Atlantis Online
March 29, 2024, 03:27:25 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Remains of ancient civilisation discovered on the bottom of a lake
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071227/94372640.html
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

the Knights Templar, the Crusades & the Holy Grail (Original Version)

Pages: 1 ... 7 8 9 10 11 12 [13] 14 15 16   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: the Knights Templar, the Crusades & the Holy Grail (Original Version)  (Read 15419 times)
0 Members and 60 Guests are viewing this topic.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #180 on: January 06, 2008, 03:49:31 am »

Jason

Member
Member # 2807

Member Rated:
   posted 12-31-2005 05:06 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The basic idea behind Ramsay's Oration (as it became known) was that these knights on return to their count tries established groups in order to teach, study and preserve the esoteric teachings that they had learned during their stay in the Holy Land, particularly the rebuilding of the Temple al Jerusalem, which some believed to b] the Templars original goal. Having tried to give the Masonic order a aristocratic character, rightly or wrongly the 'Oration' given that day by Ramsay lead to what could be only described as a kick-start for Masonic Templar degrees to be formed throughout the next few years. Though during hit speech he never once mentioned the Templars by name, it was obvious that their order was most prominent in their minds of his listeners. Ramsay himself was believed to have instigated a system of 3 Chivalric Degrees, namely (1) Ecossais, (2) Novice, (3) Knight Templar.



One other such Order to rise from this idea was the Rite of the Strict Observance. Instituted in Germany in the 1750's by Baron Karl Gotthelf Von Hund, (1722­1776). This Order laid claim to the original property and privileges of the medieval order of Knights Templars. It also claimed possession of their preceptories, and various buildings throughout Scotland, which were confiscated and handed over to the Crown during the persecution of the original Order in 1314. Baron Von Hund claimed he was made a freemason and brought into the Order of the Temple around the year 1742. It is said that during his stay in Paris he received the higher degrees of the Chapter of Clermont which gave him the idea of forming the Observance Rite. At his reception were supposedly Charles Edward Stuart, (Hund was in actual fact his tutor), and William, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock, Grand Master Mason of Scotland (1742‑43), who was subsequently executed in 1746 for his support of Charles Edward Stuart. The initiation ceremony of Von Hund into this Order of the Temple therefore must have taken place in and around 1744 ‑ 45. We also have to take into account that the so called other Knights Templars present at that meeting were made members prior to 1744.



The Rite, which Hund helped to instigate, was a complex system of degrees that held its allegiance to 'Unknown Superiors'. These 'Unknown Superiors' having supposedly contacted him and instructed him to organise several meetings of the Order. Although he claimed that they never contacted him again, Hund went on to establish the Rite complete with ritual. The basis of the ritual being that on the death of Jacques de Molay, (the last Grand Master of the Medieval order), control of the order was handed over to Pierre d'Aumont, Templar Prior of Auvergne, who took the Order to Scotland. Pierre d'Aumont was to be succeeded by an unbroken succession of Grand Masters whose identities were to be kept secret or unknown. Hence the so called 'Unknown Superiors'. Gould states in his 'Military Lodges 1732‑1890' that the degrees of the Rite of the Strict Observance completely took off in the British Regiments and the already established Masonic lodges worked side by side with those of the Strict Observance. Most of Hund's ideas were to be picked up by the Rite of the Philalethes at Lyon and also by the Provincial Grand Priory of Auvergne, and were adapted into a Rite still practised today by the Grand Priory of Helvetia in Switzerland. The Grand Priory of England is in fraternal communications with the Grand Priory of the Rectified Scottish Rite (Switzerland), better known as the Knights Beneficent of the Holy City, whose Swiss members are entitled to sit and attend the 33rd degree meetings of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in Switzerland.



Various other orders and degrees that were instituted and based on a Templar system included, the Order of the Orient, formed at Paris in the year 1806. The Order of the Blazing Star, formed by Baron Tschoudy in 1766, was a system of Chivalric degrees ascending from the crusades based on the Templar system of Andrew Ramsay. The degree of Knight of the Ape and Lion began to appear in and around the year 1780. This order adopted the idea that they held the original secrets of the medieval order with the belief that the medieval Templars had been persecuted by the modern Templars. This order unfortunately only came to be known because of it's demise. The degree Knight of the Lillies of the Valley was conferred by the Grand Orient of France as an appendage to the Templar degree that it already had been conferring. Also in 1763 a gentleman by the name of Johnson, residing in Germany, declared himself a representative of the Order of the Temple, authorised by the Sovereign Chapter of Scotland to introduce itself into Europe. He was eventually imprisoned and died in 1775. As can be seen there were a great number of degrees and orders that were formed along the Templar idea. So much so that on the 16th of July 1782 a Masonic congress was held at Wilhelmsbad, near the city of Hanau in Hesse‑Cassel. The meeting was chaired by Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, who was at that time the Grand Master of the Order of the Strict Observance. The meeting lasted for thirty sessions where it's agenda was to reform the existing Masonic system and try to disentangle the many rites and higher degrees formed along Templar lines. The main topic discussed was the true origin of speculative masonry, and as to whether it was in actual fact a modern thought or indeed a more ancient tradition. When the congress was finally closed it was agreed that 'Freemasonry was not essentially connected with Templarism, and that, contrary to the doctrine of the Rite of the Strict Observance, the freemasons were not the successors of the Knights Templars." The result of its finding was in fact the nail in the coffin for the Strict Observance which very soon died out along with many of the other Templars degrees and orders.

