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A Brief History of the Crusades and The Knights Templar
by the Honorable Sir Charles S. Davis III, GCTJ, Prior of St. Clair

(A talk delivered to The Assembled Witenagemote on 12/18/97)


Note: H.E. Capt. Chev.  George G.  McNeillie, III KCTJ of the Priory of St. James in Toronto sent me in a copy of this account and subsequently I was given permission to post this on the site. George also noted that the attached Templar history is taken from a speech by Terry Davis, the Prior of the Priory of St. Clair in Detroit (who gave us permission to post this account). It was given several years ago, so most of the Grand Officers mentioned at the end have been replaced or moved on to new duties, e.g., British MGen Sir Roy Redgrave (also a Knight of the Bath), cousin of actors Michael, Vanessa, Lynn and Corin Redgrave has retired; RADM James Carey is now Grand Master; BGen Patrick Rea is International Grand Commander.


Before we start, let me pose fifteen very mundane questions. During the following history, you will get the answers to all of these bits of trivia...

Fourteen Trivial Questions

1. Who invented our common deck of playing cards?
2. Why did Lawrence of Arabia wear a white cape?
3. Why do they say a lawyer is admitted "to the bar"?
4. Where did the fabric "gauze" come from?
5. Who were the first international bankers?
6. Why did Columbus have a "red cross" on his sails?
7. Who invented double entry bookkeeping?
8. What was the origin of Masonic lodges?
9. Who invented candy?
10. What is the only sovereign entity in the world that has no land?
11. Why is Friday, the 13th, a day when bad things happen?
12. What is the oldest military order in the world?
13. Where did the pirate flag of the skull & crossbones originate?
14. Why do the flags of the five original Swiss Cantons all have a red cross on them?
15. What did Dante mean when, in his poem Divine Comedy, he wrote:

"...I see the fleur-de-lis enter ...and Christ's Vicar made captive...
I see the new Pilate so ruthless that this does not sate him,
but without law he bears into the Temple with his greedy sails.
O my Lord, when shall I rejoice to see the vengeance which...
makes sweet thy wrath!"

Our story begins one thousand and one years ago on a cold November day in 1096. The Bishop of Rome, Pope Urban II, stood in a field outside of the French city of Clermont and called all in Christendom to arms in a solemn quest to recapture the "holy land" where Christ was born and walked. This land had been part of the Greek Byzantium Empire ever since the split of the Roman Empire in the Fourth Century AD into the two cultural, political and religious centers of Rome and Constantinople. But it had been wrenched away from Christian control in 1073 by those (to quote the Pope) "fanatical followers of Mohammed".

Pope Urban II exhorted the second and third sons of each noble family (sons who were left landless from the practice of primogeniture) "to wrest that land from the wicked race and subject it to yourselves. That land which the scripture says 'floweth with milk and honey'." The holy father stated that any man who vowed to join the crusade would receive instant absolution and remission from all sins. His last words were: "Deus lo volt!" meaning "God wills it!” The whole audience of nobles took up the chant which became the battle cry of what would be known as "The First Crusade".

With his call, Pope Urban struck a concordant note throughout all of Europe. Nobles in France, Italy and England responded, financing Urban's crusade and dispatching some of their best Knights to the effort. A year after the call, in 1096, ten thousand Knights with horse and retinue began arriving by ship in Constantinople. (for your information -- the average Knight required a battle horse, a traveling horse, and two attendants and pack horses for armor, tents and luggage). The Emperor of Byzantium, anxious to have this Roman Catholic fighting force out of his lands, provided them food and transport to Asia Minor as soon as possible, suggesting they capture the Muslim city of Nicea in modern day Turkey which was held by Seljuk Turks. That sounded like a good idea and Nicea fell after a five month siege the following May.

It's interesting to note that as the Seljuk Turk flag fell over in Nicea and the Crusaders surged into the city to claim it for the Crusade, they found the Turks had surrendered to an emissary from the Emperor of Byzantium, who claimed the city as part of Byzantium Empire. To use the vernacular, this pissed the Crusaders off immensely -- since they were at peace with Byzantium, now there would be no spoils, booty, rape or pillaging! And with a Byzantium army only a day's march away, they had to just regard it as a lesson learned in the Byzantine politics of the east.

At this point, the Crusader army split in two. The larger group headed south to the heavily fortified city of Antioch, whose walls stretched one mile wide and three miles long. After placing the city under siege for eight months, they finally succeeded when a converted Muslim who was a Captain of the Turkish Guard reconverted to Christianity upon finding his wife in bed with another Turkish officer. Late one evening, the cuckolded Captain let 60 Knights use a ladder to climb into a tower and open a gate into the city. After two days of killing, every Muslim in the city, men, women and children (including the Turkish officer's wife) was dead. An Italian, Prince Bohamond (who had the largest army present among the Crusaders) declared himself the new Prince of Antioch, establishing the first of four Christian Kingdoms in the Holy Land. Somehow, no one objected when he and his army stayed behind, allowing the French and English Crusaders to continue southward along the coast.

The smaller group of Crusaders that split off at Nicea and did not go to Antioch was led by Baldwin (a younger brother of the Duke of Lower Lorraine). It went eastward towards Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). At this time, these lands were held by Armenian Christians, who were under constant threat from the neighboring Seljuk Turks (commonly called the Saracens). Baldwin quickly captured two Turkish castles. Since he had no men to spare, he turned these back over to the local Armenians. Due to this, Baldwin was regarded as a liberator by these Armenian Christians. The local Armenian Prince of Edessa, who had no heirs, thought that from his seemingly selfless acts, Baldwin was heaven-sent. He offered to adopt Baldwin as his heir, if Baldwin would use his Knights to protect the Kingdom. Baldwin, whose prospects in Europe were poor (as a younger brother - not the first son - of a noble) also regarded this as heaven-sent, but perhaps for different reasons.

The adoption ceremony was almost pagan as it involved acting out an allegorical ritual of birth. In front of a large audience of nobles, Baldwin stripped to the waist, as did the Prince and Princess. Then, they were washed and all clothed together into a single large white garment. Then, after Baldwin rubbed his bare chest against those of the Prince and Princess, he emerged from the garment as their heir.

Although Baldwin had not known it, the Prince had been very unpopular. Now, with an heir readily apparent, the citizens rioted against the Prince. The Prince appealed to his newly adopted son and his army of Crusaders for help. But, Baldwin who evidently had not bonded with his new-found father despite the recent ceremony, did not heed the call and stood idly by as the Prince was dragged from the castle and killed by the mob. Baldwin had what he wanted -- land in his own Principality and the Kingdom of Edessa became the second of the four Christian Kingdoms in the Holy Land.

