All language subtitles for Lost.Worlds.S01E01.Knights.Templar.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: The Knights Templar
defended the holy land.

Their tools were
bloodshed and prayer.

Founded in the 12th century,
these Christian warrior monks

were an unbeatable force
for nearly 200 years,

then they suffered a
spectacular fall from grace.

Tried for heresy,
they were accused

of practicing strange rituals.

Accusers said they
spat on the cross,

worshiped a severed
human head, and engaged

in perverse sexual acts.

They were disbanded.

Their grand master was
burned at the stake.

Ever since, their
name has carried

an air of mystery and romance.

Today, books like
"The Da Vinci Code"

embellish the myth
of the Templars.

Claims persist that they
guarded the most sacred object

in Christendom the Holy Grail.

Behind the legend, we
explore the real world

of the Knights Templar,
a world built from stone.

800 years ago, they
constructed some of the finest

fortifications ever known.

PAUL CRAWFORD: Oh
my, look at this.

This is fantastic.

NARRATOR: Today, much
of what they built

is crumbling into the landscape.

Now, a team of experts is
journeying back to their world.

I don't think this has
been used for centuries.

NARRATOR: Using state of
the art computer animation,

they will reveal, for the
first time eight centuries,

the lost world of
the Knights Templar.

[theme music]

In a hidden corner
of the Middle East

is the long-forgotten world
of the Knights Templar.

Tortosa in modern Syria
was once a Templar city.

Their splendid military
headquarters was at its heart.

Those who passed through
the city in the 13th century

tell of an enormous
chapel and great hall,

an impregnable castle, and
fine walls with towers,

as if crowned with
precious jewels.

Now all that stands
intact is a cathedral.

At the time of the Templars,
this was an important place

of pilgrimage.

The rest of the city
is decaying, just

fragments of ruins embedded
in the modern city.

Today, local people seem unaware
they are living within what

was once a great city of
a secretive international

organization.

Our experts will piece together
clues found at Tortosa.

They will reconstruct
the long-lost world

of the Templars.

The Knights Templar was
formed in the 12th century.

Its purpose was to protect
Christian pilgrims on their way

to Jerusalem.

Professor Paul Crawford is
traveling along the old route

to the ancient city.

PAUL CRAWFORD: It
was so dangerous,

that one pilgrim wrote
back home after having gone

along the pilgrim route and
said that he saw heaps of bones

littering the sides of the
roads where people had died

and rotted.

If your friends are killed,
don't stop to bury them

because if you dig them a
grave, that grave will turn out

to be your own grave.

Someone will come along and
kill you, and put you in it.

NARRATOR: The Knights took
vows of poverty, chastity,

and obedience.

They offered their lives
to safeguard the routes

that the pilgrims took.

They were now warrior monks.

Soon, the role of
the Templars expanded

to defend the Christian
territories in the holy land

from local Muslim warlords.

PAUL CRAWFORD: The Templars
represented a new concept.

They represented a fusion of
the medieval calling of warrior

on the one hand with the
medieval calling of religious

on the other hand.

Fuse them together, and
you get fighting religious.

NARRATOR: This concept of
holy war was new and shocking.

Tortosa was handed to the
Knights Templar in 1152.

In return, they would protect
the city and the surrounding

land from Muslims who wanted
the Christian settlers to leave

the holy land.

The hub of the city was
the Templars' castle manned

by the warrior monks.

David Nicolle is attempting
to find the castle

walls to understand how they
engineered their defenses.

DAVID NICOLLE: Well, here
we have the inner wall.

It's quite short
sections of wall,

and then these
protruding towers.

They look like sort of
zigzags, actually, in the wall,

but they are individual towers.

NARRATOR: As David passes
between the fortifications,

it becomes clear that there
is a remarkable amount still

standing.

DAVID NICOLLE: It does seem that
this little street that we're

on just hugs the wall.

It's not possible to follow the
wall anymore in this direction,

for the wall, made of these
really large pieces of masonry,

disappears into these houses.

NARRATOR: Linking
together the remains,

the scale of the
castle can be revealed,

double concentric walls
surrounded on three sides.

