02183cam a22003133u 4500 38785 UtSlPG 20260610133904.0 m cr n 260607r2012||||utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d 17021617 UtSlPG en iso639-1 HS Keightley, Thomas, 1789-1872 Secret Societies of the Middle Ages Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2012 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Release date is 2012-02-07 Produced by Delphine Lettau, Clive Pickton, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Secret Societies of the Middle Ages" by Thomas Keightley is a historical account written in the 19th century. The book delves into the origins and characteristics of secret societies that emerged during the Middle Ages, focusing on groups such as the Assassins, the Knights Templar, and the secret tribunals of Westphalia. Keightley's work aims to offer a comprehensive exploration of these societies, revealing their political, social, and religious implications. The opening of the book introduces the concept of secret societies as a response to the retention of knowledge by select individuals in an environment of general ignorance. Keightley discusses how these groups formed as a means of protecting knowledge and facilitating covert gatherings for political discourse and reform. He hints at the socio-political ramifications of such societies, noting that their clandestine nature often invokes suspicion, leading to misrepresentation and persecution by governing powers. The foundation for understanding the subsequent chapters, which detail specific societies and their historical contexts, is firmly established in this introduction. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Original publication data not identified Secret societies https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38785 79624 79624