1097 The Crusaders Battle for Antioch, passing the city of Aleppo, which left the communication lines open for Muslim foot trafficking. This is what led to the final failure of the Crusades ninety years later in Jerusalem. The Crusaders were successful in crippling the Seljuk army, but they had the time to rebuild thanks to Aleppo being open. Lincoln and company checked with the French authorities and discovered that there was indeed a contemporary organization calling itself Priory of Zion. And who do you think was registered as the group's secretary-general but Pierre Plantard." the Order of Sion was founded in the 1090s by Godfroide Bouillon, one of the leaders of the First Crusade who had recaptured Jerusalem. They claim that it was this Order that lay behind Hugues of Champagne and the founding of the Templars."
J.J. Collins, "Sangraal, The Mystery of the Holy Grail"

"To the south of Jerusalem looms the 'high hill' of Mount Sion." By 1099 an abbey had been built on the ruins of an old Byzantine basilica at the express command of Godfroi de Buoillon.
"According to one chronicler, writing in 1172, it was extremely well fortified, with its own walls, towers and battlements. And this structure was called the Abbey of Notre Dame du Mont de Sion.

1099; The Crusaders achieve their objective and take Jerusalem. Godfrey of Boullion is named Defender of the Holy Sepulcher.

The original order was based on a monastic order of monks and not as an order of chivalry. The Templars were religious at a time when monks were generally regarded as better than secular priests and much closer to God. They lived as hermits under a rule of poverty, chastity and obedience. Reform took place as Bernard joined the new Cisterian order and they took gifts of money and land and excepting 'men of good family' to cast off their sinful lives and take up the sword and the cross of the Knights Templar. Recruits were expected to give a dowery or a gift of property and were allowed no personal possessions.

"An emphasis on silence, even to the extent of using signs in the refectory, came from the same source, while the simplicity of Cistercian altar furnishings was paralleled by the plainest weapons and saddlery possible, with no trace of gold or silver....Religious services alternated with military exercises. There were two main meals, both eaten in silence with sacred reading from a French translation of the Bible, special emphasis being placed on the Books of Joshua and the Maccabees.

All found inspiration in the ferocious exploits of Judas, his brothers and their war-bands, in reconquering the Holy Land from cruel infidels. Brethren ate in pairs to see that the other did not weaken himself by fasting. Wine was served with every meal and meat three times a week; their mortification was the rigorsof war. Each knight was allowed three horses but with the symbolic exception of the lion, hawking and hunting were forbidden. He had to crop his hair and grow a beard....His Master was not merely a commanding officer, but an abbot. For the first time in Christian history soldiers would live as monks."
- Desmond Seward, The Monks of War

A Templar was allowed no privacy and had to read a letter received out-loud to a master or chaplin. On the battle field they were not permitted to retreat unless ordered to do so. The contents of the rule were only revealed to the new Knight on a 'need to know basis' and only if the Knight advanced to a level higher than 'beginner'. Everyone was not a full Knight until he advanced to that rank. During the first two hundred years of their existance, the over twenty thousand 'initiates' brought land and money into the order. They built ships and began the worlds first 'banking' system.

In effect the Templers became the midieval precursors of modern multinational 'conglomerates', richer than any kingdom in Europe. By ensuring the security of the trade routes throughout Europe they created a climate of peace and stability that allowed merchants to trade at minimum risk and with comparative ease over greater distances than ever before. Europe began to bloom economically as a result, for their military and commericial activities had stimulated a climate of unprecedented commericial confidence and economic growth that strengthened the power of the merchant class and ultimately led to the developement of capitolism. This era of stability and growth arose as a direct result of the application by the Templars of a bizarre mix of their military skill and sacred gnosis.

Besides banking, the Templers did business in trade and shipping. The trade routes included the Temple in Cornwall, Templecombe in Somerset, and the center of the legal profession, the Temple in London; in Wales, Templeton and Temple Bar in the county of Dyfed. The knights did mining, quarrying, building, viniculture and farming in every climatic zone in Europe and the Holy Land. The trade routes also carried horses, troops, and passangers to the very fringes of the known world. They had war galleys with rams. They plied the Mediterranean between Italy, France, Spain and their main base at Majorca. Theor principal port at La Rochelle from where it is alledged, they conducted trade with Greenland, the North America mainland and Mexico.

