The Origin of Freemasonry: The Crusaders & Templars

by Harun Yahya

The common perception of the majority of historians of Freemasonry is that the origin of the organization goes back to the Crusades. In fact, though Masonry was only officially established and recognized in England in the early eighteenth century, the roots of the organization do reach back to the Crusades in the twelfth century. At the center of this familiar tale is an order of crusaders called the Knights Templar or the Templars.

No matter how much some may insist that the Crusades were military expeditions carried out in the name of the Christian faith, fundamentally, they were undertaken for material gain. In a period when Europe was experiencing great poverty and misery, the prosperity and wealth of the East, especially of the Muslim in the Middle East, attracted the Europeans. This inclination took on a religious facade, and was ornamented with the symbols of Christianity, though, in actuality, the idea of the Crusades was born out of a desire for worldly gain. This was the reason for the sudden change among Christians of Europe from their former pacifist policies, in earlier periods of their history, towards military aggression.

The founder of the Crusades was Pope Urban II. He summoned the Council of Clermont, in 1095, in which the former pacifist doctrine of the Christians was abandoned. A holy war was called for, with the intent to wrest the holy lands from the hands of the Muslims. Following the council, a huge army of Crusaders was formed, composed both of professional soldiers, and tens of thousands of ordinary people.

Historians believe Urban II's venture was prompted by his desire to thwart the candidacy of a rival to the papacy. Furthermore, while European kings, princes, aristocrats and others greeted the pope's call with excitement, their intentions were basically mundane. As Donald Queller of The University of Illinois put it, "the French knights wanted more land. Italian merchants hoped to expand trade in Middle Eastern ports... Large numbers of poor people joined the expeditions simply to escape the hardships of their normal lives."[1] Along the way, this greedy mass slaughtered many Muslims, and even Jews, in hopes of finding gold and jewels. The crusaders even cut open the stomachs of those they had killed to find gold and precious stones the victims may have swallowed before they died.

After a long and difficult journey, and much plunder and slaughter of Muslims, this motley band called Crusaders reached Jerusalem in 1099. When the city fell after a siege of nearly five weeks, the Crusaders moved in. They carried out a level of savagery the like of which the world has seldom seen. All Muslims and Jews in the city were put to the sword. In the words of one historian, "They killed all the Saracens and the Turks they found... whether male or female." [2]

In two days, the Crusader army killed some 40,000 Muslims in the most barbaric manner.4 The crusaders then made Jerusalem their capital, and founded a Latin Kingdom stretching from the borders of Palestine to Antioch.

Later, the crusaders initiated a struggle to maintain their position in the Middle East. In order to sustain the state they had founded, it was necessary to organize it. To this end, they established military orders, the alike of which had never existed before. Members of these orders came from Europe to Palestine, and lived in a type of monastery where they received military training to fight against Muslims. One of these orders, in particular, was different from the others. It underwent a transformation that would influence the course of history. This order was the Templars.

The Templars, or, their full name, The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Jesus Christ and the Temple of Solomon, was formed in 1118, that is, 20 years after the crusaders took Jerusalem. The founders of the order were two French knights, Hugh de Payens and Godfrey de St. Omer. At first there were 9 members, but the order steadily grew. The reason they named themselves after the temple of Solomon was because the place they had chosen as a base was the temple mount where this ruined temple had been located. This same location was where the Dome of the Rock (Qubbet as-Sakhrah) stood.

The Templars called themselves "poor soldiers," but within a short time they became very wealthy. Christian pilgrims, coming from Europe to Palestine, were under the complete control of this order, and by whose money they became very rich.

It was the Templars who were mainly responsible for the crusaders' attacks of and murder of Muslims. For this reason, the great Islamic commander Saladin, who defeated the crusaders' army in 1187, in the Battle of Hattin, and afterwards rescued Jerusalem, put the Templars to death for the murders they had committed, even though he had otherwise pardoned a large number of Christians. Although they lost Jerusalem, and suffered heavy casualties, the Templars continued to exist. And, despite the continual diminution of the Christian presence in Palestine, they increased their power in Europe and, first in France, and then in other countries, became a state within a state.

Finally, in 1307, the French king Philip le Bel decided to arrest the members of the order. Some of them managed to escape but most of them were caught. Pope Clement V also joined the purge. Following a long period of interrogation and trial, many of the Templars admitted to heretical beliefs, that they had rejected the Christian faith and insulted Jesus in their masses. Finally, the leaders of the Templars, who were called "grand masters," beginning with the most important of them, Jacques de Molay, were executed in 1314 by order of the Church and the King. The majority of them were put into prison, and the order dispersed and officially disappeared.

The trial of the Templars ended with the termination of the order. But, although the order "officially" ceased to exist, it did not actually disappear. During the sudden arrest in 1307, some Templars escaped, managing to cover their tracks. According to a thesis based on various historical documents, a significant number of them took refuge in the only kingdom in Europe that did not recognize the authority of the Catholic Church in the fourteenth century, Scotland. There, they reorganized under the protection of the Scottish King, Robert the Bruce. Some time later, they found a convenient method of disguise by which to continue their clandestine existence: they infiltrated the most important guild in the medieval British Isles—the wall builders' lodge, and eventually, they fully seized control of these lodges.[3]

The wall-builders' lodge changed its name, at the beginning of the modern era, calling itself the "Masonic lodge." The Scottish Rite is the oldest branch of Masonry, and dates back to the beginning of the fourteenth century, to those Templars who took refuge in Scotland. And, the names given to the highest degrees in Scottish Rite are titles attributed centuries earlier to knights in the order of Templars. These are still employed to this day.

