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Relevance to the Da Vinci Code:
Collet arrives at the castle, but Sophie, Langdon, the bound Silas,
Teabing, and his servant, Rémy, escape and board Teabing’s private plane
to England. Sophie realizes that the writing on the cryptex is
decipherable if viewed in a mirror. They come to understand the poem,
which refers to “a headstone praised by Templars” and the “Atbash
cipher,” which will help them arrive at the password. Langdon remembers
that the Knights Templar supposedly worshipped the god Baphomet, who is
sometimes represented by a large stone head. The word, unscrambled by
the Atbash Cipher, is Sofia. When they open the cryptex, however, they
find only another cryptex, this one with a clue about a tomb where a
knight was buried by a pope. They must find the orb that should have
been on the knight’s tomb.
Fache realizes that Teabing and the rest of them are in the jet. He calls
the British police and asks them to surround the airfield, but Teabing
tricks the police into believing that there is nobody inside the plane
but himself. Then he goes with Sophie, Langdon, Rémy, and Silas to the
Temple Church in London, the burial site of knights that the Pope
had killed.
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The Temple Church is a late 12th century church in London located between
Fleet Street and the River Thames. It was originally constructed as the
church of a monastic complex known as the Temple, the headquarters in
England of the Knights Templar. The Temple was the scene of important
negotiations leading to the signing of Magna Carta in 1215. After the
destruction of the Templar order in the early 14th century, the Temple
became Crown property and was let to two groups of lawyers that evolved
into the Inner Temple and Middle Temple, which are two of the four Inns
of Court. The two Inns both use the church, which is famous for its
effigy tombs. It was heavily damaged during the Second World War but has
been largely restored. The area around the Temple Church is known as
"Temple" and nearby is Temple tube station. It was also featured in the
controversial "alternative history" novel the Da Vinci Code by American
author Dan Brown.
Design and Construction
The Temple Church today.
In the mid 12th century, before the construction of the church, the
Knights Templar in London had met at a site in High Holborn in a
structure originally established by Hughes de Payens. Because of the
growth of the order, by the 1160s the site had become too confined, and
the order purchased the property of the current site for establishment
of a larger compound. In addition to the church, the new compound
originally contained residences, military training facilities, and
recreational grounds for the military brethren and novices, who were not
permitted to go into the city without the permission of the Master of
the Temple.
The church building comprises two separate sections. The original nave
section, called the Round Church, and an adjoining rectangular section,
built approximately half a century later, called the Chancel.
The Round Church
In keeping with the traditions of the order, the nave of the church was
constructed on a round design based on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
in Jerusalem. The nave is 55 feet in diameter is surrounded by the
first-ever free-standing dark Purbeck marble columns. It is probable
that the walls and grotesque heads were originally painted in colours.
It was consecrated on February 10, 1185 in a ceremony by Heraclius,
Patriarch of Jerusalem. It is believed that Henry II was present at the
consecration.
Marble effigies of medieval knights in the Temple Church.
The Round Church contains the marble effigies of nine medieval knights,
the most famous of whom is William Marshal, who is enshrined next to his
sons. In January 1215 William served as a negotiator during a meeting in
the Temple between King John and the barons, who demanded that John
uphold the rights enshrined the Coronation Charter of his predecessor
Richard I. William swore on behalf of the king that the grievances of
the barons would be addressed in the summer, leading to John's signing
of Magna Carta in June. William later became regent during the reign of
John's son, Henry III, who later expressed a desire to be buried in the
church.
The Chancel
In response to Henry III's desire to be buried in the church, in the early
13th century, the choir of the original church was pulled down and a new
larger structure, now called the Chancel, was built. It was consecrated
on Ascension Day 1240. Although Henry later altered his will with
instructions to be interred in Westminster Abbey, one of his sons, who
died in infancy, is buried in the Chancel.
The chancel comprises a central aisle and two side aisles of identical
width. The height of the vault is 36 feet 3 inches. During the bombing
raid in World War II (see below), the dark Purbeck marble columns of the
Chancel cracked from the intense heat. Although they still supported the
vault, they were deemed unsound and replaced by replicas. The original
columns had a light outward lean, an architectural quirk which was
duplicated in the replacement columns.
Early Use by the Templars
The order was very powerful in England during its existence. The Master of
the Temple sat in parliament as primus baro (the first baron of the
realm). The compound was regularly used as a residence by kings and by
legates of the Pope. The temple also served as an early depository bank,
sometimes in defiance of the Crown's wishes to seize the funds of nobles
who had entrusted their wealth there. The independence and wealth of the
order throughout Europe is considered by most historians to have been
the primary cause of its eventual downfall .
Later History
The interior of the Round Church in the early 19th century.