http://www.rosslyntemplars.org.uk/templar_influence.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 318 | From: Dorm Room | Registered: Oct 2005   
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #181 on: January 06, 2008, 03:49:53 am »

Jason

Member
Member # 2807

Member Rated:
   posted 12-31-2005 05:12 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Join the new Knights Templar:

http://www.illinoisyorkrite.org/ktmembership.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 318 | From: Dorm Room | Registered: Oct 2005   
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #182 on: January 06, 2008, 03:50:17 am »

Jason

Member
Member # 2807

Member Rated:
   posted 12-31-2005 05:24 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scottish Knights Templar

Earliest evidence of their existence since 1312


Following the dissolution of the Medieval Order of Knights Templar in 1312 there has been some debate as the earliest evidence modern Templars in Scotland. It has been said that this dates from 1778 when a ceremony was conducted in Edinburgh by Freemasons from Perth. It has long been said that they conferred the Knights Templar ceremony on Freemasons in that city. Below we provide extracts from the Minute Books of Lodge St Stephen's, No.145, which explains the details and thereafter there is a commentary on those Minutes.


LODGE PERTH AND SCOON-ROYAL ARCH AND KNIGHT TEMPLAR DEGREES

ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPTER AND ENCAMPMENT FOUNDED





THE early fraternization of St. Stephen's with the several Lodges referred to in the previous chapter was not wholly confined to those working in and about the Scottish metropolis, but extended much further afield, and especially so was this the case with the Lodge of Perth and Scoon, now known as Scoon and Perth, No.3. In his history of this Lodge, D. Crawford Smith states, that in the records that have been preserved, there are no references which bear on the relationship existing between the two Lodges, or on the circumstances which led to the conferring of the Royal Arch and Templar Degrees in the year 1778 on several of the members of St. Stephen's by brethren connected with Perth and Scoon. This is to be regretted, but fortunately much valuable information in connection with the matter may be gleaned from the first book of records of the Edinburgh Royal Arch Chapter, No. I, which is not, states William A. Davis, the historian of that Chapter, "in a regular sense a Minute Book of the Chapter, but a written transcript from the original Minute Book of the Knights Templars, that Order having been conferred by the Perth and Scoon Lodge on the same Office-Bearers who received that of the Royal Arch."



As there is much in this written transcript connected with the early history of St. Stephen's and its members during the period covered by the lodge Minute Book, dating from 1777 to 1793, we quote liberally from the History of the Edinburgh Royal Arch Chapter, No. 1, in which these records are in part reproduced. The first entry is dated:



"EDINBURGH, Dec. 2nd 1778." This day the compliment of six sundry steps in Masonry was offered to the Office-Bearers of St. Stephen's Lodge by sundry of the Brethren from the ancient Lodge of Perth and Scoon. Accordingly there was a Committee called, so there was then present: The Right Worshipful Master Bro. David McLaren* ; Bro. William Lyon, Junior Warden; Bro. John Dick, Secretary; Bro. George Miller, Senior House-Steward; Bro. Robert Stewart, Grocer; Bro. William Mackenzie; Bro. John Moodie; and Bro. John Reid, Tyler; who all of one voice accepted of the compliment of that degree of Masonry, viz., the 4th called Past the Chair," " after which the Master, Warden, Secretary, and Brethren, then present, gave honorary initiation to the above named Brethren who gave us the compliment."



The latter portion of the extract: is not given by Davis, but is 'quoted by Crawford Smith in his History of Lodge Scoon and Perth, and is of interest from the fact: that it informs us of those who were probably the first Honorary Members of the Lodge, viz., Brothers Andrew Gloag, John Bryson, David Gray, and John Scobie. Two days later:



"December 4th 1778." This night being set apart by the Brethren of Perth and Scoon Lodge in order to confer upon the Office-Bearers of St. Stephen's Lodge the following Degrees of Masonry, viz., Excellent and Super Excellent Masons, Arch and Royal Arch Masons, and lastly Knights of Malta, there was then at that time admitted into that excellent order, Br. David McLaren,* Master; Br. Wm. Lyon, Junior Warden; Br. John Dick, Secretary; Br. James Shaw, Treasurer; Br. John Notman, Grand Steward; Br. George Miller, Senior Lodge Steward; Br. Wm. Gow, Watch-maker; Br. John Moodie, Clerk; and Br. John Reid, Tyler; after which the Right Worshipful Master, Worshipful Junior Warden, and Office-Bearers then present, ordered the same to be Minuted in order to show to the worthy brethren of St. Stephen's Lodge what honour the brethren of Perth and Scoon Lodge had conferred on us."



The next transcript, which is dated l0th December 1778, is also of interest, as we learn from it that the Lodge-room was at this period situated in the Burgh of Canongate :



"a Committee belonging to St. Stephen's met and entered Donald McDonald, apprentice in the Mystery of Free Masonry, in our Lodge here in Canongate, and at the same time conferred the 4th degree of Masonry upon Br. James Robertson, viz., that of Master past the Chair."



