stryfe
10-29-2004, 08:33 AM
the knights templar
The first of the military orders, the Knights Templar or Poor Knights of Christ were founded in 1118 in the aftermath of the First Crusade to help the new Kingdom of Jerusalem maintain itself against its defeated Muslim neighbors, and to ensure the safety of the large numbers of European pilgrims that flowed towards Jerusalem after its conquest.
The Templars were organized as a monastic order, following a rule created for them by Bernard of Clairvaux, the founder of the Cistercian Order. The Templars were well-connected and quickly became prime movers in the international politics of the Crusades period. In time, they were endowed with several extraordinary Papal bulls (see Omne Datum Optimum) that permitted them, among other things, to levy taxes and accept tithing in the areas under their direct control, facilitating their quick rise to institutional power.
There were four divisions of brothers in the Templars:
the knights, equipped as heavy cavalry;
the sergeants, equipped as light cavalry and drawn from a lower social class than the knights;
farmers, who administered the property of the Order;
the chaplains, who were ordained priests and saw to the spiritual needs of the Order.
At any time, there were approximately ten people in support positions for each knight. There were brothers devoted only to banking, as the Order was often trusted with precious goods by participants in the Crusades.
Myths
The rapid succession of the last direct Capetian kings of France between 1314 and 1328, the three sons of Philip IV the Fair, led many to believe that the dynasty had been cursed – thus the name of "cursed Kings" (rois maudits). It is said that Jacques de Molay, the last master of the order, cursed King Philip while lying on his execution pyre.
Lately, fringe researchers and aficionados of esotericism have claimed that the order stored secret knowledge, linking them to the Rosicrucians, the Hashshashin, the Priory of Sion, the Rex Deus, the Cathars, the Hermetics, the Gnostics, the Essenes, and ultimately lost teachings or relics of Jesus, Solomon and Moses. The Order of the Solar Temple is an example of a neo-Templar group that claimed to be a recipient of this esoterica.
However the order was always surrounded by legends concerning secrets and mysteries handed down to the select from ancient times. Perhaps most well known are the those concerning the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant and secrets of building.
Some sources say the Holy Grail was found by the order and taken to Scotland during the scourging of the order in 1307 and that it remains buried beneath Rosslyn Chapel. These stories were first invented by 18th and 19th century romanticists and then by 20th century novelists.
Perhaps the most numerous legends are those concerning the Ark of the Covenant, the chest which contained various sacred objects of ancient Israel including Aaron's rod and, most notably, the tablets of stone inscribed by Moses with the Ten Commandments.
These myths are connected with the long occupation by the order of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Some sources record that they discovered secrets of the master masons who had built the original and second temples secreted there along with knowledge that the Ark had been moved to Ethiopia before the destruction of the first temple. Some allusion to this is made in engravings on the Cathedral at Chartres, often considered to be the first example of what came to known as the gothic style of architecture, great influence over the building of which was had by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who was also influential in the formation of the order. Further links to both the search by the order for the Ark and to its discovery of ancient secrets of building are suggested by existence of the monolithic Church of St George in Lalibela in Ethiopia, which stands to this day and whose construction is attributed to the Knights Templar. There is also an underground church dated to the same period in Aubeterre in France.
Lastly, there is growing speculation surrounding the possibility that the Knights Templar may have undertaken pre-Columbian voyages to America.
Recent interest in Templar mythology has been sparked in large part to its prominent role in Dan Brown's novel and bestseller, The Da Vinci Code (2003).
The first of the military orders, the Knights Templar or Poor Knights of Christ were founded in 1118 in the aftermath of the First Crusade to help the new Kingdom of Jerusalem maintain itself against its defeated Muslim neighbors, and to ensure the safety of the large numbers of European pilgrims that flowed towards Jerusalem after its conquest.
The Templars were organized as a monastic order, following a rule created for them by Bernard of Clairvaux, the founder of the Cistercian Order. The Templars were well-connected and quickly became prime movers in the international politics of the Crusades period. In time, they were endowed with several extraordinary Papal bulls (see Omne Datum Optimum) that permitted them, among other things, to levy taxes and accept tithing in the areas under their direct control, facilitating their quick rise to institutional power.
There were four divisions of brothers in the Templars:
the knights, equipped as heavy cavalry;
the sergeants, equipped as light cavalry and drawn from a lower social class than the knights;
farmers, who administered the property of the Order;
the chaplains, who were ordained priests and saw to the spiritual needs of the Order.
At any time, there were approximately ten people in support positions for each knight. There were brothers devoted only to banking, as the Order was often trusted with precious goods by participants in the Crusades.
Myths
The rapid succession of the last direct Capetian kings of France between 1314 and 1328, the three sons of Philip IV the Fair, led many to believe that the dynasty had been cursed – thus the name of "cursed Kings" (rois maudits). It is said that Jacques de Molay, the last master of the order, cursed King Philip while lying on his execution pyre.
Lately, fringe researchers and aficionados of esotericism have claimed that the order stored secret knowledge, linking them to the Rosicrucians, the Hashshashin, the Priory of Sion, the Rex Deus, the Cathars, the Hermetics, the Gnostics, the Essenes, and ultimately lost teachings or relics of Jesus, Solomon and Moses. The Order of the Solar Temple is an example of a neo-Templar group that claimed to be a recipient of this esoterica.
However the order was always surrounded by legends concerning secrets and mysteries handed down to the select from ancient times. Perhaps most well known are the those concerning the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant and secrets of building.
Some sources say the Holy Grail was found by the order and taken to Scotland during the scourging of the order in 1307 and that it remains buried beneath Rosslyn Chapel. These stories were first invented by 18th and 19th century romanticists and then by 20th century novelists.
Perhaps the most numerous legends are those concerning the Ark of the Covenant, the chest which contained various sacred objects of ancient Israel including Aaron's rod and, most notably, the tablets of stone inscribed by Moses with the Ten Commandments.
These myths are connected with the long occupation by the order of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Some sources record that they discovered secrets of the master masons who had built the original and second temples secreted there along with knowledge that the Ark had been moved to Ethiopia before the destruction of the first temple. Some allusion to this is made in engravings on the Cathedral at Chartres, often considered to be the first example of what came to known as the gothic style of architecture, great influence over the building of which was had by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who was also influential in the formation of the order. Further links to both the search by the order for the Ark and to its discovery of ancient secrets of building are suggested by existence of the monolithic Church of St George in Lalibela in Ethiopia, which stands to this day and whose construction is attributed to the Knights Templar. There is also an underground church dated to the same period in Aubeterre in France.
Lastly, there is growing speculation surrounding the possibility that the Knights Templar may have undertaken pre-Columbian voyages to America.
Recent interest in Templar mythology has been sparked in large part to its prominent role in Dan Brown's novel and bestseller, The Da Vinci Code (2003).