In short, the Templars did not disappear, but their philosophy, beliefs and rituals still persist under the guise of Freemasonry. This thesis is supported by much historical evidence, and is accepted today by a large number of Western historians, whether they are Freemasons or not., (For detailed information see Harun Yahya, The New Masonic Order)

The thesis that traces the roots of Masonry to the Templars is often referred to in magazines published by Masons for its own members. Freemasons are very accepting of the idea. One such magazine is called Mimar Sinan (a publication of Turkish Freemasons), which describes the relationship between the Order of the Templars and Freemasonry in these words:

In 1312, when the French king, under pressure from the Church, closed the Order of Templars and gave their possessions to the Knights of St. John in Jerusalem, the activities of the Templars did not cease. The great majority of the Templars took refuge in Freemasonic lodges that were operating in Europe at that time. The leader of the Templars, Mabeignac, with a few other members, found refuge in Scotland under the guise of a wall builder under the name of Mac Benach. The Scottish King, Robert the Bruce, welcomed them and allowed them to exercise great influence over the Masonic lodges in Scotland. As a result, Scottish lodges gained great importance from the point of view of their craft and their ideas.

Today, Freemasons use the name Mac Benach with respect. Scottish Masons, who inherited the Templars' heritage, returned it to France many years later and established there the basis of the rite known as the Scottish Rite." [4]

Finally, we say, it is clear that the roots of Freemasonry stretch back to the Order of Templars, and that the Masons have adopted the philosophy of this order. Masons themselves accept this. (For further reading, see "Global Freemasonry" by Harun Yahya) 

 http://www.mediamonitors.net/harunyahya19.html

Gnostic Templars

The Templars’ Secret Society

The members of the Brotherhood, which was the Gnostic group the Templar founders belonged to, and became the core of the Templars, functioned the same as the other groups, except that its existence was not known for centuries, not until the Rosicrucians shocked the world in the early 17th century with a publication called Fama Fraternitatis, “History of the Brotherhood,” the Rosicrucian Manifesto. The text describes Gnostic principles in Alchemy terms with references to the Rose-Cross and to “those who came before us,” the mysterious superiors connected to the supposedly defunct Knights Templar.

We know about the Brotherhood's secret codes and symbols, which they bestowed on the Templar order. The Templar rank and file had no idea what their peculiar red cross (the Rose-Croix, with all four legs the same size, signifying Gnostic balance and the rose, the flower and the color red, signifying Christ) or the term Beauseant meant, (literally “To Be Whole”) which they used as salutation, battle cry and the name of their flag, the black and white. For the uninitiated, this was simply a peculiar turn of phrase, perhaps meaning completion of oneself in the Church, but for the Gnostics it meant the ultimate spiritual goal, what we would call enlightenment today.

What is Gnosticism

So what exactly was Gnosticism? The Gnostic Gospels that were discovered in 1947 in a cave in Egypt shed much light into the subject. Up to then what we knew about Gnosticism was that it was a religious tradition outside of the mainstream that had been banned at one point, one that evolved into different sects with as much dogma, ritual, and misconceptions as any other 2,000 year old religion. Gnosticism is the foundation of the Jewish Kabalah, Islam's Sufism, and what became known as Christian Kabalah or Christian Mysticism, in addition to several independent groups; all with their own particular dogma and ritual. But the Gnostic gospels contained in those mud jars found in a cave in Egypt in 1947 when eventually translated revealed Jesus’ unadulterated secret teachings, the original Gnosticism, what he reserved for the few he considered ready. His disciples Thomas and Mary Magdalene wrote the two most famous gospels found in those jars. They offer us a glimpse of Jesus and his message by contemporaries, unlike the four gospels in the Bible, which were written many decades after Jesus’ passing and recounted an oral tradition.

Gnosis means knowledge in Greek, the knowledge we acquire by going inside and knowing who we really are, one with God. This, very simply is what Jesus taught. Once we attain this God-knowledge, also known as the Christ consciousness, a person would see the God in all, be one with all. This was the Templars’ Beauseant, to be whole. This meant that there was no need for Church or priests, that anyone could know God by simply learning techniques of meditation, quieting the mind and body and letting one’s spirit soar. It threatened the Church’s very existence, so they banned it.

But groups formed to continue what they considered as Jesus’ real teachings. They came together in secret, and sometimes, fatally out in the open, as was the case with the Cathars.

The Church was successful in eradicating most Gnostic groups, but evidently, the Brotherhood decided to go deep underground and remain as such for centuries, eventually spawning other groups, most notably, the Masons and Rosicrucians.

Following publication of The Templars Two Kings and a Pope two 33-degree Masons, both historians, contacted me. They felt that the novel confirmed information they already had, but that it also opened new lines of inquiry regarding their legendary connection to the Knights Templar and where their mystical practice came from, what they refer to as “The Ancient Mysteries,” the Gnosticism they inherited from the Brotherhood, which is imparted in the topmost three degrees when Masons are initiated as Knights Templar.