The Templars, or Poor Fellow-Soldiery of the Holy House of the Temple, intended to be re-built, took as their models, in the Bible, the Warrior-Masons of Zorobabel, who worked, holding the sword in one hand and the trowel in the other. "Therefore it was that the Sword and the Trowel were the insignia of the Templars, who subsequently, as will be seen, concealed themselves under the name of Brethren Masons. [This name, Freres Maçons in the French, adopted by way of secret reference to the Builders of the Second Temple, was corrupted in English into Free-Masons]."
- General Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma

The protection of the road to the Holi Land was not the goal of the Templars. 9 middle aged men would be no match for murderers and pirates who wished to rob pilgrims. But this proved to be a perfect plan to get into the city of Jerusalem unnoticed by the Christian Army and protected by the King and the Pope. One story says the Saracens ( Moslems ) killed a group of 300 pilgrims who were traveling on the road from Jerusalen to Jordan when they were attacked. King Baldwin I was outraged and asked a Frankish knight, Sir Hugh de Payen to organize a chivalric order to defend the roads. Pope Urban II supported this crusade. The Knights were called 'Soldiers of the Temple'.

The group was in fact descendents of families of noblemen in Europe who had excaped from Jerusalem just before or shortly after Herod's Temple was destroyed. They had passed down the knowledge of objects buried under the temple to the chosen son. One of the descendants was Godgrey de Bouillon, who was murdered before the templer order was formerly founded in 1118. The word 'frere masson' in French means "Brother Builder". The scroll the Knights found and it's contents is on page 3 of this series.

Apparently the group had decided to return to the site of the original temple exactly 1000 years to the date that the Gospel of John had predicted. This occured just before 1100AD. The Knights were organized into a religious order in 1128 by St Bernard of Clairvaux. In chapter 20 of the Book of Revelations, the author describes how those martyrs who died defending Jerusalem from the Beast ( the Romans ) would be with Christ for 1000 years after which time they would be resurrected. At the end of the first millennium, the reign of Christ and his beloved city would be attacked by heathen nations led by Gog and Magog. 1000 years and a few months later than 70AD the city was devastated by the Seljuk Turks.

In 1090 we find a man called St. Bernard who decided to become a monk to the shock and surprise of his family. However within one year thirty-one other family members also join the Cistercian order. St Bernard gets a new abby built for him by none other than Hugh de Payen. Bernard is the nephew of Andre de Montbard, an original Knight. Then comes together, Henri St Clair, Hugh of Champagne, Bernard, Hughes de Payen and Geoffrey de St Omer. The full original title of new order was Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis, the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon.

To hide their messages from the church, the knights created the now infamous Tarot deck. Recreated by Auther Edward Waite who was a Templar, the true meaning of their order comes through. The pic is a link to the deck and it's meanings.

Jerusalem was stormed in July 1099. The rabid ferocity of its sack showed just how little the Church had succeeded in Christianizing atavistic instincts. The entire population of the Holy city was put to the sword, Jews as well as Moslems, 70,000 men, women and children perished in a holocaust which raged for three days. In places men waded in blood up to their ankles and horsemen were splashed by it as they rode through the streets. Weeping, these devout conquerors went barefoot to pray at the Holy Sepulcher before rushing eagerly back to the slaughter." Desmond Seward, The Monks of War

Godfrey was declared the first Christian King of Jerusalem.

Now we find another order of Monks called, Cistercian which was formed in 1098. From this group of monks appears Bernard of Clairvaux. The founding fathers wanted to get back to the original teaching of St.Benedict. Benedict established what is called 'a rule of life', which later became a requirement for all monastic orders. It stressed the importance of communal living, physical labor and forbade ownership of property. The rule of St. Benedict defines the organization and hierarchy of the abby and stresses the virtues of poverty, chastity, humility and obedience. Meals had to be taken together and there was no unnecessary conversation. This followed closely with the Essene way of life in the 'desert'. The monks wore white robes and were called 'White Monks'. This, plus the Nasorean value system and ancient knowledge went back to the fighting at Jerusalem in 70AD.

The niece of Baron Henri St. Clair had married Hughes de Payen in 1101. The first two templers to visit the site of the recaptured temple were Hughes de Payen and Hugh de Champagne in 1104. "And in 1104 the Count of Champagne had met in conclave with certain high-ranking nobles, at least one of whom had just returned from Jerusalem... Also present was the liege lord of André de Montbard." - Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
In 1112, Bernard created the Rule for the Templars. King Baldwin I would not allow the Knights to be stationed at the Temple and he feared suspicion would be created by any excavations, so he blocked any efforts to do so until his death in 1113.

