Remnants of a Secret Library Been Found in Bulgaria

Some of the writing I do here at Grail Seekers is speculation. Those of us who fish in the underground stream for the flotsam and jetsam of hidden knowledge will at best collect a few connected puzzle pieces. Those of us who have the integrity of seeking Truth, try not to force the jig saw puzzle together. We are satisfied with a corner piece fitting together here, or making half a recognizable image there. Such is the nature outsider looking into secret societies, cryto-history, and random Fortean weirdness.

Ever so often, the rules of the game change and some tiny bit of information comes along that gives one a WOW moment. We look back on the trail behind us more clearly, because what we had thought all along has the light of validity attached.

Such seems to be the case with my following of the events in Bulgaria over the last year and a half. I won't rehash all of the events leading up to last week's news story, but if you're interested you can check out my articles entitled Templar Dig in Bulgaria and Templar Dig in Bulgaria Continues.

The short and sweet version is that a group of modern day Templars has funded Bulgaria archeologist Nickolay Ovcharov to find evidence of Templar activity in Bulgaria. Given findings last year, I had speculated that Ovcharov was looking for a legendary secret library of the last Bulgarian Tsar, Ivan Shisman. The story goes that Shisman hid his library before the advancing Ottoman's took over the country in the 14th Century.

The possibilities of finding an undisturbed medieval royal library are staggering. Dependant on the level of activity that the Templars might have had in the area, the unblemished records could be astounding. Especially since Bulgaria was a overland route into Constantinople, who knows what clues to the 4th Crusade's sacking of the town could be held in a such a library.

Last Friday, Novite.com ran another find of our friend Ovcharov. In Saint Peter and Paul's church in Veliko Tarnovo, a "silver and gold casing of a medieval book... contains a golden image of Archangel Michael with a scepter in his hand" was found. The article goes on to say that "He [Ovcharov] also announced his team had discovered a bronze hasp at the same spot which confirmed the testimonies that in the 19th century a secret room with hand-written medieval books was discovered at the church."

I haven't been able to track down the source of the 19th Century account as of yet, but it seem pretty clear that Ovcharov is looking for it. Sometimes one's chickens do come home to roost in a positive way...

At the moment, I'm looking into some other seemingly non-connected stories happening in Bulgaria that circle into Ovcharov's professional connections and some European Union politics. If I can make some of the dots connect, I'll go to press in the next week about my findings. Until then think good thoughts that if Ovcharov does find the library, the world will get a look at the documents. It would be very easy for a find like this to get overlooked and hidden away for another 700 years.

The Templars and the Shroud of Turin: How the Pieces Fall Into Place

Suddenly it all makes sense....

Yesterday the Vatican announced that they believe a link has been found between the Knights Templar and the Shroud of Turin. Today's Times Online states that the proof of the link comes from the work of researcher Dr. Barbara Frale. Some of you might remember it was Frale discovered the Chinon Parchment. This document not only included a transcript of the trial of the Templars, but Pope Clement V's admission that the Order was not guilty of heresy.

Frale links the Templars to the Shroud by a 1287 document by Templar initiate Arnaut Sabbatier. In this document, Sabbatier states that the Templars held, in secret, a "long linen cloth on which was impressed the figure of a man” and instructed to venerate the image by kissing its feet three times." Furthermore the Times article goes on to say that, " They had rescued it to ensure that it did not fall into the hands of heretical groups such as the Cathars, who claimed that Christ did not have a true human body, only the appearance of a man, and could therefore not have died on the Cross and been resurrected." Unfortunately, the Times does not give us the benefit of a reference for this claim.

The Easter week claim from the Vatican is nothing short of incredible. The Church claims to have evidence of the Shroud's "missing years" from the fall of Constantinople in 1204 to its reemergence in 1353. Filling in a gap of 150 years of the Shroud's history is a feat, but to admit that the Templars held the Shroud is another matter.

The Times article mentions that Frale's "study of the trial of the Knights Templar had brought to light the document" of Sabbatier that connected the dots. One can only surmise that the Vatican has known of the link between the Templars and the Shroud since shortly after Frale's 2001 discovery of the Chinon Parchments. If this is the case, some moves on the part of the Vatican, and other groups, since 2001 start to fall into place.

A quote from Fred Thompson's character, Admiral Painter, in The Hunt for the Red October comes to mind: "The Russians don't take a dump without a plan"; the same could be said of the Vatican. The control of information, timing of announcements, and actions from the Holy See are as orchestrated as any government's. Let's take a look at the time line of events leading up to this revelation from the Vatican and see what emerges. The links on the dates are to articles supporting the time line. In cases where the links are dead, references are given.

September 2001 - Dr Barbara Frale discovers the Chinon Parchments in the Vatican's Secret Archives. The Parchments have been "misfiled" for the last 700 years and supposedly the contents were unknown by the Vatican. Also of note: the Times article on the Shroud/Templar connection claims that Frale found the Chinon Parchments in 2003. The Italian Magazine Hera ran an article Templars: The Flame of the Innocence in 2002 about Frale's discovery.