Protecting the seaward
flank are two strong towers.

These walls were designed
to withstand even the most

ruthless attacker.

Records from the time tell
us of enemy armies attempting

to tunnel underneath the
defenses to take the castle.

The first step was
to get right up

against the base of the wall.

The normal system
of doing that was,

at least in medieval French,
would be called a chat, a cat.

NARRATOR: The cat was a heavy
framed, sturdy wooden structure

that could creep up to the
walls, withstanding the arrows

and rocks that the defenders
would rain down from above.

It would be inched forward
slowly, slowly, slowly

until it gets right there.

NARRATOR: Then the attackers
dig, destabilizing the wall.

Pit props support the tunnel
until a section is undermined.

You put inflammable material
around there, straw, and oil,

and olive oil, and fat,
and anything that's

going to make a good old blaze.

And then you light
it and get out quick.

NARRATOR: The pit props burn
away, and under its own weight,

the wall begins to collapse.

You crack the shell.

NARRATOR: The Tortosa
castle walls were designed

to resist the enemy tunnelers.

The distance between
the towers seems

to be the range of a crossbow.

The spacing enabled arches
to cover the area between.

You've got a relatively low
outer wall, a probably slightly

higher inner wall so the
archers and what have you

up there can shoot down
over the outer wall.

NARRATOR: But there was a
problem in shooting down

from the towers at Tortosa.

Most crossbows of the time were
designed to shoot horizontally.

And here, the Templars
would have to aim downwards.

You're clearly going to have
a problem rather like that,

giving your arrows to
the enemy, but not quite

in the way that you intended.

NARRATOR: So an ingenious
device was added.

It has here a clip which,
although it doesn't hold

the bolt very strongly,
it does hold it in place,

and you can very clearly
shoot at any angle you wish.

You don't lose the thing.

NARRATOR: But bows
and arrows were

useless against this, the
ultimate medieval war machine.

It's called a trebuchet.

This enormous catapult,
at nearly 60-feet tall,

is the biggest like
this in the world.

Six oak trees were
used to build it.

For the Templars inside
Tortosa, the sight

of a machine like this
would have been terrifying.

Soon, 50-pound stone balls
would be raining down

on the fortification.

It would be devastating.

With a range of up to
a quarter of a mile,

trebuchets have the power
to break through stonework.

David Nicolle has
pieced together clues

to rebuild the towers and
walls, engineered to withstand

both trebuchets and tunnelers.

If the enemy breached the
outer wall by tunneling,

there is still an inner
wall to break through.

And at 20-feet thick, they
were almost impregnable.

Tortosa was the
gateway to a string

of equally-imposing
fortifications protecting

territory across the holy land.

At the heart of the Christian
kingdom was Jerusalem,

and here, the Templars adapted
the world's most important

religious site to suit
their own purposes.

In the First Crusade of 1099,
Christians seized Jerusalem

from Muslim rule.

On Temple Mount, stood the
magnificent Al-Aqsa Mosque,

built in the seventh century.

In Christian Jerusalem, this
was to serve as the headquarters

of the Knights Templar.

It meant the Templars were now
linked with one of the most

important sites in Christendom.

HELEN NICHOLSON: There were
all the stories from the Bible

associated with that area.

That's where Jesus was
supposed to have walked,

where he was supposed to
have done his miracle.

The Templars were associated
with all these events

in the Bible.

NARRATOR: The former mosque
was adapted to become

an administrative center.

Beneath it in
subterranean vaults,

the warrior monks
stabled their horses,

ready to go into battle to
defend Jerusalem's holy places.

The magnificent
arches of the stables

were 30-feet high and covered
an area of some 60,000

square feet.

JONATHAN PHILLIPS: In it, they
can have maybe 1,000 horses.

One western visitor says that
if you fired a crossbow bolt,

the bolt wouldn't have even
reached the end of the room.

It was that big.

This is the perfect
place for the Templars

to set themselves up.

NARRATOR: This militarization
of the holiest of sites embodied

the spiritual and military
roles of the Knights Templar.

The defense of the Christian
East cost many lives.