After the destruction and abolition of the Knights Templar in 1307, Edward
II took control of the church as a Crown possession. It was later given
to the Knights Hospitaller, who rented the Temple to two colleges of
lawyers. One college moved into the part of the Temple previously used
by the Temple's knights, and the other into the part previously used by
its priests, and they shared the use of the church. The colleges evolved
into the Inner and Middle Temples, two of the four Inns of Court.
In 1540, the church became the property of The Crown once again when Henry
VIII abolished the Knights Hospitaller in England and confiscated their
property. Henry provided a priest for the church under the former title
"Master of the Temple". In the 1580s, the church was the scene of the
Battle of the Pulpits, a theological conflict between Calvinists and
supporters of the Church of England.
Following a later agreement in 1608 by James I, the two Inns were granted
the use of the church in perpetuity and continue to use the Temple as
their chapel to the present day.
The church went undamaged in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Nevertheless, it was refurbished by Christopher Wren, who made extensive
modifications to the interior, including an altar screen and the
introduction of an organ to the church for the first time. The church
was restored again in 1841 by Smirke and Burton, who decorated the walls
and ceiling in the high Victorian Gothic style, in an attempt to bring
the church back to its original appearance.
On May 10, 1941, during the height of the Battle of Britain, a German air
raid of incendiary bombs set the roof of the Round Church on fire, and
the fire quickly spread by wind to the nave and chapel. The organ and
all the wood of the church, including the Victorian renovations, were
destroyed. During the renovation, it was discovered that the renovations
made by Wren in the 17th century were in storage and were replaced in
their original position. The church was rededicated in November 1958.
Music at the Temple Church
The organ in the Temple Church.
The church has had a number of famous organists, including the blind
organist and composer John Stanley (appointed by the Inner Temple in
1734). A choir in the English cathedral tradition was established at the
Temple Church in 1842 under the direction of Dr E J Hopkins, and it soon
earned a high reputation. Hopkins was succeeded as organist and Director
of the Choir in 1897 by Sir Henry Walford Davies. Walford Davies was in
turn succeeded by Sir George Thalben-Ball who held the post from 1923 to
1982. For just three musicians of such distinction to have served
between them for a total of 140 years at the church is remarkable.
In 1927, the Temple Choir under Thalben-Ball became world famous with its
recording of Mendelssohn's Hear my Prayer, including the solo "O for the
Wings of a Dove" sung by Ernest Lough. This became one of the most
popular recordings by a church choir of all time, and it sold strongly
throughout the twentieth century, reaching gold disc status (a million
copies) in 1962 and achieving an estimated 6 million sales to date.
The choir continues to record, broadcast and perform, in addition to its
regular services at the Temple Church. The present Director of Music is
Stephen Layton. He was chosen by the composer to give the world premiere
of Sir John Tavener's epic "The Veil of the Temple", which took place
over seven hours during an overnight vigil in the Temple Church at
Easter 2003.
The Temple Church's excellent acoustic has also attracted non-church
musicians: Paul Tortelier made his recording of the complete Bach Cello
Suites there in 1983.
Shakespeare and the Wars of the Roses
In the 16th century play Henry VI, part 1 by William Shakespeare, the
church is depicted the scene of the start of the 15th century Wars of
the Roses, which in the play began with the plucking of two roses in the
Temple garden. In 2002, the Shakespearian tradition was commemorated
with the planting of new white and red roses in the modern gardens.
Current Use
The Temple continues to offer regular church services, including Holy
Communion on Sunday morning. It also offers regular choral music
performances and organ recitals.
The church always has two clergy, called the Master and the Reader
respectively. The title of the Master of the Temple recalls the title of
the head of the former order of the Knights Templar. The present Master
of the Temple is the Reverend Robin Griffith-Jones, appointed in 1999.
The Master gives regular lunchtime talks open to the public - recently
some of which have been on the subject of the church's role in the
controversial novel Da Vinci Code.
The official title of Reverend Robin Griffith-Jones is the "Reverent and
Valiant Master of the Temple." He will be releasing a book on the facts
of the 'Da Vinci Code,' debunking certain elements of the novel. He will
be starting a book tour in New York in April 2006. His book will be
available on Amazon.com.
The Temple Church choir is an all-male choir, consisting of 18 young boys
and 12 professional men. They perform weekly at Sunday services,
11:15-12:15 PM, including special services, such as the monthly
communion service, held the last Sunday of every month.
The Temple Church holds weddings, but only for members of the Inner and
Middle Temple Inns of Court (two of the four London Inns of Court, the
other two being Lincoln's Inn and Gray's Inn). The Temple Church is a
member of both the Inner and Middle Temple and enjoys access to the
Inner Temple Gardens, which overlook the Thames River.
List of recent Masters of the Temple
Rev'd Robin Griffith-Jones 1999-
Rev'd Canon Joseph Robinson, BD MTh FKC 1980-1999
Very Rev'd Robert Milburn, MVO 1968-1980
Rev'd Canon Theodore Milford, MA 1958-1968
Rev'd Canon Harold Anson c.38
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