There is no doubt that if the first Minute Book of the Lodge could be got, it would be found to contain the foregoing transcripts, for we find in the one dated 4th December the Statement that the recipients of the Degrees "ordered the same to be minuted," but the minutes of the Craft in the majority of cases make no mention of these Degrees, although worked in many Scottish Lodges. In St. Stephen's Royal Arch Chapter 19 the month following the above-mentioned meeting of Committee, on 28th January 1779, it is Stated that certain Rules were agreed to, among which we quote the following:



"That all the money arising from said Degrees shall be kept separate from the funds of the Lodge, and a book purchased for keeping their own Minutes."



The record of the meeting at which the foregoing and other Rules were adopted, concludes as follows:



Eodem die



"The Brethren have agreed that none of the Members who shall be of these Degrees shall be art and part in making any Royal Arch Masons upon any pretence whatever within forty miles of Edinburgh unless in their own Lodge, and ordain an obligation to that effect: to be taken at their admission.



" The Brethren present elected:



Br. John Notman, Candlemaker, to be the Governor.

Brs. Wm. Lyon and Andw. Gloag, Assistants.

Brs. McLaren, Dick, A. Stewart, Gray, Cleghorn, Thomson, Miller, Zeigler, Robertson, and Bryson, Committee of Managers;



and ordains the Regalia to be kept and this night's expence paid by the Treasurer.



(Signed) "JOHN NOTMAN, ANDW. GLOAG, WM. LYON."



Thus was St. Stephen's Royal Arch Chapter and Knights Templar Encampment inaugurated and put on a business footing. It is unnecessary in connection with the history of the Lodge to make further allusion to these Orders.


To be continued...

http://www.rosslyntemplars.org.uk/ScottishKT.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 318 | From: Dorm Room | Registered: Oct 2005   
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #183 on: January 06, 2008, 03:50:50 am »

Danielle Gorree

Member
Member # 2633

Member Rated:
   posted 01-11-2006 06:48 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ORDO SUPREMUS MILITARIS TEMPLI HIEROSOLYMITANI®

The Magistral Grand Priory of The Holy Lands

(Notre Dame, Saint Mary of Magdalene)


The Torture of the Templars


Torture and Confessions

After the arrests, King Philip was under much pressure to extract as many

confessions from the prisoners as possible, because the arrests had been

done on such flimsy grounds. He had to be able to demonstrate that the

Order had indeed been a genuine threat to the Catholic faith and that he

had acted in the best interest of the Holy Church.


Philip's orders were very clear; All Templar houses were to be investigated

and a detailed inventory made of all possible items. All those on the

premises were to be arrested, well guarded, and isolated from each other.

Confessions were to be extracted from all captives, by any means necessary,

including torture if need be. To all those who confessed to the crimes

Philip listed, the baillis were allowed to offer full pardon. Those who protested their

innocence often found themselves in the rack, which of course rearranged

things in their memories and dug up several crimes and heresies the

Templars had taken part in. It must be remembered that many Templars were

from quiet rural houses, agrarian workers and servants, who had never seen

a live Muslim, much less fought with one. The effect of Philip's operation

was one of immediate and desperate terror, which helped Philip gather many

confessions even as the raid was still underway.



Philip saw to it that the Templars had no contact with each other to ward

off any attempts at defense. Single Templars who ventured to claim

innocence of either themselves or the Order as a whole were most often

tortured cruelly until they retracted their claims. They were subjected to

intense questioning, loss of sleep, deprivation of food either that bread

and water and arduous physical humiliation. Ato de Salvigny, Preceptor of

the Templar house of La Chappelle, sustained for four weeks in irons before

confessing to alleged crimes. The Inquisition did not need to put out

fully, since most of the Templars were but simple workers whose minds were

terrorized enough merely by the fact that they were in the hands of

the King and not the daily tasks of the Order. Still, there were several

methods of torture used;



1. The strappado - the victim was tied to a triangular frame with his hands

behind his back, lifted by the hands, only to be dropped and stopped a few

feet short of the ground, the jolt resulting in violent pain.



2. Sometimes weights were attached to the testicles of some prisoners

already strapped on the strappado.



3. Some prisoners had the soles of their feet rubbed with fat and then

subjected to flames until the fat caught fire. Bones dropped off Bernard de

Vaho's feet a few days after this treatment.



Surely it is easy to see why the methods proved extraordinarily successful.



Out of the 138 Templars questioned in Paris, 134 admitted to the charges

either in full or in part, and about the same rate applied throughout

France. In no time, Philip was able to begin preparing for the upcoming

trial. Obviously such results did not flood in from outside France, where

the Inquisition had no jurisdiction. Most Templars portrayed themselves as

hapless victims of a cruel and inhuman Order, which suited Philip just

fine, as it was against the Order he fought, not the individuals. The

confessors said they had committed the crimes ore et non corde, in the

mouth only and not in the heart, in vain attempts to save themselves. Very

few risked themselves by attempting to defend the Order.

http://www.ordotempli.org/torture_of_the_knights_templar.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 248 | Registered: Aug 2005 
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #184 on: January 06, 2008, 03:52:03 am »

 
Danielle Gorree

Member
Member # 2633

Member Rated:
   posted 01-11-2006 06:51 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dictionary Of The Occult And Supernatural
by Peter Underwood
The Popular Image Of Baphomet

The image of the Baphomet is as varied as the explanations of what it means and descriptions of it.

