Everyone likes a good conspiracy theory don't they.
Everything from 'Who really shot President Kennedy' and 'Area 51', to 'Richard III
and the Princes in the Tower' and 'Why the Marathon bar was really re-named Snickers'.
There's simply no getting away from it. People love a good mystery; the idea
that there is a 'real' and 'hidden history' to which only a few worthy types
know THE TRUTH. I suppose it fits rather nicely with mankind's general paranoia;
that because we rarely understand everything that is going on in the world
about us, that there must be something that is being deliberately kept from us.
Some great secret that, if only we could hunt down the clues, might help us
understand what is REALLY going on. That there are mysterious and shadowy
organisations out there, hidden from the rest of humanity, that have for
centuries been quietly pulling all the strings - steering the world in the
direction that the 'Secret Masters' have mapped out for us all.
Well, when it comes to medieval studies there really isn't a
more enduring and popular conspiracy theory than that concerning the Knights
Templar. According to 'received wisdom' (the general term applied to something
for which there is no evidence - but which will sell paperbacks by the tens of
thousands) the Templars were a shadowy military order whose mysterious rise to
power and subsequent downfall has been linked to everything from the Holy Grail
to the hidden bloodline of Christ (which, according to some works are actually
one and the same thing). According to some theories they were the guardians of
a 'great treasure' of 'great secret', that they had found something in the
remains of Solomon's Temple that allowed them to blackmail the Pope and hold
the whole Catholic Church to ransom. That they, the military arms of the
Church, were the true rulers of the Christian Middle Ages. The most enduring of
all the conspiracy theories concerning the Templars is that they themselves
actually endured; that after their order had been disbanded and destroyed
elements of the order remained in hiding, carrying on their secret work down
through the centuries. Protecting their great secret until the time of
revelation is upon us...
Interestingly the shadowy presence of the Knights Templar
has also wormed its way into the study of medieval graffiti inscriptions. At
any one time there will be half a dozen dedicated souls out looking at the medieval
churches of England looking for the 'hidden signs' left behind by the Templars
- and what could be better than to discover hidden graffiti on the walls;
messages that have been seen by no one for centuries? As a result you'll be
amazed (or not) at the number of messages I receive from individuals who claim
to have either found these secret messages of the Templar, or who want to point
out that some of the graffiti WE have been finding was undoubtedly the work of
the Templars. That the inscriptions were secret messages left by the Templars
for those that came after them, leading them one step closer to discovery of
this 'great secret'. Sadly, it appears that nothing I can say or do, that no hard
evidence presented before them, will deter them from this view. Indeed, by
arguing against their view, WE become part of the conspiracy - part of the
mysterious organisation(s) designed to keep people from THE TRUTH! We're
probably responsible for that whole Marathon/Snickers thing too...
The problem with medieval graffiti though is that there are
some sites that simply ASK to have conspiracy theories woven into their very
fabric. Royston Cave in Hertfordshire is one such site and it is here that the
ideas/theories/conspiracies of Knights Templar graffiti has really found its
greatest flowering. The cave was discovered by accident in the middle of the
eighteenth century beneath the town of Royston itself. It was carved out of the
soft local chalk and is actually rather small, being only about three metres in
diameter. When discovered it was found that just about every wall surface in
the cave had been craved and inscribed with symbols, motifs and images - many
of which were clearly medieval in origin. However, at the time none of the
local antiquarians had ever seen anything quite like it. They had no idea what
function the cave had originally served, although some speculated that it might
have been a chapel, and no idea at exactly what date it had been made - and by
whom. It was a complete mystery; and eighteenth and nineteenth century
antiquarians, when faced with a medieval mystery, always had one idea to fall-back
upon - the Knights Templar!
And so it began. The association between the Templars and
Royston cave. It has been described as a hidden Templar chapel, and secret
meeting place for members of the order and a secret chamber in which the
English Templars would keep their great treasury - and their own secrets. Even
today crowds of Templar enthusiasts visit the site - trying to decipher the
hidden meaning on the walls...
Right, well here's the thing chaps - and you probably aren't
going to like this one little bit - but the carvings at Royston cave aren't
unique. In fact, except in terms of quantity, they aren't even very unusual -
and they certainly have absolutely nothing to do with the Knight Templars.
Sorry! You see, the thing is, we come across carvings and graffiti like the ones
in the cave absolutely all the time. The symbols and motifs are EXACTLY what we
would expect to find in any late medieval chapel, and those at Royston are most
probably just that - late fourteenth or fifteenth century - centuries after the
disbanding of the Templars. Indeed, if you look at the medieval chapel that
survives in Norwich castle, or the passageway to the chapel at Carlisle Castle,
you will find exactly the same thing - and I do mean 'exactly'. "Ah..
castles", I hear the conspiracy theorists whisper, "castles where
knights would be...". It isn't just castles where such graffiti is to be
found either. Cathedrals and parish churches across England are crammed full of
just such inscriptions; St Catherine and her wheel, scenes of the crucifixion
and images of swords, shield and daggers are scattered across the medieval
stonework. All of these inscriptions, as far as my studies have made clear,
were created by the everyday folk of the
medieval parish. Indeed, to the best of my knowledge (and I'd love to be proved
wrong on this) there isn't a single piece of medieval graffiti in this country
that can be positively identified as being Templar in origin.
Sorry. But there it is. There is no hidden message from the
Templars scratched into the walls of our churches. And why would there be? By
the time of the great rebuilding of many of our East Anglian churches the
Templars had been gone for centuries. And what message would they want to leave
behind anyway? Seriously? Would members of one of the richest and most
prestigious military orders in medieval history really scratch hidden messages
into the walls, leaving details of their 'secret dealings', just so that they
can be rediscovered centuries later by a bunch of conspiracy theorists? And let's be honest here. I don't know about you, but I suspect that if there really are 'Secret Masters' out there, shadowy organisations of illuminati, then they are pretty unlikely to have their own websites and facebook groups are they? Tell
you what, you can decide on that one...
Here's the thing though. The walls of our churches ARE full
of hidden messages. The do conceal great mysteries and many of them haven't
been seen for centuries. However, rather than being the mysteries of long lost
knights and crusaders bent on world domination, they are the everyday mysteries
of medieval faith and belief. They are the mysteries of life, love, marriage
and death in the medieval parish; the mysteries of people dreams, hopes and
fears. For me, wandering the stunning medieval churches of eastern England, that is more than enough
of a mystery...