Although Jerusalem was only a 10-day march away, Baldwin stayed in Edessa to solidify his new Principality.

If you are beginning to see a pattern in this (and future) Crusades, you are correct. Although the vow was for the church and Christianity, the real object for many of the nobles in the Crusades was the opportunity to get land or, failing this, at least the wealth that came with plunder of captured cities. Clever old Pope Urban even stated this when he said "...wrest the land away from these wicked races and subject it to yourselves..."

So, absent Prince Bohamond and Prince Baldwin, the Crusaders continued. Finally on the evening of June 7th 1099 the two remainders of the Crusader army joined again and soon were within sight of the walls of Jerusalem. At this point, only 1,200 Knights and 10,000 foot soldiers remained.

Within three weeks, they had breached the walls and proceeded - in a very un-Christian manner - to disembowel the population. Their reason for doing this was twofold: first, when they had arrived three weeks earlier, they had promised death to any person who stayed in the city and did not surrender to them immediately... and, of course, they had to keep their word. Secondly, they had heard a rumor, quite unfounded, that Muslims hid their gold by swallowing it. You would have thought they would have discovered this rumor was not true after disemboweling a mere two or three hundred Muslims; however, they must have wanted to be thorough, so they just disemboweled them all!

The Jewish inhabitants of the city crowded into their Temple so as not to be mistaken for Muslims. Regrettably, the Crusaders were not being selective, so they burnt down the Temple and all the people in it. Forgetting that the Old Testament was also shared by those people who were in the Temple, one Knight (Raymond of Aguilers) quoted from Psalm 118 that afternoon, "This is the day the Lord hath made... be glad and rejoice!"

Lastly, the Crusaders discovered that the Greek Orthodox priests had hidden a portion of the actual wooden cross upon which Christ had died. Upon hearing this, they tortured the priests until they were shown its hiding place behind a wall in the Temple of the Holy Sepulchre

To the Crusaders, the objective of the First Crusade was obtained -- for the first time in 600 years, Roman Catholic Christians controlled the lands upon which Christ was born and had walked! In addition, they had found and possessed the most holy object in Christendom, the True Cross.

Actually, things were not as Pope Urban had stated in his Clermont address. In stirring up his support for the Crusade, he had said that Christians had been prevented from making pilgrimages to Jerusalem and, those that did, were routinely tortured and killed by the unbelieving Muslims. In truth, however, Christians had been making pilgrimages in relative safety for years. Further, Christians and Muslims lived in peace within the city, each fairly respectful of the other’s religion -- and both Christians and Muslims were always subject to frequent attacks by bandits (usually Bedouin nomads) when traveling to and from the coastal cities.

But, as we will see, perception becomes reality in many things -- and its victim is the truth. Luckily, for those Christians living in Jerusalem, the Muslims had thrown them out of the city when the siege started, thinking that, during a time of siege, it was more prudent to have the Christian Crusaders feed the Jerusalem Christians, rather than having them consume the Muslims' food.

Anyway, after the First Crusaders cleaned up the mess they had just made, their first official act was to elect their leader, the 39 year old Duke of Lower Lorraine, Godfrey de Bouillon as Governor of the City. A few months later, Godfrey died of illness and his younger Brother, Prince Baldwin of Edessa was declared by the Pope as the King of Jerusalem. Baldwin gave out cities and lands to many of the other nobles and much of the Crusading army drifted off with their nobles to the smaller cities to consolidate their holdings and power. By 1118, many of the coastal cities were under Christian control with each new-found Baron, Duke or Prince, all swearing fealty to the King of Jerusalem.

What really made the First Crusade so successful was not the size of the army of European foot soldiers and Knights – 10,000 knights and 30,000 foot soldiers were a powerful force, but the Muslims could have easily matched it. However, the Crusader's benefitted from the age old split in the Muslim population between the Orthodox Sunni (soonie) Muslims who were centered in Damascus and the Shiite (she-ite) Muslims who were on both sides of them -- in Egypt and Persia. The Sunni Muslims' preoccupation with the Shiites allowed the Christian armies to spread out along the Mediterranean coast of from the edge of Egypt to Cilicia in modern day Turkey. By 1117, the four major Christian Kingdoms of the holy land had been established -- these were Antioch and Edessa and Jerusalem (which we have already discussed), and Tripoli.

* * * * * * * * * * *

The next year an event happened which is to be the centerpiece of this tale.

In 1118 AD nine new Knights arrived in Jerusalem. These Knights, were unlike the others who were in and around Baldwin II's place. They were not interested in obtaining land and wealth. They had taken vows to become warrior monks, pledging chastity, obedience, and poverty... three character traits that were very foreign to most Knights on the Crusade. To Baldwin, the King of Jerusalem, this was a welcome relief, since the other Christian nobles had already started arguing over land and the spoils of their conquests. The nine new Knights chose to live a separate existence, in a far corner of the Palace grounds, in an old set of stables, which had once belonged to King Herod from Roman times. Their announced public and secular purpose was to protect the pilgrims on the roads from the Mediterranean Sea to Jerusalem -- which was not done by any of the other Knights, since there was no profit in it!

These nine Knights were led by Hugues de Payen, a French and Scottish nobleman. This was de Payen's second visit to Jerusalem, having been in the First Crusade and having visited Jerusalem again in 1104. Now de Payen had returned, with his eight other warrior monks, financed by a few French nobles (the Duke of Champagne, Count de Anjou, Count de Gisors and Count de Flanders) and his Scottish father-in-law, Henri St. Clair, the Baron of Roslyn.

By either circumstance or design (this is hotly debated as you will see), the stables Hugues de Payne chose to live in were exactly adjoining the remains of the old Jewish Temple of Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by the Romans in about 300 AD. Because of their living quarters and their vow of poverty, these warrior monks became known as the "Poor Knights of Christ at the Temple of Jerusalem" and, more popularly, as the "The Knights Templar".

In addition to their announced tasks, under the direction of de Payens, the Knights Templar also spent much of their time and effort secretly excavating beneath the old walls to find the labyrinth of tunnels that were rumored to exist beneath the temple. I say secretly because only these nine Knights were allowed near these excavations. Here they labored for three years. In 1121, they sent their second-in-command, a Knight by the name of Geoffrey de St. Omer, back to France with the results of their excavations.