An idol with a human skull
A head with two faces
With a beard
Without a beard
With the head of a cockerel
With the head of a man
With the head of a goat and the body of a man but with wings and cloven feet

The more popular appearance of the demon, said to be a symbol of lust, generation and wisdom.
The head of the goat
The upper body of a woman (maternity)
Cloven hooves
A pair of wings
A candle on it's head (symbol of revelation) combining male sexual potency with the four elements (pentagram) and intelligence.

http://www.geocities.com/vampiricstudies/knights.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 248 | Registered: Aug 2005 
 
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #185 on: January 06, 2008, 03:52:27 am »

Artemis

Member
Member # 2687

Member Rated:
   posted 01-13-2006 05:59 PM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today being Friday the 13th, a day considered unlucky in many corners of the world.

The reason why it's considered unlucky?

On a Friday the 13th seven hundred years ago, the Pope had the Knights Templar rounded up and arrested, eventually, tortured, tried and burned to death.

Whatever bad Friday the 13th that came for any of us afterwards, an argument can be made that the one that the Templars had was still, hands down, the worst.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 137 | From: Mt. Olympus | Registered: Sep 2005   
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #186 on: January 06, 2008, 03:52:48 am »

 
Majestic

Member
Member # 2970

Rate Member   posted 02-06-2006 02:12 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Has anyone ever heard of a fleet of ships sailing west bearing the skull and cross bones flag not long after the persecution of the templars. This fleet was supposedly never seen again. Could the templars that escaped capture have found refuge in america. If so then is it likely that they made their living as pirates for the next few hundred years? That could of helped them amass the amount of wealth they needed to one day found a nation that would one day acomplish the goals they had so long wanted to

[ 02-06-2006, 11:26 AM: Message edited by: Majestic ]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 28 | From: Chicago Il. USA | Registered: Feb 2006   
 
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #187 on: January 06, 2008, 03:53:12 am »

Danielle Gorree

Member
Member # 2633

Member Rated:
   posted 02-14-2006 05:45 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi, yes, the Templar Fleet is reputed to have made it out of France before many of them were rounded up and executed. Some made it to Scotland and assisted Robert the Bruce.

The Templars did make it to the New World, before Columbus, and their mark is said to be found on graves in Nova Scotia.

As for the pirate connection, I have heard of that, and yet, we have yet to research it in any detail.

Welcome to the forum, by the way.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 248 | Registered: Aug 2005   
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #188 on: January 06, 2008, 03:53:41 am »

 
Danielle Gorree

Member
Member # 2633

Member Rated:
   posted 02-14-2006 05:49 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE TEMPLAR FLEET

KNIGHTS TEMPLAR: ERA 1118 TO 1312

THE TEMPLARS HAD ENORMOUS WEALTH AND A FLEET THAT MADE THEM HIGHLY MANEUVERABLE. THEY HAD THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL BANKING STRUCTURE IN PLACE IN THE 12th CENTURY. THEY HAD CONNECTIONS WITH THE PERSIAN EMPIRE, WHICH CONTROLLED MOST OF THE TRADING ROUTES. TEMPLARS HAD A SECRET CODE THAT THEY USED INSTEAD TO TRANSPORT NOTES FROM FORT TO FORT FOR MERCHANTS AND CHARGED INTEREST FOR DOING SO. THE MERCHANT'S GOLD WAS SAFE AT THE END OF THEIR TREK AND THE CODED MESSAGE DELIVERED THEM THIER GOLD. THE MIDDLE AGES WAS A TIME OF PERSIANS RAIDING WANDERING MERCHANTS AND FUEDAL LANDOWNERS CHARGING BRIBES TO PASS THROUGH THEIR LANDS, SOMETIMES ROBBING AND KILLING THEM. THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR HELPED TO CONTROL THE TRADING ROUTES. ALAN


Material wealth in the early twelfth century was almost invariably based on land and feudal dues. The Knights Templar owned estates of varying size scattered throughout every climatic zone in Europe from Denmark, Scotland and the Orkney Islands in the north, to France, Italy and Spain in the south. Their commercial interests were impressive and varied and their activities included the operation of farms, vineyards, stone quarries and mines. As a result of their two-fold interest in protecting pilgrims on the one hand and maintaining communications with their operative bases in the Holy Land on the other, the Templars operated a well-organised fleet which exceeded that of any state at the time. For military purposes, this included a number of highly maneuverable war galleys fitted with rams and for the purpose of carrying pilgrims, troops, horses and commercial cargoes, they owned a large number of ships which plied the Mediterranean between bases in Italy, France, Spain and the Holy Land. Their main seat of naval power in the Mediterranean was on the Island of Majorca, while their principal port on the Atlantic coast was the highly ified harbour of La Rochelle from where, it is alleged, they conducted trade with Greenland, the British Isles, the North American mainland and Mexico. Within fifty years of their foundation, the Knights Templar had become a commercial force equal in power to many states; within a hundred years they had developed into the medieval pre-cursors of multi-national conglomerates with interests in every form of commercial activity of that time and were far richer than any kingdom in Europe.

http://alandpeters.tripod.com/knightstemplarera1188to1312/id3.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 248 | Registered: Aug 2005
 
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #189 on: January 06, 2008, 03:54:32 am »

Danielle Gorree

Member
Member # 2633

Member Rated:
   posted 02-14-2006 05:53 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Jolly Roger and the Knight Templars



Legend has it that the Jolly Roger obtained its appellation from the French name for the red flag, the "Jolie Rouge." And so it may be, for the flag was first used by a French order of militant monks known as the "Poor Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon" - commonly known as the Knights Templar.

