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| Knights of the Cross | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 18 May 1998 | |||
| Recorded | February–March 1998 at Principal Studios, Senden/Münster, Germany | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal, power metal | |||
| Label | GUN Records | |||
| Producer | Chris Boltendahl & Uwe Lulis | |||
| Grave Digger chronology | ||||
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Knights of the Cross is the eighth studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger, released in 1998. It is the second album of the Middle Ages Trilogy, and the first Grave Digger album to feature former Running Wild bassist Jens Becker.
All songs composed and arranged by Chris Boltendahl and Uwe Lulis except where noted. All lyrics by Boltendahl and Yvonne Thorhauer.
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Deus lo Vult" | Hans Peter Katzenburg | 2:28 |
| 2. | "Knights of the Cross" | 4:35 | |
| 3. | "Monks of War" | 3:38 | |
| 4. | "Heroes of This Time" | 4:10 | |
| 5. | "Fanatic Assassins" | 3:40 | |
| 6. | "Lionheart" | 4:33 | |
| 7. | "The Keeper of the Holy Grail" | 5:57 | |
| 8. | "Inquisition" | 3:47 | |
| 9. | "Baphomet" | 4:12 | |
| 10. | "Over the Sea" | 3:51 | |
| 11. | "The Curse of Jacques" | 4:52 | |
| 12. | "The Battle of Bannockburn" | 6:42 | |
| Total length: | 52:25 | ||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Children of the Grave" (Black Sabbath cover) | Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward | 4:28 |
| Total length: | 56:51 | ||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kill the King" (Rainbow cover) | Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio, Cozy Powell | 4:27 |
| 2. | "Children of the Grave" (Black Sabbath cover) | Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, Ward | 4:26 |
| Total length: | 1:01:18 | ||
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It is mentioned in the first track, Deus lo Vult, that "this is the fascinating tale of the Templars, probably the most powerful and mysterious organisations of the Middle Ages. The Order of The Poor Knights Of Christ and the Temple Of Solomon, originate from a group of nine Aristocrates, whose sole aim was the protection of the Holy Land. So let us undertake a journey into the past, back to the origin, rise and fall of the Order of the Templars. A journey, which will lead as to the legendary world of the Knights of the Cross."
The album tells the story of the Knights Templar from the times of the Order's birth in 1119, through the years of its glory, and finally to its fall in 1312. The first song describes the First Crusade organised in the West after Muslim victories in Asia Minor over the weakening forces of Byzantine Empire ("Deus Lo Vult", "Knights of the Cross"). Subsequent songs mention the foundation of the Knights Templar by French knight Hugues de Payens in 1119 after the establishing of the Kingdom of Jerusalem ("Monks of War"), and the new danger to the Franks brought some time later by Saladin's Egyptian armies and Nizari sect of Hashashim ("Heroes Of This Time", "Fanatic Assassins"). Then the album deals with cruelties of the Third Crusade led by Richard I of England and Philip Augustus of France ("Lionheart"), and with the myth of Templars holding the Holy Grail ("Keeper Of The Holy Grail"). The next four songs deals with the tragic end of the Order: putting hundreds of Knights Templar under arrest in 1307 to face the Inquisition on false accusations by French king Philip the Fair of heresy and homosexual practices within the Order ("Inquisition"), prisoners' statements - forced under torture - about worshipping the demon Baphomet which led to Order's cancellation by Pope Clement V in 1312 ("Baphomet"), the escape of some former Templar Knights into Scotland ("Over the Sea"), and the execution of Order's last Grand Master Jacques de Molay in 1314, who was believed to curse the King and the Pope from his stake while being burned alive, so both of them would die the same year he did ("The Curse of Jacques"). The last song deals with the alleged help of former Templar Knights to the Scots during the Battle of Bannockburn, which allowed them to acquire independence from the English rule ("Battle of Bannockburn").
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The story incorporates many myths and legends (i.e. the Holy Grail, the curse of Jacques de Molay, the cult of Baphomet), but its historical content is mostly close to the truth (at least on the level of names, dates and places). Many scholars believe that the end of the Order was truly orchestrated by Philip the Fair due to his debts and deep hatred toward the Templar Knights, who in fact were most likely innocent of any heresy. They also became virtually obsolete after Acre was lost to the Saracens, marking the fall of Kingdom of Jerusalem, for now there was nowhere to fight Pagans, except for the Eastern Europe where Teutonic Knights have a de facto monopoly due to the major political role of Holy Roman Empire supporting them.
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a French military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the wealthiest and most popular military orders in Western Christianity. They were founded c. 1119, headquartered on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, to defend pilgrims on their way to the Holy City and existed for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages.
1314 (MCCCXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar, the 1314th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 314th year of the 2nd millennium, the 14th year of the 14th century, and the 5th year of the 1310s decade. As of the start of 1314, the Gregorian calendar was 8 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which was the dominant calendar of the time.
Philip IV, called Philip the Fair, was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Philip I from 1284 to 1305, as well as Count of Champagne. Although Philip was known to be handsome, hence the epithet le Bel, his rigid, autocratic, imposing, and inflexible personality gained him other nicknames, such as the Iron King. His fierce opponent Bernard Saisset, bishop of Pamiers, said of him: "He is neither man nor beast. He is a statue."