What were these results? No one really knows... and it is a subject that has many theories, each more bizarre than the other. Some believe they found great wealth -- to support this view, the recent discovery and translation of the "dead sea" scrolls does list 619 vessels of silver and gold that were buried in the tunnels beneath the Temple. Others say they found the "Holy Grail" -- the supposed cup Christ used in the last supper. Yet, still others say they found ancient scrolls giving them secrets of alchemy and architecture. Lastly, the most extravagant claim -- that they found religious writings telling an expanded or contradictory history of Christ and the crucifixion.

All we do know is that Geoffrey de St. Omer carried some metal artifacts back to France along with some Aramaic scrolls. One of the scrolls exists today in the library of Ghent University -- it describes the Heavenly Jerusalem referenced in much of the old testament and in St. John's revelations. These treasures that the Templars returned to France add fuel to the fire for the wild speculations and theories that have surrounded the Knights Templar since that time.

And, shortly after the treasures were sent to France, the Count de Anjou traveled to Jerusalem to join the order as did the Duke of Champagne and, then both returned home and bequeathed a portion of their lands to the order so it could have financial independence. And, in Jerusalem, the excavations continued for the next seven years, .

By 1127, the nine original Knights Templar had completed their excavations and their leader, de Payens, traveled to France and Scotland with more artifacts, returning to Jerusalem the following year with over 300 new Knights and title to many more lands which had been given to the order.

Meanwhile, a cousin of the Duke of Champagne, Bernard - the Abbot of Clairvaux - drew up a formal charter for the order, based upon that of the older Benedictine monks, and in 1128 Pope Calixtus I established the Knights Templar as a sovereign entity, equal to any country, and made them a religious order of the Church -- their official name became "The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem".

As a sovereign military order, the Templars had an established chain of command. The international head was Hugues de Payen, who was called the Grand Master. The Grand Master would appoint a Grand Prior for each political country or state and, jointly with them, appoint a Prior to head each local Templar establishment. Under each Prior were groups of Templars called Commanderies which would be headed by a Commander. Then, underneath this superstructure were the Knights, each having had to be born to the nobility, and then a large group of freemen who were appointed as Squires and Priests or Clerics to perform the administrative and support tasks; act as engineers to build the siege equipment and buildings; or as armorers to fashion their chain mail clothing, shields and swords.

In those days, a Templar Knight was known by his shaved head, long flowing beard, and his suit of chain mail armor over which he wore a white cape emblazoned with a red cross. Each of these characteristics had its purpose: the shaved head signified obedience; the long beard was an indication of strength and military prowess (particularly important in the Mideast where shaven faces were associated with femininity); the white robe signified purity; and the red cross signified their willingness to die to protect Christianity -- the cross in the color of blood. The squires had black robes with white crosses and the clerics wore green robes with black crosses.

A Templar Knight took a vow of chastity. To constantly remind him of that vow, he was forbidden to ever remove his white wool loin-cloth, even for washing -- even though they never raped or pillaged you can see why the Templars became so feared -- just to be downwind of one would have been a horrifying experience!

So, within a short 10 years since nine Knights made their pledge to each other, their order had become the equivalent of an independent nation -- its lands, no matter where they were, could not be taxed and those living on them were not under the jurisdiction of any secular King or nobleman. Members of the order owed their allegiance only to the order and its military chain of command, but not to any secular leader.

Interestingly, this order also was the first true democracy since Greece. Once a Priory was established, upon the death of the first Prior, the succeeding Priors were elected democratically by vote of the Knights of that Priory, subject only to a veto of the Grand Prior of the country. Likewise, a vacancy in the position of Grand Prior was filled by election by the Priors. Only the Grand Master could appoint his successor and, if this was not done (as happened when a Grand Master was killed in battle), that vacancy would be filled by election by a Conclave (Convention) of the Knights.

Although individually the individual Templars had pledged "poverty" -- which in that day meant "commonality of ownership" -- as a communal order the Templars were rapidly becoming extremely wealthy. As with everything pertaining to the Knights Templar -- this, too, fuels the speculation as to what was found under the Temple. Personally, I believe the people gave to them because they were exciting and religious (remember the over-riding importance of religion in those times) -- contributing to the Templars could help assure a good after-life.

Regardless of the reason, the giving of lands and money to the Knights Templar continued throughout the ensuing years. By the end of the 12th Century, the Knights Templar were probably the single richest organization in Christendom -- wealthier by far than any single King or country and wealthier than the Catholic Church itself. Almost 40% of the land in Spain was under Templar ownership; while in France and England, Templars owned 18% and 22% of the land, respectively.

During this time, members of the Knights Templar and relatives were had become related to the leading political figures of their time. The new King of Jerusalem, Baldwin III, was a now a member of the order. So was the Count of Anjou, whose son married Princess Maltilda, the granddaughter of both William the Conqueror (King of England) and Malcolm III (King of Scotland). In the near future, the product of this marriage would be Henry II, the founder of the Plantagenet dynasty which would rule England for over 300 years. The Plantagenets always maintained close connections with the Templars, as best shown by the following examples.

First, when Henry II of England murdered Thomas Becket, his penance was to contribute sufficient funds each year to the Knights Templar to maintain 200 Knights in the holy land; and

Secondly, when the second Plantagenet King, Richard the Lionheart, chose his last resting place he chose an Abbey of the Templars in France.

Thirdly, when Richard's brother, King John in England faced a rebellion from his own vassals, his advisor and protector standing by his side was the English Grand Prior. The document King John was advised to sign would later be called “The Magna Carta”.

Meanwhile, in the Holy Land, the Muslims did not acquiesce to the new rule of the European Jerusalem Kings. A second Crusade was to be launched in 1147 to reinforce and protect the Christian kingdoms and to attempt to conquer Egypt. Although successful in the lower Nile, the Crusaders never had enough men or arms to complete the effort. As it would turn out, this failure to capture Egypt, either in the second Crusade or in later Crusades, would eventually doom the Christian control of the Holy Land. However, over the next 100 years, the Christians continued to use the animosity between the Sunni and Shiite Muslims, playing one against the other as their main defense.

This worked successfully until 1183, when a new Shiite Muslim leader, Saladin, managed to unite all the Muslims, including the Sunni Muslims in Syria. Although the Christian leaders appealed to Europe for assistance to meet this new threat, none was forthcoming. Further, the constant internal bickering between the Christian nobles over land and titles prevented them from coordinating efforts.