The Templars, were pious men. They gave up all their worldly possessions when they entered the Order, only carrying money on special occasions when they traveled alone, turning over whatever money that remained upon reaching their destination. They were ferocious warriors; pitching themselves into the midst of their enemies, astride charging warhorses, against incredible odds. Contemporaries had this to say of Templars:

The Templars were most excellent soldiers. They wear white mantles with a red cross, and when they go to war a standard of two colors called balzaus is borne before them. They go in silence. Their first attack is the most terrible. In going, they are the first. In returning, the last. They await the orders of their Master. When they think fit to make war and the trumpet has sounded, they sing in chorus the Psalm of David, "Not unto us, O Lord" kneeling on the blood and necks of the enemy, unless they have forced the troops of the enemy to retire altogether, or utterly broken them to pieces. Should any of them for any reason turn his back to the enemy, or come forth alive [from a defeat], or bear arms against the Christians, he is severely punished; the white mantle with the red cross, which is the sign of his knighthood, is taken away with ignominy, he is cast from the society of brethren, and eats his food on the floor without a napkin for the space of one year. If the dogs molest him, he does not dare to drive them away. But at the end of the year, if the Master and brethren think his penance to have been sufficient, they restore him the belt of his former knighthood. These Templars live under a strict religious rule, obeying humbly, having no private property, eating sparingly, dressing meanly, and dwelling in tents.

"The warriors are gentler than lambs and fiercer than lions, wedding the mildness of the monk with the valor of the knight, so that it is difficult to decide which to call them: men to adorn the Temple of Solomon with weapons instead of gems, with shields instead of crowns of gold, with saddles and bridles instead of candelabra: eager for victory -- not fame; for battle not for pomp; who abhor wasteful speech, unnecessary action, unmeasured laughter, gossip and chatter, as they despise all vain things: who, in spite of their being many, live in one house according to one rule, with one soul and one heart." -- St. Bernard of Clairvaux

"in turn lions of war and lambs at the hearth; rough knights on the battlefield, pious monks in the chapel; formidable to the enemies of Christ, gentleness itself towards His friends." -Jacques de Vitry

Being men of principle; their rules of conduct were strict. They were willing to die for their beliefs, and so were feared on the battlefield and respected in life. Such was their reputation, that in battle, there were instances where the enemy would turn and run at the very sight of Templars entering the field. Their Rule of Order stated that breaking rank was worthy of losing ones habit. They neither asked nor gave quarter; the were expected to fight until death stayed their sword arm. Retreat from an enemy would not be countenanced unless the odds were greater than three to one against them and they were forbidden to ransom themselves if captured. They fought like men possessed, either prevailing in their cause, or suffering death under the banner of Gol'gotha - the place of the skull - where their Christ died.

Templars were not to succumb to the temptation of thinking that they killed in a spirit of hate and fury, nor that they seized booty in a spirit of greed. For the Templars did not hate men, but men's wrongdoing.

They were dedicated to the protection of travelers and pilgrims of all religions, though they themselves were Christians, in fact many Templars were of Palestinian birth, spoke perfect Arabic, and were familiar with every religious sect, cult, and magical doctrine, including that of the Islamic Assassins. The Grand Master Philip of Nablus (1167 A.D.) was a Syrian. They were great statesmen, politically adept economic traders, and they were allied with the great sailor-fraternity that had created a worldwide trading empire in Phoenician times. They became immensely powerful - had the largest fleet and the most successful banking system in Europe. But they could not sustain their grip on the Holy Land. Their losses were too great, and they were eventually driven off the Levant by Saladin, their Moslem adversary, in 1291. They continued to fight for their cause in the only manner they could - on the high seas.

The best known Templar pirate ship was the Falcon, "the greatest that had been built at that time. She was in the harbor when the fortress of Acre fell "and rescued many 'ladies and damsels and great treasure and many important people by evacuating them to Atlit.

After the orderly navel evacuation of Atlit, the Templars retreated to their Mediterranean island bases on Cyprus, Rhodes and Sicily. Until their dissolution, they, together with the Order of St. John, continued as the foremost maritime powers in the Mediterranean, continuing to effectively wage war on Moslem shipping.

The Templars were still very powerful but in the eyes of European monarchs and the Church, the Templars raison d'tre had ceased with the loss of the Holy Lands. Jealousy and covetousness reigned. Phillip IV, who was deeply in dept to the Order, had seen their treasures stored in Paris, and designed to make it his own.

On Friday morning October 13th 1307 - and the reason for which Friday the 13th has become known as an unlucky day - King Phillip IV together with Avignonese Pope Clement V, ruthlessly suppressed the Order throughout Europe, with false accusations, arrests, torture and executions. Though they were offered commuted sentences and comfortable lives if they would renounce their Order and plead guilty to the charges, for some mysterious reason, they preferred to remain true to their principles and received their punishment.

