The Beginnings of the Order
The Knights Templar rose from nowhere. Their subsequent massive wealth and influence - then sudden and total fall from grace on Friday 13, October 1307 has made them the subject of debate and imaginative speculation.
For almost two hundred years the Templars were powerful beyond the scope of most kings.
The so-called ‘Crusades’, the battles for control of the Holy Land, were hard-fought and merciless conflicts.
The crude and self-seeking Christian invaders believed Muslims swallowed their gold and jewelry to hide them in times of crisis. Consequently many Muslims died in agony with their bellies torn open as white, infidel fingers probed their entrails for nonexistent valuables. The Jews lived peacefully, side by side with Muslims for hundreds of years, and on 14 June 1099 they died beside them. The bloodlust of the crusaders knew no bounds.
The Amalfi Hostelry in Jerusalem was established by the Knights Hospitaller. The importance and wealth of the small and obscure order of monks who ran it grew in proportion to the increasing number of visitors, and the new Christian rulers of the City rewarded their efforts with generous gifts.
A French nobleman from Champagne – Hugues de Payen – and eight other knights established the unofficial Order of the poor Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon. King Baldwin II provided quarters in the eastern part of his palace which adjoined the former Al-Aqsa Mosque and stood on the site of King Solomon’s Temple.
In 1118 these nine knights appointed themselves guardians of the Judaean desert roads leading to Jerusalem. But even a small band of Saracen insurgents would have overwhelmed them no matter who well trained and armed they were. Fulcher of Chartres, Baldwin II’s chaplain did not make a single mention of them in his extensive chronicles that cover the first nine years of the unofficial Order’s existence.
The band of nine knights did not expand for a long time after its establishment. Nine years later (lodging on the site of Herod’s Temple) Hugues de Payen left in search of worthy recruits who would swell the Order to a size more appropriate to the fulfillment of its self-proclaimed mission.
What Were They Searching For?
There is no evidence that these founding Templars ever gave protection to pilgrims, but they did conduct extensive excavations under the ruins of Herod’s Temple.
‘The real task of the nine knights was to carry out research in the area in order to obtain certain relics and manuscripts which contain the essence of the secret traditions of Judaism and ancient Egypt, some of which probably went back to the days of Moses. (1)
Researcher and author Graham Hancock argues that these knights were not what they seemed. (2) He quotes from an Israeli archaeologist’s official report:
‘The tunnel leads inwards for a distance of about thirty metres from the southern wall before being blocked by pieces of stone debris. We know that it continues further, but we had made it a hard-and-fast rule not to excavate within the bounds of the Temple Mount without first acquiring the permission of the appropriate authorities. In this case they permitted us only to measure and photograph the exposed section. Upon concluding this work, we sealed up the tunnel’s exit with stones.’
Lieutenant Charles Wilson of the Royal Engineers recovered many old items that can be positively identified as Templar artifacts from diggings deep below the Temple. Robert Brydon, a scholarly Templar archivist based in Scotland has many of these items in his care.
They were indeed excavating the Temple. What were they looking for, and much more importantly, what did they actually find?
For nine years then, these nine devoted ‘treasure’ hunters excavated the site of the great Temples of the Jews and during that time they had not sought or allowed any further knight entrants to their Order, living solely on the charity of Baldwin.
Hugues de Payen’s journey happened just months after the death of Baldwin in October 1126.
The Rule of the Order
Payen’s journey had been prompted by fear for the continuance of their group. Payen was accompanied by Andre de Montbard, the uncle of the Abbot of Clairvaux (destined to become St Bernard).
Bernard brought the Order to the attention of Pope Honarius II, asking that his adopted band of knights be provided with a ‘Rule’; a constitution of their own which gave them legitimacy and status within the Church. This was granted on 31 January 1128.
What is fascinating about the Rule was not what is said, but what it did not say. Nowhere was there any mention of pilgrims or their protection. The sole reason for creating the Order was totally overlooked? Something very mysterious was at the centre of the founding of the Templar Order.
Their new Rule required an immediate vow of poverty, so a new ‘brother’ had to hand over his personal wealth to the Order.
The Templars went from strength to strength. Donations arrived from all corners of the Christian world. Hugues de Payen and Andre de Montbard came back with a Papal Rule, money, precious objects, landed wealth and no less then three hundred recruited noblemen to follow Hugues de Payen’s lead as Grand Master of a major order.
Whether or not this Rule was applied retrospectively to the founders is never mentioned.
The Templars developed a ‘French Rule’ to replace the former. This new Rule still made no mention of the protection of pilgrims.
In the Latin Rule an instruction read ‘...moreover where non-excommunicated knights are gathered you must go’. However, the amended French Rule became ‘...we command you to go where excommunicated knights are gathered.’ This can only imply that they were outside Vatican law.
The Pope and Philip, King of France moved in on the errant Order, bringing it to its knees in just one terrible day ... Friday 13 October 1307. Every since that day the number thirteen has been considered unlucky and a Friday the 13th of any month has become a date to keep any overly superstitious person indoors.
The Seal of the Order
The first seal of the Templars depicted two knights riding on a single horse. There was no shortage of available mounts. This seal represented the two grades of knights within the one Order. Those who were allowed to share the Templar secret, and those who did not.
Organization of the Order
Clerics consecrated the bread and wine at the Eucharist, but they took this duty so seriously they wore white gloves at all times except during the service. The modern Freemason always wears white gloves to this Lodge meetings. No reason has ever been giving for this practice.
The Templars wore tight sheepskin breeches beneath their outer clothing at all times as a symbol of innocence and chastity. They did not remove their breeches even to wash themselves. Chastity must have been totally guaranteed! Freemasons wear white lambskin aprons in Lodge meetings, the badge of innocence and the emblem of friendship.
The Beausant, the Templar battle flag, consisted of two vertical blocks, one white and one black – the black symbolizing the world of sin the knight had left behind to enter the Order, and the white reflecting the move from darkness to light. The modern Freemasons’ Lodge always displays at its centre a pattern of black and white squares. Every brother wears a white shirt with a black tie and suit. Freemasons wear lambskin and black and white. The only reason offered is ‘our ancient brethren always dressed this way.'
CONCLUSION
The Templars painstakingly excavated the ruins of Herod’s Temple and the downfall of the Order came as the result of accusations of heresy. If the Templars did hold heretical beliefs and conduct strange rituals, it seemed to be a real possibility that these could have originated with a document or documents found by them. It was well known that their clerics were able to read and write in many languages and famous for their abilities to create and break ciphers.
(1) G. Delaforge: The Templar Tradition in the Age of Aquarius
(2) G. Hancock: The Sign and the Seal
(3) C. Wilson: The Excavation of Jerusalem
