Many works of nonfiction and fiction, including Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, have suggested that there is a link between the Knights Templar of the Middle Ages and Freemasonry as it exists today. While the majority of historians and researchers do not currently accept that this is the case, there are certain slight indications that might point in this direction. Certainly a number of Masons believe this might be the case. But to consider the possibility that there is a link between these two organizations requires understanding what occurred during the dissolution of the Knights Templar in the 1300s and how this could possibly (at least theoretically) have led to the development of a secret society known as the Freemasons. This essay will examine some of the contentions made by a number of authors suggesting such a relationship between the Knights Templar and the Freemasons, as well as the likelihood of this actually be the case.
There is no question that (historically speaking) the Knights Templar existed as an organization during the Middle Ages. These knights were some of the many crusaders who fought their way to Jerusalem in the 12th century. Famous for their pure white uniforms adorned with red crosses and their adherence to vows of poverty and chastity, this organization nevertheless rose within a century to possess immense wealth and influence (Nicholson, 1994). The Knights template began following the first Crusade in 1118 when a group of Knights took control of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem and declare themselves to be the "Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon." This group, which was later simply referred to as the Knights Templar, had the espoused goal of ensuring that Christians would be able to visit the holy land without being attacked. Ten years later, the church officially recognized the Knights Templar as a military order and a religious order. If you decades, their numbers had risen to as many as 20,000. However, in 1296 the crusaders for forced out of Jerusalem. As a result of this, the Templars relocated to Cyprus.
As suggested above, by this point in the history of the organization, the thousand poverty taken by the Knights Templar had come to apply only to the individual Knights themselves. The Knights Templar as an organization had gathered wealth from throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, as well as from Jerusalem itself. The Knights had also received sizable donations of both money and lands from a number of European wars. In addition to this, the Knights Templar were extremely clever businessmen. A number of historians have even suggested that modern banking can be largely attributed to them (Picknett & Prince, 1997).
In a sense, it was this accumulated wealth that ultimately led to the downfall of the Knights Templar. For instance, the king of France (known as "Phillip the Fair") was deeply indebted financially to the Templars. In addition to this, he was concerned about the growing power the Templars had in France and elsewhere. One was throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. The Knights because their only allegiance was to God. Thus, Philip would've benefited significantly by the destruction of the Knights Templar. While he could not attack them directly because they were under the authority of the Pope, Philip was able to bring pressure on the Pope (Clement V) to assist him in destroying the Templars.
As a part of the plot, the Templars were all called together in France in 1307, supposedly for the purpose of organizing the new crusade. On Friday the 13th of that year, French officials throughout the country open there sealed orders to find that the Knights Templars were accused of an array of crimes, ranging from heresy and in morality to Satan worship. Under torture, many of them quite naturally confessed to their "sins." Even those who did not confess were later executed.
The Pope himself sent out an order throughout all of Europe that the Knights Templar would be arrested. However, for the most part such arrests and limited in scope and severity. In some countries, they did not occur at all. For example, the king of England at the time (Edward II) did not believe the accusations against the Templars and refused to arrest them (Slavin, 2013). Therefore, the arrest of Templars in England did not occur for several months after the issuance of the order and was carried out by the Pope's own representatives. At that late date, it is perhaps reasonable to believe that Templars living in England would have chosen to go underground and continue in secret.
Freemasons (or the Free and Accepted Masons as they are officially called) currently claimed descent from the stonemasons who constructed the medieval cathedrals throughout Europe. The first known reference to Freemasonry as a fraternal organization brotherhood is found in the Regius Manuscript, which is a poem from the 1500s. The first actual Lodge (as far as we know) was established in 1717 (Stevenson, 2011). They are perhaps the best-known secret society on earth (as contradictory as that sentence may sound). It is also certainly true that there are certain similarities between the ancient Knights Templar organization and that of the later Freemasons (Lomas, 2009).
Secret organizations and groups have always held an appeal, since they provide both a sense of belonging and (often) an innate sense of superiority over the average person (Mardet, 2016). Especially since the average person wouldn't be able to join. However, in addition to this sense of belonging and the obvious snob appeal of such organizations, they can also provide individuals with safety in times of trouble. For instance, in the 1600s many people were facing pressure from the Catholic Church, with scientists being among them. Obviously, Galileo would probably have wished he had the protection of a powerful secret organization. In England, such scientists could secretly meet and discuss their latest discoveries in the "invisible colleges" that were established after 1645.
There was a close connection between these groups and later Freemasonry, since when Freemasons finally made themselves official in 1717 it soon became clear that virtually all of the founding members of England's Royal Society had at some point been Freemasons. For example, Sue Christopher Wren (who helped to rebuild London following the Great Fire of 1666) was well known to be a Freemason. It could be argued that being a member of of the Freemasons gave individuals an insider status and greater opportunities in society (Hodapp, 2013).
