November 2007
Let There Be LIGHT!
THE TEMPLAR KNIGHTS
Briefly, The Knights Templar were started in 1118 by Hugues de Payen and eight
others. In the space of ten years, they had grown to number in the hundreds, received
a Papal Charter answering only to the Pope, and started amassing enormous
wealth. During their history they became an organization feared and admired,
and probably the most wealthy and powerful of the Chivalric Orders of
their time. With vast holdings of money/wealth, land, a merchant fleet and armed
escorts, a reputation of battlefield expertise, renown for courage, bravery and ability,
they became the equals of Sovereigns and Potentates. By the end of the 1200s
they also became the target of King Phillip (Phillip the Fair) of France. He was
broke, and they had money. He just had to convince the Pope that the Knights
were a Papal nuisance, that he should have permission to destroy them and assume
the power and wealth for his crown. Eventually he got his permission (there
is very much history here: Avignon, Captivity, Popes).
On October 13, 1307, the King of France ordered the arrest of all Templar
Knights in the country. The presiding Grand Master of the Order at that time was
Jacques DeMolay. Why was he in France and allowed himself to be arrested? Paris
was the financial hub of the Order at the time, and arrangements had to be made
to protect the assets and the secrets, and secure the future of the Order. In 1312,
the Order was officially dissolved by the Pope, and on March 18, 1314, they
burned DeMolay and others at the stake. Thus ended the existence of the Order
Of Knights Templar. That is the history. There is absolutely so much more to it.
Unlucky Friday the 13th comes from the arrests of 1307. The men responsible for
extracting the Templar confessions during the almost seven years of torture go on
to be the leaders of what became known as The Spanish Inquisition. Banking, as
we know it today (the use of cheques specifically), and international finance we
owe to the Order.
Only France managed to arrest and kill the knights (those that they could find
and who would not disavow the Order). Spain did not even respond to the arrest
warrants. England resisted for over a year and when they did respond, they could
only find the old and infirm. They did nothing to these old men.
Most Knights simply moved elsewhere (Scotland, read Bannockburn for example),
or joined other Chivalric orders. The Fleet was never found. The treasure that
Phillip coveted and connived for never materialized. The Secrets believed held by
the Knights were never revealed, even under six-plus years of torture. Because the
bulk of the Knighthood went “underground” to other places, it would be very
hard to make the case for the total extinction of The Knights Templar.
The bond between Freemasonry and The Knights Templar seems so interwoven
that many hypotheses exist about the end of one organization and the beginnings
of the other. Suppose there was no end as much as a variation, a mutation if you
will. It seems there is no proof of a specific beginning of Freemasonry, but we
exist.
Today, the Templar Knights are not history. They exist. Here is something to reflect
upon: The Knights of 1307 were tortured for confessions of misdeeds that
would prove their guilt and cause their demise. They were tortured for the location
of their treasure. The Bond of their Oaths is the example here. Under pain of
death they revealed nothing because they took an Oath. We take Oaths in Freemasonry.
There is no difference. Their resolve is our example.
Bro. Larry Dooley