On the death of Baldwin I, they returned again in 1114. Then in 1118, Hughes formed the full band of nine knights and made his approach to King Baldwin II. They were given permission by Baldwin II to make their headquarters at the site of the destroyed temple. They set up in the lower end of the Temple grounds near the site of Herrod's Stables. This hid them from the view of passers-by. It is of record that they successfully remained at the temple under the guise of 'The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon'. This order was based on the Cistercian order which in turn was based on the much older Benedictine Rule. They disposed any non-Rex Deus leaders and infiltrated the Jerusalem monarchy and the Church, to ensure that they would not be blocked in the holy endeavor of the "Kings of God' reign. Their name changed to 'Order of the Temple, the Knights of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem'. Coincidentaly, Pope Urban II and Godfrey de Bouillon both met their deaths the minute the takeover was complete. Could this be the first hint of dissention between the Priory of Sion and the Order of 'Soldiers of the Temple'.

1115, The Bogomils are first mentioned by name at Philippopolis (European Turkey). Their leader was a monk and physician named Basil, who surrounded himself with twelve apostles. They were dualists, the same Gnostic two-god belief of one good and one evil. God the Father, according to them, had a human body but was incorporeal. He had two sons, the first born, Satanael, the younger Jesus Christ or Michael the angel. Satanael, though seated at the right hand of the Father and endowed with creative power, rebelled and was, with some of the angels, his followers, cast out of heaven. (This is what the present day Jehovah’s Witnesses believe). He created a second heaven and a second earth, and formed man out of the earth and water. Being unable to give him a living spirit, he besought the Father to bestow life on this new creation, which would be their common property. God consented and thus man is the production of two creators. Eve, created in a similar manner, was seduced by Satanael. In punishment of this sin, Satanael lost his creative power.

The Bogomil leader, Basil, was condemned to death and burned. 1119; Council of Toulouse. This local Council condemned the Bogomils but the Bishops were unsuccessful in keeping the so-called evil heresy from spreading.

The Knights formed an order of Knights similar to the order of 'The Knights Hospitaller', who were actually protecting the road. This 'ligitimised' the group. With the help of King Baldwin II, they were able to spend 9 years digging under the temple. The Templers did not take any new members until 1127 and King Baldwin II wrote a letter to Bernard to obtain official sanction which was granted. The Founding Templars were vassals of the count of Champagne. Hugh de Payens was the counts cousin..

At about the time the excavations were near completion, Count Fulk of Anjou sped with all haste to Jerusalem where he took the oath of allegiance to the new order. He immediately granted the order an annuity of thirty Angevin livres before returning to Anjou. When one considers that the vast majority of knights joining the order stayed within its ranks for their lifetime, this action by Fulk of Anjou is a trifle strange. His apparent freedom of manoeuvre, despite his oath of allegiance to the Order of the Knights Templar can be explained by the fact that Fulk was not only the Count of Anjou and a member of the Templar Orderbut was married to the sister of the King of Jerusalem who died childless, thus Fulk himself later became the King of Jerusalem.

The next notable figure to arrive in Jerusalem was the Count of Champagne who, as we have mentioned earlier, took the oath of membership in 1124. Behind the scenes in Europe Bernard of Clairvaux, who had become a senior advisor to the pope, consolidated his position within the Church. Bernard began to persuade the pope that the new military order which was already active in the Holy Land should be given papal backing and a formal position within the Church. For this they would need a rule, a formal charter stating the aims and objectives of the order, the obligations of its members to it and the rules of membership as well as the establishment of a formal command structure.

The main excavations in Jerusalem were completed in late December of 1127. Hugh de Payen with all the knights of the new order returned to France. The Grand Master Hugh de Payen and his principal co-founder of the order, Andre de Montbard, travelled to England to see the King and, having obtained safe-conduct from him, went directly north across the border to Scotland, where the two knights stayed at Roslin with the St Clairs, who were Hugh's relatives by marriage. The lord of Roslin made an immediate grant of land to the new order which became their headquarters in Scotland. The oldest Templar site in Scotland, once known as Ballontrodoch, is now called Temple after the order.

The Templars gained official recognition and were granted their rule in 1128 at the Council of Troyes, which was dominated by the thinking of Bernard of Clairvaux. The new order soon gained an exceptional degree of legal autonomy, which placed its activities completely beyond the reach of bishops, Kings or emperors, making it responsible through its grand master to the pope alone. Before his election the current pope had been a member of the Cistercian Order, and was a close friend of St Bernard, who was his principal advisor. This was not the only example of either nepotism or the 'old pals act' that can be found in the early years of the Templar Order. The grant of land at Ballontrodoch by the St Clairs of Roslin was followed by many similar gifts from other pious members of the aristocracy who also made generous donations of land and finance to the rapidly growing order. Membership grew with incredible speed and the order soon numbered among its ranks representatives from all the leading families in Western Europe. France, Provence, and the Languedoc-Roussillon areas became its major power base.