A large number of Templars escaped that day to an uncertain future, and found refuge abroad. On the eve of the arrests, the entire Templar fleet mysteriously vanished from the port of La Rochelle carrying with it a vast fortune, the fate of which remains a mystery down to this day.

Just as a terrorist to one is a freedom fighter to another, so it was with the Templars and their fleet. Wanted by the Pope and all the crowns of Europe, they came to be viewed, by the "comfortable folks" on the mainland, as pirates.

After being driven out of the Holy Land as well as Europe, but still formidable at sea, the refugee Templars found sanctuary in Scotland, where Templar graves bear witness to them having lived and died there in the fourteenth century. King Robert the Bruce had no interest in persecuting the Order, in spite of a papal bull ordering him to do precisely that. To the contrary, he took advantage of their fugitive status, offering them asylum in return for their help in his war for independence against King Edward II of England. Templars have been suggested as the source of mounted soldiers who assisted Robert the Bruce's Scots Guard at the battle of Bannockburn, as the Scots did not have a mounted force.

As the Scots Guard continued through the years, two of the prominent families involved in its history were the Sinclairs and the Stuarts. Both families trace their lineage back to members of the Knights Templar, as well as to prominent figures of the New Testament. Hugues de Payns the first Grand Master of the Templars was married to a Sinclair.

There is also evidence that the Templar fleet traveled to North America in 1398 (almost 100 years before Columbus) with the Sinclairs, and settled there at least temporarily. Connections are made between the tower ruins along the eastern coast of the United States, objects discovered in the Oak Island "Money Pit", and the Templar Order.

The Sinclairs (or Saint-Clairs) castle near Edinburgh, was situated next to Rosslyn chapel, which was constructed by the Sinclairs according to the floorplan of Solomon's original temple. Engraved in the masonry around the chapel are maize and aloe plants, which grew only in North America.

Throughout Scotland, as well as within Rosslyn Chapel, there are carvings and tombstones dating back to the 15th, 16th, and 17th century using combinations of Templar imagery (skull and crossbones, Templar swords, Templar crosses) and Masonic symbols (compass and square).

The Stuart royal house became one of Freemasonry's biggest supporters during their reign of Scotland and England.

Some also suggest that the rituals used in modern Freemasonry have their origins in the ancient texts discovered by the Templars in the ruins of Solomon's Temple while excavating to build their stables. Recent archaeological digs in the area have supported this theory by finding several Templar artifacts buried beneath the temple. In the 1950's, a scroll made entirely of copper was discovered in the caves near Qumran. When translated with the other "Dead Sea Scrolls", this "Copper Scroll", as it has become known, was identified as a treasure map listing various precious metals, religious artifacts, and writings supposedly buried beneath the temple in Jerusalem.

By the 17th and 18th centuries, the skull and crossbones was a symbol with a powerful reputation but identified with no official organization. The Templars had long since gone underground and evolved into other organizations. The symbol was usurped and came to be associated with the pirates of which we are more familiar. They changed the flag to suit their needs replacing the crossbones with swords, adding hourglasses or other symbols.

http://www.greyfriars51.fsnet.co.uk/the_jolly_roger.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 248 | Registered: Aug 2005   
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #190 on: January 06, 2008, 03:55:00 am »

Ishtar

Member
Member # 736

  posted 02-14-2006 07:07 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You are right, I have always known about man. From the evidence, I believe his wisdom must walk hand and hand with his idiocy. His emotions must rule his brain. He must be a warlike creature who gives battle to everything around him, even himself.

You know the saying, "Human see, human do."

Somewhere in the Universe, there must be something better than man!

[ 02-14-2006, 10:28 AM: Message edited by: Deborah ]

--------------------
“Ad initio, alea iacta est.”
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
it's Later Than You Think
http://forums.atlantisrising.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=28;t=000023;p=1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 9824 | Registered: Feb 2002   
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #191 on: January 06, 2008, 03:55:27 am »

 
Ishtar

Member
Member # 736

  posted 02-14-2006 11:25 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I woke up this morning and the topic of love, and evolution, and intelligent design, were on my mind.

If we are just evolved primates,

When did "humans" originate?

The answer to that question really depends on what traits are meant by the term "human."

haha, lol

So in that vein of thought we cannot judge one another for war, or any of the negative emotions, because we are all basically soulless animals, with emotions that are Instinctively necessary for survival.

There is no logic to it, or love, or compassion, because all these instinct are just animalistic survival instincts, so the next time we think we are above someone else, think again, you just as likely to find a reason to fight to survive for what you believe is in the best interest of your tribe, and survival.

We are so basic, and our desperate instinct for survival still rules or hearts and heads.

There is no need to worry about love for it is just another animal instinct to preserve the survival of the species or community.

It is all about the survival of the genes.

There is no need to judge one for hate because hate is just another survival mechanism.

There is no need to judge Christians or Muslim for the crusades, we cannot judge anyone, for anything, because we have these animal instincts.

What would you fight for?

What would be important enough to you, to you or your loved ones survival, or what you perceive as you or your tribes survival?

If you think you are beyond warlike, think again.

we're a bunch of asylum escapees, hallucinating some vastly inaccurate version of a reality we can never hope to know.