A review for “The Templars, Two Kings and a Pope” by a reviewer interested in Gnostic teachings

“I approached this book as a student of the middle ages, as a member of a Masonic family, as a person interested in Gnostic teachings, and as an uninformed reviewer. When you read The Templars, Two Kings and a Pope, as every person seeking spiritual enlightenment will be drawn to do, you will be delighted with an intricate midrash for seekers in the 21st century.”

Beth McKenzie, MyShelf.com, Reviewer

 http://grigorfedan.com/main/index

The Knights Templar and the Real Holy Grail

The Holy Grail As Code

Early on, while doing research for my novel The Templars Two Kings and a Pope, I was mystified by the recurrent mention of the Holy Grail in documents referring to the Knights Templar. It didn't make sense; by then I had defined that the core of the Templars, those who gave direction to the Order were without doubt Gnostic mystics who gave little importance to relics or anything in the material world, which they considered an illusion, something to be dismissed.

In those days of persecution by Church inquisitors, non-traditional Christians had to hide their practice and find secret codes to communicate. This could be something as innocuous as drawing a cross with all four legs the same size, this meant Gnostic balance, or a star of David which meant the coming together of male and female in all of us. When you met someone whom you thought might be a fellow Gnostic, you started with a salutation, "Beauseant". If they knew what it meant, then you casually drew a cross on the ground with your sword or a stick. They would probably respond by drawing a Star of David or a dove. Then you knew you were safe and could talk freely.

So with all of these secret codes, if a chalice stood for something else, what would it be? It definitely was not the cup that Jesus used in the last supper. This would mean nothing to those mystics, an actual cup?

The Symbol For The Heart

When I dug deeper, I found that starting even earlier, perhaps back to the 5th century, the Heart, that is the spiritual heart as opposed to the human organ, was symbolized by a drinking vessel. Catholics are familiar with paintings of The Sacred Heart of Jesus, so we know that there was veneration for Jesus' Heart. The Gnostic Gospels refer consistently to the Heart of Christ that will open in all of us. David Richo in The Sacred Heart of the World makes the definite connection between the symbol of a cup and the heart of Jesus.

It's obvious that in the symbol of the cup, or Holy Grail, the Templars were referring to something that was a direct connection to the Heart of Jesus. If we take into account how revolutionary Jesus’ message of love was in relation to the harsh tone of Judaism, then it stands to reason that it is this singular aspect of his teachings that identified him as a vessel of love, ergo his Heart. Elaine Pagels in her Gnostic Gospels tells us that Jesus gave secret instruction, what became known as Gnosticism, to the select few, and spoke in parables to the general public. These teachings were banned by the Church starting in the 5th century, but for those who knew of them, they would embody the essence of Jesus, his love, his Heart. If we put all the facts together, and add that Jesus was a Rabbi, a well-educated man who spoke and wrote in at least Greek and Aramaic, and he wanted to propagate his teachings, it stands to reason that he must have committed them to writing.. Then it makes sense that a document written by Jesus would be what the Templars were hiding as the Holy Grail; Jesus’ Heart.

So what happened to the "real Holy Grail", a gospel written by Jesus? That was a line of inquiry I pursued in my novel. I found evidence that it was a real document, the actual words of Jesus written by his own hand. The Brotherhood kept it as a treasure for many centuries, after they found it, very likely in the place and manner similar to what I describe in my novel.

The Saga of the Templars’ Real Holy Grail

The Templars’ Real Holy Grail has been sought after, secreted away, possibly destroyed, only to surface again in the mysterious labyrinth of Christendom intrigue.

The legends point to the existence of a Holy Grail. Historical evidence defines it as a Gnostic Gospel written by Jesus. But where has it been all these centuries?

It is unknown to how many of his twelve disciples Jesus imparted his secret teachings, but what survives today as the Gnostic Gospels, what was found in a cave in Egypt in 1947 and is known as the Naj Hammadi library, contain the writings of Mary Magdalene and Thomas.

But why then wasn’t there a gospel written by Jesus as well? If he wrote something, wouldn’t there be at least references to such a document? Among the Gnostic Gospels there is one called the Gospel of the Savior, but no one knows who the author is as yet. Whatever the case might be about that document, wouldn’t a gospel written by Jesus been singled out and heralded through the centuries? Well, not if it started out as a secret document by the author himself, giving very specific instructions that it cannot be disseminated. Jesus meant his secret teachings for those who were ready, and these were few and far between. To the masses he spoke in parables, to the minds with limited understanding that could not conceive of God residing inside them. He knew that should his teachings be made public, they would be grossly misinterpreted, and indeed they were. People were burned at the stake in the Middle Ages for claiming that they had God inside them. If such a document had made its way to Church officials, in all probability they would have either destroyed it or hidden it, for the same reason that it was so valuable to the Brotherhood, the secret Gnostic organization behind the Templars: it validated Gnosticism as Jesus’ true teachings while doing away with the Church’s reason for being, the whole notion that one can only reach God and salvation through its priests, teachings and liturgy.

The Initial Discovery of the Real Holy Grail

The first instance that the real Holy Grail surfaced was shortly after the founding of the Templar Order in 1119. The nine Gnostic knights who founded the order, almost immediately started digging around Solomon’s Temple where they were headquartered. In due course they stopped digging and made their way to Rome where they exacted huge concessions from the pontiff that guaranteed the viability of their new order. Historians have speculated as to what it was that they found that they could use to sway the pope. The Temple of Solomon had contained the legendary Ark of the Covenant, but the chances that it was still around after all those centuries would be unlikely, given that the Temple had been destroyed and rebuilt several times, and even then, its possession would not have given such a powerful bargaining position to the Templars. What would have done it, would be a Jesus Gospel that if made public, would have meant the end of the Church’s role as intermediary. But did they find it under the Temple? Not likely. Through the centuries the place had been just too much of a target, not a good hiding place for anything of value. It’s far more likely that the nine Gnostic Templars were after something buried near the Temple. What stood next to the Temple of Solomon in Jesus’ time was the Antonia Fortress, the Roman’s administrative center that had also housed a jail where Jesus had been held before being crucified. Several Roman jails had cells dug into the ground. It is then possible that Jesus’ cell could have survived. But why would it hold anything so valuable and who put it there and why?

When studying mystics, it pays to think like one.

In The Templars Two Kings and a Pope, William and Hughes are also after the Jesus Gospel. They are instructed to find Jesus' cell where he meditated and prayed for long hours, because this is the only place left where his essence has been left relatively undisturbed. They make the journey and imbue themselves with Jesus’ essence that leads them to where his gospel was hidden. This line of reasoning would have made perfect sense to a mystic of the time. For centuries, before embarking on a pilgrimage it was customary to seek the essence of the saint one wanted to reach through the pilgrimage. I believe this is what the nine Templars were after; they found Jesus’ cell, and in due course they found where the gospel was hidden. To us this whole process would seem like magical thinking, but in those days that’s how things worked, how people thought and acted, and is the process I applied in the novel given that I was writing about medieval Templars.

At any rate, by however process and means, it was found.

The Real Holy Grail and the Cathars

After the nine Templars originally found it, the next time the gospel surfaced was almost a century and a half later, on March 25, 1244, when the Cathar castle of Montsegur in the Languedoc region of France fell to the pope’s army. Legend has it that a handful of Cathars (who were Gnostics) within the Castle took the Holy Grail with them before the castle fell.

It makes sense that the Templars loaned the Gospel to other Gnostics. After all, it validated their faith as the true teachings of Jesus, and it was probably passed around from one group to another.

The Original Real Holy Grail Vs. Copies

The next time we hear about the real Holy Grail, it’s back in Templar hands, that is their Brotherhood, and they make it to Scotland with it.

My theory is that these were copies, not the original. Even before medieval times, copies signed by reputable scribes were considered just as good as the original. In fact, it was necessary to make copies to safeguard the original. Anyone with a blade for scraping and a quill could make changes to a document, but copies made by reputable scribes was a way to safeguard the integrity of the text. The original in Jesus’ actual handwriting would have been treasured in a sacred place, much as the Ark of the Covenant had been because of its mystical rather than practical value.

In the novel, the gospel has to be a copy, for it came from the Library of Alexandria. For centuries the scribes at the library copied every document they came across. The law said that any ship containing books, or any traveler who came into the city had to surrender their books for copying. This is how the library became the foremost depository of knowledge in the Empire. In the article The Holy Grail’s Hiding Place (below), I describe how and why several copies made it from Alexandria to the depository called Hafiz Mountain in the Tibesti Mountains, in present day Chad. The Templars in the novel go after one of these copies because they know that their time in the Holy Land is running out as the Turks are about to expel all Christian armies.

It’s quite conceivable that the copy that the original Templars found in 1120, the one at Montsegnur in 1244 and the one the Templars took to Scotland in 1307, were all different copies; but I doubt it, you couldn’t have anything so potentially dangerous loose. Someone could alter the writing and make it say something different, and then the other copies would have to come to the surface to correct the falsehood, probably resulting in their destruction. There was probably one copy always guarded by Templars who had orders to destroy it if necessary.

My thought is that the copy found by the original nine Templars was the same as the one at Montsegur, and this one copy was destroyed before it fell into enemy hands. The Brotherhood decided at this point to leave the remaining copies where they were, safe in their original hiding place, the Hafiz Mountain in the novel, a very likely real depository for the Gospel and the other books from the Library of Alexandria.

It is at Hafiz Mountain that the Templars in the novel find a copy of the Gospel. This is one of several instances in the book where fiction approximates what really happened. The rest of the novel, the impact that the Gospel had on the Brotherhood, what they had to do to protect it, and how it shaped history, is very real.

The Holy Grail's Hiding Place

The legend of the Holy Grail was born during the romantic era in the early middle ages; an era that gave birth to the concept of courtly love, gallantry, and the forbidden love that one was willing to die for. Many songs and poems were composed at the time by traveling minstrels, most having to do with beautiful damsels, but some with great adventures and treasures, such as the Holy Grail. During the middle ages they thought that it all started with King Arthur and his court, but actually it was the middle ages that gave birth to the Arthurian myth…yet another product of the romantic era.

The Hiding of the Holy Grail

However, we are talking about the real Holy Grail, a document. Where was it hidden all those centuries before the Templars found it? I concluded that in the same place where the bulk of the books from the Library of Alexandria were secreted to after Christian hordes started destroying everything that was not the approved Bible. According to what the Arabs recorded, monks who had been in charge of the library took their books to a secret location where they were translated into Arabic and disseminated throughout the Arab world, back in 421, two centuries before the Prophet Mohammed, when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. That’s also the time when the Gnostic Gospels were buried, what was found in 1947 in a cave in Egypt and became known as the Naj-Hammadi Library, the finding that revolutionized our knowledge of Jesus’ teachings. Dr. Pagels’s book, The Gnostic Gospels is based on her study of these documents. Unfortunately there was no gospel written by Jesus among them, but this was to be expected, since Jesus meant for readership to be restricted to the very select few.

A thesis in my novel is that the monks at the Library of Alexandria had the secret Jesus Gospel. The reasoning is simple; Alexandria was not only the cultural center of the Empire, it was also its most progressive city, where Jesus learned what became his Gnosticism, from Buddhists. Buddhism did have an impact in the city where intellectual inquiry was the norm, where most of the greatest learned men came. So yes, it makes sense that whoever was in charge of the library would reflect the city’s culture, and the biggest, most complete library in all of the Roman Empire, ran by mystical Christian monks, would certainly have copies of Jesus’ document. Just the fact that they wanted to save the knowledge in their hands by handing it over to the Arabs speaks volumes about what they were like.

So where did the Library of Alexandria monks take their books including the Jesus Gospel? I placed myself in their place, studying what was known about the world at the time and what was happening around them. As fanatical Christian hordes started descending on the library to destroy its contents, the monks had to act fast. They looked for a safe place that was well away from invaders and fanatical hordes, and in a direction away from danger. To achieve this, from Alexandria you would have to look due west, towards what was then known as the Libyan wilderness, basically the western-most chunk of Africa that encompasses most of the Sahara. Well, fortunately for them, and for me, someone else had escaped in that direction centuries before, with a similar goal in mind, to find a safe haven away from violence, in this case, an invading army. These were the mystics who left Judea and Israel during the Assyrian invasion in 722 BCE and founded a colony hidden away in the Tibesti Mountains in what is today’s Chad. For well over two millennia this was a place known to the mystical underground, a place where one could find sanctuary away from so-called civilization, a place to pray and meditate in peace.

Looking at a map of that time, the Tibesti Mountains made perfect sense. In fact, it would have been hard to pass up. It is hard to get to, one has to cross many miles of desert, but once in the mountains there are valleys with 20 inches of rain a year, plenty to support a colony. No other location offered relative proximity, safe passage, habitability, and the promise of a peaceful life.

I figured that the place had a name, a code name that would not give away its location. In the novel I called it Hafiz Mountain, because Hafiz in Arabic means to preserve knowledge, as in writing, memorizing, or secreting it away, and I figured that’s what the mystical underground and then the Brotherhood would have called it, or something very similar.

In the book, the document is found and taken away to Europe by the Brotherhood. Centuries prior another copy was very likely found by the nine Templars who founded the Order, only to be lost. This time it made sense to keep the remaining copies safe until the last minute, because possession of such a document was so dangerous. In any case, the Holy Grail made its way to Europe, I believe in a manner very close to what I describe in The Templars Two Kings and a Pope.

A review concerning the Holy Grail for “The Templars, Two Kings and a Pope”

“This novel is the real quest for the Holy Grail. I have a great deal of personal knowledge about this subject matter from decades of research into my family connections to the Templars. Gnosis is the core “secret” and the true treasure that The Brotherhood protected with their lives.”

Sorcha Sinclair, Descendant of the Sinclairs of Scotland,
Knights Templar, and builders of Rosslyn Chapel

 http://grigorfedan.com/main/index

Modern Day Knights Templar: the Masons

Who are the Masons?

In the months following publication, The Templars, Two Kings and a Pope was favorably reviewed in the Masons’ Knight Templar Magazine, lauding the novel’s historical accuracy. I also received a number of reviews and comments from present day knights templar, both Masons and non-Masons. Masons commented on how the novel described the origins of their organization, and how they now had confirmation of the link between the Masons and the Templars’ secret Brotherhood, based on the concepts and symbols in their practice. I learned that they become knights templar in their uppermost degrees, which is around the 30th degree in the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, and the blue degrees. Subsequent degrees after being dubbed knight templar are higher ranks of knighthood. The Masons are not a secret organization anymore, there’s no need; no one is burning people at the stake for their beliefs anymore, but they do have secrets that revolve around their Gnostic esoteric foundation, what is also known as the ancient mysteries, and just like the Brotherhood before them, they are dedicated to serving mankind and fomenting religious tolerance. Their recorded history goes back to the early 1700’s, although their legends speak of a beginning in Scotland in the early 1300’s, starting from a guild of stoneworkers, just as my novel describes. The reason for the absence of documentation before the 1700’s has to do with the British civil war when the Puritans ascended to power, and tried to wipe out anything they considered a heresy by burning books and imprisoning and killing people. They succeeded in suppressing all Gnostic organizations. It’s clear that that’s what happened to the Masons, they disappeared during the reign of the Puritans and made a comeback in the early 1700’s, when they reinvented themselves.

Templar and Masonic Symbols

These symbols confirmed that the Masons, at least from the 30th Degree on up in which they are initiated as Knights Templar, are linear descendants from the Templars’ secret Brotherhood. The Templar Cross, the “Croix Rose” or Red Cross, is widely used and originally called Rose Croix (grammatically incorrect in modern French). All four extremities are the same size which is a Gnostic symbol for balance. The symbol of the rose is also used, which for the Brotherhood meant the Christ consciousness. In one scene in the novel I describe how Jesus’ prison cell was permeated with a faint scent of roses. This made perfect sense to the 33 Degree Masons. In old French, the color red was called “rose,” also the name of the flower, which makes the name of the Templar cross and why it was red, code for the Christ consciousness. Gnostics believed that this was a state every person could achieve.

The Christ consciousness was the perfect state of balance, which they termed Beauseant, literally “be whole,” in the Lingua Franca, the old french the Templars spoke. This term is presently widely used by the Masons. The other symbol of balance, which the Masons also widely use, is what looks like a Star of David, comprised by two spades, one upward or male, one downward, or female. This means the coming together of the male and female in all of us. The Gnostic faith balances the female aspect of God, Sophia, with the male, Christ; which we will all embody at some point when we reach Beauseant, symbolized by the Templars’ flag, black and white stripes of equal size, and a theme still used by the Masons.

How the Templars Connected with The Masons in the 14th Century

So, how did the connection between the Templars’ Brotherhood and the Masons take place? In the research I conducted for my novel I found that once they left the Holy Land, the Templars and The Brotherhood found themselves embroiled in a covert and intense war against the king of France, Philip IV to keep him from taking over the Holy Roman Empire. To accomplish this he first needed both the Order of the Temple and the King of England out of the way, because they could stop him, and he also needed their money.

The Brotherhood had to act quickly. If Philip invaded England there was no stopping him. They realized that this was first in the French king’s list. They came next. They needed something to distract him, a war that would pull him away from England. They turned to Flanders, what is today Belgium. It was ruled by a count, a nominal subject of the French monarch. The county was split along ethnic lines; for centuries the French speakers and the Dutch had been at odds. There were also very powerful guilds of textile workers, for it was the processing of wool that made Flanders. The nobility was very weak and easy prey for a rising working class.

The Brotherhood decided to approach the Dutch-speaking guilds, train them, and use them to fight the French. This worked out perfectly. The "Battle of the Golden Spurs" saw the defeat of the powerful French cavalry by lowly infantry. This battle and what led to it are graphically described in the novel, along with the weapons, training and tactics, for I feel this is a very crucial episode in Templar history.

In the book I lead into the Flemish excursion with a venture by two of the main characters (fashioned after real historical figures) that find them working with weavers who moonlight as entertainers at fairs. This gives them the idea for Flanders, the possibility of using the powerful guilds. I’m sure that something along these lines took place; some incident that led The Brotherhood to look into the guilds, for otherwise the social divide was so strong at this time in history that such a working arrangement was unthinkable.

After Flanders, The Brotherhood continued to work with the guilds. When they reached Scotland, it was just natural that they would link up with them. In the novel, this happens through a sergeant, a natural link between the noble knights and the working class. It makes sense that the Brotherhood would seek out the most powerful guild around, which was made up of learned men, men who built cathedrals and bridges and not only could read and write, but were also relatively sophisticated. What the Brotherhood needed, was an organization they could infiltrate and control so they could find a safe haven for “The Knowing,” Jesus’ secret teachings. It’s evident that they had in their possession a copy of Jesus’ actual writing, a Jesus Gospel, and they also needed a hiding place for it.

They connected with the Masons and passed on their secrets.

In the 16th century when the puritans rose to power in Britain, most of the written records of the Masons and other Gnostic and non-traditional Christian denominations, were destroyed. The Masons had to reinvent themselves in the 17th century, mostly from what was passed down as legend. In the course of the years some misconceptions came into play, including a dash of Egyptology, the result of the Egypt obsession that ran through Europe in the 19th century. But surprisingly, the main body of Jesus’ secret teachings did survive, and are being practiced by present day 33 Degree Masons, and also by their offshoot, the Rosicrucians.

Non-Mason Knights Templar

Besides the Masons’ knights templar, the novel was also welcomed by a number of world-wide knight templar organizations, based in the US and England. They too viewed The Templars, Two Kings and a Pope as documenting their history, and were glad for information on what it was like to be a knight templar in the middle ages. The one organization that appears to be the oldest, and could have a direct connection to the original knights templar besides the Masons, is the Hereditary Knights Templar of Britannia.

However, the original knights templar were monks, and needless to say, no modern templar today is a monk. That life style ended when the last of the original templars died, sometime in the 14th century.

A modern Templar’s review for “The Templars, Two Kings and a Pope”

“Grigor Fedan has written a great read based on his studies of the Templars and medieval history. I believe my brother Masons will find great interest in Mr. Fedan’s book.”

Neal Watt, Mason, Texas

 http://grigorfedan.com/main/index

Knights Templar (Freemasonry)

A cross and crown laid upon a cross pattée inscribed with "In Hoc Signo Vinces" resting upon downward pointing swords in saltire is often used to represent the Knights Templar.
(The various symbols used allude to the orders of the body, though the cross and crown is often used alone as well.)

This article is part of or related to the Knights Templar series

This page is about a Masonic organization. For the medieval Knights Templar, see Knights Templar. See also Knights Templar and popular culture.

The Knights Templar is an international philanthropic chivalric order affiliated with Freemasonry. Unlike the initial degrees conferred in a Masonic Lodge, which only require a belief in a Supreme Being regardless of religious affiliation, the Knights Templar is one of several additional Masonic Orders in which membership is open only to Freemasons who profess a belief in the Christian religion. The full title of this Order is The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta. The word "United" in this title indicates that more than one historical tradition and more than one actual Order are jointly controlled within this system. The individual Orders 'united' within this system are principally the Knights of the Temple (Knights Templar), the Knights of Malta, the Knights of St Paul, and only within the York Rite, the Knights of the Red Cross. The Order derives its name from the historical Knights Templar. One theory of the origins of Freemasonry claims direct descent from the historical Knights Templar through its final fourteenth-century members who took refuge in Scotland, or other countries where the Templar suppression was not enforced. Although the theory may not be dismissed, it is usually deprecated on grounds of lack of evidence by both masonic authorities^[1] and historians.^[2]

History

The earliest documented link between Freemasonry and the Crusades is the 1737 oration of the Chevalier Ramsay. This claimed that European Freemasonry came about from an interaction between crusader masons and the Knights Hospitaller.^[3] This is repeated in the earliest known "Moderns" ritual, the Berne manuscript, written in French between 1740 and 1744.^[4]
In 1751 Baron Karl Gotthelf von Hund und Altengrotkau began the Order of Strict Observance, which ritual he claimed to have received from the reconstituted Templar Order in 1743 in Paris. He also claimed to have met two of the "unknown superiors" who directed all of masonry, one of whom was Prince Charles Edward Stuart. The order went into decline when he failed to produce any evidence to support his claims, and was wound up shortly after his death.^[5][6]
In 1779 the High Knights Templar of Ireland Lodge, Kilwinning, obtained a charter from Lodge Mother Kilwinning in Scotland. This lodge now began to grant dispensations to other lodges to confer the Knights Templar Degree. Some time around 1790 the Early Grand Encampment of Ireland was formed, which began to warrant Templar Lodges, and evolved into the Supreme Grand Encampment in 1836.^[7] The Early Grand Encampment chartered several Scottish "encampments" one of which, having been chartered in 1805 as the "Edinburgh Encampment No. 31", then became the"Grand Assembly of Knights Templar in Edinburgh". who then sought a charter from the Duke of Kent, Grand Master of the Order in England.^[8] It seems that the Templar degree had filtered into the lodges of the Antients from Ireland about 1780, and was recorded at York about the same time.^[9]

Administration

Knights Templar can exist either as part of the York Rite or as an independent organization. Though the York Rite and the independent versions share many similarities there are key differences which are described below.

Knights Templar as a part of the York Rite

Main article: York Rite

A Knights Templar commandery is traditionally the final body that a member joins in the York Rite after the chapter of Royal Arch Masons and a council of Royal & Select Masters. Some jurisdictions, however, allow members to skip over membership in a council. A local Knights Templar commandery operates under a state-level Grand Commandery, however American commanderies also operate under The Grand Encampment of the United States. This is unique among American Masonic bodies, as most report to the state level alone.
While a chapter bestows the Royal Arch degrees, and a council bestows the Cryptic degrees, a Knights Templar commandery bestows three orders and one passing order onto its members. This is opposed to the standard degree system found elsewhere in Freemasonry, and they are the only ones not to deal with the Hiramic Legend.^[10] The York Rite orders are:

• The Illustrious Order of the Red Cross
• The Passing Order of St. Paul, (or Mediterranean Pass)
• The Order of the Knights of Malta (or simply Order of Malta)
• The Order of the Temple

Knights Templar as an Independent Body

The Cross pattée, symbol of the Order of the Temple in the independent body.

Outside the York Rite, membership is by invitation only. Candidates are required to be Master Masons, and Royal Arch Masons, and to sign a declaration that they profess the Doctrine of the Holy and Undivided Trinity. In some Australian States, the requirement of being a Royal Arch Mason no longer applies.
Local bodies of Knights Templar are known as Preceptories; local bodies of Knights of St Paul are known as Chapters; local bodies of Knights of Malta are known as Priories; all operate under a Grand or Great Priory, often with an intermediate level of Provincial Priories. Although some jurisdictions maintain a separate Great Priory of the Temple and Great Priory of Malta (as, for example, in England), the Grand Master and other officers of both Great Priories hold simultaneous equal office in both bodies. Three degrees are administered in this system:

• The Degree of Knight Templar (Order of the Temple)
• The Degree of Knight of St. Paul (incorporating the Mediterranean Pass)
• The Degree of Knight of Malta (Order of Malta)

The Degrees or Orders

The Cross and Crown, symbol of the Order of the Temple as found in the York Rite.

The Degree of Knight of the Temple (Order of the Temple)

The original medieval Order of Knights Templar was established after the First Crusade, and existed from approximately 1118 to 1312. There is no known historical evidence to link the medieval Knights Templar and Masonic Templarism, nor do the Masonic Knights Templar organizations claim any such direct link to the original medieval Templar organization.^[11] Though it has been said that its affiliation with Masonry is based on texts that indicate persecuted Templars found refuge within the safety of Freemasonry, the order itself states that "there is no proof of direct connection between the ancient order and the modern order known today as the Knights Templar."^[12] The official motto of the Knights Templar is In Hoc Signo Vinces, the rendition in Latin of the Greek phrase "εν τούτῳ νίκα", en toutōi nika, meaning "in this [sign] you will conquer".
The Knight Templar degree is associated with elaborate regalia (costume) the precise detail of which varies between nations. The ritual draws upon the traditions of medieval Knights Templar, using them to impart moral instruction consistent with the biblical teachings of the Christian tradition.

The Degree of Knight of Malta (Order of Malta)

The Maltese Cross, symbol of the Order of Malta.

This degree is universally associated with the Masonic Knights Templar. In the York Rite system it is conferred before the Templar Degree; in the 'stand-alone' tradition it is conferred subsequently to the Templar Degree. It is known by varying degrees of formality as the Order of Malta, or the Order of Knights of Malta, or the Ancient and Masonic Order of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes, and Malta. In practice this last and fullest version of the name tends to be reserved to letterheads, rituals, and formal documents.
The ceremony for conferring the degree (which is always worked in full) contains a mixture of masonic tradition, historical accounts of the Order of St John, moral teaching, and the communication of modes of recognition between members. A series of banners is employed in the ceremony, each representing one of the great battles of the historic medieval Order of St John, whose story is the basis of the moral teachings of the degree.

The Degree of Knight of St Paul (Order of St Paul)

Two downward pointing swords in saltire, symbol of the Order of St Paul.

This degree is conferred as a prerequisite to becoming a Knight of Malta, in both the York Rite and independent 'stand-alone' versions of Knight Templar Freemasonry. The "Preliminary Declarations" of the Order of Malta ritual in England state of a candidate for the Order of Malta: "He must also have received the Degree of Knight of St Paul, including the Mediterranean Pass". The exact status of the 'Mediterranean Pass' has at times led to confusion as to whether this is the 'stub' of a separate degree. The English ritual book clarified this in its 1989 edition (and subsequent editions) by stating: "The Mediterranean Pass is one of the secrets of the Degree of Knight of St Paul".^[13]
This degree is close to being a true 'side degree', in that a small group (usually three) of members of the degree take the candidate "to one side" (i.e. apart on his own) and simply communicate the secrets of the degree to him, without actually working the ceremonial ritual of the degree. The only respect in which the degree fails to meet the definition of a true 'side degree' is that a Chapter of the Order is formally opened and closed by the presiding officer, on either side of the secrets being communicated.

The Illustrious Order of the Red Cross (Order of the Red Cross)

Unique to the York Rite, the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross continues or reverts to the period of the Royal Arch Degree when the Israelites were returning from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. Zerubbabel, their leader prevails upon King Darius to restore the Holy Vessels to the new Temple. They had been carried away by the Babylonian armies when the first Temple was destroyed. In presenting his plea before the King, the companion gives a powerful testimony to the almighty force of Truth.
The ritual places the candidate in the role of Zerubbabel and follows him through his journey to King Darius and his role in the Immemorial Discussion, as found in the apocryphal book, 1 Esdras. The purpose is to bridge the gap between Royal Arch Masonry, and the Chivalric Orders as well the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Illustrious Order of the Red Cross teaches the lessons of the triumph of truth.
This Order is often considered a compressed version of the Order of Knight Masons.
It should not be confused with the Masonic Order known as the Red Cross of Constantine.

Templar traditions

Induction day 2009

Despite Freemasonry's general disclaimer that no one Masonic organization claims a direct heritage to the medieval Knights Templar, certain degrees and orders are obviously patterned after the medieval Order. These are best described as "commemorative orders" or degrees. Nevertheless, in spite of the fraternity's official disclaimers, some Masons, non-Masons and even anti-Masons insist that certain Masonic rites or degrees originally had direct Templar influence.

• American Masonic youth organizations such as the Order of DeMolay for young men are named after the last Grand Master Templar Jacques de Molay who was executed in the final suppression of the Templar order in the early 14th century.
• The Knight of Rose-Croix Degree in the "Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite", and honorary Orders like the Royal Order of Scotland are interpreted as evidence of a historical Templar-Masonic connection, though there is no factual basis for this belief.
• Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh has been suggested to be strong link between the Knights Templar and Freemasons due to reliefs combining Templar and Freemason symbolism. Rosslyn Chapel was indeed founded by William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness.^[14]
• Legends in certain degrees pertain to the involvement of Knights Under the command of Sir John De Bermingham, First and Last Earl of Louth aiding the excommunicated 14th Century Scottish King Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn; however this is based on 18th century romance and is not supported by any evidence. This story is the basis for the degrees in the Royal Order of Scotland an invitational Masonic honorary organization.
• Templar connections have also been suggested through the Earls of Rosslyn (St. Clair, or Sinclair) a family with well documented connections with Scottish Freemasonry, one being a Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland.
• Many other old and new organizations are called "Knights Templar". However, organizations like the Order of the Solar Temple, Militi Templi Scotia, or the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem are in no way related to Masonic Knights Templar, and share no relationship in either history, hierarchy, nor ritual.

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