As mentioned previously, the Freemasons themselves currently suggests that their origins derived from organizations made up of stonemasons in the Middle Ages. However, some of Freemasonry's current ceremonies and customs don't jive too well with this explanation. For instance, much of the secrecy involved in Freemasonry seems designed to defend the individual members against some threat. For instance, during the initiation ceremony, a new Mason is forbidden to have any metal on his person. In the Middle Ages, the result of this prohibition would have been that the individual would have been unable to bring weapons. The new initiative is also bound by an old to defend his brothers (other Freemasons), just as they are honor bound to defend him. He can also never reveal any of his brothers secrets, since that could result in that brother losing either its property or rights. Violation of these promises will result in terrible penalties. The above stipulations might seem to indicate the concerns of hunted fugitives rather than those of stonemasons (Robinson, 1989).
However, other guilds during the Middle Ages did have secrecy and the stated objective of assisting other members when necessary. For instance, a merchant's guild in Southampton at the following in its bylaws in the 14th century, "And when the gild shall be sitting no one of the gild is to bring in any stranger, except when required by the alderman or steward" (Halsall, 1996). During the period when cities were growing and trade was increasing, artisans and workers who from town to town with great regularity looking for work. A guild membership was an effective way to increase the chance of finding work in any location.
On the other hand, if Freemasonry was in existence prior to the currently accepted date it would have almost certainly drawn the anger of the church. This is because the society has a number of policies that either (or both) Catholic and Protestant denominations would have found objectionable. For example, Freemasons accept anyone of any faith so long as they affirm that they believe in a supreme being of some sort. Furthermore, Freemasonry places no requirements for them as to how they go about worshiping. Finally, where is Freemasons feel that heaven is open to those who performed good deeds and charitable acts in this life, most Christian leaders believe that heaven is only available to those who express their beliefs in Christ and support his church here on earth.
Even assuming that Freemasonry did not begin at the time or in the way they currently claim, it is illogical to then jump to the conclusion that their origin is necessarily linked to the Knights Templar. There is a gap of roughly four centuries separating the dissolution of the Knights Templar and the accepted date for the establishment of Freemasonry. In his book, Robinson presents a number of arguments to support his contentions about Freemasons and their connections to the Knights Templar that individually are fairly unconvincing. However, as a whole they are fairly suggestive. In an example of this, Robinson argues that many of the words that Masons use in the organization and in their ceremonies actually have their roots in 14th-century French, rather than in 18th-century English. Obviously, 14th-century would be associated with the dissolution of the Knights Templar, while the 18th-century would conform to traditionally accepted date for the formation of the Freemasons. Given the ebb and flow of languages how they can intermix from time to time, this specific argument is not all that compelling.
However, some of the other arguments he presents are more intriguing. For instance, members of the Knights Templar were required to wear a piece of sheepskin at the waist as a symbol of their chastity and purity. Even with dating, they were not permitted to remove it. In a startling correlation, Masons today must still wear a similar lambskin apron as a symbol of their "innocence and purity." While modern-day Freemasons indicate that this tradition springs from medieval stonemasons who wore aprons in their work, Robinson states that he has found no evidence whatsoever that medieval stonemasons or any kind of apron. The most obvious conclusion is that the current Freemason apron and its "innocence and purity" is directly symbolic of chastity.
There are a number of other supposed associations between the Knights Templar and the Freemasons that this author points out. For instance, there is his belief that there is an association connecting Knight Templars, Freemasons and piracy. This is a consequence of the idea that there is a resemblance between a symbol on the aprons worn during ceremonies in York Rite Freemasonry and the traditional skull and cross bones symbol found on pirate flags. The idea that dozens of ships carrying Templars disappeared with a number of them and their well lends itself to the concept of Templars turning into "pirates and corsairs." Furthermore, some levels of Freemasons are told that they must be "a brother to pirates and corsairs" in their initiation ceremonies (Robinson, 1989).
Robinson makes regarding a possible connection between the Knights Templar and Freemasonry involves the so-called "Seal of Solomon." This Templar symbol is quite similar in overall shape and appearance to the main symbol used by the Freemasons to this day. The Seal of Solomon is a star with six points. This star is created by two triangles are placed one over the other. Robinson suggests that (following the purging and hunting of the Templars in the 14th century) they chose to alter the Seal of Solomon so that it would be recognizable to their members but not necessarily obvious to anyone looking for Templars. This was accomplished (supposedly) by simply removing the horizontal lines across the triangles, leaving the lines that overlap.
