CHAPTER I

The crusades were a barbaric attack on the Middle Eastern Muslim population, living in peace.

Philip III the Bold & the Crusades – Library of Rickandria

Although the crusaders are commonly thought to have been motivated by their deep Christian faith, crusades were actually wars inspired by avarice.

Christian Program & Purpose – Library of Rickandria

At a time of utmost poverty and misery prevalent in the West, the attractions of the East-in particular, the Muslim societies' wealth and prosperity-played on the minds of Europeans, especially those in the Church.

The Dark History of the Vatican – Library of Rickandria

These attractions, bolstered with Christian teachings, begot the crusaders' mindset, seemly motivated by religion but actually motivated by worldly designs.

Exposing Christianity – Library of Rickandria

This is the reason why Christians, who had followed more or less peaceful policies in the previous 1,000 years, suddenly began to display an appetite for war-specifically, the "liberation" of the holy city of Jerusalem and Palestine as a whole.

The Real Tetragrammaton: Further Exposing Christianity – Library of Rickandria

We can retrace the beginnings of the crusades to November 1095, when Pope Urban II gathered the Council of Clermont.

Pope Urban II (Latin: Urbanus II; c. 1035 – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening the Council of Clermont which ignited the series of Christian military expeditions known as the Crusades.

Council of Clermont - Wikipedia

Three hundred members of the clergy convened under his chairmanship.

The pacifist doctrines that had dominated Christendom were abandoned, laying the foundations for the conquest.

Breaking Free of Christianity – Library of Rickandria

At the close of the Council, Urban II announced this state of affairs in his famous speech to a congregation that comprised all social classes, demanding that Christians stop the infighting and warring among themselves.

Why It Can Be Difficult to Deprogram from Christian Indoctrination – Library of Rickandria

The Pope called on them-whether rich or poor, aristocrat or peasant-to unite under one banner and to free the holy land from the Muslims.

The Real Truth: Jews Promote Christianity & Islam – Library of Rickandria

To him, this was "a holy war."

Historians describe Urban II as a good orator.

He intended to incite the Christians against Muslim Turks and Arabs, and succeeded by alleging that the Muslim were assaulting pilgrims and that Christianity's sacred places were being desecrated. [1]
 
Real History of Christianity – Library of Rickandria

Of course, none of this was true.

As historians have confirmed, the Muslims were very tolerant towards Christians and Jews, whom they permitted to pray and worship.

Exposing the Jews – Library of Rickandria

All minorities co-existing in the Holy Land benefited equally from this atmosphere of tranquility, created by the moral code of Islam.

But because means of communication at the time were terribly primitive compared to today's, medieval Europeans weren't aware of this.

Owing allegiance to the Vatican in Rome and conducting services in Latin, they knew little about the Eastern Orthodox Church or the Greek-speaking Byzantium, and even less about Islam.

ROME – Library of Rickandria

Since what the common people did know amounted to nothing more than hearsay, the Pope found it easy to excite their emotions.

Urban II went on to proclaim as an encouragement that for those who participated in the crusade, all sins would be forgiven.

The exuberant crowd was distributed fabric crosses to emblazon their garments, and they dispersed to spread the word of the "holy war."

The overwhelming response to this call made history. In a very short period of time, a massive "crusaders' army" was assembled, consisting of not only professional warriors, but also ten thousands of ordinary people.

Some historians suggest that the impoverished kings of Christendom, eager to exploit the fabled riches of the East, pressurized the Pope to call a "holy war."

Others find an altogether different motive for Pope Urban II, suggesting that he wished to gain power and prestige for himself at the expense of a rival claiming to be pope.

But in reality, all the various:

• kings
• princes
• aristocrats

and others who obliged this call did so for worldly purposes.

Thrones infiltrated – Library of Rickandria

Donald E. Queller
Fellow: Awarded 1972
Field of Study: Renaissance History
University of Illinois, Urbana

As Donald Queller of the University of Illinois put it,

"The French knights wanted more land.

Italian merchants hoped to expand trade in Middle Eastern ports. . .

Large numbers of poor people joined the expeditions simply to escape the hardships of their normal lives." 2

On the way, greedy hordes murdered countless Muslims and Jews in the hope of finding gold and jewels.

Gold for Humans & Others… – Library of Rickandria

Among crusaders, it was common practice to disembowel their victims in the hopes that they might have swallowed their gold and jewels to hide them.

In the Fourth Crusade, their avarice reached the point where they looted Christian Constantinople, scratching gold leaf off the frescos in the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia.

The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid Sultanate. However, a sequence of economic and political events culminated in the Crusader army's 1202 siege of Zara and the 1204 sack of Constantinople, rather than the conquest of Egypt as originally planned. This led to the Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae or the partition of the Byzantine Empire by the Crusaders and their Venetian allies leading to a period known as Frankokratia, or "Rule of the Franks" in Greek.

Barbarism of the Crusaders

In the summer of 1096, this mob of self-appointed crusaders set off in three separate groups, each taking a different route to Constantinople, where they met up with one another.

The Byzantine Emperor, Alexius I, did what he could to aid this force, comprising 4,000 mounted knights and 25,000 infantry troops. [3]

Alexios I Komnenos (Greek: Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, translit. Aléxios Komnēnós, c. 1057 – 15 August 1118), Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Inheriting a collapsing empire and faced with constant warfare during his reign, Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Seljuk Turks were the catalyst that sparked the First Crusade. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne.

