, actually,
28:37we've got more information
28:38about one particular stone,
28:40which is this one.
28:43Sean believes
28:44that he has found
28:45evidence that the Templars
28:47sought refuge in Scotland
28:49under the protection
28:50of Robert the Bruce,
28:51king of the Scots
28:52from 1306 to his death
28:54in 1329.
28:56You have the sword,
28:58which is a symbol
28:59of a warrior,
29:00and this is the quatrefoil
29:02normally associated
29:03with Knight's Templar.
29:06This actually disguises
29:08a Templar cross,
29:09and we know
29:11that it is Knight's Templar
29:13because we've discovered
29:14three stones
29:15with exactly the same symbolism.
29:17That's so different
29:18to everything else.
29:19And that's the only one
29:20in the whole lot.
29:21You know,
29:22it's just incongruous, really,
29:23that that one should be here
29:25because it's so different
29:26in iconography.
29:27Yeah.
29:28It's fascinating.
29:29Absolutely.
29:30Scotland's going through
29:31its own tumultuous period
29:33at this point.
29:34It's trying to fight
29:35for independence.
29:36It's fighting on various borders,
29:37and so they don't seem
29:39to crack down on this order
29:41to destroy the Templar Knights
29:43as thoroughly as other parts
29:44of Christendom do.
29:45So perhaps what you see
29:47is an influx of Templar Knights
29:50into Scotland
29:51where they are subsumed
29:53into existing institutions,
29:55where they sort of go
29:56under the radar a little bit.
29:59This really is the proof
30:01of the link
30:02between the Templars
30:04and the Viking Gallic
30:06cultural warriors
30:07that were in this area.
30:09Were they involved
30:10in bringing together
30:12this vast Viking-style army
30:15that probably fought
30:17at Bannockburn
30:18with King Robert the Bruce?
30:20Sean theorizes
30:21that the Templars
30:22joined forces
30:23with Robert the Bruce
30:24and his Scottish warriors
30:25to fight against the English
30:27in the First War
30:28of Scottish Independence
30:29in 1314.
30:31Now, Carl and Hamilton
30:32are searching
30:33for a Scottish clan
30:34connected to the order
30:36to help decipher
30:37the coded meaning
30:38of Hamilton's engraved chalice.
30:42♪
30:52Legend has it
30:53that refugees
30:54from the Order
30:55of the Knights Templar,
30:56outlawed by Pope Clement V
30:58in 1307
30:59and forced into hiding,
31:01fought alongside
31:02Robert the Bruce
31:03against the English
31:04in the 1314 Battle
31:06of Bannockburn.
31:09This was a pivotal moment
31:10in the First War
31:11of Scottish Independence
31:12to keep English rule
31:13and authority
31:14out of Scotland.
31:17To learn more,
31:18Carl, Hamilton
31:19and stonemason
31:20Sean Williamson
31:21are traveling east
31:22to Stirling,
31:23site of the
31:24Bannockburn Battlefield Memorial
31:26to look for evidence
31:27of a Templar connection.
31:29♪
31:31Well, this is the highest point,
31:32isn't it,
31:33of the battleground,
31:34so Robert the Bruce
31:35would be looking down.
31:36He had a visual advantage
31:38straight away.
31:40Would they have come
31:41in this way?
31:42It's coming from the south,
31:44which is roughly that way
31:46as we're looking at it,
31:48following the route
31:49of the old Roman road.
31:51If you imagine
31:52all those fields
31:53actually jam-packed
31:54full of English,
31:55that, I mean,
31:5620,000 men,
31:57it's enormous amount.
32:00The ragtag Scottish forces
32:02under Bruce
32:03were outnumbered
32:04three to one
32:05by the English,
32:06led by Edward II.
32:07But strategic use
32:08of high ground
32:09and a tactical edge,
32:11tightly packed formations
32:12of spearmen,
32:13helped the Scots
32:14secure victory.
32:15It was always said
32:16that a force of unknown knights
32:19appeared right towards
32:20the end of the battle
32:22in a charge
32:23and swept the English
32:24off the field.
32:26Many people think
32:27that perhaps there was
32:28a Templar presence
32:30on the field.
32:31Contingent, certainly.
32:32I think there was
32:33a Templar presence
32:34at Bannockburn.
32:36If they are under
32:37the sort of refuge
32:38banner of Bruce,
32:40they're going to have
32:41to pay him back somehow.
32:43It seems almost impossible
32:45that a fighting force
32:46doesn't join him.
32:48Certain Templar knights
32:50slide into other institutions
32:52and maintain the practices
32:54of the Templars
32:56within Scotland.
32:58And possibly,
32:59this is where we see
33:00the Sinclair family emerging,
33:02that ultimately will go on
33:04another 150 years later
33:06to build Roslyn Chapel.
33:09The Scottish clan Sinclair,
33:11the Barons of Roslyn,
33:12are thought to have come
33:13from Normandy in France
33:15and arrived in Scotland
33:16during the Norman conquest
33:17of 1066.
33:20Hamilton believes
33:21members of the clan
33:22may have direct links
33:23to the Templar order.
33:26Bruce's right-hand man,
33:28William Sinclair,
33:29was the Scottish Templar.
33:31So, I mean, if the head,
33:33chief family of Templars
33:34is here,
33:35the rest of the retinue
33:36is going to be following on,
33:37aren't they?
33:38Absolutely, yeah.
