by Brian Alan Burhoe

Their Legend lives on.

Their history has played a part in Dan Brown's ANGELS & DEMONS and THE DA VINCI CODE. In Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln's THE HOLY BLOOD AND THE HOLY GRAIL. In Baigent & Lincoln's THE TEMPLE AND THE LODGE. In Hugh McFarland's shocking FREEMASONRY INSIDE-OUT: A NEW ANGLE ON MASONIC SECRETS.

Who were the Knights Templar? Why did this successful Order of warrior monks -- whose members included Richard Lion Heart -- have to fall? What esoteric knowledge did they uncover in the Holy Land?

THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

In the scorching heat of Palestine, they reined in their spirited horses.

They were recognizable to the enemy gathered on the far hills. While all other European knights were clean shaven and kept their hair clipped short in the Roman fashion -- these knights wore their hair and beards long and uncut ("Thou shalt not trim thy beard nor cut thy hair") in the manner of Christ. While other knights wore colorfully emblazened armor and mantles, these Templars, these "Warriors of Christ," wore a simple white mantle with splayed red cross -- the Cross Pattee.

To a man, they said a simple prayer. They consigned their souls to God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and gave the promise, "I shall never surrender." They crossed themselves. Then, drawing their swords, they spurred their horses.

There were 150 of these charging knights.

Over 1000 Saracens sat their horses ahead.

But when the Templars reached the top of the hills, the Saracens were in full retreat...

WHO WERE THESE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR?

The "Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon" was formed in 1118 by Hugues de Payen. These "Knights Templar" were created to protect Christians on pilgrimage to Jerusalem: "As far as their strength permitted, they should keep the roads and highways safe, with especial regard for the protection of pilgrims."

In the Year of our Lord 1139 Pope Innocent II placed the Templars under his own control, exempting the order from taxation and placing them out of the scope of state control.

This political and economic autonomy allowed the Templars to prosper, accumulating an estimated 9,000 estates by the middle of the 12th century. During this time the Templars conveyed thousands of pilgrims across the seas to visit the Holy Lands each year, using extra space in the ships to bring tradable goods from one place to another.

With the Pope's blessing, the Templars could now recruit members and raise money through donations. Donations came to the Templars in large amounts. The warrior monks were given wealth, jewels, and property.

King Alfonso of Argon gave the Templars one-third of his Spanish Empire on his deathbed. The Templars came to own land in France, Spain, England, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Hungary, and other places. Men also went to the Templars to support their cause.

A hundred years later, they had become renowned throughout Christendom for their courage, chivalry and devotion to Christ. Their Order had grown to thousands, including a seafaring fleet of ships. Their members came from every noble family, and included Richard Lion Heart, King of England.

They were at the forefront of every Crusade fought in the Holy Land. Their fame increased, as did their wealth. After the Holy Crusades were over, the knights returned to their Chapters throughout Europe and became known as moneylenders to the monarchs. In the process, they invented the modern Banking System. Travelers would deposit money at one Templar building, and travel, with a statement of deposit, to another city. They would then cash in their statement and receive the same amount of money at another Templar structure at their final destination. This was a safe method, because the traveler couldn't get robbed. They even received tribute from Muslim potentates and from the Templar's Islamic counterparts: the warrior-mystics called the Assassins.

They also began to seek knowledge. In the Dark Ages, it was the Muslims who kept much of the ancient knowledge alive. And the Templars began to uncover hidden knowledge forbidden by the Church in Rome. Some of it involved the sciences of the Classic age, as well as brilliant Arabian developments in mathematics, astrology and alchemy.

Some of it involved artifacts from the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, possibly including the sacred Ark of the Covenant. Certainly, they were involved in exploring the "underground tunnels and chambers" known to lie under Jerusalem.

And -- Some of it involved the true nature of Christ, as revealed by American author Wallace D Wattles in his JESUS: THE MAN AND HIS WORK -- a work that has been called a "Spiritual timebomb."

FRIDAY 13th, OCTOBER, 1307...

It was supposed to happen overnight. The complete downfall of the Knights Templar!

In France, the Order's last Grand Master, Jacques de Malay, was arrested on the orders of King Phillippe. As were other Templars in France. By the command of Pope Clement V, more Templars were arrested throughout Europe. The people of Europe were shocked. They were told that, under Inquisition torture, the knights had admitted to a number of blasphemies.

But as secretly as the King and Pope had plotted, most Templars escaped. Their fleet disappeared, with most of the Order's treasure, library and secret knowledge.

Most of the Knights Templar simply vanished.

To where?

THE FREEMASONS

It's now known that many built new lives in Scotland. In Scotland, then at war with England, the Papal Bull proclaiming the dissolution of the Knights Templar was never proclaimed, and the Scottish Templars were never officially dissolved. Many English and even French, Templars found a refuge north of the border, some fighting alongside Robert Bruce at Bannockburn in 1314. As late as 1689, Viscount Dundee, killed at the Battle of Killiecrankie, was wearing the Templar Cross under his armor.

The Scotch Rite Freemasonry kept the Templar secrets alive.

A number of books have traced this history. Hugh McFarland's FREEMASONRY INSIDE-OUT: A NEW ANGLE ON MASONIC SECRETS being the most recent and revealing, a fascinating account of Templar-based lore and the political structure of the modern Lodge.

To learn more on this subject, JESUS: THE MAN AND HIS WORK by Wallace D Wattles, mystic monks, the lives of the Saints, FREEMASONRY INSIDE-OUT, the Kingdom of Heaven, and more, just Click on MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM & MODERN DREAM INTERPRETATION...

Brian Alan Burhoe is the author of many articles and short stories. His Home Page is ORNITHANTHROPUS Science Fantasy by B Alan Burhoe.

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