--------------------
“Ad initio, alea iacta est.”
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
it's Later Than You Think
http://forums.atlantisrising.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=28;t=000023;p=1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 9824 | Registered: Feb 2002
 
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #192 on: January 06, 2008, 03:56:11 am »

Jeremy Dokken

Member
Member # 2877

Member Rated:
   posted 03-06-2006 01:27 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Templars and the Shroud of Turin
Article By © Stephen Dafoe


Any discussion of the Shroud of Turin is bound to be controversial. Those who view this sacred and holy relic fall into two camps, those that believe it to be the undisputed earthly evidence of a Christ risen and those who believe it to be a medieval forgery.

It is not the intention of this web site to cast doubt on or support the authenticity of the shroud, but rather to show its possible relationship to the Knights Templar. We receive many letters from angry people who wish to enter into lengthy debates about carbon 14 reliability. We are aware of new evidence that puts the reliability of carbon 14 dating in question, so please refrain from telling us of the findings or directing us to URL's that make the claims.

There are two theories that relate to the Templars having been involved with the Shroud, one, which would support the authenticity of the Shroud and another, which would refute it.

In 1204 the Crusaders sacked the city of Constantinople. Among them were the Knights Templar, whom some scholars contend took the Burial shroud of Jesus from the city. To support this theory, author Ian Wilson who wrote the book "The Shroud of Turin: Burial Cloth Of Jesus?" makes the claim that the head that the Templars were accused of worshipping was none other than that of Jesus. His belief is that the Shroud when folded depicted the head of Christ and was referred to as the "Mandylion." There is a painted panel at Templecombe in England that shows a bearded head like that, which is depicted on the Mandylion.

In their two books, "The Hiram Key" and "The Second Messiah," authors Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas paint a contrasting picture to the Mandylion theory. The authors theorize that the image on the Shroud of Turin is in fact that of the last Grand Master of the order, Jacques de Molay, who was tortured some months before his execution in 1307. The image on the shroud certainly does fit the description of De Molay as depicted in medieval wood cuts, a long nose, hair shoulder length and parted in the center, a full beard that forked at its base, not to mention the six-foot frame. De Molay was said to be quite tall.

However, many have criticized the theory on the basis that the Templar rule of order forbade the Templars from growing their hair long. What critics of the theory overlook is that during DeMolay's seven years in prison it is highly unlikely that he would have been afforded such luxuries as good grooming.

Knight and Lomas claim that the shroud figured in the Templars rituals of figurative resurrection and that DeMolay's tortured body was wrapped in a shroud, which the Templars kept after his death. Lomas and Knight further believe that lactic acid and blood from DeMolay's tortured body mixed with frankincense (used to whiten the cloth) etching his image into the shroud.

When the shroud was first put on display in 1357 (50 years after the disbanding of the order) by the family of Geoffrey de Charney who was also burned at the stake with De Molay, the first people viewing the shroud recognized the image to be that of Christ.

The authors theorize that Jacques de Molay may have been tortured in a manner similar to Christ as a mockery. Certainly then, the wounds suffered by De Molay where the same as those of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

Today it is commonly believed by many, through carbon dating, that the shroud dates to the late 13th century and not to the date of Christ's supposed crucifixion. It is interesting that the church revealed these carbon dating results on October 13th, 1989, which is the same day the Templars were arrested by Church and State. According to the authors:

"Carbon dating has conclusively shown that the Shroud of Turin dates from between 1260 and 1380, precisely as we would expect if it were the image of Jacques de Molay. There is no other known theory that fits the scientifically established facts. Through experimentation, we know that the figure on the Shroud was on a soft bed of some kind, which strongly suggests that the victim was not dead and was expected to recover."

The Second Messiah pg. 161
Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas
Permission granted by authors for the use of above quote.

Regardless of whether the findings of Ian Wilson or Knight and Lomas are correct, it is evident that this most holy and venerated relic has found its way into the Templar mythos.

Lynn Picknet and Clive Prince, authors of "Turin Shroud: In Whose Image?" present another theory of interest on the matter. Readers will recognize the authors from the book, "The Templar Revelation." In the authors' earlier book the duo claim that Leonardo Da Vinci who created an early photographic technique manufactured the image on the shroud of Turin.


http://www.templarhistory.com/shroud.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 214 | Registered: Dec 2005   
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #193 on: January 06, 2008, 03:57:31 am »

