The reality of the saga of the Knights Templar is almost as amazing as the myths that embellish it. The tale of the Templars remains a gaudy thread woven through the religion, politics and literature of Western civilization. Almost from their founding, the Templars have been rumored a.) to still exist; b.) to be impossibly rich, and; c.) to guard the Holy Grail (the cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper) and other Christian relics. For 150 years in the high Middle Ages, their order was incontestably one of the most powerful and creative military and economic forces in the world. The Templars developed a system whereby they left their wealth and lands at the disposal of a Templar institution at home, in exchange for a coded invoice that was then redeemed at the group's headquarters in Jerusalem. Researchers believe the Templars kept any revenues generated by the estates, effectively accruing interest - a practice otherwise forbidden as usury by the Church at the time. The journal American Banker wrote in 1990 that a good case can be made for crediting [the Templars] with the birth of deposit banking, of checking, and of modern credit practices." It certainly made them some of Europe's richest and most powerful financiers. The Templars have been described as taking crown jewels and indeed entire kingdoms as mortgage for loans, and they maintained major branches in France, Portugal, England, Aragon, Hungary and various Mid-Eastern capitals. The group controlled as many as 9,000 estates, and left behind hundreds of buildings great and small.