Secret documents absolve the Knights Templar...

The Vatican in Rome has allegedly published secret documents concerning the trial of the Knights Templar, including a parchment - long ignored because of a vague catalogue entry in 1628 - showing that the pope of that era, Pope Clement V, initially absolved the medieval order of heresy.

A 300 page volume has come out with a limited edition of799 copies, each priced at $8,377, said the Scrinium publishing house, which prints documents from the Vatican's secret archives.

The order of Knights, which ultimately disappeared because of the heresy scandal, recently captivated the public's imagination because of the best-seller "The Da Vinci Code", also made into a movie, which linked the templars to the story of the Holy Grail.

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