Jason

Member
Member # 2807

Member Rated:
   posted 03-06-2006 08:49 PM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excerpted from Amazon Books Review / The Templar Treasure at Gisors, by Jean Markale. Copyright © 2003.
Language Notes Text: English (translation) Original Language: French
About the Author Poet, philosopher, historian, and storyteller, Jean Markale has spent a lifetime researching pre-Christian and medieval culture and spirituality. He is the author of more than 40 books, including The Druids, The Pagan Mysteries of Halloween, Merlin, Women of the Celts, and The Epics of Celtic Ireland. He is a specialist in Celtic studies at the Sorbonne and lives in the Brittany region of France.
From Part 1, Chapter 3: The great fascination explorers of the past hold for the Templars is that following the official annihilation of the order in 1314, they disappeared without a trace. The same fascination is held for the Druids, who melted into their natural surroundings following the Roman conquest. Under these conditions it is hardly surprising that from time to time souvenirs-real or imaginary-of both of these groups are found in the more obscure though abundant corridors of history. . .
The interesting hypothesis presented by Gérard de Sède in Les Templiers sont parmi nous . . . is that Gisors is the place where the Templars buried their treasure and secret documents the night before their arrest. It is true that when the agents of Philip the Fair, on the morning of October 13, 1307, went to arrest the Templars and confiscate the property of the Temple, they found nothing-neither gold, nor precious vessels, nor objects of worship, nor documents of any kind. It is a valid assumption, then, that the Templars, who had been warned in advance about the date of the arrest, had been able to find a safe haven for what they most valued.
This was a setback for Philip the Fair, who thought to take possession of not only the Templars' wealth-however much there may have been-but also of compromising documents that would have permitted a speedy trial of the Templars and a condemnation of the order not subject to appeal . . .
A tenacious tradition, apparently based on the document published by Gérard de Sède, claims that during the night before the arrest, heavy carts left the Temple of Paris in a westerly direction, toward Gisors, naturally, where their contents would have been concealed within a crypt of the castle whose location was known only to the Templars. In other words, the famous chapel beneath the keep [at Gisors] . . . is said to have contained the treasure and/or the Templar archives. Unfortunately, this ingenious theory does not stand up to analysis. . .
So there is an impassable divide between what is known for certain and the claims that the Temple's treasure and the archives of the order were buried in a crypt beneath the castle of Gisors or in the Saint-Catherine Chapel (which, if you recall, was built two centuries after the disappearance of the Temple).
The scenario is not without charm, but it has no relationship to either historical reality or archaeological evidence. . . Gisors is the focal point of an inextricable tangle of probabilities, uncertainties, and suppositions. But it is also the crossroads and intersection of all the paths that might lead to a coherent explanation for the Templar mystery.
There is not, or rather, there is no longer a Saint-Catherine Chapel. But the underground tunnels of Gisors certainly exist and they have never been entirely excavated. Furthermore, each time an entrance to them has been opened, it has been vigilantly sealed again-even to the extent of being filled with cement.
For what reason? . . . We know that areas beneath the castle and beneath the church of Gisors have been excavated but have never officially led to any precise discoveries, and that no efforts have been made to enable these searches to reach a positive outcome. Is the reason for this to allow for any hypothesis on the treasure hidden in the basement of Gisors? . . . In an affair where the "almosts" sometimes have the value of certainties, why couldn't we indulge in a few word games? This practice was common during the Middle Ages, the time of the Templars, and was employed by authors of serious reputation. It was believed that in the underground passages of the castle lay gold [gisent ors], but this was incorrect. The Templars' treasure and archives, if they ever existed or if they still exist, lie outside [gisent hors]. It is perhaps up to us to discover in what part of memory they have been buried.
[From Part 3: The Mystery of the Templars, Chapter 1: The Secret Rule of the Temple]
The papal bull of 1312, which abolished the order, did not shy away from noting "the mysterious manner in which one is received into the order" or "the oath demanded of each of them to never reveal anything about their admission."
There is a strong impression that the Templars, since the founding of the order, did all they could to encourage the doubt and mystery hovering over their activities, and this became even more pronounced as the order expanded.
The well-known official rule specified certain cases in which secrecy was obligatory . . . This fierce desire for secrecy obviously excited curiosity and left them open to all kinds of criticism . . . But this interdiction against revealing chapter deliberations was justifiable, even if it became the source of so many fabrications.
It is legitimate, however, to wonder why it was forbidden to possess a copy of the official rule without special authorization and why it was feared that the rule might fall into the hands of outsiders and possibly put the order at risk . . . Even more troubling is the interdiction against all Templars confessing to priests other than chaplains of the order or, in other words, the insistence that members confess only to priests belonging to the order and bound to it by the same obligations of secrecy. Another prohibition of the order that was difficult to comprehend and perceived negatively was that forbidding brothers from leaving the order. When one entered the Templars, it was for life . . .
Gisors Site Map

http://groups.msn.com/TemplarChronicles/thetemplartreasureatgisors.msnw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 318 | From: Dorm Room | Registered: Oct 2005   
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Archangel
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4627



« Reply #194 on: January 06, 2008, 03:58:14 am »

Rachel Dearth

Member
Member # 2709

Member Rated:
   posted 04-24-2006 12:42 AM                       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First Knights Templar are discovered


April 10, 2006

LONDON: The first bodies of the Knights Templar, the mysterious religious order at the heart of The Da Vinci Code, have been found by archaeologists near the River Jordan in northern Israel.

British historian Tom Asbridge yesterday hailed the find as the first provable example of actual Knights Templar.

The remains were found beneath the ruined walls of Jacob's Ford, an overthrown

castle dating back to the Crusades, which had been lost for centuries.

They can be dated to the exact day -- August 29, 1179 -- that they were killed by Saladin, the feared Muslim leader who captured the fortress.

"Never before has it been possible to trace their remains to such an exact time in history,' Mr Asbridge said. "This discovery is the equivalent of the Holy Grail to archaeologists and historians. It is unparalleled."

http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,18761160-5001027,00.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 143 | Registered: Sep 2005
Report Spam   Logged

Beware the All-Seeing Eye. It watches you even as you sleep. The power touches every corner of the earth.
Pages: 1 ... 7 8 9 10 11 12 [13] 14 15 16   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy