I thought Willco's people took over the banking from the Knights Templar post-Charlemagne, or was it the other way around?
Well, in the Holy Roman Empire it was illegal to charge interest. Usury was a sin back then, you see. So the Jews had to do it.
What's funny is that Pat Robertson owns gold and diamond mines now. Big departure from vows of poverty.
Back to your topic though, the Templars were largely active AFTER Charlemagne. The Jews had been doing it up until then. Which is actually a big reason why the Church bitchslapped down the Templars- they were too damn rich and probably knew all sorts of crazy shit.
The Templars got theirs, though. de Molay cursed both the King and Pope and they died within the year. And of course when the French Revolution was getting going good, someone supposedly yelled out "Jacques de Molay, thou art avenged!" during some beheadings. Just goes to show that you don't fuck around with the Secret Masters.