In England, craftsmen who work in stone are known as stonemasons. In France they are known collectively as members of the Compannonage who, in the twelfth century, were broadly divided into three groups. These fulfilled separate functions under the umbrella of the same craft: the Children of Father Soubise were responsible for the construction of ecclesiastical buildings in the Romanesque style; the Children of Maitre Jacques were also known as Les Compagnons Passant and one of their primary functions was the art of bridge building. The craftmasons who built the Gothic cathedrals were known as the Children of Solomon, named after King Solomon who, according to the scriptures, commissioned the first temple in Jerusalem. This branch of the Compannonage were instructed in the art of sacred geometry by Cistercian monks and it was the Knights Templar who, acting with the agreement of Bernard of Clairvaux, gave a 'rule' to the Children of Solomon in March 1145, which laid down the conditions required for living and working. The preface to his rule contains words which have been intimately associated with the Knights Templar ever since.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and similar orders arose and achieved some degree of renown by modelling themselves on the Templars. Two such orders in Spain were the Knights of Calatrava and the Knights of Alcantara. Both orders were founded shortly after the Templars and St. Bernard of Clairvaux is known to have played a part in this. There were many Templar establishments in Italy, which was one of the major embarkation points on the sea routes to the kingdom of Jerusalem, but the most important power base for the Knights Templar in Europe was the present country of France. In the south are the regions of Provence and the Languedoc-Roussillon which, in the Templar era, were separate entities from the kingdom of France. Throughout these southern regions Templar holdings were plentiful, with over thirty per cent of the total estates owned by the Templars throughout Europe situated in the Languedoc-Roussillon alone.

The Order of the Knights Templar, despite its relatively short life span, was the major instrument of transformative change in medieval Europe. The Templars brought many blessings of knowledge and technology from their Arab opponents in the Holy Land, that conferred immense benefits on the European population. The Gothic cathedrals that arose from their knowledge of sacred geometry still adorn the European landscape and form a permanent series of 'prayers in stone' that raise their spires skyward in silent supplication. When taken as a whole, rather than studied in isolation, the various activities of the Knights Templar are like a huge mosaic of individual pieces which together form a picture which accurately predicted the future. The order was not merely the medieval pre-cursor of the modern multi-national conglomerate but was in many respects an early embryonic form of the European Union. However, success, wealth and power stimulated jealousy and resentment, especially from those who were heavily in debt to the order.

The Nine original Knights were; Hugh de Paynes, Andre de Montbard, Godfrey de Saint Omer, Payen de Montdidier, Archembaud de Saint Aignant, Andre de Montbard, Gondemar, Jacques de Rossal and Godfrey Bisol. They were also called the standing army of Outremer. They wore the red Cross Patee, of four equal arms with wide ends, on their white habits.

The Hidden Legacy of the Templars
(1) Deep into Africa
"In the year 1145, the German bishop Otto of Freising reported in his Chronicon a most astonishing epistle. The Pope, he reported, had received a letter from a Christian ruler of India, whose existence had been totally unknown until then. And that king had affirmed in his letter that the River of Paradise was indeed located in his realm. "Bishop Otto named as the intermediary, through whom the Pope had received the epistle, Bishop Hugh of Gebal, a town on the Mediterranean cost of Syria. The ruler, it was reported, was named John the Elder or, being a priest, Prester John. He was reputedly a lineal descendant of the Magi who had visited Christ the child. He defeated the Muslim kings of Persia, and formed a thriving Christian kingdom in the lands of the Ends of Earth."
- Graham Hancock, The Sign and the Seal

"Prester John is a corruption of Presbyter John - the Apostle John - even in the Gospel, it says that a rumor had arisen that John would never die, but that this was not true. Combine that with the several emperor Johns of Byzantium, at a time with Europe was threatened by Muslim invasion, and it becomes conflated into a rumor of hope of assistance."
- Steve.Schaper (@cheswicks.toadnet.org)

1147; The Second Crusade begins. This was called St. Bernard’s Crusade, preached by the Doctor of the Church. It was led by Conrad III of Germany, Louis VII of France, and Baldwin III of Flanders. Their objective was to retake Edessa, which had fallen again into the hands of the Turks. The Crusade was hindered by poor leadership, dissenting Crusaders, and treachery of the Greeks.