At the furthest reach
of their network

was a church where new
recruits were inducted.

But here, the strange
rituals of the Templars

were shrouded in mystery.

In the heart of
the city of London

stands the English headquarters
of the Knights Templar.

Temple Church was
consecrated in 1185.

Its structure echoes the
most important church

in the Christian world, the
Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

The Holy Sepulcher is built on
the site where many Christians

believe Jesus was crucified,
buried, and rose from the dead.

As with the Holy Sepulcher,
the nave of Temple Church

is circular.

Within these walls,
a mysterious ritual

took place to induct new
members into the brotherhood.

Across Europe, knights were
received into the Templars

at a phenomenal rate.

They replaced men lost
in battle defending

the kingdom of Jerusalem.

JONATHAN PHILLIPS: There are
times the Templars suffered

terrible casualties in battle.

There's one battle
in 1244, 348 Templars

went in, 312 were killed.

NARRATOR: New recruits
would enter the temple

by the west door, which
was then locked shut.

This was a secret ceremony.

So many took place at dawn
just as the sun was rising,

as if they were going
into a new life.

NARRATOR: The initiates pass
through the circular nave

and between the ghostly statues,
then began a solemn ritual.

The new recruits would take
monastic vows of poverty,

chastity, and obedience.

You're not to kiss
women, not even your mother

or your sister.

NARRATOR: As Knights, these
men would suffer all for God

and be servants to
the Templars forever.

The secrecy of the
ceremony provoked rumors

from those outside
the brotherhood.

We hear strange things
that were going on.

One Knight says that
he had to actually kiss

the white, scabby belly
of one of the masters.

He recoiled from
this terrible sight.

There is, nonetheless,
a strong suspicion

their initiation rites
are rather suspect.

NARRATOR: The secret rituals
going on inside Temple Church

contrasted with its
highly-visible presence

from the outside.

The church was built as an
advertisement for their cause,

the kingdom of Jerusalem.

Soon, the great and the good
were bequeathing their money

and estates to the Templars.

These strange statues
on the floor of the nave

represent the most generous
donors to the Templar cause.

HELEN NICHOLSON:
All these people

would be very rich
landowners in England.

So these represent the cream of
English chivalry of the period.

NARRATOR: By bestowing vast
sums of money to the Templars,

the donors were assured of
glory in the eyes of God.

The Knights Templar became,
by today's standards,

a multi-billion dollar,
multi-national organization.

With the wealth
and the lands they

acquired, the Templars became
institutionally fantastically

rich.

They had offices, if you like,
with their representatives

all over Christendom.

They were also trusted.

Men going away on crusade
would give them their wealth

to look after.

NARRATOR: The Templars operated
an international banking

system.

Pilgrims could deposit
money in Europe

and withdraw funds once
they reached the holy land.

It reduced the risk of
robbery on the road.

The Templars are the
first international banking

organization.

NARRATOR: The city of
Tortosa was not only

an important Templar
headquarters,

its coastal location
provided a vital shipping

link with the west.

David Nicolle has located the
port by the castle walls where

the Templar ships would dock.

Men and goods, horses, food
and supplies, practically

everything is brought in by sea.

And then communications,
messengers, reports going back

to the Templar headquarters keep
everybody informed of what's

going on in this
part of the world.

NARRATOR: Now, we can recreate
how the port at Tortosa

would have been at the
time of the Templars.

800 years ago, the sea would
have lapped against the castle

walls, allowing men and goods
to be offloaded into the city.

These walls enclosed an area
now packed with modern homes.

They mask what were once
magnificent medieval buildings.

Contemporary sources tell us
the wealthy Templars built

an impressive great hall here,
and it's here that battle plans

and tactics would
have been drawn up

as the Templars defended
the surrounding territory.

Paul Crawford is searching for
remains of the Templar building

cannibalized in
this row of houses.

It would be really nice
to see what's in there.

Behind somebody's house now.

[knocking]

MAN: [non-english]

May I come in?

May I come in?

[non-english]

I'm in here.

Let's see if we can go up.

They've built their houses
out of bits of the great hall

itself.

Oh my, look at this.

