I just watched a really amazing show on the History Channel called "The Holy Grail in America." The premise was that there is circumstantial evidence indicating that exiles from the Knights Templar explored America over 100 years before Christopher Columbus made his 1492 voyage. The Knights Templar had been outlawed by the Pope in 1307 and many were slaughtered as a result. Legend has it that other groups of the Templars (who were rumored to possess the Holy Grail - known possibly as the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper) fled to far flung locations including Scotland and Portugal to escape the Pope's armies. Some claim that a few groups of Templars actually traveled to North America to hide a grand treasure. The chisled stone shown on the left is known as the Kensington Runestone. It was discovered in 1898 in Minnesota, and the stone's inscription indicated that it was written in 1362, hundreds of years before any other Europeans explored the area. Further, the inscription was written in a language including characters widely used by the Knights Templar. Experts have debated widely over the accuracy of the stone, but geologic testing has indicated that it indeed dates to the 14th century. More circumstantial evidence also suggests that other Templar Knights explored the New England coast in the late 1390s, leaving behind several carved stones with writing similar to that found on the Kensington Runestone. Some people also claim that the Holy Grail is possibly hidden somewhere in North America! One suggested location is Oak Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia. Some claim that a major treasure was hidden by Knights Templars deep underground in a booby-trapped island. For decades, people have tried to discover this treasure but have failed because of the booby-traps. Further, some scholars calim that Christopher Columbus was himself associated with the Knights Templar (via family connections), and found his way to America in 1492 because of directions handed down by the Templar Knights! This theory is based partly on the fact that Columbus used Templar symbols in his writing. While a lot of this is all highly debatable and unproven, it certainly gives us all a lot to think about! Kudos to the History Channel for providing such fascinating programming!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Knights Templar and Holy Grail in America?
I just watched a really amazing show on the History Channel called "The Holy Grail in America." The premise was that there is circumstantial evidence indicating that exiles from the Knights Templar explored America over 100 years before Christopher Columbus made his 1492 voyage. The Knights Templar had been outlawed by the Pope in 1307 and many were slaughtered as a result. Legend has it that other groups of the Templars (who were rumored to possess the Holy Grail - known possibly as the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper) fled to far flung locations including Scotland and Portugal to escape the Pope's armies. Some claim that a few groups of Templars actually traveled to North America to hide a grand treasure. The chisled stone shown on the left is known as the Kensington Runestone. It was discovered in 1898 in Minnesota, and the stone's inscription indicated that it was written in 1362, hundreds of years before any other Europeans explored the area. Further, the inscription was written in a language including characters widely used by the Knights Templar. Experts have debated widely over the accuracy of the stone, but geologic testing has indicated that it indeed dates to the 14th century. More circumstantial evidence also suggests that other Templar Knights explored the New England coast in the late 1390s, leaving behind several carved stones with writing similar to that found on the Kensington Runestone. Some people also claim that the Holy Grail is possibly hidden somewhere in North America! One suggested location is Oak Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia. Some claim that a major treasure was hidden by Knights Templars deep underground in a booby-trapped island. For decades, people have tried to discover this treasure but have failed because of the booby-traps. Further, some scholars calim that Christopher Columbus was himself associated with the Knights Templar (via family connections), and found his way to America in 1492 because of directions handed down by the Templar Knights! This theory is based partly on the fact that Columbus used Templar symbols in his writing. While a lot of this is all highly debatable and unproven, it certainly gives us all a lot to think about! Kudos to the History Channel for providing such fascinating programming!
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Thanks for posting this, Sean. Nice to see some of the "mainstream" academic types are coming at this with an open mind. If you or your blog visitors want to view images of the sites and artifacts featured in the History Channel special, they can go to my blog: http://westfordknight.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteDave Brody
Dave,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words! It is a fascinating topic and I'll look forward to learning more about it. Thanks again,
Sean
I just got done watching it and it really is a fascinating topic
ReplyDeleteI'm watching it right now and I came upon this website while google searching simultaneously. Absolutely fascinating connections being made here!
ReplyDeleteCan anyone recommend any further reading on this topic? (Real factual reading, I mean. Sometimes people can get carried away.)
Thanks everyone for your comments. If someone could post any and all books on this topic, that would be great (since I am not an expert on this topic, I will defer to others who are more knowledgeable).
ReplyDeleteIn the end, I think this all goes to prove that there is a lot about the early "outside" exploration of North America (by Asians, Europeans, etc.) that we do not yet know!
amen brother awmen
ReplyDeleteamen to u brother amen to u
ReplyDeleteThis is a fascinating subject and I was surprised the reserachers/producers of The Holy Grail in America did not mention the Heavener runestones found in Oklahoma which have been dated possibly the 10th century - it was also noted by early explorers that some Siouxian tribes such as the Osage and Assiniboin were extremely tall and even fair haired and blue eyed in the case of the Assiniboin suggesting vikings might have intermarried with these tribes or left behind offspring.
ReplyDeleteI think there is a lot lost to traditional historical concepts. Historians often reject any new claims because it would void their years of research and published works. I have no doubt that many cultures travelled to the Western Hemisphere much earlier than it is accepted. Unfortunately due to time and distance and lack of records other than circumstantial evidence, this knowledge has been lost.
ReplyDelete