Stephen Dafoe's Outremer

Friend and Brother Stephen Dafoe is seemingly indefatigable. In the last year he has published Nobly Born: An Illustrated History of the Knights Templar, one of the best introductory works to the history and legends of the medieval Knights Templar, combined with beautiful illustrations and maps.

This year, he follows it up with The Compasses and the Cross, a unique book that traces the origins and development of the Masonic Knights Templar, and separates fact from Masonic myth-making. There is literally no other work like it, and Stephen has created a book of tremendous worth to the fraternity and to others who seek to study it.

With Comic-Con going on in San Diego this week, it's appropriate to announce Stephen's latest project. It combines his love of the Knights Templar with comic books. He and Edmonton artist Bob Prodor have joined forces to create Outremer: The Saga of the Knights Templar. According to his website, Outremer's pen and ink work is complete, and is in the final stages of coloring. he is predicting a fall 2008 release date for the first of four issues.

Mice Templar Animated Film

Kidvid network Nickelodeon is producing a new cartoon movie, The Mice Templar, written by Mike Avon Oeming and Bryan Glass. According to a Hollywood Reporter story,

"Mice" is an epic about a young mouse named Karic and the prophecy that leads him to reunite the long-disbanded order of the Mice Templar, a group of mice knights.

Templar Treasure Hunters Dig In Bornholm Island Church

As we discussed in The Templar Code For Dummies, Denmark's Bornholm Island is the hot new spot for Templar treasure seekers. And apparently, some would-be Holy Grail hunters decided o dig some exploratory holes in the largest round church on Bornholm Island. As reported in the Copenhagen Post:

Stories of hidden treasures and connections to the Knights Templar inspired unknown vandals early Tuesday morning to drill two holes into the floor of Østerlars Church on the island of Bornholm, reported TV2 News.

The structure is a well-visited 12th century 'round church', of which there are four on Bornholm. But the church is especially popular among fans of conspiracy stories surrounding the Holy Grail and a possible union between Jesus and Mary Magdalen - a tale most recently made famous by Dan Brown's 'The DaVinci Code'.

Danish author Erling Haagensen's books readily connect the island's round churches to the crusading knights. He claims that the churches' symmetrical placement is part of the ongoing mystery surrounding the knights, who he claims settled on the island.

Haagensen also wrote that there was a secret chamber under the floor of the church. Geo-radar studies have confirmed that the room does actually exist, and Haagensen has suggested drilling holes in the floor to send a micro camera down to view the room.

The would-be thieves attempted to take that message to heart Tuesday morning, but it is not known whether they managed to sneak a peak at the secret room's contents.

In a recent Danish children's film, 'The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar', it is suggested that a valuable treasure is hidden in the room - possibly the Holy Grail.