Visitor numbers to historic Rosslyn Chapel double thanks to Da
Vinci Code
According to the Scotsman Newspaper of Wednesday January 4th,
visitors to the historic Rosslyn Chapel, situated 7 miles south
of the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, have almost doubled in the
past year. This increase in interest has been due to Dan Brown's
best selling novel the "Da Vinci Code". , Brown's book was
first published . in early 2004 and has since sold more than
17,000,000 copies worldwide. The subsequent and eagerly awaited
film of the book directed by Ron Howard and starring Hollywood
mega box office name Tom Hanks is scheduled to hit your screens
in May of this year. The film crews have already completed
filming in the nearby village of Rosslin. They in fact did it
last summer, but the numbers of visitors will be swelled once
more by the movie which is sure to be a blockbuster.
Some claim Rosslyn Chapel to be one of the most mysterious
places in Scotland which has more than its fair share of mist
shrouded castles and haunted houses. The Chapel was built by Sir
William St. Clair, the Prince of Orkney in 1446. This tapestry
in stone is a construction which seems by its dimension to have
been intended to be much larger than it is. Rosslyn Chapel
provides the backdrop for the conclusion of Brown's novel
because of its connection to the Knight's Templar. This order,
founded in 1118, which was shortly after the First Crusade. The
principal function of this order of Knights was to defend the
holy city of Jerusalem. However, some believe that the Knights
Templar had an even more important function and that was to act
as guardians of the Holy Grail.
History tells us that these knights were wiped out in 1307, when
they were arrested to a man on a charge of heresy and put to the
sword. The real reason for this extermination was attached more
to the secular rather than the spiritual world. The order of
knights had grown extremely rich as a result of their crusading
duties and had started offering banking services to the wealthy
of Europe. King Philip IV of France had asked the knights for a
loan to finance his wars, but they thought him a bad risk and
refuse. This was a very bad decision as Philip the Fair,
insulated and angry decided to wreak his revenge. This he did,
with Papal help as the Pope had just recently moved to Avignon.
The Knights were destroyed and Philip enriched himself by
seizing their lands and assets. Clearly the business of banking
was a dangerous affair in those far off days. Dan Brown's book
contends that the Knights were not completely destroyed and
survive to this day. I wonder if he is right.
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