"...No sooner had Bishop Otto reported the existence of Prester John and of the River of Paradise in his realm, then the Pope issued a formal call for the resumption of the Crusades. Two years later, in 1147, Emperor Conrad of Germany, accompanied by other rulers and many nobles, launched the Second Crusade. "As the fortunes of the Crusaders rose and fell, Europe was swept anew by word from Prester John and his promises of aid. According to chroniclers of those days, Prester John sent in 1165 a letter to the Byzantine emperor, to the Holy Roman emperor, and to lesser kings, in which he declared his definite intention to come to the Holy Land with his armies. Again his realm was described in glowing terms, as befits the place where the River of Paradise - indeed, the Gates of Paradise - were situated."
- Graham Hancock, The Sign and the Seal

"If indeed you wish to know wherein consist our great power, then believe without doubting that I, Prester John...exceed in riches, virtue, and power all creatures who dwell under heaven. Seventy-two kings pay tribute to me. I am a devout Christian and everywhere protect the Christians of our empire...We have made a vow to visit the sepulcher of our Lord with a very great army...to wage war against and chastise the enemies of the cross of Christ...
"Our magnificence dominates the Three Indias, and extends to Farther India, where the body of St. Thomas the Apostle rests. It reaches through the desert toward the place of the rising sun, and continues through the valley of deserted Babylon close by the Tower of Babel..."

- Prester John in a letter addressed to Manuel Commentus, Emperor of Byznatium (1165) "Where was Prester John? His reference to the Apostle Thomas' tomb pointed to India, but so muddled were medieval notions of geography that India was thought to be somewhere near the Nile; thus when, in 1177, the Pope wrote to Prester John, his letter was presumably carried into 'Middle India', or Ethiopia."
- Mysteries of the Past

"Harbay, reigning Zagwe monarch of Ethiopia before his brother Lalibela deposed him, is deduced to have been the mythical Prester John. "Derived from Jano, a reddish-purple toga worn only by royalty, the word [Jan] meant 'king' or 'Majesty'..."
- Graham Hancock, The Sign and the Seal

Prester John's letter also contained a warning against the Templars, who were believed to have been allied with his brother against him.

1188; The Third Crusade begins. The was the King’s Crusade. It was preached by William, Archbishop of Tyre and led by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa; Philip II of France; and Richard the Lion-Heart of England. This crusade was better organized than the previous two. Only soldiers marched into the Holy Land, while people at home contributed money. Frederick was drowned in Cilicia, Philip II returned to France, and Richard, who fought well in Jerusalem, had the Holy City in view, signed a three year’s Truce with Saladin, the leader of the Seljuk Turks, after his capture of the city of Acre. Before the Christians fell in Jerusalem, they held out for about a week, with few men and little weapons.

Apparently after this defeat the The Priory of Sion and the Order of Knights seperated with 'the splitting of the elm'.

1190 - The Teutonic Order of Knights was founded.

1202; The Fourth Crusade begins. This was the Pseudo-Crusade. It lasted four years and was led by Baldwin of Flanders and Boniface of Montferrat. What began as an effort against the Turks, ended up in disaster. Venetian traders persuaded the Crusaders to attack Constantinople in lieu of the Holy Land. Many Jews were killed, Constantinople was captured and looted. No action was taken against the Turks in this Crusade.

1205; Pope Innocent III granted the Teutonic Order of Knights to use the White Habit with a Black Cross.

1217; Fifth Crusade begins. This was The Hungarian Crusade, it failed. It was led by Andrew III of Hungary and John of Brienne. Andrew III was defeated at Mount Thabor and returned home. John of Brienne led his troops into Egypt and finally took Damietta after two years of struggle. He then had to give up the city to earn a safe passage home for he and his army.

With Mongols in Persia ( Iran and Iraq ) and the Mamelukes under sultan Kala'un of Egypt, who controlled Syria and Palestine, the Knights lost many battles and finally in August 1291 , they were driven completely out of the Holi city and Isreal to the island of Cypress. The Nobility of Europe had accepted the fact that the Knights were not going to be able to drive the Muslims out. The Grand Master was Hugh de Payen and he was killed in the spring of 1291 along with other Knights in the Battle for the port of Acre.

The next G.M. elected was Theobald Gaudin, but he died after only a few months. Hugh of Pairaud was slated to be the next G.M. Jaques de Molay was a native of Besancon in the Franche Comte and was elected Grand Master between April, 1292 and December 1293. He apparently 'won' the mastership in a competition with de Pairaud. De Molay was initiated by Humbert of Pairaud, the English Master of the Temple with the assistance of Aimery of La Roche, Master of the Temple in France.

