by Arjen Kolk
n Umberto Eco's 'The pendulum of Foucault'
a couple of bored lectors working for a third rate scientific publisher,
decide to rewrite history starting from one assumption: all historic facts
are somehow related to a secret plan. They use all the typescripts they have
to read and try to fit these in to this new scheme of things. One of the
mysteries that becomes pivotal in their reconstruction of the past is the
disappaearance of the Templars. They ask themselves the following questions:
* How come the Templars, by no means stupid, where such an easy catch for the Inquisition?
* Why did they confess to all kinds of blasphemous and perverse conduct so readily? Torture can't be the whole explanation since they where hardened in battle with the Muslims.
heir conclusion is that the Templars
share a secret that is so important, that each one of them is prepared to
die for it and that even the downfall of their order is of no importance
compared to this secret. Bear this theory in mind when reading the following
story.
n the summer of '91 I visited the
Convent of Christ in tomar to verify if the signs in the Charola [the original
chapel of the Templars] that umberto Eco describes in his 'The pendulum of
Foucault' where facts or fiction. Upon entering the convent I found the Templar's
chapel closed for restauration. this was, as you can imagine, quite a deception.
I had travelled a long way especially to see it and apart from its historic
significance, Tomar hasn't got much to offer for people under sixty. Besides
the convent, however, there are two more churches that have strong links
with the history of the Templars. One of them is the humble looking Igreja
da Santa Maria dos Olivais [the church of Saint Mary of the Olives]. Hardly
a match for the massive convent, but being in Tomar I had no options but
to visit it. Apart from boring myself to death for the rest of the day, that
is.
omar was founded on the righthand
bank of the river Nabao [the Arabic name for this river was Tomar] in 1160
by Gualdim Pais, master of the Templars of Portugal, who started by building
a hughe castle which later became the convent of Christ. Oddly enough the
Igreja da Santa Maria dos Olivais lies on the leftbank of the river. It was
built in the 15th century on the same spot where Gualdim Pais built a church
three centuries earlier. The church, showing a Signum Salomonis in the front,
is the pantheon of the masters of the Templars and the order of Christ. Some
22 of them, including Gualdim Pais, are buried within the church. Furthermore
this church was the Igreja Matriz [motherchurch] of all churches that where
built in Africa, America and Asia by the Portuguese during their voyages
of discovery. So far for facts.
arrived at the doors of the church
a little after twelve . This was pretty bad timing because lunchtime starts
at twelve o'clock precisely and lunch is a very serious matter in Portugal.
To make things worse it goes on until about three and usually this is not
a good time to do anything but eat and sleep. Needless to say the doors of
the church were locked. I was about to give up on my quest and return to
my very humble quarters when a man stepped out of the shadow of an olivetree
with in his hand a big rusty key. Would I like to see the interior of the
church? I must have muttered some words signifying 'yes', because he unlocked
the doors and made an inviting gesture. There were some six steps leading
down (!) to the floor of the church and the man, evidently the verger or
janitor of the church, immediately began explaining how typical this was
for the churches of the Templars*. Not only had he been willing to unlock
the doors, he was also going to give me a private guided tour during lunchtime!
he biggest surprise, however, was
yet to come. After a thouroughly interesting half an hour we were about to
leave the church. When I remarked how strange it was that such a powerfull
order could have vanished, he turned halfway the steps and said: "Oh, but
they still exist." I echood his sentence to see if I had understood what
he had just said. In return he echood it right back at me and added: "They
come here every year." "Yes," he continued, seeing the disbelief in my face,
"that's exactly how I reacted when they called me the first year I had this
job. So when they said they were coming and wanted the church closed for
public when they were there I told them 'No'. But when I rang Town Hall to
tell them about this they told me to go ahead and give them the key. So when
they came I did, and I've been doing so ever since. They come from all over
the world and meet in Lisbon. One day before they arrive here, they phone
in. They come here by bus, I give them the key and they lock themselves in
for three hours. Then they come out again, return the key, get on the bus
and are gone. Every year. But always on a different date. I never know when
they are coming until the day before." "And what do they do inside", I asked.
By now we had climbed the steps and were standing just outside the doorway
of the church. He shrugged his shoulders, lifted his arms and froze in this
posture for a couple of seconds. "Nobody knows," he said, and locked the
doors.
ccording to the verger the Templars,
always prepared for immediate action, attended their masses on horseback.
In case of alarm/danger,they had to get out of the church fast. Horses take
ascending steps much easier and quicker then descending steps.
