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.

Dan Green Visits Royston Cave

Royston Cave, outside Hertfordshire UK, has long been thought to have been linked to the Templars. Researcher Dan Green has put together a video of his explorations into the cave and its unique carvings. You can catch up on Dan's theories of what the carvings mean in his article posted at Far Shores.

Post Script on the Hertfordshire Mysteries

I appreciate all of the positive feedback I've gotten on the Hertfordshire Grail Mystery Reexamined piece. The predominate response I received was after Tim Acheson's well being. I am happy to say that I contacted Tim after the piece was posted and he seems to be doing just fine. He even gave a thumbs up about the article. I'm sure Tim would appreciate everyone’s concern. The world is a much more interesting place with Tim and Ben around.

BK

Hertfordshire Grail Mystery Reexamined

2004 passed with many of you not knowing the names of Tim and Ben Acheson. This is not surprising to my American audience since the story was chronicled in newspapers, magazines, and a TV special in the United Kingdom. For our UK Grail Seekers, you might recall that the Achesons made a splash in the underground steam with an announcement to a reporter from the Hertfordshire Mercury. The Acheson brothers asserted that there are tunnels under Hertford, a small town 20 miles north of London, which are still in use.

What’s so surprising about that? If I were to tell you that the tunnels were used by modern-day Templars and members of the Illuminati, what would you think? What if there was an immense treasure that might be the Holy Grail, under Hertfordshire? Those are the questions the world had to answer after Raymond Brown’s article about the Acheson brothers appeared in the 8 October 2004 issue of the Hertfordshire Mercury.

If you’re not familiar with the Achesons, I’ve listed links to all the relevant articles at the bottom of the page. I would highly recommend reading these articles.

The Acheson’s story is that they are descendants of a Templars family. While they will not confirm their role within any modern-day Templar organization, they seem to know quite a bit about the group’s goals. Tim Acheson was interviewed by the Guardian in January of 2005 and gives some hints about the importance of Hertfordshire and the Grail mystery. Tim claims that groups of Templars came to Hertfordshire after Black Friday in 1307 and made it a base of operations. He believes that the passages below ground in Hertfordshire may hold the answer to many of the questions about the Grail and the Templars.

Acheson even took a couple of reporters on tours of these underground passages. According to Acheson the whole city is honeycombed with tunnels that are used by the Templars and the Illuminati as a meeting site. Through out the articles on Acheson, he is rather hidden about what he knows, or suspects, is going on in Hertfordshire. He makes references to revelations that could be forth coming due to a new generation of Templars wanting to be more open. If one takes a closer look at the facts presented in the press; a few interesting possibilities open up.

In May of 2005, the Hertfordshire Mercury reported that a Vernon Gifkins was identified as one of the first people to enter Hitler’s bunker in May of 1945. Tim Acheson was also identified and quoted as being Gifkins' grandson. We come to find out that Gifkins was also an MI5 agent and according to Tim, “"He was a real character, hunting man-eating lions in Africa and also a lot of real James Bond work. He took some very interesting documents from the bunker." Given Hitler’s penchant for the occult, one wonders what might have been taken from that bunker.

One has to dig a little to see what the relevance of Gifkins is to the claims the Achesons have made. The article mentions that the Gifkins “live in Bayley Hall, which his family owned, and the Old Vicarage in Church Street.” If we go back to the first article about the Achesons, there is a picture of a map that shows a1898 map of Bayley Hall. The map marks a subterranean passageway on the property that would link up with the other passages the Achesons claimed to be running under Hertfordshire. One can imagine the Achesons as teenagers exploring the tunnel systems against the warnings of their grandfather.

Tim’s interest in the tunnel system and the Hertfordshire treasure might not be a passive one. In March of 2005, the Hertfordshire Templars requested to undergo excavations on an undisclosed property in the town. The property in question is said to have been a Templar holding in 1253. The landowner denied the group’s requests. Tim is quoted as saying, “If the whereabouts of these items is still known after all this time, and they are still wanted, one can only conclude that they must have some intrinsic value.” The timing of the request leads one to believe that the Templar might be looking for hard evidence to present to the world.

I tend to think that this property is on the Brickendonbury estate in the village of Brickendon, which lies a few miles south of Hertfordshire. The estate was once owned by Sir Thomas Clarke, who built the present manor house there in the 1690’s. Clarke was also responsible for building Bayley Hall. The March 2005 article mentions that “items claimed to be "secreted beneath the surrounding fields, outbuildings, moat and house have been there for 700 years.” This loosely fits with the description of Brickendonbury.

The possible Grail and Acheson connections don’t end there. Located in Brickendon is the Chapel of the Holy Cross and St Alban, which was the chapel Brickendonbury estate. On the grounds of the chapel are a number of different types of trees. One of which is reported to be part of the Glastonbury Thorn. Also, during World War II, the Brickendonbury house was used by British intelligence to train agents in industrial sabotage. Perhaps Vernon Gifkins received some training there. It would fit with what we know of Gifkins.

Of course all of this is pure conjecture on my part. In hoping to satisfy my own theories, I tried to track Tim Acheson down. Through some sleuth work and good luck I was able to do so. We traded correspondence through October and November. Tim even agreed to do the interview with me. After sending him a list of questions, poof, he was gone. I have not heard from Tim since. Also, know that I will not disclose my method of contact with Tim. So please don’t waste your time emailing me asking for the particulars.

I do hope everything is well with him. No matter what you think of the validity of Acheson’s claims, he does live in a shadowy world. Since the Grail world is filled with those who run the gambit between reality and pure fiction, the possibilities of their actions are equally as broad. I wish Tim and Ben all the luck in the world, and more over I hope they’re on to something.

The major articles that recount the story of the Achesons can be found in the following places. Note: some of the articles are reprinted in other forums, after their links have become dead at the original source. I copied the articles from their respective original sources and can vouch that I have seen no evidence of rewrites. One can never be too careful with info on the web. Any quotes that I have made in this piece can be directly attributed to the following sources.

Secret tunnels used by Knights Templar and Illuminati in Hertford
Hertford, home of the Holy Grail
Pope was investigating Knights Templar before his election
Hertford Grail trail hits Aussie headlines
Michael Jackson checks in with tribute to historic Hertford Templar
Landowner Blocks Hunt for Templar Treasure
Revealed: Hertford's man in Hitler's bunker