This is fantastic.

People are living up against the
walls of the great hall here.

NARRATOR: Up in the vaults is
evidence of the Gothic style

of architecture that
the Templars favored.

The Templars built the vaulted
arches of the great hall

from wedge-shaped stones.

A keystone at the center was
held in place by the pressure

of neighboring pieces.

The keystone is the
supporting element

for a structure like this.

Without it, the
arch would collapse.

The weight is directed to
strong, springing points

at the base of the arches.

If we follow the lines
of this vault down,

we should be able to find the
springing point somewhere.

And it should be, let's
see, right about in here.

Hm, let's give this a try.

A little washroom in--

ah, look at that.

Look there.

Decorated-- oh,
that's ornamental.

That's beautiful.

Look at that.

Imagine yourself below that,
maybe 18 feet, looking up

at it.

That's amazing.

NARRATOR: We can now reveal the
magnificence of the great hall.

Eight centuries ago, it
would have been bustling

with activity as
the Templars plotted

against the great
Muslim leader Saladin.

On the floor,
perhaps long tables,

Knights sitting along them,
planning, doing strategy.

Imagine in 1188, they're
sitting there talking,

and a scout comes in saying,
Saladin is on the way.

Saladin is on the way.

And they all jump up and
run to their stations.

NARRATOR: The warrior monks
would seize their weapons

and fight to the death to
defend Tortosa from the enemy.

But to the Templars, just
as important as fighting

was prayer.

So buried somewhere
within the castle walls,

there must be the
remains of a chapel.

Paul Crawford is
hoping to find them.

PAUL CRAWFORD: Ah, we've got it.

Look up there.

It's amazing to walk
into this thing,

discover it tucked away in
a little corner of Tartus,

nobody having used it
for hundreds of years.

It's an amazing thing.

It's wonderful.

NARRATOR: Remarkably,
the Templar chapel

is still being used as a home.

PAUL CRAWFORD: People with
their houses built into it,

but they've all been just added
in sort of like wasps nests

inside an abandoned barn.

NARRATOR: These buildings
mask the scale of the chapel,

and centuries of debris
have raised the floor level

by 15 feet, as the position
of these windows shows.

We can now reveal the once
magnificent Templar chapel.

The space would have been
massive, 80-feet long,

30-feet wide, and 50-feet tall.

The scale and splendor
of the building

is an indication of the
crucial importance of prayer

to the Knights Templar.

At the nucleus of the
castle was the keep.

This strong stone tower would
have been the military nerve

center of the castle.

It dominated the entire city.

Today, the keep has been
obscured by over 800 years

of conflict and change.

Military historian David Nicolle
believes he has located remains

of the tower.

But what lies inside has
remained hidden for centuries.

He is about to investigate.

This is the actual
center of the old tower.

This is quite difficult
to get through.

It has not been cleared at all,
and I don't think this has been

used for centuries.

Ah, there's a door.

NARRATOR: David has stumbled
upon the inner sanctum of the

keep.

If the city was attacked, this
would be the final stronghold

the Templars could retreat to.

Here may be clues as to how
they survive during a siege.

Judging by the
sound of it, it's

full of water, which
is a bit scary.

It echoes, and the steps
leading down into the water.

This is creepy.

NARRATOR: This is a stunning
find, a cistern still stocked

with water centuries
after the Templars left.

How deep is that water?

[splash]

Deep enough.

I don't want to go in there.

NARRATOR: During a
siege, the Knights

could have been trapped
within the keep for weeks.

The cistern would be an
essential supply of water.

Next door is another chamber.

Even in the depths of the keep,
the quality of the construction

is outstanding.

Beautifully made.

I mean, look at that window.

I think you'd have been proud to
find that in your local parish

church.

NARRATOR: This was
the weapons store.

At the top of the vault,
there is a small access hole,

a secret trap door would
have provided the Templars

with a supply of swords,
shields, and crossbows.

The cistern and
the weapons store

contained in the 60-foot square
keep represented the last line

of defense for the Templars.

In 1188, their great enemy
Saladin attacked Tortosa.

The city and walls fell.

