6139008-History-of-Money

"When the Crusaders reached Constantinople they were awe-struck by the sight of the great walled city. Nothing like itexisted in the West. The various leaders took oaths of loyalty to the Emperor and agreed to give him all conqueredterritories. The Army went on to Jerusalem, remaining orderly in spite of poorly planned logistics. There was no fodder forthe animals. Sheep, dogs, and even pigs were used as pack animals. Desertions were heavy. The Emperor had beenadvancing behind them to take possession of his new lands, but heard of their problems and turned back toConstantinople. Somehow on July 15, 1099, they took Jerusalem, and an ecclesiastical Kingdom was set up there withGodfred de Bouillon as king. They then took one city after another, perpetrating many horrors in the name of Christianity."Christian behaviour contrasted poorly with that of the Muslims, especially Saladin the Great. A Kurd born at Takrit,Saladin had united the Muslims to fight the Crusaders. In 1183 he retook Jerusalem, granting merciful terms. Saladin’sguards kept such order that no Christian suffered any ill usage. "Over time the Crusaders, always a small minority in thecities they conquered, became orientalized. They inter-married with the ‘infidels,’ and didn’t think much of home.Christians came to boast of Moslem descent. The Moslems had preserved elements of Greek learning and Roman law in abetter form than the West. Despite the Clergy’s falsified reports on conditions in the Holy Land, the fame ofSaladin the Great spread throughout the West and members of the educated classes desired to convert toIslam. "The Crusaders also came into closer contact with the origins of Judaism and Christianity and some found reasonto question their faith. This led to a new freedom of mind in some individuals.Map of the Byzantine Empire around year 1180.One important result of the 1st Crusade was the formation of theMasonic Knights Templar, originally called the Poor Knights of theTemple of Solomon as a front. They were formed in 1114-18 tosupposedly protect pilgrims in the Holy Land. Questions have arisen asto their humble origin and goal. "‘The evidence suggests that thisavowed goal was a facade and that the Knights were engagedin a much more ambitious, grandiose geopolitical enterprise(The Temple and the Lodge, Arcade, Little Brown, 1989). TheTemplars’ original membership simply appears too high-powered andtheir growth too rapid. They were involved with the Cistercian order,which became a primary promoter of the 4th Crusade. The nine Knightmembers in 1128 included Fulk, Comte d’Anjou (father of GeoffreyPlantagenet and grandfather of Henry II, King of England), Comte deChampagne; and Hughes de Payens, who became the order’s first Grand Master. Within one year they owned lands inFrance, England, Scotland, Spain and Portugal. Within a decade their possessions would extend to Italy, Austria,Germany, Hungary and Constantinople. By 1150 the Temple had begun to establish itself as the single most wealthy andpowerful institution in Christendom, with the sole exception of the Papacy (Dana Carlton Monroe, The Kingdom of theCrusades, Port Washington, Kennikat, 1966).And here the plot thickens to father a thousand forgotten novels. "Byzantium had obstructed the 3rd Crusade and formedan alliance with Salahuddin, who held Jerusalem. Elements in the West, including the leadership of Cluny, France’sgreatest religious house, and especially members of the Cistercian Order, plotted Byzantium’s downfall. The plan was todivert the 4th Crusade into an attack on Constantinople under the pretext of re-instating Emperor Isaac and his sonAlexis, who had been deposed in a palace coup. Venice’s fleet would be crucial. 95-year-old Enrico Dandolo readily agreedto lead the expedition. He had been partly blinded by Byzantine officials, a favorite method of torture. The appearance ofthe Venetian fleet in the harbour of Constantinople was enough to make the acting emperor flee and have the deposedEmperor Isaac reinstated, but when his son told him of the agreement made to cede religious sovereignty to Rome, heobjected. When the Byzantines learned of the agreement in January 1204, they murdered both father and son andinstalled Canabus as Emperor." With sovereignty, Rome and countless principalities in Europe would revert to do their owncoining of gold and silver."On April 9th, the Crusaders attacked and defeated the Byzantines. From April 13 to 15 theChristian invaders were turned loose on the greatest Christian city in the World. They went wild. They preserved thefoolish relics – the bones of the Saints, pieces of the Cross, milk from the Mother of God, and destroyed the greatartworks: the bronze charioteers of the Hippodrome; the She Wolf suckling Romus and Romulus; Paris presenting theapple to Venus; an exquisite statue of Helen of Troy; statues commissioned by Augustus; all the great works taken byConstantinople over nine centuries from the ancient temples. All were melted down into bullion or coin. Thousands ofmanuscripts and parchments from many personal libraries were now burned and from that time on the works of manyancient authors disappeared altogether. "Baldwin of Flanders was elected Emperor and Venice took control of thePatriarchy and Churches. The loot was gathered up and divided. The Pope ratified these decisions."The fall of Constantinople in 1204 formally ended the Empire’s monetary powers, which had held sway in Europe fromthe time of the Caesars. "The ‘secret’ dynamic behind this ‘sacred’ monetary system was that the Basileus would be readyto exchange centrally minted gold Bezants for locally minted silver coinage at a 12 to 1 ratio, when it could exchange thatsame silver for up to twice as much gold bullion in India and points east. When Byzantium fell, control of money slippedfrom sacred hands into secular hands. While the Lateran Council would soon (1211) declare the Papacy’s supremacy overall earthly sovereigns, they couldn’t make it stick. Frederick 2nd assumed the sacred prerogative of the Basileus andminted gold coins at Naples in 1225. Local rulers all over Europe began minting gold coinage. "Vast amounts of spoil werebrought back to Europe from Constantinople, more than the official figures, because the marauders cheated their fellowChristians and did not put all their loot into the official pool, which totaled about 400,000 marks weight worth of silver.The Hidden History Of Money & New World Order Usury Secrets Revealed at last! Page 224