18 Mar 2003 - Dan Brown's book the Da Vinci Code is released in the United States. We all know what that did to the mythos and public awareness of the Templars.

29 Nov 2004 - A Hertfordshire group of Templars sends a letter to the Vatican seeking the Church to apologize for the persecution of the Templars. According to the article, one of the members said, "There have been some unofficial responses over the telephone and we have received certain indications from officials within the church that leaves us hopeful that an apology might be forthcoming,"

29 April 2005 - The Hertfordshire Mercury reports that before becoming Pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, contacted a Dr Alan Thompson at the University of Hertfordshire about a Templar connection in the town.

23 May 2006 - The Vatican issues a letter in Germany that denounces claims that the Church is reforming the Templars. It is still unknown who was circulating a forged letter that made this claim and why the Church would take any position on this matter.

17 July 2007 - BBC reports that the Vatican has closed its main library until September 2010 for restoration work. Until that time, any of the printed resources of the library will be off limits to the rest of the world.

4 Oct 2007 - The Vatican announces the 25 Oct 2007 release of the Chinon Parchments in Processus contra Templarios. The limited edition book will include information that "clears" the Templars of heresy. The release of the text "just happens" to fall within 12 days of the 700th anniversary of the Templar's arrest in Paris on charges of heresy.

24 Nov 2007 - An archeological survey by the modern day Templar Organization Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani (OSMTH) in Bulgaria is announced. The dig was codenamed “Nisovo Project” and has been headed up by the “Indiana Jones” of Bulgarian archeology Nikolai Ovcharov. The goal of the dig was to find evidence of the Templars in Bulgaria. The region the group is searching in would have been an overland path used by Crusaders returning from the sack of Constantinople in 1204 when the Shroud "disappeared" from history.

21 Aug 2008 - Dr. Frale announces that she's found a prayer written by a Templar while in prison. The prayer appeals to the Virgin Mary to free the order, "despite all the lies that have been thrown at us by liars," and guide the order's enemies toward "truth and charity"

While this has been a long way around the bend, here's my conjecture. The Vatican has known, at least since 2001, of the contents of the Chinon Parchments. With public awareness of the history and pseudo-history of the Templars growing since the release of the Da Vinci Code, the Church has decided to use this to its advantage. While the position of the Church has not "officially" changed on the trial of the Templars, an information campaign has been waged to publically clear them of heresy charges.

Since the Templars were supposedly protecting the Shroud from heretical groups, how could they be a part of their heresies? By extension, we have a set up for casting some doubts of the Templar's involvement in covering up the theory of Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene. The bonus to all of this is the steadfast Templars lend some legitimacy to the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin. Not to mention that the connection between the Templars and the Shroud coming before Easter services...

It's interesting that the Church decided to close its main library down till the middle of last year, before making any of these announcements. By releasing the Chinon Parchments and the library being closed, they control the rate and timing of information. There is no chance that someone might wander into some other discovery on the Templars or anything else.

Finally, we have some evidence that the Church has been interested in active neo-Templar groups. I was told a year ago by a senior member of one of these groups (who wished to remain anonymous and I know how that sounds) that they were in contact with the Vatican and that calls for exoneration of the Templars. He mentioned that the time might not be right to upset the apple cart for too many public outcries for justice for the Templars and that "things are forthcoming." Once again, getting the "buy-in" from these organizations lessens them exerting public pressure on the Vatican to do anything except on the Pope's time table.

The big question now is what is next? What other secrets is the Church holding and what is their plan to make the information public? I've got a good feeling we haven't heard the end of this.

Templar Dig in Bulgaria Continues

Last December, Grail Seekers reported on an archeological survey being funded by the modern day Templar Organization Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani (OSMTH) in Bulgaria. The dig was codenamed “Nisovo Project” and has been headed up by the “Indiana Jones” of Bulgarian archeology Nikolai Ovcharov. Ovcharov, a member of the OSMTH himself, has made a number of fascinating discoveries this summer that has given us a hint as to the “Nisovo Project’s” goals. More to the point, a report reprinted on the Visit Bulgaria web site yesterday makes me think they might be close to their mark.

The avowed purpose of the Nisovo Project was to search for evidence of Templar activity in the Russe region of Bulgaria. Specifically, reports last year mentioned proposed digs in the cities of Russe, Nisovo, and one time capitol Veliko Tarnovo. There is little doubt, in my mind, that the Templars would have held interest in this region due to its strategic location. The city of Nisovo lays near an over land route Crusaders from Teutonic held regions would likely have taken into Constantinople.

