Читать книгу Sketch of the History of the Knights Templars - Burnes James - Страница 10
CONTINUATION OF THE ORDER
ОглавлениеCHAP. IV.
The Continuation of the Order
But the persecution of the Templars in the fourteenth century does not close the history of the Order; for, though the Knights were spoliated, the Order was not annihilated. In truth, the cavaliers were not guilty, – the brother hood was not suppressed, – and, startling as is the assertion, there has been a succession of Knights Templars from the twelfth century down even to these days; the chain of transmission is perfect in all its links. Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master at the time of the persecution, anticipating his own martyrdom, appointed as his successor, in power and dignity, Johannes Marcus Larmenius of Jerusalem, and from that time to the present there has been a regular and uninterrupted line of Grand Masters. The charter27
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A copy of this remarkable Charter, the original of which I had an opportunity of examining through the kindness of the Grand Master and Sir Sidney Smith, at Paris, will be found in the Appendix. The Charter was submitted to the inspection of nearly 200 Knights of the Order, at the Convent-General held at Paris in 1810.