33:39Bruce actually gave his sword
33:41to William Sinclair
33:43as a token of eternal
33:45sort of treaty between him
33:46and the Sinclair family
33:47and what they represented.
33:51The Battle of Bannockburn
33:52was a great victory
33:53for the Scots
33:54and ultimately led
33:55to their independence
33:56in 1328.
33:58Robert the Bruce died
33:59a year after freeing Scotland.
34:03But did Bruce really have
34:04secret links
34:05to the Knights Templar
34:06through the Sinclair clan?
34:08Sean thinks that
34:09the secrets of the order
34:10could be intertwined
34:11with this mysterious family.
34:13To prove this theory,
34:14Carl, Hamilton, and Sean
34:16head to the 16th century
34:18Kilmartin Castle
34:20to search for evidence
34:22of a Templar connection.
34:34♪♪♪
34:41Carl and Hamilton
34:42are at Kilmartin Castle
34:43in Scotland.
34:45They're showing expert
34:46stonemason Sean Williamson
34:48their white marble
34:49Knights Templar chalice.
34:52That's it.
34:53Handle it,
34:54see what you think.
34:55The only thing
34:56we don't really know
34:57is exactly what
34:58they were using it for.
34:59No.
35:00Very well-aged marble
35:03Marble by the looks of it, by the feel of it, probably turned on a lathe, finished by
35:08hand.
35:09This is work that's kind of somewhere between being a jeweller and a stone mason.
35:15This is fine masonry.
35:16Very, very fine work, yeah.
35:19I don't think really probably anyone other than an institution like the church or an
35:24order would have had a goblet made out of marble.
35:29I'm on board with that.
35:31It's definitely something that's been, you know, created for, I think, Templar ritual.
35:37Feels sacred, no doubt about that, you know.
35:41Sean has another piece of the puzzle that he believes ties the Templars to Scotland.
35:47It's a relic discovered at Roslyn Chapel in Midlothian.
35:50The chapel was built in the 15th century by William Sinclair, whose descendants fought
35:55alongside Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
36:01How does a story which begins in the Holy Land in the year 33 end up in Scotland in
36:09the 15th century, in Roslyn Chapel?
36:12There's an argument that certain areas in Scotland, particularly that area around Roslyn
36:16Chapel, end up being sympathisers of the Templars' cause and actually become a safe haven for
36:23Templars trying to escape persecution on the mainland.
36:27So could it be that they took their treasures, their ideas of a royal bloodline of Christ,
36:33their secrets up to Roslyn Chapel, and then somehow in this space embodied their ideas,
36:43their beliefs in the symbols that are carved on the walls, which are very strange and esoteric.
36:49Roslyn Chapel was made famous by Dan Brown's best-selling novel, The Da Vinci Code, which
36:55was inspired by stories of the chapel's Knights Templar connection and legends of descendants
37:01of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
37:04In 1993, ten years before The Da Vinci Code was published, excavations were carried out
37:09here by Dr. Andrew Sinclair, a direct descendant of the Sinclair family, to look for hidden
37:15Templar treasure.
37:18There are no Knights of the Holy Grail down there in full armour, but there was one thing,
37:25a wooden bow.
37:26Of course, if the Grail was in Roslyn Chapel, it would be a wooden bow, possibly something
37:34like this, but all the same, this isn't the Grail.
37:39It is a Grail.
37:41The Grail is this chapel.
37:43It is the quest for God's grace, and a bow would never contain it.
37:53I'm not saying that's in any way, shape or form the Holy Grail, but it's of a reverence
37:58for that shape, the chalice.
38:01It's interesting that it was found in Roslyn.
38:04I mean, whatever it is, just the provenance is fantastic.
38:08That's incredible.
38:09The mere fact is, it's part of the whole Roslyn mythology.
38:14For Carl and Hamilton, this wooden bowl is the final clue in their quest to understand
38:19the mysterious symbolism of the Templars.
38:28Hamilton is convinced that this white marble chalice, which may have been used in the Order's
38:32initiation ceremonies, is a symbol of the secret knowledge the Knights Templar protected.
38:39Some theories propose that this secret is the stuff of Dan Brown novels, that the Templars
38:44were sworn to protect the holy bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and that they fled
38:49to Scotland to avoid persecution.
38:52There is something happening with this group of knights that enables them to become vastly
38:57rich, vastly powerful.
39:00They must have had some leverage, if you like, against the papacy, against the church, that
39:08we can then go on and interpret, did they have secret knowledge about some bloodline
39:12of Christ?
39:13Did they have priceless treasures that they had found at Temple Mount?
39:17So perhaps this whole quest for the Holy Grail was never for an object itself, but it was
39:22for finding the descendants of Christ.
39:28The true meaning and use of the chalice may never be known.
39:32For Carl and Hamilton, their quest to unravel this great mystery will continue.
39:39Next time on Lost Relics of the Knights Templar, Hamilton and Carl investigate a mysterious
39:44hall of Nazi loot.
39:46Wow.
39:47It's silver.
39:48Yeah.
39:4999%
39:50They will try to discover how and why this treasure came to be buried.
39:54What we do know, they didn't come back for it.
39:57On an expedition that will take them across Europe to the Iberian Peninsula.
40:02This is the spot where the photographs were taken.
40:04Where they will discover the harrowing journeys made by Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution.
40:11The dangers were just ridiculous.