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A series of finds at the 13th Century monastery of St. Ivan Rilski in Veliko Tarnovo hints at a possible unnamed goal for Project Nisovo. During the excavations of the monastery, Ovcharov’s team found a number of graves and random gold coins on site. The telling find was that of Tsar Ivan Shishman`s treasure. Shishman was the last Tsar of Bulgaria before the country was taken over by the Ottoman Empire.

Before the fine in June, Shishman’s treasure was simply a legend. In a 2007 Radio Bulgaria interview on the fortress of Urvich, Ovcharov mentions this legend and another related to the last Tsar’s reign. According to the interview, “Legends also tell about the existence of Tsar Ivan Shishman’s treasure and library hidden in the region. They, too, titillate the archeologists’ imagination. The scholars are hoping that the archeological exploration of the fortress [fortress of Urvich] could be launched by the autumn of 2007.”

While Shishman’s treasure was found over 150 miles east of Urvich, its existence was confirmed and a legend dispelled. Could this mean that after finding one piece of Shisman’s legacy, Project Nisovo aims to find the library as well? Within a Tsar’s library there is no telling what could be found. At very least, titles or land grants to organizations and citizens might be found. These records, if they exist, could possibly span back to the beginning of the Second Bulgaria Empire in 1186. What better way to track Templars in Bulgaria than finding out where their holding were.

The report in the Visit Bulgaria web site yesterday makes me think that they are looking for just that. Ovcharov’s team found, in Nisovo, a “medieval burial of a mother and a child. The bodies were laid to resemble those of the Virgin Mary and Infant as usually depicted on icons.” While this in of itself is highly unusual, it’s what the article goes on to say about the unknown origins of Nisovo that caught my eye.

“One of the hypothesis for the origin of the village [Nisovo] is that it was inhibited by the descendants of the Bulgarian aristocracy that fled Veliko Tarnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian kingdom at the invasion of the Ottoman Turks in the 14th century. The expedition to Nisovo was carried out thanks to the exclusive financial support of the Priory of Knights Templars in Bulgaria.”

Now where better to find a lost library than the hiding place of the aristocracy after the Ottoman invasion? Anyone up for a trip to Bulgaria to find out?

Templar Dig in Bulgaria

The news last week of the modern day Templar Organization Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani (OSMTH) will begin excavations in the Russe region of Bulgaria isn’t really news. At least the part about archeological activity in Russe relating to the Templars isn’t news. Back in April, archeologist Nikolai Ovcharov conducted a survey of the area for direct evidence of Templar holdings at the behest of the OSMTH. Ovcharov, the self titled “Indiana Jones of Bulgaria”, came to international attention in the archeological community when he announced coming into possession of a 7,000 year old tablet. According to Ovcharov, the stone contains the world’s earliest example of a written language.

It would now seem that the OSMTH has taken up the role of financing excavations in the Russe region. The OSMTH have dubbed the dig the “Nisovo Project”. Nisovo is a small village near the Romanian border. The above link cites that “remains of closes ancient necropolis where typical Templiers [sic] crosses were found”. So it would seem that we have a good idea where in Russe the excavations are going on. The OSMTH also is considering trying to excavate a Catholic Church in the ancient capital of Bulgaria, Veliko Tarnovo.

I was able to get a better picture of the Russe area from former history teacher at Memphis’ prestigious Harding Academy, Charlie Milson. After a number of mission trips to Romania, Charlie was able to visit Russe. “It's still an international crossroads and a great place to ford the Danube. A huge bridge is there now; it replaced another that was built in the 1920’s. There are some stone relics of older bridges that lie nearby”, said Milson. This would have made Russe the perfect place for Crusaders going to and from Constantinople to cross the Danube. It is no wonder evidence of the Templars can be found in this area.

Bulgaria would seem to be a treasure trove for those who would just look. Post Communism, the trade in illicit relics in Bulgaria “is more profitable than the drug trafficking.” “There are ruins all over Romania and Bulgaria one can just walk up to without anyone saying a word. The Communists didn’t have any idea what to do with the sites, so they left them alone”, said Milson.

Another event from the Bulgarian past that was publicized just days before the initial survey was announced could give another clue to what “Project Nisovo” might uncover. The remains of Tzar Kaloyan was laid to rest in an undisclosed Church in Veliko Tarnovo. Kaloyan is a central figure in Bulgarian history for securing the state in wars with Byzantium, Hungary and Serbia. During the late 1190’s, Pope Innocent III was in negotiations with the Tzar to make Bulgaria’s official religion Roman Catholic. The Tzar is also noted in history for capturing Emperor Baldwin of Flanders during the 4^th Crusade.

The story of Kaloyan serves as simply a clue to what could be found near Russe. After the 4^th Crusades’ sack of Constantinople, the Russe region would have had any number of those returning overland with their spoils in the interior of Europe. What might the Templars squirreled in the region from the riches of Constantinople? Hopefully, if the OSMTH expedition finds anything of note they will share it with the world. At present the Bulgarian branch of the OSMTH has not replied to my request for an interview.