Jacques de Molay, also spelled "Molai", was the 23rd and last grand master of the Knights Templar, leading the order sometime before 20 April 1292 until it was dissolved by order of Pope Clement V in 1312. Though little is known of his actual life and deeds except for his last years as Grand Master, he is one of the best known Templars.
Baphomet is a deity which the Knights Templar were accused of worshipping that subsequently became incorporated into various occult and Western esoteric traditions. The name Baphomet appeared in trial transcripts for the Inquisition of the Knights Templar starting in 1307. It first came into popular English usage in the 19th century during debate and speculation on the reasons for the suppression of the Templar order. Baphomet is a symbol of balance in various occult and mystical traditions, the origin of which some occultists have attempted to link with the Gnostics and Templars, although occasionally purported to be a deity or a demon. Since 1856 the name Baphomet has been associated with the "Sabbatic Goat" image drawn by Éliphas Lévi, composed of binary elements representing the "symbolization of the equilibrium of opposites": half-human and half-animal, male and female, and good and evil. Lévi's intention was to symbolize his concept of balance, with Baphomet representing the goal of perfect social order.
The Council of Vienne was the fifteenth ecumenical council of the Catholic Church and met between 1311 and 1312 in Vienne, France. One of its principal acts was to withdraw papal support for the Knights Templar at the instigation of Philip IV of France. The Council, unable to decide on a course of action, tabled the discussion. In March 1312 Philip arrived and pressured the Council and Clement to act. Clement passed papal bulls dissolving the Templar Order, confiscating their lands, and labeling them heretics.
Geoffroi de Charney, also known as Guy d'Auvergne, was preceptor of Normandy for the Knights Templar. In 1307 de Charny was arrested, along with the entire Order of Knights Templar in France, and in 1314 was burned at the stake.
The Templars are an Oi! band formed in Long Island, New York in April 1991. The band's musical influences include Oi!, punk rock, glam rock and rock and roll. They have tended to purposely use low-quality recording techniques.
Grave Digger is a German heavy metal band that was first formed in 1980 by Chris Boltendahl and Peter Masson. Emerging from the early-to-mid 1980s heavy metal scene of their native country, Grave Digger has been referred to as one of the so-called "big four" of German power metal, along with Helloween, Rage and Running Wild.
Heart of Darkness is the sixth studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger. They showed a much darker and more aggressive sound with this release than any of their previous albums. All of the songs have dark, lyrical concepts such as hate, death, betrayal, etc. The title track is inspired by the Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness. A music video was made for "Circle of Witches".
The Grave Digger is the tenth studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger. It the first album to feature former Rage guitarist Manni Schmidt, and is often considered the darkest album the band has done, along with 1995's Heart of Darkness. The lyrics are about dark concepts, some are inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe.
The Reaper is the fifth studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger. It was released on 2 November 1993 via the label GUN Records. This was the band's return after a long hiatus, released seven years after their previous album Stronger Than Ever.
Excalibur is the ninth studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger, and is the final album of the Middle Ages Trilogy, as well as the last to feature guitarist Uwe Lulis. It tells about the story of King Arthur and the knights of the round table.
Tunes of War is the seventh studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger. It is a concept about the Scottish struggles for independence from England, from the medieval conflicts between its clans in the 11th century through to the Jacobite rebellion of the 18th.
The Chinon Parchment is a historical document discovered in September 2001 by Barbara Frale, an Italian paleographer at the Vatican Apostolic Archive. On the basis of this document she has claimed that, in 1308, Pope Clement V absolved the last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, and the rest of the leadership of the Knights Templar from charges brought against them by the Medieval Inquisition.
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Jerusalem, or Templars, was a military order founded in c. 1120.
Yesterday is an EP released by Grave Digger. It also contains a bonus DVD. The song "Yesterday" on this EP is a re-recorded version of the song from Grave Digger's debut album.
Stronger Than Ever is the fourth studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger. However, they changed their name to just "Digger" for this release. Retrospect Records, a little-known record label, very briefly issued a re-release of the album on CD in 2005. The CD was released with presumably no involvement from the band and is considered a bootleg. The CD is no longer available and the only official versions of the album that were released by the band are the vinyl and cassette versions. To this day it remains the only album in Grave Digger's catalog to not receive an official CD release. "Shadows of the Past" borrows two lyrical lines from "Yesterday", a song released on their 1984 album Heavy Metal Breakdown.
The original historic Knights Templar were a Christian military order, the Order of the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, that existed from the 12th to 14th centuries to provide warriors in the Crusades. These men were famous in the high and late Middle Ages, but the Order was disbanded very suddenly by King Philip IV of France, who took action against the Templars in order to avoid repaying his own financial debts. He accused them of heresy, ordered the arrest of all Templars within his realm, put the Order under trial and many of them burned at the stake. The dramatic and rapid end of the Order led to many stories and legends developing about them over the following centuries. The Order and its members increasingly appear in modern fiction, though most of these references portray the medieval organization inaccurately.
In 1307, members of the Knights Templar in the Kingdom of France were suddenly charged with heresy and arrested after their leader, Master Jacques de Molay, had recently come to France for meetings with Pope Clement V. Many, including their leader, were burned at the stake while others were sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. The events in France led to a series of trials in other locations, not all of which had the same outcome.