The idea that there is a connection between Freemasons and Templars is hardly a new one. As far back as the early 18th century Andrew Ramsey of Scotland a similar idea (Stevenson, 1988). In addition to being a Freemason, Ramsey served as the Grand Chancellor for the Lodge of Paris. While Ramsay did not mention the night Templars by name, he did suggest that Freemasons may have had their origin in the Crusade activities in Jerusalem. This idea was later also propounded in 1754 in Germany by Karl Von Hundt. Von Hundt was the first to suggest that the Templar fleet mentioned above had left France and sailed to Scotland initially, after which the Templars went into hiding by creating a secret organization protected by coded references and ceremonies. Only when they felt sufficiently safe with they have publicly announced their existence in 1770 when they founded the first Masonic Lodge. In this view, there is a direct line and lineage between modern Freemasonry and the Knights Templar of the Middle Ages.
As mentioned previously, secret organizations like the Freemasons can be very appealing to individuals who feel threatened in their society or have knowledge that make them threatening to that society. Thus, Freemasonry has always had a willing number of applicants to join. Often, it was persecution from the church that drove people to Freemasonry. This is particularly the case for scientists in Europe who discovered things that upset the churches world view (Mackey, 2010). In the same way, Masons believe that they are directly descended from individuals who understood geometric and scientific secrets regarding construction, and that such knowledge allow them to build the lofty cathedrals of the Middle Ages. While the concept of secret knowledge and sacred geometry is often associated with the Templars, it should be noted that it is also a part of many other secret societies.
After the Freemasons publicly founded the first Grand Lodge in the early 18th century, the general public almost immediately distrusted. People were suspicious of their secretive nature and feared they were accumulating wealth, power and influence. These were the same concerns that many in Europe had about the Knights Templar's centuries before. Certainly, a number of influential individuals were a part of Freemasonry. In the American Revolution alone, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Paul Revere and even the Marquis de Lafayette were all Masons. Many of the meetings held for revolutionary purposes were staged at Masonic lodges. There are even indications that the Boston Tea Party was essentially a Masonic managed event. In the public mind, all of this would seem to suggest a secret organization orchestrating events behind the scenes. Of course, it could equally be argued that revolutionary leaders were simply taking advantage of an already existing organization for their own purposes.
More recently, Freemasonry has begun to lose some of its shroud of secrecy. At this time, the various ceremonies, rituals and even passwords the Masons use can be found on the Internet for anyone to see. As an organization, Freemasons seem to have largely abandoned any effort to prevent this information from getting into the public sphere. It may be that one of the reasons Masons are allowing this is that it helps to alleviate some of the concerns the public has had in the past about Masons and their objectives. An interesting side corollary to this is that Freemasonry has faced a steady decline in membership in recent decades (Morgan, 2007). One has to wonder whether this is a reflection of the fact that non-secret organizations are less appealing.
In conclusion, the suggested link between Freemasonry and the Knights Templar of the Middle Ages has not yet been clearly established. While there is some evidence to support this idea, the links are tenuous at best. One of the problems with any secret organization like the Freemasons or the Knights Templar before them is that they (by their nature) are very difficult to track or study. Moreover, although Freemasonry is apparently less secretive than it was, conspiracy theorists and even respectable researchers can be forgiven for suspecting that there might still exist a section within the organization or a different level were secrets pertaining to the Knights Templar and other matters are still maintained out of sight from the public. This ongoing ambiguity guarantees that the issue of a Knights Templar and Freemasonry link will continue to be debated for years to come by experts and non-experts alike.
References
Hodapp, C. (2013). Freemasons for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Lomas, R. (2007). Turning the Templar key: The secret legacy of the Knights Templar and the origins of Freemasonry. Beverly, Mass: Fair Winds Press.
Mackey, A. G. (2010). Freemasonry. New York: Sterling.
Marret, R.R. (2016). Anthropology. London: Williams and Norgate.
Morgan, G. (2007). Freemasonry. Harpenden: Pocket Essentials.
Nicholson, H. (1994). Saints or sinners? The Knights Templar in Medieval Europe. History Today, 44(12), 30.
Robinson, J. J., & Mazal Holocaust Collection. (1989). Born in blood: The lost secrets of freemasonry. New York: M. Evans & Co.
Slavin, P. (2013). Landed estates of the Knights Templar in England and Wales and their management in the early fourteenth century. Journal Of Historical Geography, 4236-49.
Stevenson, D. (1988). The origins of Freemasonry: Scotland's century, 1590-1710. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press.
Stevenson, D. (2011). Four Hundred Years of Freemasonry in Scotland. Scottish Historical Review, 90(2), 280-295.