But the keep, with its
15-foot thick walls, held out.

It was a testament to its
construction and design.

Now, for the first time,
the team of historians

has rediscovered the long
lost Templar city of Tortosa

and brought it back to life.

JONATHAN PHILLIPS: Through
rediscovering Templar Tortosa,

with the castle and the chapel
so close to one another,

we can see the dual role
of the warrior and the monk

encapsulated.

NARRATOR: From Tortosa,
power radiated out

to a network of castles
and Christian cities

across the holy land.

But the linchpin of the
network is not a castle,

but a unique, fortified church.

Within this building,
the Templars

would have taken part
in a sinister ritual,

venerating relics, the
body parts of saints.

From the port of Tortosa,
the Knights Templar

radiated their power and
wealth across the holy land.

Just 25 miles from
Tortosa is Chastel Blanc.

It's out in the frontier land
of the Christian kingdom.

Today, all that remains
is a solitary stone tower

on a hill that dominates
the modern town of Safita.

Chastel Blanc towers 100
feet over the highest peak

in the region.

But this is a very special
and unique building.

It is a fortified church.

It is the Templar
ideal set in stone,

the Christian faith
defended by military might.

The fusion of
the warrior calling

and the religious
calling because this

is a religious building.

It's a church, but it's a
chapel with arrow slits instead

of stained-glass windows.

NARRATOR: Hidden within
the 15-foot thick walls

of the fortified church
is a secret staircase.

It leads to the roof.

Paul Crawford is exploring
the fortification

to determine why Chastel Blanc
was constructed on this site.

PAUL CRAWFORD: I can see why
the Templars put a network

of castles here on this spot.

This is a dry, dead desert.

There isn't heaps of gravel.

It's orchards, olive trees,
orange trees, lemon trees.

Look at the richness and the
beauty of this countryside.

It's not only
appealing to the eye,

it's appealing to
the pocket book.

It's economically financially
valuable territory.

NARRATOR: From here, there
are sightlines to all

the nearby fortifications,
putting Chastel Blanc

at the center of an
impregnable web of defenses.

PAUL CRAWFORD: It
forms the linchpin

of a network of
castles that holds

this rich, beautiful, fertile,
valuable land in place

and defends it.

NARRATOR: Chastel Blanc is
a beautifully compact design

with a chapel on
the lower level.

It has a dormitory above.

Cut into the rock below
is a water cistern.

But to the medieval builder,
constructing a fortification

high on this hill represented
a major engineering challenge.

A castle like this is
incredibly expensive to create.

Look at the depth of the
walls, the size of the blocks.

Look at how carefully
they're put together.

NARRATOR: Historian David
Nicolle has studied how

the Templars moved the gigantic,
2,000-pound stones to construct

their castles.

They used timber cranes
and pulley systems.

It was very, very sophisticated.

In a sense, they had all the
engineering that we have,

the only difference being that
it was made of wood and ropes,

not from steel or any
of that kind of stuff.

NARRATOR: And instead of
electric or diesel power,

the traction was provided
by humans or animals.

There's a person inside a
wheel which they walk along,

like hamsters in
a wheel in a cage,

and that is converted into power
which will then pull the ropes,

very, very effective.

NARRATOR: And it's not just the
scale of the engineering that

is impressive, it's the quality.

Every stone is
engineered to perfection.

And look at this.

The bottom of the arrow slit
is angled so that when you come

over here, you can look.

And if there's an
enemy out there,

you shoot your
little bow at him.

And you can get him
because of the angle.

There's no blind spot
for him down there.

NARRATOR: For the Templars,
guidance in battle

came from God.

Within their fortified
chapel, the warrior monks

would have taken part in
religious rituals venerating

relics, the body
parts of saints.

There's always been this
element in Christian history

of coming close to a holy
person, being in their presence

or being able to touch them.

NARRATOR: Often, a relic
would be a fragment of bone

or a piece of a
saint's clothing.

Sometimes it would have
been more gruesome,

like a severed head.

The relics were so
important to the Templars

they were taken into battle
to provide divine guidance.

But the ultimate relics were
those of Jesus Christ himself.