• Raymond IV of Saint-Gilles, Count of Toulouse
• Bohemond, Prince of Taranto
• Godfrey of Bouillon
• Hugh, Count of Vermandois

and Robert I, Duke of Normandy commanded this army.

Bishop Adhemar of le Puy, the close friend of Urban II, was their spiritual leader. [4]

Adhemar (also known as Adémar, Aimar, or Aelarz) de Monteil (died 1 August 1098) was one of the principal figures of the First Crusade and was bishop of Puy-en-Velay from before 1087. He was the chosen representative of Pope Urban II for the expedition to the Holy Land. Remembered for his martial prowess, he led knights and men into battle and fought beside them, particularly at the Battle of Dorylaeum and Siege of Antioch. Adhemar is said to have carried the Holy Lance in the Crusaders’ desperate breakout at Antioch on 28 June 1098, in which superior Islamic forces under the atabeg Kerbogha were routed, securing the city for the Crusaders. He died in 1098 due to illness.

After ransacking and setting fire to many settlements and putting countless Muslims to the sword, eventually the crusaders reached Jerusalem in 1099.

After a siege of approximately five weeks, the city fell.

When the victors finally entered Jerusalem, according to one historian,

"They killed all the Saracens and the Turks they found... whether male or female." [5]

One of the crusaders, Raymond of Aguilers, boasts of this incredible cruelty:

Wonderful sights were to be seen.

Some of our men (and this was more merciful) cut off the heads of their enemies; others shot them with arrows, so that they fell from the towers; others tortured them longer by casting them into flames.

Piles of heads, hands and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city.

It was necessary to pick one's way over the bodies of men and horses.

But these were small matters compared to what happened at the Temple of Solomon, a place where religious services are normally chanted . . . in the temple and the porch of Solomon, men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins. [7]

In The Monks of War, researcher Desmond Seward narrates the events of these tragic days:

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. [8]

The monks of war: the military religious orders - Anna’s Archive (annas-archive.org)

The first crusade ended with the fall of Jerusalem in 1099.

The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic rule. While Jerusalem had been under Muslim rule for hundreds of years, by the 11th century the Seljuk takeover of the region threatened local Christian populations, pilgrimages from the West, and the Byzantine Empire itself. The earliest initiative for the First Crusade began in 1095 when Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military support from the Council of Piacenza in the empire's conflict with the Seljuk-led Turks. This was followed later in the year by the Council of Clermont, during which Pope Urban II supported the Byzantine request for military assistance and also urged faithful Christians to undertake an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

After 460 years of Muslim rule, the Holy Land came under Christian control.

The crusaders established a Latin kingdom that stretched from Palestine to Antioch and made Jerusalem its capital city.

One of these orders went down a different route, undergoing a change that would significantly alter the course of history in Europe and-eventually-the world:

Founding of the Knights Templar

About 20 years after the conquest of Jerusalem and the creation of a Latin Empire, the Templars first appeared on the scene of history.

Otherwise known as Templars or Knights Templar, the order's full and proper name was Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis, or "Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon."

(A major part of the information we have today on the Templars was recorded by the 12th century historian Guillaume of Tyre.)

William of Tyre (Latin: Willelmus Tyrensis; c. 1130 – 29 September 1186) was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I, the Englishman, a former prior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, who was Archbishop of Tyre from 1127 to 1135. He grew up in Jerusalem at the height of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which had been established in 1099 after the First Crusade, and he spent twenty years studying the liberal arts and canon law in the universities of Europe.

The order was founded in 1118 by nine knights:

Hugo de Paganis, better known by the French translation Hugues de Payens or Payns (c. 1070 – 24 May 1136), was the co-founder and first Grand Master of the Knights Templar. In association with Bernard of Clairvaux, he created the Latin Rule, the code of behavior for the Order.

Godfrey of Saint-Omer (also known as Gaufred, Godefroi, or Geoffrey de St Omer, Saint Omer) was a Flemish knight and one of the founding members of the Knights Templar in 1119.

André de Montbard (founding member, 1118) (later Grand Master, 1153–1156)

List of Knights Templar - Wikipedia

Thus was quietly born one of the most talked-about, effective and powerful organizations of Medieval Europe.

These nine knights presented themselves to Baldwin II, the Emperor of Jerusalem, asking him to assign them the responsibility of protecting the lives and property of the many Christian pilgrims now flocking to Jerusalem from all over Europe.

Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq or Bourg (French: Baudouin; c. 1075 – 21 August 1131), was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied his cousins Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the Holy Land during the First Crusade. He succeeded Baldwin of Boulogne as the second count of Edessa when he left the county for Jerusalem following his brother's death. He was captured at the Battle of Harran in 1104. He was held first by Sökmen of Mardin, then by Jikirmish of Mosul, and finally by Jawali Saqawa. During his captivity, Tancred, the Crusader ruler of the Principality of Antioch, and Tancred's cousin, Richard of Salerno, governed Edessa as Baldwin's regents.

The Emperor knew Hugues de Payens, the first Grand Master of the order, well enough to grant the nine their request.

Accordingly, the district where Solomon's Temple once stood (and by then, included the site of the al-Aqsa Mosque, which survives to this day), was allocated to the order of the Templars, giving the order its name.

The Temple Mount thus remained the order's headquarters for the next 70 years until, following the battle of Hattin, the great Islamic commander Saladin reconquered Jerusalem for the Muslims.

Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub[a] (c. 1137 – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, he spearheaded the Muslim military effort against the Crusader states in the Levant. At the height of his power, the Ayyubid realm spanned Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen, and Nubia.

The Templars had established themselves there by choice, because the site of the Temple represented the earthly power of Prophet Solomon; and the remnants of the temple contained big secrets.

Protecting the Holy Land and the Christian pilgrims was the official reason the nine founders gave for joining forces and for creating the order in the first place.

But the true reason behind it all was altogether different.
 

The Order's Mission

At the time, there were a number of other orders of warrior monks in Jerusalem, but all acting according to their charters.

Besides training as soldiers, the Knights of St. John - a large organization also known as the Knights Hospitallers - took care of the sick and the poor and were performing other good deeds in the Holy Land.

The Templars, however, had taken it upon themselves to protect the lands between Haifa and Jerusalem-a physical impossibility for the nine knights to shoulder all by themselves.

Even then, it was now obvious that they sought political as well as economic gains, quite aside from performing works of charity.

The famous Grand Master Albert Pike, with his book titled Morals and Dogma

In Morals and Dogma, one of Freemasonry's most popular books, Grand Master Albert Pike (1809-1891) reveals the Templars' true purpose:

The avowed object of the Templars was to protect the Christians who came to visit the Holy Places:

"Devoted to . . . opposition to the tiara of Rome and the crown of its Chiefs. . ."

"Intrigue and at need fight to establish the Johannite or Gnostic and Kabbalistic dogma. . ."

Adding to the information that Pike provides, the English authors of The Hiram Key, Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas - both Masons - write about the Templars' origin and purpose.

According to them, the Templars discovered "a secret" in the ruins of the temple.

This then changed their worldview; and from then on, they adopted un-Christian teachings.

Their "protection for pilgrims" became a front behind which they hid their real intent and activities.

There is no evidence that these founding Templars ever gave protection to pilgrims, but on the other hand, we were soon to find that there is conclusive proof that they did conduct extensive excavations under the ruins of Herod's Temple [as Solomon's temple was called after Herod rebuilt it]. [11]

The authors of The Hiram Key are not the only researchers finding evidence for this.

The Hiram key: pharaohs, Freemasons, and the discovery of the secret scrolls of Jesus - Anna’s Archive (annas-archive.org)

Writes the French historian, Gaetan Delaforge:

The real task of the nine knights was to carry out research in the area, in order to obtain certain relics and manuscripts which contain the essence of the secret traditions of Judaism and ancient Egypt… [12]

In The Hiram Key, Knight and Lomas conclude that the Templars excavated items of such importance at the site that they adopted a wholly new world view.

Many other historians draw similar conclusions.

The order's founders and their successors were all of Christian upbringing, yet their philosophy of life was not a Christian one.

Some seals and maps from the era of the crusades:

From left to right:

• A sketch showing the centers of religious importance in Jerusalem
• Seal of Frederick III
• another map of Jerusalem
• front and back of the crusader king Baldwin's seal
• front and back of the Cesaree Archbishop's seal

At the end of the 19th century, Charles Wilson of the Royal Engineers, began conducting archeological research in Jerusalem.

He concluded that the Templars had gone to Jerusalem to study the temple's ruins and, from the evidence Wilson obtained there, that the Templars had set themselves up in the vicinity of the temple to facilitate excavation and research.

The tools that the Templars left behind form part of the evidence Wilson gathered and are now in the private collection of the Scottish Robert Brydon. [13]

According to the authors of The Hiram Key, the Templars' search was not in vain.

They made a discovery that altered their perception of and outlook on the world entirely.

Despite being born and raised in a Christian society, they adopted wholly un-Christian practices.

Black magic rituals and rites and sermons of perverse content were common practice.

BLACK MAGIC – Library of Rickandria

There is a general consensus among historians that these practices were derived from on the Cabala.

Muslims and Christians during one of their clashes | Map of Palestine showing the crusades
Cabala literally means "oral tradition."

An esoteric branch of mystical Judaism, the Cabala is also a school that researches the secret, hidden and meanings of the Torah (or first five Books of Moses) and other Jewish writings.

There's more to it, however.

A close examination of the Cabala reveals that it actually precedes the Torah.

Torah: Breakaway Civilization Exposed – Library of Rickandria

A pagan teaching, it continued to exist after the revelation of the Torah and lived on to spread amongst the followers of Judaism.

(For further reading on the subject, see Harun Yahya's Global Freemasonry, Global Publishing, 2002)

For thousands of years, the Cabala has been a resource for sorcery and practitioners of black magic and now enjoys a strong following all around the world, not only in the Jewish community.

The Templars were one such group, engaged in research into the Cabala with the goal of acquiring supernatural powers.

As the following chapters will examine in detail, they were keen on establishing ongoing relationships with Cabalists in Jerusalem as well as in Europe-a view widely accepted by researchers working on the subject. [14]
 

The Development of the Order

With new members joining their order, the Templars soon entered a phase of rapid growth.

In 1120, Fulk V, Count of Anjou became a Knight Templar and so did Hugo, Count of Champagne, in 1125.

Fulk (Latin: Fulco, French: Foulque or Foulques; c. 1089/1092 – 13 November 1143), also known as Fulk the Younger, was the count of Anjou (as Fulk V) from 1109 to 1129 and the king of Jerusalem with his wife Melisende from 1131 to his death. During their reign, the Kingdom of Jerusalem reached its largest territorial extent.

The enigma surrounding the order, and its mystic teachings drew the attention of many European aristocrats.

At the Council of Troyes in 1129, the Papacy officially recognized the order of the Templars, which further aided their growth. [15]

Rome's recognition of the Templars is related in the Turkish Masonic journal, Mimar Sinan:

To obtain the Papacy's approval of the order, Grand Master Hugues de Payens, accompanied by five knights, paid a visit to Pope Honorius II.

Pope Honorius II (9 February 1060 – 13 February 1130), born Lamberto Scannabecchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 December 1124 to his death in 1130.

The Grand Master submitted two letters-one from the patriarch of Jerusalem, the other from King Baudoin II-setting forth the order's honorable mission, its services to Christianity, and many another good deed.


On the 13th of January 1129, the Council of Troyes convened.

Stephen Harding (French: Étienne Harding) (c. 1060 – 28 March 1134) was an English-born monk and abbot, who was one of the founders of the Cistercian Order. He is honored as a saint in the Catholic Church.

Present were many high-ranking officials of the Church, including the Abbot of Citeaux, Etienne Harding, and Bernard, the Abbot of Clairvaux.

Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. (Latin: Bernardus Claraevallensis; 1090 – 20 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templar, and a major leader in the reform of the Benedictines through the nascent Cistercian Order.

The Grand Master presented his case once more.

It was agreed that the Church would officially recognize the order under the name of Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ.

Bernard was commissioned to prepare a Rule for the Templars. So, the order was officially founded. [16]

But most of their rule never went any further than being written down and recognized:

It's entirely possible that St. Bernard was duped, and that he never knew the truth about the Templars who, taking advantage of his trustworthiness and status in the Church and throughout Christian Europe, used him for their own ends.

He wrote a favorable appraisal of the order, "De Laude Novae Militae" (In Praise of the New Knighthood) following Grand Master Hugues de Payens's persistent requests for him to do so. [17]

Around that time, St. Bernard had become the second most influential person in Christendom, after the Pope.

D. Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (/ˌvæsku də ˈɡɑːmə, - ˈɡæmə/ VAS-koo də GA(H)M-ə; European Portuguese: [ˈvaʃku ðɐ ˈɣɐmɐ]; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the first European to reach India by sea.

The famous explorer Vasco de Gama was a Templar who set sail to discover new ocean trading routes.

One source illustrates the importance of Bernard's support of the Templars:

At the same time:

• donations
• gifts
• bequests

As their legend and renown spread from mouth to mouth, they became a multinational company with seemingly unlimited capital and financial resources and tens of thousands of trained employees:

Soon, numerous:

• presbyteries
• castles
• farms

In time, they became the most famous:

• warriors
• travelers
• bankers

In short, the Templars were an autonomous entity answerable only to the Pope, with no obligation to pay dues to any:

• king
• ruler
• diocese

Amongst their ranks were to be found the wealthiest people of Europe:

Alphonse (11 November 1220 – 21 August 1271) was the Count of Poitou from 1225 and Count of Toulouse (as such called Alphonse II) from 1249. As count of Toulouse, he also governed the Marquisate of Provence.

leading bankers from London and Paris, among whose customers were Blanche of Castile, Alphonse de Poitiers, and Robert of Artois.

Robert I (25 September 1216 – 8 February 1250), called the Good, was the first Count of Artois. He was the fifth (and second surviving) son of King Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile.

James I the Conqueror (Catalan/Valencian: Jaume I or Jaume el Conqueridor; Aragonese: Chaime I o Conqueridor; Spanish: Jaime I de Aragón or Jaime I el Conquistador; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and King of Valencia from 1238 to 1276. His long reign of 62 years is not only the longest of any Iberian monarch, but one of the longest monarchical reigns in history, ahead of Hirohito but remaining behind Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria and Ferdinand III of Naples and Sicily.

The finance ministers of James I of Aragon, and Charles I of Naples and the chief advisor of Louis VII of France were all Templars. [20]

Charles I (early 1226/1227 – 7 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–1285) and Forcalquier (1246–1248, 1256–1285) in the Holy Roman Empire, Count of Anjou and Maine (1246–1285) in France; he was also King of Sicily (1266–1285) and Prince of Achaea (1278–1285). In 1272, he was proclaimed King of Albania, and in 1277 he purchased a claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

By the year 1147, 700 knights and 2,400 servants of the order were stationed in Jerusalem.

Across the known world, 3,468 castles had become the Templars' property.

They had established trading posts and routes on both land and sea, had won war booty and spoils from the wars they participated in.

Among Europe's states, they were a political power to be reckoned with, often called in to arbitrate between rulers during times of conflict.

It is estimated that in the 13th century, the Templars numbered 160,000, of whom 20,000 were knights-in those times, constituting an undoubted superpower.

In The Temple and the Lodge, authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh document the Templars' incredibly widespread influence throughout Christian Europe.

The temple and the lodge. The strange and fascinating history of the knights templar and the freemasons - Anna’s Archive (annas-archive.org)

They were simply everywhere, even playing a role in the signing of England's Magna Carta. 

Having amassed huge wealth, they were the most powerful bankers of their time and also the largest fighting force in the West.

The Templars commissioned and financed cathedrals, mediated in international transactions, and even supplied court chamberlains to the ruling houses of Europe.
 

The Structure of the Order

This, however, is inexplicable by any standard of:

• reason
• logic
• common sense

If they were truly devoted to the Catholic Church, there was no need for this secrecy:

According to the Templar rule, obedience to the Grand Master and Masters of the order was paramount:

... if anything, be commanded by the Master or by one to whom he has given his power, it should be done without demur as if it were a command from God. [21]

The Templars were not allowed any personal possessions; everything remained the property of their order.

They also had their own unique dress code.

Over their armor, they wore a long white mantle emblazoned with a red cross, so that they were recognized as Templars wherever they went.

The Red Cross symbol was assigned to the order by Pope Eugene III, who, incidentally, had been tutored by St. Bernard.

Pope Eugene III (Latin: Eugenius III; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He was the first Cistercian to become pope. In response to the fall of Edessa to the Muslims in 1144, Eugene proclaimed the Second Crusade. The crusade failed to recapture Edessa, which was the first of many failures by the Christians in the crusades to recapture lands won in the First Crusade. He was beatified in 1872 by Pope Pius IX.

There were three classes of Templars: Knights and warriors of various ranks, men of religion, and finally servants.

Other rules specific to the order prohibited marriage, correspondence with relatives or a private life. [22]

Meals were taken together en masse.

As portrayed on their seal-which depicted two knights on one single horse-they were required to go about their business in pairs, share everything, and eat from the same bowl.

They addressed each other as "my brother," and each Templar had the right to three horses and one servant.

Breach or disrespect of any of these rules was harshly punished.

Grooming and cleansing were considered an embarrassment, so Templars rarely washed and went around filthy and stinking of sweat, from the heat of wearing their armor.

But according to history, the Templars were good seafarers.

From the surviving Jews and Arabs in the Holy Land, they had acquired various maps and learned the sciences of geometry and mathematics, enabling them to navigate not only along the shores of Europe and along the African coast, but to explore lands and seas lying farther away.
 

Admission to the Order

In his article titled "Tampliyeler ve Hurmasonlar" (Templars and Freemasons) Mason Teoman Biyikoglu refers to the order's rule of 1128 about the initiation ceremony:

The Master addresses the congregated brothers of the order:

"Dear brothers, some of you have proposed that Mr. X may be admitted to the order.

If any of you know of any reason to oppose his initiation, say so now."

"We told the candidate of all the hardships awaiting him and our conditions of admission, but he is insistent on becoming a slave of the order."

If he still answers yes, the Grand Master addresses the candidate:

"Brother, you are asking much of us.

You have seen only the façade of the order, and you hope to acquire pureblood horses, honorable neighbors, good food and nice garments.

But are you aware of how hard our conditions really are?"

Proceeding to list the difficulties awaiting the candidate, he continues:

"You must not seek admittance for wealth, nor for status."

"Have any questions that need to be asked been forgotten?"

In the Qur'an, God speaks of people who amass gold and silver:

Jewish religious ornaments.

"Christian Usurers"

"The Templars were expert financiers, using trading techniques quite unknown in the Europe of their day.

They had clearly learned many of these skills from Jewish sources but would have much more freedom to extend their financial empire, in a way that any Jewish financier of the period would have envied greatly." 25

The Enigma of the Templars and Gothic Architecture

Pope Innocent II (Latin: Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the first eight years of his reign were marked by a struggle for recognition against the supporters of Anacletus II. He reached an understanding with King Lothair III of Germany who supported him against Anacletus and whom he crowned as Holy Roman emperor. Innocent went on to preside over the Second Lateran council.

This was a first in the history of the Church, which ruled as an absolute power at the time.

This privilege meant that from now on, the Templars were answerable only to the Pope and beyond the reach of other authorities, including kings and lesser rulers.

It also reduced their responsibilities to the Papacy, letting them hold court, impose their own taxes and collect them.

Thus, they could realize their worldly ambitions free of any pressure from the Church.
In the process of planning their churches, they developed their own style of architecture, later to be known as "Gothic."

In The Sign and the Seal, Graham Hancock states that Gothic architecture was born in 1134 with the construction of the north tower of Chartres Cathedral.

The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant - Anna’s Archive (annas-archive.org)

Graham Hancock Unmasks Himself – Library of Rickandria

The person behind this work of architecture was St. Bernard, the Templars' mentor and spiritual leader.

He felt it important that this construction symbolize in stone the cabbalistic approach and the esotericism that the Templars esteemed so highly.

As Graham Hancock wrote, St. Bernard, the patron of the Templars,

"played a formative role in the evolution and dissemination of the Gothic architectural formula in its early days (he had been at the height of his powers in 1134 when the soaring north tower of Chartres cathedral had been built, and he had constantly stressed the principles of sacred geometry that had been put into practice in that tower and throughout the whole wonderful building.)"

Elsewhere in the same book, the author writes:

(For example, a tableau in the north porch depicts the removal, to some unstated destination, of the Ark of the Covenant-which is shown loaded upon an ox-cart.

The damaged and eroded inscription, "HIC AMICITUR ARCHA CEDERIS," which could be "Here is hidden the Ark of the Covenant."

Clearly, he had regarded the Templars' architectural skills as almost supernaturally advanced and had been particularly impressed by the soaring roofs and arches that they had built. . . 

Soaring roofs and arches had also been the distinguishing features of the Gothic architectural formula as expressed at Chartres and other French cathedrals in the twelfth century-cathedrals that . . . were regarded by some observers as,

"scientifically... far beyond what can be allowed for in the knowledge of the epoch." [30]

The Battle of Hattin

Baldwin V (1177 or 1178 – 1186) was the king of Jerusalem who reigned together with his uncle Baldwin IV from 1183 to 1185 and, after his uncle's death, as the sole king from 1185 to his death in 1186. Baldwin IV's leprosy meant that he could not have children, and so he spent his reign grooming various relatives to succeed him. Finally his nephew was chosen, and Baldwin IV had him crowned as co-king in order to sideline the child's unpopular stepfather, Guy of Lusignan. When Baldwin IV died, Count Raymond III of Tripoli assumed government on behalf of the child king. Baldwin V died of unknown causes and was succeeded by his mother, Sibylla, who then made Guy king.

Following the death of the Latin King Baldwin V in 1186, Guy of Lusignan - who was known to be close to the Templars - succeeded to the throne in Palestine.

Guy of Lusignan (c. 1150 – 18 July 1194) was a French Poitevin knight who reigned as the king of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1192 by right of marriage to Sibylla, and King of Cyprus from 1192 to 1194.

Reynald de Chatillon, Prince of Antioch, became the new king's closest aide.

Raynald of Châtillon (c. 1124 – 4 July 1187), also known as Reynald, Reginald, or Renaud, was Prince of Antioch—a crusader state in the Middle East—from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Oultrejordain—a large fiefdom in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem—from 1175 until his death, ruling both territories iure uxoris ('by right of wife'). The second son of a French noble family, he joined the Second Crusade in 1147, and settled in Jerusalem as a mercenary. Six years later, he married Constance, Princess of Antioch, although her subjects regarded the marriage as a mesalliance.

After fighting in the Second Crusade, Reynald had stayed behind in Palestine, where he became good friends with the Templars.

Gold and silver swords belonging to Templars.

Reynald's cruelty was well known in the Holy Land.

On the 4th of July 1187 the crusader armies fought their bloodiest battle at Hattin.

The army numbered 20,000 infantry and a thousand mounted knights.

Assembling this army stretched to the limit the resources of towns along the border, leaving the others unprotected and vulnerable.

The battle ended with the virtual annihilation of the crusaders.

Most lost their lives, and every survivor was captured.

Among the prisoners of war were King Guy himself and the leading commanders of the Christian army.

According to the Templars' own records, Saladin, the great commander of the Muslim forces, was fair.

Despite all the cruelty inflicted on Palestine's Muslim population over the previous 100 years of Christian rule, the defeated forces were not ill-treated.

While most Christians were pardoned, the Templars had been responsible for the savage attacks carried out on the Muslim population, and for this reason, Saladin had the Templars executed, along with the Grand Master of the order and Reynald de Chatillon, both known for their inhumane cruelty.

King Guy was freed after only one year in captivity in the town of Nablus.

After Saladin's victory at Hattin, he advanced with his army and proceeded to free Jerusalem.

Despite serious losses, the Templars survived their defeat in Palestine and along with other Christians, withdrew to Europe.

Most headed for France where, thanks to their privileged status, they continued to increase their power and wealth.

In time, they became the "state within the state" in many European countries.

City-state - Wikipedia

Acre, the crusaders' last stronghold in Palestine, was captured by the Muslim army in 1291.

With this, the original justification for the Templars' existence-the protection of pilgrims in the Holy Land-disappeared as well.

Now the Templars could concentrate all their efforts on Europe but needed a little time to adapt to this new situation.

During this transitional period, they relied on the help of their friends in the royal houses of Europe, of whom the best-known was Richard the Lion-Hearted.

Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard Cœur de Lion (Norman French: Quor de Lion) or Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine, and Gascony; Lord of Cyprus; Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes; and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. He was the third of five sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and was therefore not expected to become king, but his two elder brothers predeceased their father.

His relationship with the Templars was such that he was regarded as an Honorary Knight Templar. [31]

Furthermore, Richard had sold to the Templars the Island of Cyprus, which was to become the temporary base of their order, while they strengthened their position in Europe to counteract their losses in Palestine.
 

Cyprus: A Temporary Base

• Germany
• France
• England

made the joint decision to launch the 3rd Crusade in order to retake Jerusalem.

But before proceeding to attack the Holy City, they considered it essential for their success to first capture a harbor, where they could land troops and supplies.

Acre was selected; and King Philip of France and England's King Richard began their sea journey

After King Richard's naval forces took Cyprus, Templar Master Robert de Sable entered the scene with a proposal to purchase Cyprus from Richard the Lion-Hearted.

Robert IV de Sablé (or de Sabloil; 1150 − 23 September 1193) was Lord of Sablé, the eleventh Grand Master of the Knights Templar from 1191 to 1192 and Lord of Cyprus from 1191 to 1192. He was known as the Grand Master of the Knights Templars and the Grand Master of the Holy and Valiant Order of Knights Templars.

A price was fixed at 100,000 bezants (then gold currency of Byzantium), and de Sable made a down payment of 40,000 bezants.

This sum, available so soon after the defeat at Hattin, is enough to illustrate the order's financial strength.

In 1291, Acre fell to the Muslim army.

As the Christian presence in Palestine came to an end, the Templars moved on.

Some settled in Cyprus, later to serve as their temporary base in the Mediterranean.

The Templars had been hoping to acquire a kingdom, such as the Teutonic Knights had won for themselves in northern Europe, except they wanted theirs in center of Europe-preferably in France.

Teutonic Knights – Library of Rickandria

In Europe, under the guidance of their Master based in France, the rest of the Templars carried on their usual activities, with an unequalled degree of freedom.

The Grand Master enjoyed a status on a par with kings; the Templars owned land in most countries of Christendom, from Denmark to Italy.

A massive warrior army formed the basis of their political power.

Because all the ruling houses of Europe were indebted to the Templars, they feared that their future was threatened.

The throne of England was seriously indebted to the order.

John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empire and contributing to the subsequent growth in power of the French Capetian dynasty during the 13th century. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, a document considered an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.

King John had emptied the coffers of the treasury between 1260 and 1266 in order to finance his military operations; and Henry III, likewise, borrowed heavily from the Knights Templar. [32]

Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272.[1] The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry assumed the throne when he was only nine in the middle of the First Barons' War. Cardinal Guala Bicchieri declared the war against the rebel barons to be a religious crusade and Henry's forces, led by William Marshal, defeated the rebels at the battles of Lincoln and Sandwich in 1217. Henry promised to abide by Great Charter of 1225, a later version of the 1215 Magna Carta, which limited royal power and protected the rights of the major barons. His early rule was dominated first by Hubert de Burgh and then Peter des Roches, who re-established royal authority after the war. In 1230, the King attempted to reconquer the provinces of France that had once belonged to his father, but the invasion was a debacle. A revolt led by William Marshal's son Richard broke out in 1232, ending in a peace settlement negotiated by the Church.

The situation in France was such that the Templars offices in Paris housed their own treasury as well as the state's and the treasurer of the order was also the treasurer of the King.

The Royal household's finances were thus under the control of the Templars and dependent on them. [33]
 

Decadence and Its Unmasking

But from this date onward, events began to turn against the Templars.
While their numbers and their wealth were on the rise, their:

• greed
• arrogance
• tyranny

By now, the Knights Templar had grown apart from the Catholic Church's:

• teachings
• beliefs
• practices

THE BARBARITY OF RICHARD THE LION-HEARTED

  

The Templars' True Face

It's amazing that they managed to create such a positive image while leading lives contrary to Christian teachings and, on the way acquiring status and wealth through:

• donations
• trade
• banking

and even looting.

The few who discovered their true identity did not dare to speak out against this powerful order.

Philip, King of France, feared the dangers their financial strength could create for him.

It was high time to unmask the Templars.

As a Masonic writer of the 18th century explains:

The knights':

• avarice
• inhumanity
• greed

and zeal, already well known, awakened the curiosity of:

• the locals
• the clergy
• the monarchy

On October 13, 1309, they were accused in the courts with the following charges:

• mouth
• navel
• buttocks

Perversion in the Templars' Faith and Practice

It was a darker organization altogether:

During their time in the Middle East, the Templars had established and maintained contact with mystic sects belonging to different religions and denominations, including sorcerers.

They were known to have close links to the hashashis (assassins) who, while influential, were regarded as a perverted sect by the Muslim population.

From them, the Templars had learned some mystic teachings and barbaric strategies, as well as how to organize a sect.

As will be seen in the coming chapters, the order's higher echelons in particular had also acquainted themselves with-and incorporated into their practice-beliefs based on the mystic teachings of the Cabala, the influence of the Bogomils, and Luciferians, thus leaving Christianity behind.

According to the Templars, Jesus was a god ruling in another world, with little or no power in our present one.

Satan was the lord of this material world of ours.

Who created the name & concept of Satan? – Library of Rickandria

Now the rumors were confirmed:

Their questioning revealed yet another of their unorthodox practices:

From Peter Underwood's Dictionary of the Occult and Supernatural:

Most Templars confessed that they didn't believe in Jesus because they held him to be "a false prophet"; that they had committed acts of homosexuality during the admission ceremony as well as afterwards, that they worshipped idols and practiced Satanism.

The Truth About Satanism – Library of Rickandria

All these admissions entered the court records, and following their trial, most of the Templars were imprisoned.

Much has been said about the Templars' homosexual practices, and it has been suggested that their insignia-of two riders on the back of one horse-represented this custom.

In his novel Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco extensively touches upon this aspect of the Templars. [39]

After their confessions in the courts of the French King, the Pope himself interrogated 72 of the Templars.

They were asked to swear an oath to tell the truth and then, proceed to confirm that their previous confessions were truthful:

that they rejected belief in Jesus, that they spat on the holy cross and committed all the other acts of perversion they'd admitted to.

They then knelt down and asked for forgiveness.

The Templars' confessions made references to perverted sexual practices.

Homosexuality was rife between the Knights.

It is said that the Templars' official seal symbolizes this kind of relationship.

The interrogation of the Templars culminated in the dissolution of their order.

In 1314, Grand Master Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake.

Templars who had managed to escape arrest by fleeing to other countries were pursued throughout the whole of Christendom.

Other countries including Italy and Germany followed suit, arresting and interrogating the Templars they could apprehend.

But for various reasons, some countries offered the Templars refuge.

On November 10, 1307, England's Edward II wrote the Pope that he would not persecute the Templars and that in his country, they would remain safe.

Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne following the death of his older brother Alphonso. Beginning in 1300, Edward accompanied his father on campaigns in Scotland, and in 1306 he was knighted in a grand ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Edward succeeded to the throne the next year, following his father's death. In 1308, he married Isabella, daughter of the powerful King Philip IV of France, as part of a long-running effort to resolve the tensions between the English and French crowns.

But two years later, after interrogating the Templars, the Pope issued a Papal Bull declaring that the Templars',

"unspeakable wickednesses and abominable crimes of notorious heresy"

"come to the knowledge of almost everyone."

On March 22nd, Clement V issued a Papal Bull under the name of Vox in Excelso (A Voice from on High), in which the order was declared to be dissolved and-on paper, at least-its existence erased from the official records:

... Hark, a voice of the people from the city!

a voice from the temple!

the voice of the Lord rendering recompense to his enemies.

The prophet is compelled to exclaim: Give them, Lord, a barren womb and dry breasts.

Their worthlessness has been revealed because of their malice.

Throw them out of your house, and let their roots dry up; let them not bear fruit and let not this house be any more a stumbling block of bitterness or a thorn to hurt.

. . . Indeed a little while ago, about the time of our election as supreme pontiff before we came to Lyons for our coronation, and afterwards, both there and elsewhere, we received secret intimations against the master, preceptors and other brothers of the order of Knights Templar of Jerusalem and also against the order itself.

. . . [T]he holy Roman church honoured these brothers and the order with her special support, armed them with the sign of the cross against Christ's enemies, paid them the highest tributes of her respect, and strengthened them with various exemptions and privileges; and they experienced in many and various ways her help and that of all faithful Christians with repeated gifts of property.

Therefore, it was against the lord Jesus Christ himself that they fell into the sin of impious apostasy, the abominable vice of idolatry, the deadly crime of the Sodomites, and various heresies. [40]

The Templars Go Underground

Despite the Papacy's claim that the Templars had been annihilated, not only did they survive the Inquisition by going underground, but they kept on being active, especially in England and in Northern Europe:

The Templars' world view and philosophy were greatly influenced by the Jewish mystic teachings of the Cabala.

[I]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.

The warriors and the bankers: a history of the Knights Templar from 1307 to the present - Anna’s Archive (annas-archive.org)

In a discussion forum held in 1999, of he said:

For example:

Some Templars escaped to Spain and entered orders like the Caltrava, Alcantra, and Santiago de la 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 Hospitallers.

In England, the Templars were arrested and interrogated, but quickly released again.

In still other countries, the Templars remained unmolested.

The Templars seemed to have disappeared from the history until 1804; when Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat became Grand Master.

Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat (29 May 1773 – 18 February 1838), was a priest and mystic who founded a self-styled order called the Ordre du Temple, claiming direct descent from the original Knights Templar in 1804. He later founded the Johannite Church in 1812, and proclaimed himself Grand Master of the Templars and Sovereign Pontiff of the Primitive Catholic religion, opposing the Church of Saint Peter.

Truly interesting is an accidental discovery he made in 1814…

In one of the bookstalls along the river Seine in Paris, he came upon a handwritten Bible of the Yuhanna translation in the Greek language.

The Bible's last two chapters were missing; and in their place were notes divided by - and containing - numerous triangles.

Examining these notes a bit closer, he realized that this was a document listing the Grand Masters of the Templars, beginning with the fifth Grand Master, Bertrand de Blanchefort (1154), through the 22nd, Jacques de Molay, the 23rd Larmenius of Jerusalem (1314) and then on to Grand Master Claudius Matheus Radix de Chevillon (1792).

This document suggested that Jacques de Molay passed the title of Grand Master on to Larmenius of Jerusalem.

It could be concluded that the Templars never ceased to exist.

They live on today in the lodges of Freemasonry.

Decoding Rosicrucianism & Freemasonry Using the Unified Field – Library of Rickandria

Umberto Eco[a] OMRI (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel The Name of the Rose, a historical mystery combining semiotics in fiction with biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory, as well as Foucault's Pendulum, his 1988 novel which touches on similar themes.

In Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco writes:

After Beaujeu, the order has never ceased to exist, not for a moment, and after Aumont we find an uninterrupted sequence of Grand Masters of the Order down to our own time, and if the name and seat of the true Grand Master and the true Seneschals who rule the Order and guide its sublime labors remain a mystery today, an impenetrable secret known only to the truly enlightened, it is because the hour of the Order has not struck and the time is not ripe… 43

It's widely accepted that the Masons played a major role in the downfall of the French monarchy and the ensuing Revolution.

When Louis XVI was guillotined in a public square in Paris, one of the onlookers shouted,

Louis XVI (Louis Auguste; French: [lwi sɛːz]; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette was the wife of Louis XVI.

"Jacques de Molay, you have been avenged!

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