The discovery
I. Jerusalem, the holy sepulchre, and the temple
Alpha and omega, beginning and end
Take back the promised land
Liberate the holy sepulchre, bring peace to Europe
"Venerunt gentes" (the heathen have come)
Constant risk
Sentinels
II. An order of holy warriors. The powerful take interest
Institutional problems
The moral question
East and West: war and self-denial
The power of an ideal
Monks in arms?
III. Templar code of honor
The nobility of the chivalric code
Marks of humility, marks of excellence
A harmonious balance of body and spirit
To live and die under a flag
The sacred bond of solidarity
Regulations and hierarchy
The financial face of temple
Politics and diplomacy
IV. In service to the Holy Land
Outremer
Bernard of Clairvaux
The horns of Hattin
From the sepulchre of Christ to the tomb of Peter
The tragedy of the fourth crusade
The excommunicated emperor and the Holy King
Courtier gossip
From Lyon to Cyprus
V. Between a rock and a hard place: the papacy, Philip the Fair, and Jacques de Molay
The manifesto of Lunghezza
The armed guard of the Roman Church
War games: the owl and the warlock
The two-headed monster
Church and state
Scandals in Paris
Disquieting rumors
Achilles' heel
VI. On trial
"Will you be able to bear the unbearable?"
The secret initiation test
Fall 1307
Molay's retraction and the struggle over the papal investigation
The Chinon parchment
Either the temple or the Church of Rome
From the Council of Vienne to the death of Molay.