TIM BUGBY: We can't
have relics of our Lord

because he was
ascended into heaven,

and so we've latched on to
the things which were closest

to him.

And for many, of course,
the cup of The Last Supper

is something which
is very important.

NARRATOR: This cup,
the Holy Grail,

has for centuries has been
the subject of mythology.

It is claimed the Templars,
in their search for relics,

unearthed the Holy
Grail at Temple Mount.

This became their most sacred
possession, which they guarded

with their lives.

But there is little evidence
that this persistent legend

is true.

JONATHAN PHILLIPS: This was
the invention of a 12th century

French romance writer
called Chretien de Troyes.

The Templars could never have
had hold of this thing that

goes back centuries back
to the time of Christ.

In the Middle Ages, there were
people who we would call today

fantasy writers who apparently
thought that it would be really

cool to connect the
ideas of the Holy Grail

with the ideas of the Templars.

NARRATOR: It seems linking
the mysterious and secretive

Templars with the greatest
icon in Christendom

was the ultimate
medieval fantasy.

Well, trouble is it
takes on a life of its own,

goes on and on, and then
people start to believe it.

But it's fantasy.

NARRATOR: By stripping away
the modern settlements,

we can reveal Chastel Blanc as
the Templars would have known

it.

On top of the steeply-sided
hill, protected

by double-concentric
walls, the fortified church

was fantastically defended.

This centerpiece of the
network links the headquarters

at Tortosa to the rest of
the Christian defenses.

But just 25 miles away is the
world's finest castle, Krak Des

Chevaliers, built to withstand
the most brutal attack.

Lawrence of Arabia described
Krak Des Chevaliers

as the finest
castle in the world.

With outer walls 100-feet
thick and seven guard towers

30-feet in diameter, this castle
was virtually impregnable.

The fortress was constructed
and manned by the Hospitallers,

partners and rivals
of the Templars.

Its location is crucial.

It defends the most important
trade route in the region.

DAVID NICOLLE: Over there,
you have the long valley

with the main road.

It's a main road today,
and it was a main road

in medieval times linking the
coast to the inland cities,

which in the
crusader period were

the centers of Islamic power,
and the coast was the center

of the Crusader power.

NARRATOR: The Hospitallers
and the Templars

joined forces to defend
this important territory.

This was a massive
military operation,

and David Nicolle is
on a quest to find out

how the Knights operated.

Horses were essential
to the holy warriors,

but stabling the animals
was a major undertaking.

The first of two stables.

This one is the
smaller of the two.

It's still pretty big.

NARRATOR: These magnificent,
vaulted buildings could stable

up to 1,000 horses.

From here, they could be out
and in battle in minutes.

They are quite literally
chomping at the bit.

They're probably
as eager as the men

who are going to ride them
to get out there and get

into action.

NARRATOR: Horses were also
essential to transport weapons,

food, and men around the castle.

The designers of
Krak Des Chevaliers

had to find a way of allowing
the animals to move around

the steep inclines
of the fortress.

They solved the problem by
constructing the passages

as long, shallow steps
instead of slopes.

By having these
relatively shallow steps,

it reduces the
slope, which makes

it easier for the animals.

And of course, it gets wet.

It gets slippery.

And if you've got
that many animals,

you're going to have an
awful lot of animal dung.

NARRATOR: Moving
men above the castle

was just as important,
especially when under attack.

We're deep inside this really,
really thick, solid piece

of masonry.

NARRATOR: This is known as a
gallery wall, a secret passage

within the broad fortifications,
allowing the Knights to move

clandestinely around the
castle in times of attack.

They'd like to keep
it as hidden as possible

from the enemy.

You imagine yourself being under
attack, people racing backwards

and forwards with new
arrows for the crossbow man

or bringing water or food to
them, or help to the injured.

There's going to be a
lot of activity going on

during a siege.

NARRATOR: Knights would be
manning not only the arrow

slits, but an ingenious piece of
high-tech medieval engineering

known as machicolations.

Machicolations protrude
from the castle walls.

They are a cunning
anti-tunneling measure.

