The Ancient silk road and the templars

I was enjoying a read by an author named The silk Road by Valerie Hansen, it told a tale about an ancient road that stretched all the way from China to Europe. They even mentioned how the Templars once had taxes on this road. Everywhere around it they built settlements, and a king was anointed. Almost like gypsies camps with rules and regulations. The merchants travelled and collected scrolls and placed them all in a library called Alexandria. And everyone knows how it burned. The merchants travelling on this road, amounted much power in knowledge and that is what killed the templars at the end.

I wish everyone showed a bit more love - Bald Pete

originally posted by: BaldPete
I was enjoying a read by an author named The silk Road by Valerie Hansen, it told a tale about an ancient road that stretched all the way from China to Europe. They even mentioned how the Templars once had taxes on this road. Everywhere around it they built settlements, and a king was anointed. Almost like gypsies camps with rules and regulations. The merchants travelled and collected scrolls and placed them all in a library called Alexandria. And everyone knows how it burned. The merchants travelling on this road, amounted much power in knowledge and that is what killed the templars at the end.

I wish everyone showed a bit more love - Bald Pete

I think the timeframe is off.

The Templars were patrolling the road in 1200 AD (and people were putting information in books)
The Knights Templars were confirmed as an order about 1129 AD
Scrolls were replacing books about 600 AD - 600 years before the Templars
The Library of Alexandria's date of destruction is a problem... it was either 642 AD or 391 AD or 270 AD or 49 BC -- all of those dates are 600 to 1200 years before the Templar order existed.

a reply to: Byrd

Hello!

I read,they hide in Sufism, Kabbalah but the road was always open. Books was printed in China, the silk road. It says library burned down when all the scrolls where in one book called the Torah. Knights templar were teh guardians of the Silk Road

a reply to: Byrd

Hello! Byrd, i like your name byrd.

I saw in books that the silk road go all the way to south america many 1000 years ago. Same cartoon, is true?

a reply to: BaldPete

The Templars had little to do east of Jeruselem and Eastward countries, mostly focusing westward towards and into Europe, and only/from aprox. 950 a.d-to-the 1300's, then zip.....

*** c/o www.thesilkroadchina.com...

"The Silk Road was not actually a single paved road. It is a historical sea & land network of interlinking ancient trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, even parts of North and East Africa. The Silk Road was a name to all routes through Syria, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, India to China..."

"Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the civilizations of China, the Indian subcontinent, Persia, Europe and Arabia. Though silk was certainly the major trade item from China, many other goods were traded, and various technologies, religions and philosophies, as well as the bubonic plague (the "Black Death"), also traveled along the Silk Routes..."

Early History of the Silk Road

"The Silk Road crosses Asia from China to Rome began during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). At one end, Rome had gold and silver and precious gems; another end China had silk and spices and ivory; Each had something the other wanted. Ideas also traveled along the Silk Road trade that affected everyone.

In the west, the Greek empire was taken over by the Roman empire. Even at that time before the journey of Zhang Qian, some earlier individual traders and caravans trade routes across the continents already existed for small quantities of Chinese goods, including silk, to reach the west. The main traders during Antiquity were the Indian and Bactrian traders, then from the 5th to the 8th century the Sogdian traders, then afterward the Arab and Persian traders. These traders and caravans may have started to make the journey in search of new markets despite the danger or the political situation of the time."

"The Development of the Route"

"The central Asian sections of the trade routes were expanded around 114 BC by the Han dynasty, largely through the missions and explorations of Zhang Qian. The development of Central Asian trade routes caused some problems for the Han rulers in China. Xiongnu and Tibetan bandits soon learned of the precious goods travelling up the Gansu Corridor and skirting the Taklimakan, and took advantage of the terrain to plunder these caravans. Thus sections of 'Great Wall' were built along the northern side of the Gansu Corridor, to try to prevent the bandits from harming the trade; Sections of Han dynasty wall can still be seen as far as Yumen Guan, well beyond the recognised beginning of the Great Wall at Jiayuguan. However, these fortifications were not all as effective as intended, as the Chinese lost control of sections of the route at regular intervals.

After the Western Han dynasty, successive dynasties brought more states under Chinese control. Settlements came and went, as they changed hands or lost importance due to a change in the routes..."

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O.P....I think youve confused the Easternbound to and from the Silk Road Trade routes with the Westernbound Pilgrimage routes to and from the Holy Land which the Templars protected and build fortifications, towns and cathedrals along the way West back towards Rome.

a reply to: BaldPete
Sorry , but no the silk road never extended to south America.

From the Eastern end Genghis Khan done some work laying the road on his campaign to Rome. I am sure Persia had a large part to play along the road during its good days. Marco Polo is also a name that helped put the silk in to the silk road.

originally posted by: kwakakev
From the Eastern end Genghis Khan done some work laying the road on his campaign to Rome. I am sure Persia had a large part to play along the road during its good days. Marco Polo is also a name that helped put the silk in to the silk road.

Which Genghis Khan campaign to Rome was this? Bahar Tsubodai led a campaign into Europe but that didn't get much further westwards than Hungary - after defeating that particular army, they got the message Genghis had died and they were to return to their homeland (to settle the succession). Lucky break for Europe as that particular Mongol army had totally destroyed any opposition in Poland, Hungary, etc and had slaughtered both the Teutonic Knights and the Templars that were assisting the Hungarians.

In other words, no serious force left in Europe between the Mongols and France that could have made a difference.

originally posted by: kwakakev
From the Eastern end Genghis Khan done some work laying the road on his campaign to Rome. I am sure Persia had a large part to play along the road during its good days. Marco Polo is also a name that helped put the silk in to the silk road.

Silk was actually traveling along the silk road in the days of the Roman emperors. It was one of the commodities that the wealthy would pay well for (regular Roman tunics were wool, and not that comfortable in summer.)