Secret Societies of the Middle Ages

Secret Societies of the Middle Ages is a book by Irish writer Thomas Keightley, first published in 1837. It is a history of three secret societies of the Middle Ages: the Assassins, the Templars and the Fehmgerichte. The Assassins, a shadowy group based in a remote stateless area, practicing a radical variant of Islam, and promising their followers a reward in the hereafter if they died in battle, has obvious modern parallels. Of interest to contemporary readers will be Keightley's treatment of the Templars, an organization of crusaders who at their height controlled huge wealth and influence from the British Isles to the Holy Land. The Fehmgerichte, or the Vehmic courts was the name given to a 'proto-vigilante' tribunal system of Westphalia in Germany active during the later Middle Ages.