DAVID NICOLLE: If you could get
above them and then drop rocks

or, indeed, anything nasty on
top of them, boiling water.

Forget the boiling oil.

That's far, far too
expensive to waste.

But I think some boiling water
on top of the enemy miner's

heads could be quite effective.

That's put them off.

NARRATOR: But the greatest
example of military engineering

at Krak Des Chevaliers is
the great, sloping wall that

surrounds the central keep.

Known as a talus, it
prevented the enemy

undermining the towers.

DAVID NICOLLE: The idea being
that if you do penetrate

into that, it all falls
down on top of you.

NARRATOR: Despite the web
of fortifications, by 1187

the tide was turning
against the Templars.

Their great enemy Saladin
swept through the holy land,

grabbing town after town
from the Christians.

Ultimately, he
captured Jerusalem.

Within months, his
army was at the gates

of Tortosa, the Templar's
military headquarters.

The city fell, but the
Knights managed to shelter

within the castle.

The Templars needed to regroup.

They set about rebuilding
their fortifications.

David Nicolle is searching for
clues as to how they reinforced

Tortosa.

Now, this diagonal line
here is a beautiful clue.

I think you can say with
reasonable certainty that marks

the line of the talus that went
around the base of this tower.

NARRATOR: This talus
meant Tortosa would now

resist an enemy attempting
to undermine its walls.

Inside, David Nicolle
makes another discovery.

It is clear the inner
section of the keep,

containing a weapons
store and cistern,

is surrounded by a
later fortification.

What the Templars do is build
this extra bit on the outside.

They strengthen and
greatly enlarge this.

And on the outside
of that, the sea.

The whole structure is now very
strong, very strong indeed.

NARRATOR: David's find reveals
how reinforcements were

constructed around the
existing keep at Tortosa.

This second wall
created a passage

where archers could
hide to defend

the inner fortifications.

In combination with
the talus, that

keep within the castle at
Tortosa was now impregnable.

But despite the
unparalleled fortifications,

the Templars were
unable to resist

the tide of the Muslim forces
who wanted to sweep them out

of the holy land.

By the end of the 13th
century, every Templar castle

had fallen, except Tortosa.

But without their
network of castles,

the Templars were doomed.

Realizing all was lost, they
retreated to a tiny island

less than a mile from Tortosa.

Their wealth, secrecy, and
brutality were about come back

to haunt them.

By 1291, the Templars
had failed in their task

to defend the Christian
territories of the holy land.

Their seemingly impregnable
fortresses had fallen.

The Templars were
pushed back to the coast

to Tortosa, the only
castle they still held.

But without their once-great
network, this castle,

too, would soon fall.

The Templars were left with
little choice but to escape.

PAUL CRAWFORD: Tortosa
became pointless, in a way,

and indefensible.

So in August of 1291, the
Templars got on their boats

and sailed away.

NARRATOR: The Templars sailed
to the island of Cyprus.

This was a secure base
where they could regroup,

ready to launch an attack on
the mainland to retake Tortosa

and the castle network.

They assembled a fleet of
ships designed to transport

the Knights to the mainland.

Horses would be essential
to this new assault,

and the Templar ships were
designed to transport up

to 30 animals each.

But the journey by sea
from Cyprus to Tortosa

is over 100 miles.

Transporting horses over this
distance would be challenging.

PAUL CRAWFORD: Horses get
seasick just like humans do.

Unlike humans, horses
can't throw up,

and that causes a problem.

NARRATOR: Launching an
attack with sick horses

would be disastrous, so the
Templars needed a staging point

for the animals to recover.

Less than a mile off
the coast of Tortosa

is the island of Ruad.

PAUL CRAWFORD: If
you have Ruad, you

can bring the
horses by transport,

then take them off, rest
them up, then put them back

on the ship and take
them the mile or so over

to the mainland.

And they won't be in bad
shape when you get there.

NARRATOR: In 1300,
the Knights Templar

set sail for Ruad Island
with a huge garrison

of 120 Knights and 500 archers,
ready to launch the attack.

PAUL CRAWFORD: The Templars
came back here in force,

intending to use it as a
beachhead to retake Tortosa,

and then the entire mainland.

