THE DARK HISTORY OF THE TEMPLARS

n the years following the loss of the Holy Land, the Templars had shown a continuing desire to create a 'state' of their own. . . [W]e are now left in no doubt that the Templars indeed manage, against all odds, to carve out their own nation. It wasn't some Eldorado in the New World, nor a hidden kingdom of the Prester John variety in darkest Africa. In fact the Templars remained absolutely central to everything that was happening in Europe, and what is more they were partly instrumental in the formation of the Western World as we know it today. The Templar State was, and is, Switzerland.41


 
In order to carry on their activities in safety, Templars escaping persecution and arrest in France and some other countries of Europe needed to regroup somewhere. They chose the confederation of cantons now known as Switzerland. The Templars' influence in Switzerland's formation and traditional makeup can still be easily recognized today. Alan Butler, a Mason and co-author of The Warriors and the Bankers is an expert on the subject of Templars. In a discussion forum held in 1999, of he said:

There are a few important reasons why this [that the Knights Templar went to Switzerland after their liquidation] is likely to have been the case. For example:

1. The founding of the embryonic Switzerland conforms exactly to the period when the Templars were being persecuted in France.

2. Switzerland is just to the east of France and would have been particularly easy for fleeing Templar brothers from the whole region of France to get to.

3. In the history of the first Swiss Cantons, there are tales of white-coated knights mysteriously appearing and helping the locals to gain their independence against foreign domination.

4. The Templars were big in banking, farming and engineering (of an early type). These same aspects can be seen as inimical to the commencement and gradual evolution of the separate states that would eventually be Switzerland.

5. The famous Templar Cross is incorporated into the flags of many of the Swiss Cantons. As are other emblems, such as keys and lambs, that were particularly important to the Knights Templar.42

A significant number of Templars found refuge in Scotland, the only monarchy in 14th century Europe that didn't recognize the authority of the Catholic Church. Reorganizing under the protection of King Robert the Bruce, they soon found the perfect camouflage to hide their existence in the British Isles. Outside of the state and local governments, the Masons' Lodges were the most powerful organizations of the time, and and the Templars first infiltrated them, then brought them under control. Lodges that had been professional bodies were turned into ideological and political organizations, which are now the Freemason Lodges of today. (This is what Masons call "progress from operational to speculative Masonry")

Another Masonic source estimates that between 30,000 and 40,000 Templars escaped the Inquisition by wearing Masons' cloth and mingling with them. So as to flee abroad, others obtained and used the "Laissez passer" (free passage) given to Masons.

Some Templars escaped to Spain and entered orders like the Caltrava, Alcantra, and Santiago del Espada, while others moved on to Portugal and they renamed themselves the Order of Christ. Still others fled to the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation and joined the Teuton knights, while another large group of Templars is known to have joined the Hospitalers. In England, the Templars were arrested and interrogated, but quickly released again. In still other countries, the Templars remained unmolested.