In a fateful battle on July 4th, 1187 on a plateau between two hills called the Horns of Hattin, Saladin's armies defeated the major Christian force. After the battle over 300 Templar Knights and thousands of foot soldiers lay dead on the battlefield. Saladin ransomed all of the surviving nobles, except the Knights Templar and Hospitallers who were lined up and, at Saladin's command, had their heads chopped off, one by one, in front of cheering Muslim officers. To compound matters, Saladin also captured the “True Cross” that the Christians would carry into battle with them and announced he would place on the threshold to his palace in Damascus -- so that every Muslim coming to visit the Palace would have to wipe his feet on it.

Later that year, with the Christian forces in the Holy Land decimated from this battle. Saladin successfully captured Jerusalem.

The European Kings finally woke up and launched a Third Crusade later that year (led by Richard the Lionheart) in an unsuccessful attempt to recapture the Holy City and recover the True Cross. Although it was successful along the coast cities, Jerusalem was not retaken and remained in Muslim hands. A Fourth Crusade in 1202 and the Fifth Crusade in 1229 were required. In this last crusade, a treaty was made with the Muslims that Jerusalem would be placed under Christian control, but the destroyed walls or fortifications could not be rebuilt -- in effect, this meant the city could not be defended. But, at least, a victory could be claimed and the Crusaders left for home..

On their way back to Europe, infuriated at what was viewed as a traitorous act by the Byzantine Emperor, the Crusaders supported by a Templar army captured and looted Constantinople, installing a Templar supporter, the Count of Flanders, as the new Emperor. This act effectively ended the Greek Byzantium Empire and opened the door to the Turks, who within a few generations, would capture the city and lead to over 400 years of rule of the Mediterranean by the Ottoman Empire.

By the mid 1200s, the Templars were at the pinnacle of their power. At their extensive eight square block Priory compound in the center of Paris, they hosted Henry III of England and arbitrated the settlement of the differences between the English King and Louis IX of France, which resulted in the Treaty of Paris in 1259. At this time, there were over 900 Templar priories covering every capital throughout Europe and in many smaller cities. Outside the cities, Templar land holdings were extensive, giving the order a yearly income that rivaled that of any Kingdom.

A sizable Templar fleet plied trade routes in the Mediterranean between France and Templar holdings in Crete, Cyprus, Asia Minor and Palestine flying the Templar naval flag -- a black flag with a white skull and cross. Needed to supply the multitude of Templar outposts in the Mideast, the Templars needed cargo to fill the ships on the return journey. So, they scoured the mid-east for likely products. One such product was made by boiling sugar in crystalline lumps, called al-Kandiq, which the Templars started exporting to Europe and which Europeans then called candy. Another was a thin fabric that was used to cover the face of Muslim women. The Templars had discovered that, if made in large quantities which did not have much weight, it could make tents which shielded them from the heat of the sun, but let in the breeze and diffused light. This came from a city called Gaza and was named by the Europeans as gauze. Similarly, the Templars began exporting another fabric from the Holy Land which was called simply, "Muslim" (or muslin)

Back in Europe, and, in many areas, the Templar Knights were the most powerful military force in the area. In military matters, the Templar Knights had become legendary. They adopted many tactics learned from fighting the Saracens and Mongols (one was the ability to have the Templar cavalry "wheel" while at full gallop in a charge, changing direction suddenly on the enemy; another was the feigned retreat wherein the middle of the line collapses and retreats as in a rout encouraging the enemy to pursue spreading out his forces -- then, the rout stops and the counter-attack begins while the enemy finds he has been flanked and surrounded by hidden troops. A third was the introduction of light cavalry and the curved cavalry saber, which the Templars learned and modified from their Muslim opponents. Further, many Templar maneuvers called for lengthy training on tactics and coordinated movements -- something unknown in medieval Europe. Lastly, since the Templars would never pay ransom for a captured Knight, Templar Knights rarely surrendered, but fought to the death. (It was the custom when a battle was lost for the Knights to surrender since only the foot solders would be killed by the victors, the Knights as nobles would be held for ransom, but the Templar policy removed this option for Templar Knights).

Because of this, Templar cavalry units were often called upon by local nobility to assist in protecting them from local peasant uprisings. In England, for example, the Templars were a major part of Edward I's army when he defeated William Wallace in 1298. [Thus, on the 18th of August, 1291, the king directed the keeper of the Forest of Selkirk to deliver six stags to Brother Brian, Preceptor of the Order of Knights Templars in Scotland. - Rotuli Scotiæ vol. i. p. 3]

Because of the command structure of their order, the fact that Templar Priories spanned all of the Mediterranean and Europe, and the trust many people had in the Templars' integrity and code of honor, the Templar Priories became the world's first international banking system. An individual could deposit his gold at any Templar Priory, receive a note attesting to that fact from the Prior, and then turn in that same note for gold at any other Templar Priory. Although no interest was charged (since charging interest was a sin in the Church at that time), a donation for this service was expected. In keeping these accounts and others, the Templar treasurers devised a form of bookkeeping that was the fore-runner to our double-entry systems used today.

Additionally, during this period, the Templars were active throughout Europe funding and managed the construction of cathedrals, abbeys and churches. The Templar engineers and architects were expert at construction of large stone edifices. They had designed and built castles and fortresses through the mid-east, combining European techniques with those learned from Byzantium and Egypt. With this knowledge they now returned to Europe and with their ability and massive amounts of their funds and began the construction over 300 large cathedrals and 2,000 abbeys and smaller churches. Examples of this are the Gothic cathedrals throughout Europe that were started in the mid 12th century -- examples would be the cathedrals of Notre Dame in Paris (1163), Chartres (1194), Reims (1211) and Amiens (1221) and the famous Temple Church in London.

This Templar Church, was part of an extensive Templar compound and the headquarters of the English Templars. Much later, in the 17th Century, it was given by King James I to the lawyers’ guild for their offices since it was next to Westminster. The gift contained the single condition that they always maintain the Temple as it was in honor of the Templars. A gate at the entrance to the Temple was called the "barristre de Temple" or translated into English as "barrister of the Temple" and the lawyers who passed through the gate became known simply as "barristers" who were allowed to pass through the "bar".