NARRATOR: The only territory
in the holy land now held

by the Knights Templar was Ruad,
an island less than half a mile

across.

PAUL CRAWFORD: Imagine having
held all of that coastline

that we can see, having
been in the city of Tortosa,

the cathedral, Krak
Des Chevaliers, Chastel

Rouge, Chastel Blanc, all
of those great structures

in those networks of castles
across the hinterland

and having lost them all, having
been reduced to possessing

an island only slightly larger
than the dimensions of the city

of Tortosa.

NARRATOR: But in 1302,
things went from bad

to worse for the
Knights Templar.

A Muslim force got
wind of their garrison

on Ruad threatening
the mainland.

They launched an
amphibious attack.

PAUL CRAWFORD: They made
contact on two points

on the island, attacked the
Templars and their infantry.

They drove the Templars back to
a castle, a fortress, possibly

this one on this
end of the island,

and separated them
from their infantry.

And there was fierce
house-to-house fighting

in the narrow alleyways
and the buildings

that were on the island.

NARRATOR: Realizing
the game was up,

the Knights Templar surrendered.

Their last foothold had
fallen to the enemy.

The era of the Templars as
defenders of the holy land

was over.

Back in Europe, they
were held to account.

Their vocation was to
defend the holy places,

and they failed.

I mean, everybody's poured all
this money in over centuries

now on the basis that they would
guard the Christian places.

It hasn't worked.

NARRATOR: The reputation
of the once-great Templars

was now in tatters.

On Friday 13, October,
1307, the King of France

ordered their arrest.

JONATHAN PHILLIPS:
He accused them

of denying Christ,
spitting on the cross,

urinating on the cross.

He accused them of
homosexual practices.

He accused them of worshipping
idols, of worshipping heads.

NARRATOR: Their
mysterious rituals

were challenged, in particular
the secret reception ceremony

where new Knights were
sworn into the brotherhood.

HELEN NICHOLSON: There
were mutterings about what

could possibly be happening
behind these closed doors.

If it was a good thing,
like the Templars said,

and holy and honest, why
can't we go in to see?

They must pay up to something
horrible and obscene in there

that they want to
keep the secret.

There's no smoke without fire.

NARRATOR: The Templars
were interrogated

under brutal torture.

PAUL CRAWFORD: There was one
record of a Templar priest

whose feet were held over a
fire, and the soles of his feet

were burned until, a few days
later, the bones fell out.

There were other Templars who
were hung from the ceilings

of dungeons and had weights
attached to their feet, or even

their sensitive private
parts, and then dropped.

NARRATOR: These broken men
confessed to everything

from idol worship to sodomy.

PAUL CRAWFORD: We
know that, today, you

can make a man suffer enough
that you can make him say

anything.

And that fact alone
makes historians

suspect that the charges against
the Templars were not true.

NARRATOR: In March
1314, the Templars

were found guilty en masse.

The grand master was
burned at the stake,

and the Knights disbanded.

When an organization as big,
grand, and powerful as this one

falls, conspiracy theories
will inevitably develop.

The most enduring myth
is that of the Holy Grail

and the Templars'
quest to find it.

It has gripped western
imagination more

than any other legend.

JONATHAN PHILLIPS: In
the trial proceedings,

in the interrogations,
this thing isn't mentioned.

If the Templars had had
it in their possession,

this would have come to light
in the trial proceedings.

It's not mentioned at all.

NARRATOR: The destruction
of their records

in the 16th century
by Turkish invaders

means there will always
be an air of mystery

about the Knights Templar.

JONATHAN PHILLIPS: The Templars
obsession with secrecy,

and their interest in
relics and arcane rituals,

means that, in many respects,
that their own worst enemy.

But they go from the
heroes of Christendom,

and they fall, and
they're the bad guys.

NARRATOR: Today, everyone
knows the Knights Templar

for the mystique
that surrounds them.

But their buildings defended the
holy land for almost 200 years.

Now, they're slowly
crumbling into the landscape.

And so it seems the mythical
status of the Templars

will outlive their lost world.

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