In the Dark ages People were commonly be-headed or their intrails were left hanging in the wind, for any offence that was punishable by death. But killing Christians, including women and children in Jerusalem was the goal of the Mamelukes from Egypt. In 1274 the sixth crusade ended without much success and the question arose of combining the Templars and the Hospitallers. This both groups rejected. The common people were jealous of the groups because of their individual wealth and their considerable influence which included exemption of taxes and tithes to the church.

Soon after De Molay's election, he visited Pope Boniface in Rome to gain his support. The Pope again brought up the subject of combining the orders of Hospitallers and Templars. De Molay rejected this again and later recounted the rejection to King Philip as being backed by Boniface. A new campaign to retake the Jerusalem road and protect the pilgrims never quite got off the ground after that and the money needed to finance such an offensive by France or England went to pay for a war against each other.

De Molay kept in touch with Edward I of England and had received notice of his backing at an unspecified date of the possibility of another crusade to free the Holy land. Edward however was deeply involved in a war with Scotland and Wales and by 1306 there were no knights active in Jerusalem. The Teutonic knights were focused on Russia and the Hospitallers were attacking Rhodes which finally resulted in the expulsion of the Turks.

In the days that followed, the cry was 'Freedom', from England to Scotland the common people had had enough. 'Control' and taxation were making poor people poorer and the wars were mainly for occupation of land to collect more taxes. The Vatican had issued an edict forbiding Philip to tax the clergy so Philip arranged for the capture and murder of Boniface VIII. His successor Benedict XI also met his end in mysterious circumstances to be replaced by Philip's own candidate Bertrand de Got, Archbishop of Bordeaux, who duly became Clement V.

The wars were under the command of King Philip of France and backed by Pope Clement V, ( also French ) unwillingly. When Philip replaced Boniface with Clement V, he had made a pact with him that was specifically in Philip's favor. Philip, who was looking for a way to make a 'profit', needed the money to continue his war with England. He knew the Templars had money and possibly treasurers from the Jerusalem temple. He had also borrowed large sums of money from the Templers and was even friends with Jacques de Molay whom he had named as his son's godfather.

The Knights were being attacked on the island of Cypress by Saracen pirates and it was difficult to keep a foot-hold so De Molay had considered a full retreat to France. He believed the King of France and Clement were at odds so this action might have been considered a threat to Philip. This is when Philip instructed Clement of a final requirement of his papacy, that he should send De Molay and William de Villaret, the Hospitaler Master, to meet in France to discuss once again the combination of the groups. They were told to travel in secrecy and with a 'very small train, as you will find plenty of your knights on this side of the sea'.

Both Philip and Clement probably knew that the Hospitallers would not be able to attend, but De Molay set out for the port of La Rochelle with eighteen ships. He brought 60 knights and 150,000 gold florins and 12 pack horses carring heavy loads of unminted silver. This De Molay proposed as a bribe that would buy Philips favor not to combine the orders. De Molay could not tell the King or Clement the real secret of the Knights. That they were the restored priesthood of the Jerusalem Temple. He made a memorandum to Pope Clement outlining why the Knights could not be combined, leaving out this reason.

Philip was deeply in debt to the Templers and had borrowed huge sums of money. The only way to get the Templers holdings and money was to have them declared 'suppressed'. The only authority over the Templers was Clement, so Philip got an approval from Clement for an investigation of Templar goings on.

De Molay became increasingly concerned about vague rumours of serious improprieties being spread around France. He made a trip again to talk to the Pope. Then there was a riot in Paris brought about by the people who were tired of Philip's taxes and debased coinage. The Templars gave the King refuge in the Paris Temple where he stayed for three days. During the riot three x-Templars were arrested as being instigators of the riot. The ring-leaders were Squin Flexian and Noffo Dei and when Philip heard this, he ordered them questioned further.

He discovered that these two men had been expelled from the order and were described as 'men full of all iniquities'. Another-words, they would lie. Philip then hired these convicts to spy on other Templars in jail listening for anything that could be used against them. The men were able to accuse the Templars of heresy and debauchery in order to gain their own freedom. This is what Philip had been waiting on and then turned the answers he got into the Inquisitions, claiming he had the approval of the Pope. This had taken months of careful planning by Philip, who did not tell Clement what he was up to.

A plan was devised to round up all the Templers at one time simultaneously and jail them. De Molay was lured into the spiders den by having the honor of being asked to be a pall-bearer at the funeral of Princess Catherine on October 12th 1307. The highest Nobility of Europe attended the funeral. At the same time, orders were being opened all over France for the impending arrests. Fifteen thousand men were all arrested at the same time that very evening.

