Die-hard fans of 'The Da Vinci Code' may be left out of pocket by an exclusive document from the Vatican's archive that clears the good name of the mysterious Knights Templar.
The Vatican is selling limited edition life-sized replicas of a giant forgotten parchment that absolves the mysterious knights of their status as heretics.
Only 799 copies of the document, reportedly the size of a small dinner table, will be sold at €5,900 each.
An 800th copy will be presented to Pope Benedict.
The 300-page Processus Contra Templarios (Trial against the Templars), measuring more than 2m in width, records the trial of the knights when they were accused of heresy before Pope Clement V between 1307 and 1312.
Also known as the Chinon parchment, the original artefact was discovered in the Vatican's secret archives in 2001 after it had been wrongly catalogued for more than 300 years.
It reveals that the Templars had an initiation ceremony which involved 'spitting on the cross', 'denying Jesus' and kissing the lower back, navel and mouth of the man inviting them.
The Templars explained to Pope Clement that the initiation mimicked the humiliation that knights could suffer if they fell into the hands of the Saracens, while the kissing ceremony was a sign of their total obedience.
The Pope concluded that the entrance ritual was not truly blasphemous, as alleged by King Philip (Philip the Fair) when he had the knights arrested. However, he was forced to dissolve the Order to keep peace with France and prevent a schism in the Church.
The reproductions are printed on synthetic parchment with a replica of the original papal wax seal. Enfolded in a soft leather case, each copy also comes with a scholarly commentary.
