Knights Templar Sue Pope Benedict XVI to get good name back

"Knights Templar heirs in legal battle with the Pope" from UK Telegraph reports that the Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ AKA Knights Templar are suing Pope Benedict XVI for restoration of their reputation when Pope Clement V in 1307 dissolved their order under charges of heresy.

The legal move by the Spanish group comes follows the unprecedented step by the Vatican towards the rehabilitation of the group when last October it released copies of parchments recording the trials of the Knights between 1307 and 1312.

The papers lay hidden for more than three centuries having been "misfiled" within papal archives until they were discovered by an academic in 2001.

The Chinon parchment revealed that, contrary to historic belief, Clement V had declared the Templars were not heretics but disbanded the order anyway to maintain peace with their accuser, King Philip IV of France.

Over the centuries, various groups have claimed to be descended from the Templars and legend abounds over hidden treasures, secret rituals, and their rumoured guardianship of the Holy Grail.

Most recently the knights have fascinated the modern generation after being featured in the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code.