In the meantime seven knights raced to Paris and informed the hierarchy of King Philip's plan. Then with an auxiliary contingent, they travelel to St. Malo, spreading the word abroad. The hoard held in Paris was loaded on 18 ships and sailed to Scotland. Some sailed to Portugal but Philip was unaware of this and arranged for the Templars to be pursued in Europe.

Pope Clement protested, but was somehow 'convinced' to go along with Philips demands after initially opposing the trials. The trials proceded and the confessions to lies were extracted only by torture, the most inhuman torture known to mankind. One Templar had his feet oiled then set afire, burning his feet until even the bones fell off. He was then given the blackened bones to carry to his trial. The Templars were be-headed and cut into pieces, their stomaches cut open and intrails burned while the man was alive and watching this being done to him.

Their arms and legs were pulled from their sockets, broken bones were induced by the twisting of bolts. Lips were cut off, tongues cut out, ect. There was no sanitation and the Knights were stripped to naked and nearly starved in the process. They were forced to drink water from the mote which was filled with drainage from the toilets. Thirty six men died in the first few days, others went mad and still others endured torture beyond description.

The photo to the right is an effigy in the Temple Church, London, as it was before severe damage during the last war. This knight wears a cuirass apparently of leather, but no surcoat. The figure also wears an 'armyng cap', probably of stuffed leather. Courtesy of the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments.

Fifty six men were all burned at the stake at the same time when they retracted their confessions as was the law of suppression of heresy; Defined as denial or doubt by a baptized person of any "revealed truth" of the Roman Catholic Faith. Those who survived are commonly supposed to have gone to Scotland and Portugal. The ones who went to Portugal mostly ended up in the Order of Christ; their Cross Patee is familiar from the sails of Portuguese exploring ships. The ones who went to Scotland are said to have sailed in more than a dozen ships, carrying their treasure. There their fate became bound up with that of the family of St. Clair.

Similar attacks were mounted against the order in Spain and England, but the Templers were found innocent and the kings refused to go along with Clements and Philip's order of torture. In particular, young King Edward II, of England had many friends who were Templars and he was a Knight himself. He had an army of Knights who were engaged in the war with Scotland. On December 4th, 1307, he sent a letter to the Pope refusing to arrest the Templars on the grounds they were innocent. Master of the English Temple, Brian de Jay had died fightening for the English against William Wallace of Scotland. (Movie Reference- Braveheart, with Mel Gibson who played William Wallace. )

The influence of the Pope was far reaching and a person refusing to corporate with a direct order of the Pope was reason enough for him to be excommunicated. Edward finally corporated but in his own due time. He did not start any arrests until January 7, 1308 and had allowed word to be passed that arrests were eminent. Only a few Templars were jailed and then were given comfortable quarters and an allowance to purchase additional comforts and needs. Edward was forced to receive a papal torture team sent by Clement in early 1311, but he would not allow mutilation, permanent wounds to be inflicted or "no violent effusions of blood".

In the 3rd Century, Saint Clair became the first Bishop of Nantes. Very little is known about him historically. In the year 280, the Pope had Saint Clair sent to Armorique entrusting him with a sinnal relic: the nail which was used to pierce the right hand of St Peter at the time of his crucifixion.

However, legend concerning Saint Clair seems to be much older than this founding of the Holy See at Nantes. Legend has it that in the year 69 he was consecrated Bishop by Saint Linus, who was St Peter's successor (as the head of the church) and that he died in the year 96.

This oral tradition of having a Saint Clair alive in the 1st Century has allowed a fabulous hagiography in which he is placed in relationship with a disciple of Joseph d'Arimathie, named Drennalus who went from Great Britain to Armorique at this time. This Saint Clair is said to have died at Requiny near Vannes on October 10th - hence the Feast Day of all Saint Clairs is on this day.

( formerly St.Clair ) Prince Henry Sinclair was a Ship's Captain and he sailed to America in 1398. They sailed to find the place marked by a star called la Merica.This star and the mythical land below it were known to have originated from scrolls found beneath Herod's Temple. When the Templars had been 'outlawed' in Europe, they undertook this search for the perfect land that lay over the great sea to the west. The 'la Merica' star is the reason the USA is called America. They landed on the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada in 1398. There is a monument in the form of a 15 ton boulder with a black narrative plaque on it. This is located at Halfway Cove on Rt. 16 in Guysborough County, just above the original landing site.

