What is the origin of the Knights Templar, and how are they connected with the Freemasons?
The Knights Templar were created by a French nobleman, Hughes de Paynes in 1119. Hughes de Payens gathered nine of his knighted relatives and began the Order of the Knights Templar. Their mission was to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land. They set their base of operations near the Temple Mount, which is now known as Al Aqsa.
The Temple Mount is a sacred place for Christians, Jews, and Muslims, it is said to be in the same location as the Temple of Solomon, and a one time resting place for the Ark of the Covenant, that’s right Indian Jones fans, the same Lost Ark the Raiders were looking for.
After two hundred years in 1312 Pope Clement V officially dissolved the order, which by then had grown considerably from its original ten members. Many of these knights refused to give up the order and fled, many to Scotland under the protection of Robert the Bruce, that’s right Braveheart fans, who was under no obligation to follow the Pope’s decree. At the time of the dissolving of the order there were 15,000 “Templar Houses” what happened to all these member of the Knights Templar is not quite known today. It is assumed most of them fled to various places.
In the 1700′s freemasonry became public and they started using symbols and traditions of the Knights Templar. While there is no evidence that the fleeing Knights became the Freemasons, it remains a possibility.