In 1244, however, Jerusalem fell once more to the Muslims. A new sixth Crusade was launched in 1248, but met with disaster in a battle with the Egyptians, frustrating efforts to retake Jerusalem. A last attempt (the 7th Crusade) was launched in 1271, but failed when Louis IX died in Tunis.

Although the Templars may have not realized it, the overwhelming wealth and influence of the Templars combined with this last failed Crusade would start a chain of events that would eventually lead to their downfall 40 years later.

In 1285, Philip IV (known as Philip the Fair, because of his coloring, not his integrity) at the age of 18 became King of France. However, his grandfather (Louis IX) and father (Phillip III) has spent the country into bankruptcy and beyond. Its biggest lender over the last hundred year had been the Templars and now Phillip calculated that it would take France over 300 years to pay off their debts to the Templars. In fact, he was so poor that he had to borrow the dowry he needed to complete the capstone of the recent peace with Edward I of England-- the marriage of his daughter, Isabella, to Edward I's son, the Prince of Wales. Who did he get it from? -- the Templars, of course.

So, Phillip increased taxes throughout the land.. and implemented a tax upon the property of the church itself. Although Pope Boniface VIII had allowed Philip's grandfather the right to do this once before, the Pope did not approve of Philip's action and issued a Papal Bull in 1302, forbidding the clergy in France from honoring the tax. Philip responded by forbidding the export of any gold or silver from France, preventing the French clergy from supporting Rome. Philip, in a last effort to raise money, "salted" the coinage of the realm, reducing the amount of gold and silver in the coins.

This last devaluation caused a revolt in 1303. Mobs streamed down the Paris streets, and Philip had to retreat into the Templar compound for sanctuary. After three days, the riots faded and Philip felt safe enough to leave the compound and return to his palace, but he realized something must be done. As the King of France, he was poorer than the Templars; as the King of France, he could not even protect himself from his own citizenry and had to beg the Templars for sanctuary. He realized, in fact, that as long as the he owed the Templars so much money, as long as he could not tax their land, as long as the Templars were more feared than his own army, then he was King in name only.

But the Templars were not only militarily strong, they were sovereign. Phillip had no legal right to touch them in any way. The only person that could act against the Templars was the Pope. And the Pope could only act if the Templars, as an order, were guilty of crimes against the Church.

Phillip turned for advice to his Counsellor, William de Nogaret, who devised an ambitious and most devious plan:

Step One was to remove Boniface VIII as Pope --
Step Two was to have a Pope elected who would be controlled by Phillip
Step Three was to get the Pope to find the Templars guilty of crimes against the Church so Phillip could declare his debts void and confiscate the Templar treasury and property.

To implement the first step, De Nogaret charged that Boniface VIII was unfit to be Pope, accusing him of all sorts of heinous crimes. The Pope reacted by excommunicating DeNogaret and Phillip and called a Council to approve interdiction against the French clergy who supported him (in effect, closing all the churches in France). Interdiction, if carried out, may have very well turn the French nobles and people against their king, so Phillip had to act fast. He sent De Nogaret immediately to Italy and to make an alliance with the powerful Colonna family who had their own designs on the papacy and hated Boniface. Together, in a matter of weeks, they raised an army of 1,500 and kidnapped the elderly Pope, beat him severely and vandalized the Papal Palace. The Pope confined to a tower room without medical attention died a few weeks later. Now, there being no Pope - there would be no interdiction.

As part of the same agreement with the Colonna family, the Colonna faction among the Bishops combined with the French Bishops to elect an Italian Pope, Boniface IX, who had always been friendly with Phillip. But, after nine months, when Boniface IX showed his independence, he was found poisoned -- it is thought by orders from de Nogaret.

After over a year of bickering about a new successor by the Italian Bishops who had a majority, De Nogaret suggested a solution. The Italians would propose three candidates and the French Bishops would select a Pope from among the three. It was accepted. And DeNogaret had what he wanted. From among the three candidates, DeNogaret could now bargain secretly among the three and find the candidate whose desire to be Pope would get him to agree to Phillip's conditions.

Bernard de Goth was the perfect choice. In his past, he had denounced Phillip and sided with Boniface XIII... but, now, hungry for the wealth and power of the Papacy, he had agreed to Phillip's conditions and was elected Pope Clement V in 1305.

But, even though Phillip had the Pope in his pocket, he could not yet move against the Templars -- this had to wait until his arch enemy, Edward I of England had died. Action against the Templars could not be taken if Edward I, a great friend of the Templars, was still alive.

In the meantime, in his desperation for funds, Phillip turned against the Jews. Secret orders were dispatched from Paris to every corner of France and, on the morning of July 22nd, 1306, every Jew in the country was arrested, the Jews' possessions confiscated for the crown. The evidence of all debts to the crown were destroyed and all other debts were now made payable to the King. Then, the Jews were transported to the border and expelled - penniless and destitute.

A year later, Phillip got the news he was waiting for .... Edward I, one of England's greatest Kings, died. Phillip now could undertake his most audacious act.

The Templars as a sovereign, military order did not let non-Templars into their meetings... in fact, they posted armed guards so the meetings could not even be over-heard. This secrecy combined with envy for their power and wealth gave rise to gossip regarding what went on behind the closed doors. Further, after Jerusalem had fallen, people always looked for a scapegoat. Due to the Templars integrity in honoring treaties with the Saracens (even when the Christian Kings did not) and the Templars' trade with the Muslims, rumors abounded that the Templars had not done all they could to protect the holy land.

But, to Phillip and DeNogaret, this foundation of rumors and gossip could be built upon. De Nogaret had paid an ex-Templar to state that the Templars actively practiced heresy. This ex-Templar was not the most believable witness since he had been dismissed from the order for the crimes of embezzlement of funds and the attempted murder of his Prior. But, no one else could be found. The charges were so numerous and outlandish as to almost be laughable... including worshiping idols of skulls and cats, spitting and urinating on the cross, and sodomy (a favorite of DeNogaret, since he had used that same charge against Boniface).

Now, Phillip took these charges to the new Pope Clement V. Even though the Pope was in Phillip's pocket, he was skeptical and refused to believe Phillip. Phillip persisted. The Pope, cognizant of the fate of his immediate predecessors and able to see Phillip's army outside of his Palace, reluctantly, agreed to convene a panel to hear whatever evidence Phillip could bring. Now with the Pope's agreement to hear charges of hearsay, Phillip could use this as an excuse to move against the Templars.

The Templar Grand Master, Jacques de Molay was already on his way to visit the Pope to discuss de Molay's proposal for a new Crusade. Phillip now invited him to Paris first. De Molay naively accepted, thinking that to have Phillip committed to his plan would help assure a favorable decision by the Pope. A Templar fleet of six galleons sailed from Crete to Marseilles and, then, De Molay marched to Paris with an armed escort of sixty Knights guarding a Templar shipment of 150,000 gold florins for the Templar Treasury. Arriving in the late summer, he was royally received by Phillip and publicly praised. After all, in addition to being the leader of the Templars, he was the god-father for Phillip's own son and heir. De Molay stayed in the Templars Paris Headquarters acting as if he was blissfully ignorant of Phillip's true plan. But, as we shall see, he probably was not!

Finally, Phillip thought the time was right. Acting in the same manner he had with the Jews a year before, Phillip dispatched secret orders through France once more. In the early morning of Friday, the 13th of October, 1307, (and this is the reason the date Friday the 13th is so infamous) the French army broke the wax seal of their secret orders and placed all the thousands of Templars in France in chains. The stated reason for the arrests was as follows:

Quoting from Phillip's Orders to His Officers:

"A bitter thing, a lamentable thing, a thing horrible to think of, too terrible to hear, a detestable crime, an execrable evil deed, an abominable work, a detestable disgrace, a thing wholly inhuman, foreign to all humanity, has, according to the reports of several persons worthy of faith, reached our ears, not without striking us with great astonishment and causing us to tremble with violent horror...."

As you can see, Phillip's orders never said what exactly the Templars were guilty of... in fact, it was said to be so vile that no one should write it or hear it... but, the letter ended....

"....all members of said order will be arrested , without exception, imprisoned and reserved for the judgement of the Church."

Phillip had cloaked his actions in the veil of the Pope's permission for him to bring evidence to the Panel. Although Phillip had no legal right to touch the Templars, he pretended he was acting for the Church, which had the right to investigate heresy. Similar announcements were made the following Sunday from every church pulpit and posted in public places -- Phillip wanted to quickly destroy the reputation of the Templars.

And investigate it, Phillip did. As soon as the Templars were arrested, the "inquisition" into their crimes began. Phillip's own men conducted the investigation with the specific charge "..to spare no means of torture". Therefore, if a Templar answered "no" when asked to admit to DeNogaret long list of heretical actions, the Templar would be placed on the rack, or have his testicles squeezed, or his eyes put out with a hot poker, or have his feet roasted over charcoal. It wasn't surprising that many said "yes" -- what was surprising is that many committed suicide, rather than be forced to admit a falsehood.

When word of Phillip's action reached Pope Clement V, the Pope was furious! He wrote Phillip reminding him that the Pope had specifically said he did not believe Phillip's charges. Clement stated he had only approved a quiet inquiry by a Papal Commission. Phillip said the inquisition was only to gather evidence. Clement then removed his Papal sanction of any inquisition by officially removing any Church participation. But Phillip paid no attention and the tortures continued conducted by his own men, without any clerics present.

Phillip was beside himself. Yes, he had captured a large number of Templars in France. But, somehow, the Templars' had known about his plans. The Paris Treasury having a value of millions of gold florins had disappeared -- . The Templar fleet had sailed from Marseille, La Rochelle and other French ports during the night preceding the arrests. And, the manning of many of the Templar was not at the expected compliment.

Evidently, to allow the Templar records, treasury, and certain Templars themselves to disappear, the vast majority of French Templars including the Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, had stayed behind pretending that they were unawares of Phillip's plan. To be fair, although the Templars may have known about Phillip's arrests, I doubt they knew of the planned torture. They must have believed Phillip's action would only effect their temporary arrest and that it would be reversed by the Pope. For the next eight years, Grand Master de Molay sat in prison firmly believing that the Pope would arrange their release and restore his blessing to the Order.

Regretfully, de Molay had underestimated Phillip and over-estimated the integrity of the Papacy. Phillip knowing he was too committed to back down, again sent a small army to camp in sight of the Pope's palace. The Pope issued a Bull on November 22nd that totally reversed his position. It praised Phillip for his efforts to protect the Church and charged all Kings in Christendom to arrest any Templars in their lands and torture them to obtain confessions of heresy.

However, the only countries that followed the Bull were the Kingdoms of France (of course) and city states in Italy. Most of the other Kings virtually ignored the Bull. In England, Edward II gave it lip service... he had it published in the English churches, and then delayed by three weeks implementing it. Surprisingly, after three weeks notice, only two Templars could then be found in all of England and by then the total value of the Templars' London Treasury, was less than 200 pounds. English tribunals convened in London and York could not find any reliable evidence of heresy.

In Scotland, Robert the Bruce accepted the Templars with open arms and ignored the Pope entirely. In fact, in 1314, at the Battle of Bannock when Scotland won its freedom, Robert the Bruce was fearfully outnumbered and losing until a large contingent of Knights Templar cavalry in full Templar uniform, white capes and red crosses flying, charged over the hill. The English foot soldiers, who eighteen years prior had defeated William Wallace with the help of the Templars, were so shocked at the sight and fearful of the reputation, that they turned and fled.

In Portugal, King Denis I after hearing the charges, declared that his investigation found all Portuguese Templars innocent of heresy. However, to avoid a continuing conflict with the Pope, he disbanded the Templars and allowed them to immediately form a new order, loyal to him, called the Knights of Christ. It uniforms and insignias stayed exactly the same. In fact, over the next two hundred years, many of the most famous Portuguese navigators, such as Vasco da Gama, were members of the Knights of Christ. The red cross on Christopher Columbus's sails was a replica of the Knights of Christ cross, not any symbol of the Spanish crown or Catholic Church as is commonly assumed. Columbus had artists paint the red crosses on his sails to dedicate his voyage in honor of the order and its individuals who had gone before him creating his navigational instruments and charts..

In Spain, similar arrangements were made; however, since Templars owned over 40% of all the land in Spain, the Spanish King did seize most of it back before re-establishing the order under a different name. In Germany, Templars were invited to forswear their Templar vows and join the Teutonic Knights. Those who did not could simply keep traveling east into Russia, where the Pope's influence was not present. (as a footnote, this Russian portion of the Templar history was only recently discovered and is still under documentation).

Phillip, however, still had a problem. He had thousands of Templars locked up in his dungeons, who ostensibly were under the Pope's protection. What could he do with them? He kept pressuring the Pope, so that three years later, the Pope called for a Council to convene in 1310 and formally placed the issue of the alleged heresy of the Templars on its agenda. To prepare for the Council, the Pope appointed a Papal Commission of Bishops to make recommendations to the Council.

The Commission asked that any Templar who wished to defend the Order would be heard -- it was expected that none would. You see all those individuals who had not confessed to heresy were obviously dead by now since the torture would not stop until the individual confessed or died.. Those who were still alive had confessed and after a prison sentence would eventually be released. However, once a confession was obtained, a Templar who recanted his confession would be considered a relapsed heretic and burnt at the stake.

The Commission was shocked when 546 Templars stated they wished to reverse their confessions and defend the Order. The commission heard from three representatives of this Group that all the confessions were false and extracted only be most grievous torture. One of the three had to be carried into the Commission because his arms and feet had been burnt off prior to obtaining the confession.

Only two of the six Bishops on the Commission were French, the other four were becoming increasingly alarmed that the whole Templar issue was a hoax perpetrated on the Church by Phillip. They called for a full hearing and invited the other Templars to testify. Phillip could not allow this. The day before the Templars were to mount their defense, Phillip had the 54 of those who were scheduled to testify burnt at the stake. Prior to lighting the fires, they were offered clemency if they would simply tell the commission that their original confessions were valid -- not a one did. The next day, Phillip took 120 more that were scheduled to testify and had them burnt at the stake also. The Commission adjourned, knowing what Phillip was doing, but powerless to stop it.

In 1311, the Council of Viennes met and both Phillip and Pope Clement were greeted by a surprise. Fully 80% of the Bishops at the Council supported a motion granting safe passage and protection to any Templar that wished to address the Council. The next day, seven Templar Knights appeared on horse in full armor and wearing the white cape with the red cross. The Pope (still in league with Phillip) immediately ordered their arrest, before they could address the Council. The Council rebelled and forced the Pope to release the Templars. He did, but before they could be heard, the Pope immediately adjourned the Council for six months. The Templars rode off and were never seen again.

When the Council reconvened, the Pope announced the charges of heresy had been dropped! However, the Pope also removed his Papal charter for the order on the justification that, with all the past controversy, no new members would join it and so it could no longer assist in future Crusades. Lastly, although Pope Clement issued another Bull where he specifically said he personally believed the Templar Order was innocent of all charges, he did not cancel his previous order to arrest any Templars that had not been questioned and submit them to inquisition. Therefore, the Templars who had not been imprisoned still had to stay in hiding.

Lastly and importantly, the Pope directed that all Templar properties be turned over the Knights Hospitallers (which eventually became the Knights of Malta) which were a smaller and younger order with which the Templars had a bitter and hard fought rivalry. Of course, in France, Phillip had already stolen all the wealth and lands, but in England the Hospitallers inherited most of the former Templar property. The Templars delayed there reaction to this for over 70 years.

Now, since the order was no longer under the protection of the Pope, Phillip was free to dispose of the imprisoned Templars as he chose. He gave amnesty to those who had confessed to heresy and had not recanted their confession, but ordered them out of France.

Phillip had kept the Grand Master, De Molay, confined in solitary and both he and the Pope had continually refused to see him. Phillip now believed that, with the Order disbanded by the Pope, De Molay, who had confessed under grievous torture, would, in public, confirm his confession to heresy to gain his freedom. Believing he had De Molay’s agreement, Phillip agreed to a mass public meeting. However, when de Molay was finally allowed to speak, De Molay stated that all the confessions were false and said, knowing this statement would be his death warrant "....life is offered to me, but at the price of infamy. At such a price, life is not worth having."

Phillip was furious. He had De Molay immediately taken to a small island in the middle of the Seine and roasted to death in the most painful way possible --- slowly over a bed of charcoal.

It is said that, before he lost consciousness, De Molay called upon both Pope Clement and Phillip to meet him for judgement before the throne of God in a year's time." Both Phillip and Clement died mysteriously within months thereafter.

Was this the end of the Knights Templar????

What happened to the Paris and London treasuries that Phillip and Edward could not find. Where did the Templar fleet from Marseilles and La Rochelle sail to????

The truth is -- no one knows! And this lack of knowledge has fueled speculations that continue to produce new theories and a multitude of books to this very day!

Here's what we do know... after the formal disbandment of the Templars.

1. It is believed that a formal Knights Templar cavalry rode with Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

2. Some group with a excellent secret organization led the Peasants Revolt in England in 1381 and seemingly sought their revenge upon the Hospitallers, killing their leadership and dismantling their buildings through England. As mentioned earlier, the Hospitallers were arch rivals of the Templars, had tried to convince the Pope to merge the two groups to be headed by a Hospitallers. Most importantly, they had lobbied for and received title to the Templar properties after 1306.

3. The St. Clair family (whose ancestor, William St. Clair, had been among the first Templar Knights to visit Jerusalem in 1128 and whose sister married Hughes de Payens, the founder of the Templars) built the Roslyn Church between 1440 and 1490 which depicts Templar Knights and is dedicated to them -- it also is a perfect duplicate of the Temple of Jerusalem.

4. There is increasing evidence that freemasonry which appeared publicly for the first time in the mid-1600s may have had its origins in a continuation of the squires and artisans of the Knights Templar and modern freemasonry incorporates many of the Templar customs and rituals.

5. There is a disputed claim that the Duke of Orleans, as Grand Master, called a Convent of the Knights Templar at Versailles in 1705.

6. A list called “The Charter of Larminius” was published in 1785 claiming to be a list of the unbroken chain of the Grand Masters of the Order from 1129 until 1785.

7. During the French revolution, the Knights Hospitallers were again singled out and the leadership denounced and sent to the guillotine and their properties demolished. No similar effort was made against any Templars, although they were believed to be active in France at this time.

8. In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte officially recognized the Knights Templar and encouraged his officers and the nobility in France to join.

9. In 1814, King Louis XVIII of France agreed to become the royal protector of the order following a meeting with the Templar Grand Prior of England -- British Admiral Sir William Sidney-Smith, Commander of the British Fleet.

10. In 1830, Templars were active in the leadership of the second French revolution when Charles X attempted to restore an absolute monarchy in France.

11. In 1833, Templars were active in the Belgium revolt against the Dutch, which resulted in the independence of Belgium in 1833.

12. In 1845, Pope Gregory XVI offered to restore the Papal charter to the Order on the condition that the Order expel any non-Roman Catholic Templars. Since the Templars have been an ecumenical order since 1310 and many Templars (although still a minority) were of other Christian faiths, the Templars declined.

Of course, what I have just told you will not find in most history books. If they mention the Templars at all, they usually state that the Knights Templar effectively ended with De Molay’s death. The Belgium Priory of the Order has documents regarding the re-establishment in France and Belgium in the late 1700s and early 1800s. We, as the modern day successors of this proud Order, maintain a dual position on this issue. Certainly, we are grateful we can document the Orders’ modern history from 1804 onward. And, although history has not yielded its secrets of what happened to the Templar fleet, the Templar treasuries, or its Knights and organization, we remain hopeful that some discoveries at a future time will answer some of the anomalies that still exist.

As of now, there are only fascinating hints of what may be known someday. First, there is the list of Larminius, discovered in the early 1700s which purports to show the Grand Masters of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem from its inception through the late 1700.

Additionally, the Templar Priories in Scotland have produced a history which they claim is documented tracing the history of the Order in Scotland from 1300 to present.

Lastly, a recent book proposes a very rational explanation (compared with many of the more esoteric stories) which proposes that the Templars, both before and after 1305, were instrumental in the founding of the five Swiss Canons and formation of modern day Switzerland. Perhaps it is not circumstantial that the Templar emblem and colors appear not only on the Swiss national flag, but on the flag and arms of each of its five Canons (states)... or that Switzerland is the center of international banking... or that Switzerland has always promoted the free exercise of Christian religions of all sects.... or of the reasons for Switzerland's legendary neutrality in all world conflicts.
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Today, the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem continues to exist. The Order has over 5,500 Knights and Dames in Priories and Commanderies throughout the United States and Europe, northern Africa and South America -- its largest being a priory composed of strictly of the military command officers of NATO. It is a recognized International Organization of the United Nations.

To maintain its ability to grant invest individuals with knighthood, the Order must have both a royal protector and a religious protector. At present, its royal protector is Princess Elizabeth of Schleswig-Holstein and its religious protector is His Beatitude Maximos Hakim, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem.

Let me give you an example of its present day leadership so you can get a flavor of the organization. The Grand Master of the Order is His Excellency Major General Sir Roy Redgrave, former Chief of Staff of the British Army (and a member of the famous acting family) and the International Commander is Rear Admiral James J. Carey (USNR). In 2000-2002, the Grand Prior of the United States was Rear Admiral Andrew O'Rourke (USNR), a Justice of New York's Supreme Court and the present Grand Prior is Brigadier General Patrick Rea (USAR).

The Knights and Dames of the Order come from all walks of life, although there is a preponderance of present and former military command officers. Also, you will find a large number of diplomats from all nations and former heads or high-ranking officials of many governments and church leaders from many various denominations. Some examples would include: seven former Cabinet and sub-cabinet officials of President Ronald Reagan's administration, the present or former Ambassadors of Israel, France, Bolivia, Italy, Romania, Hungary, Egypt, Switzerland, Portugal, and the present Under-Secretary of the United Nations.

But what do these people do? A Templar Knight today takes the same vows as did the Templar Knights 950 years ago. They no longer wear a white wool loin cloth and the definition of "chastity" has been redefined to upholding the marriage vows (a seemingly difficult task in today's society). Likewise, "poverty" is defined as a viewpoint of not making economic motivation and material desires a priority in your life. "Obedience" is personal obedience to the Christ's teachings, as well as following the command structure of the Order. For a Templar Knight, an individual’s first obligation as a Christian to continually strive to perfect his own Temple to God, which should be a daily challenge.

As you may see, the Order’s thrust is the same as the Templars of old -- to assure the establishment and maintenance of the freedom to worship God and Christ as each of us may understand him. The public purpose of the order is to defend and promote the ability of all Christians to practice their religion and to extend the hand of Christian charity where needed. Much like the Templars of old when they organized and funded the construction of churches throughout Europe, the Order supports churches and historical sites, regardless of denomination, in the Holy Land. In addition to annual funding these efforts, in August 2002, the Order sent a delegation to meet with and inspect the Church of the Nazarene to assess how the Order could assist in the repairs to this historic church inflicted by the recent conflicts in that area.

Responding to an immediate need in 2002, the Order in the US has suggested that each Priory sponsor a classroom in Afghanistan and this effort has been recognized by the King as assisting over 5,000 Afghan women restart their education. In Serbia, in the late 1990s, the Order was instrumental in changing the “NATO rules of engagement” to protect Serbian Christians as they sought to practice their religion (The Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church credits this effort in saving of over 2,500 lives). In Russia, since the mid 1990s, the Order worked with His Beatitude Alexis II to re-establish the Russian Orthodox Church throughout Russia, in the construction of the new Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow and the establishment of a medical/church train to travel throughout Siberia where formal churches do not exist. The Order supports efforts to improve understanding among the world religions through the Center for Peace & Diplomacy (run by a Templar Knight) which recently has sponsored meetings the Sudan, Iran and Pakistan bringing together religious and community leaders. The Order is also active with Knightsbridge International (run by Templar Knights) to bring food and medical treatment to war-torn areas in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq where the fighting deters other established charities from involvement. Local Priories may also choose other local charities to assist the “lame, ill and needy”.

The Order only becomes involved when three criteria can be met: (1) the Order acts through established existing organizations, (2) the network of the Order’s members can bring resources to bear on the matter at hand, and (3) the Order’s activities can make a discernable difference. The vast majority of the Order’s activities involve no attempt at recognition for the Order or the individuals involved. Perhaps, the inscription that Sir Thomas Lawrence (better known as Lawrence of Arabia) had placed on his gravestone tells it better -- an inscription which has been and is the phrase all the Knights Templar repeat when corresponding with each other: “NON NOBIS DOMINE NON NOBIS -- SED NOMINI TUO DA GLORIAM” or in modern English: “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us; but unto thy name glory” and the rest of the psalm is “...for thy mercy and thy truth’s sake.” This Psalm was dedicated to the Templars by Saint Bernard for, in the founding of the Templar Order, he saw the last and best defense of Christendom.

And, as an old Scot Templar once told me, it remains true "for seven times since 1128 AD the Templars have stood at the gates of civilization against tyrants and barbarians. In Spain, it was against the Muslims, in Syria against Mongols, in Egypt against the Mamalukes, and four more instances in more modern times. And, when that evil next appears, as when it did with the Templars of old, it will find a Knight Templar on guard at the gate".


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