In 1398 Prince Henry Sinclair sailed from Orkney to Nova Scotia, and from there to Massachusetts, leaving recognizable artifacts in each place. He may have also built Newport Tower in Rhode Island. Other theories of the origin of that structure, also known as the Old Stone Mill, suppose that the Norse built it as early as the twelfth century, or that it was built in colonial times, perhaps by colonial Governor Benedict Arnold (successor to Roger Williams and great-grandfather of General Benedict Arnold, the traitor), who owned the tower at one point. The tower appears on a map of Rhode Island in 1630.
A link to The Henry Sinclair Society , Prince Henry Sinclair The Sinclairs are also the controlling foundation for Rosslyn Chapel, which is here, Rosslyn Chapel and see.. "the murder of the apprentice at Rosslyn is seen as a symbolic re-enactment of the murder of Hiram Abif". The Apprentice Pillar On the Pietre Stones web site.
and see the Templars and The Holy Grail by Stephen Defoe

Rosslyn Chapel has an interesting history also. The design of the Chapel is laid out exactly like Herod's Temple. The History of the Chapel goes back to 1440, which puts Masonic and Templar history to be 250 years older than the Grand Lodge of England suggests it to be. An inscription carved into an archway at Rosslyn reads; WINE IS STRONG, A KING IS STRONGER, WOMAN ARE EVEN STRONGER, BUT TRUTH WILL CONQUER ALL.
This inscription is part of a side degree called, 'Order of the Knights of the Red Cross of Babylon' and is associated with the Royal Arch degree. This inscription is older than The Grand Lodge of England which says in essence, 'nothing is older than itself'. This proves the Chapel was being used and the higher degree rituals were being worked in Scotland before 1700.

The twelve Chapel pillars inside Rosslyn form a perfect Triple Tau. The Triple Tau signifies ; Templum Hiersoslyma - The Temple of Jerusalem It also means Clavis Thesaurum - A Key to a Treasure and Theca ubi res pretiosa deponitur - A Place where a precious thing is concealed, or Res ipsa pretiosa - The precious thing itself. The name Rosslyn was originally Roslin and is interperted; Ros meaning knowledge, and Linn meaning generation. In the Gaelic, Roslinn translates as Knowledge of the Generations and also ; ancient knowledge passed down the generations.

The Sinclair Family also has a web Page with some information as to the origin of the family, He was knighted in 1297 by Sir Symon Fraser, in the presence of William Wallace. He fought at the Battle of Rosslyn. He fought at the battle of Bannockburn. He signed the Declaration of Arbroath in Latin as Henricus Sancto Claro. He was the great-grandfather of Prince Henry Sinclair. The Hermit Saint Clair; On the 4th November, in the year of our Lord 884, they found Clair in his simple hut on the edge of the River Epte. His end was swift because one of the agents beheaded Clair whilst he knelt in prayer. (That is why he is frequently depicted, like St Denis, holding his head in his hands.) The blood flowed copiously from his neck but a new spring came out of the ground and washed away all signes of it. see the main index of St. Clair.

The following appears in today's Daily Telegraph: Saturday, July 29, 2000
"Masonic Lodge's Secret Scroll "is £8 million treasure" by Thomas Harding

A secret scroll which has been hanging in a Masonic Lodge in the Orkney Islands for almost three centuries is thought to be one of the most significant recent finds in Britain. The Kirkwall Scroll, depicting secrets of the Knights Templar, has been carbon dated to the 15th Century, greatly increasing its significance.

The Masonic Lodge in Orkney was unaware it possessed a priceless medieval treasure, thinking it was from the 18th Century. Andrew Sinclair, a Cambridge History Don claims that the little known Kirkwall Scroll, which he says could be worth £8 million, is second in value only to the famous 13th Century Mapa Mundi which hangs in Hereford Cathedral, and was valued at £7 million by Sothebys in 1989. Mr Sinclair, who heard about the Scroll while researching the history St Clair Earls of Orkney, said "Its significance is immense. This will demand the rewriting of Scots medieval history."
from.. Secret Templar Scroll

Knights Templar continued..

The Mystery Schools that Jesus attended.. The Initiate

Knights Templar continued..	More Secrets revealed
Forbidden Knowledge Forward	Passage of Secrets Forward
Moses - Grand Master	The Amazing Ark of the Covenant
The Essenes; the other story	The Real Jesus
Masonic Rules in the Dead Sea Scrolls	Christ's mission
Jesus and Mary Magdelene	The Lies of Paul
The death of the Disciples Forward	The death of The Disciples
The murder of James	The False Church of Rome
Site Map Page	Gnosis and the Teachings of Jesus
Hiram Abiff, King of Egypt, 1554 B.C.	Brief History of Masonic Rituals

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