Standart News

It is not the mysterious Order of Zion but the ancient religious community of the Bogomils who were the real forerunners of the Templars - the most owe-inspiring and, at the same time, the most romantic religious order of the Middle Ages. Top-ranking freemason Dimiter Nedkov throws a gauntlet to historians and secret societies in his thrilling new novel "33 - The Menace Dan Brown" that is to be released on the Bulgarian book market within numbered days. It will appear on bookshelves December 1 together with the issue of The Standart.

In his first novel the renowned Bulgarian expert in Masonry boldly provokes the researchers of the Free Masons. He relates how one of the eight knights of Hugues de Payens comes to Zemen shortly before the nine start digging into the ruins of the Solomon Temple. There, in Zemen, the Latin receives a secret parchment from an heir of the Bogomils along with the instructions about the establishment of the Templar Order and the Order of Zion that later have been behind-the-curtain watchdogs of these orders for 200 years.
The Masons are believed to be the inheritors of the Templars. The Militia of Christ was set up by nine knights headed by Hugues de Payen. December 1118 they visit King Baldwin II and ask to bless them for a most noble mission - guarding the routes of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. Contrary to sound reasoning Baldwin not only accepted their plea as true but allowed them to lodge in the former stables of the Solomon Temple. For nine years, they have been guarding the roads and at the same time kept on digging. No one asked them any questions or mentioned the order on any occasion. The news breaks out in 1127, when Hugues de Payens comes back to France. Rumour followed him that the nine knights had dug out the King Solomon's treasure in the ruins of Jerusalem.              
From then on the Order made a lightning-like progress. The Rule of Knights Templar was outlined by Bernard of Clairvaux, canonized as St Bernard after his death. He procured privileges for the Order unseen in Christendom so far. The Knights reported only to the Pope, they only had the right to wear white mantles, and they were not restricted by borders, money or property. Formally, the Templars were the poor fellow-soldiers of Christ, the monks warriors who had taken four vows - for poverty, celibacy, obedience and piety and armed protection for the Christian pilgrims. Within a couple of years, though, they transformed into the most powerful institution of the Middle Ages. For 200 years Europe was terrified of them. They were exempt from taxes. The Templars turned into bankers for the European kings. Some of the Templar Knights ran the fisc of the French King Philip the Fair. They were also pawnbrokers. The Templars were the first to introduce a prototype of traveler’s cheques. The nobility could deposit gold with them in Paris against a transcript sealed with a secret symbol and could have their gold at any point in Europe, so that they could travel safely. The gold was also insured.
The Knights also used to give loans to many monarchs. Their rule ended Friday night October 13, 1307 when King Philip the Fair arrested the Grand Master, Jacques de Molay and started persecutions against the Templars which took seven years. The protocols of the trial are 11 km long. At the stake, where he was burnt, the Grand Master cursed the king and the pope (Clement V) saying that he would summon them before God's Tribunal within a year. And so it happened.
Some twenty years ago, Michael Baigent, Henry Lincoln and Richard Leigh, joined forces to revive the legend. In their bestseller, entitled The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail they launch the idea that behind the Knights Templar stands a secret society called the Priory of Zion. Dan Brown stirred further interest to this hypothesis in his book The Da Vinci Code.
33 - The Menace Dan Brown raises new questions. In this novel, Dimitar Nedkov searches for the roots of The Order of the Temple and Freemasonry in Bulgaria.
"In his book, the author not only reveals secrets from the history of the Masonry. He questions some of the myths widely exploited by Dan Brown in his novel," critics say.
They state that everyone who has read the Lost Symbol should read Dimitar Nedkov's response - 33 - The Menace Dan Brown. The novel reveals the weak points in the story told by Dan Brown.

Ekaterina Nikolova