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The Templars, Freemasonry, Rosslyn Chapel…and Intrigue

A little stone chapel in the small town of Rosslyn/Roslin within Scotland is thought of by quite a few as proof of a continuous tradition from the Templar Knights straight to Freemasonry.

The Knights Templars

The Templars (formally known as the Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon) started in the medieval period of time of European history to become more powerful and rich than the Church of Rome. They were awarded the authority to battle and spill blood in the name of the Church.  They were warrior monks that had close ties into the Cistercian monastic order. Over a battleground they had been essentially the most feared military for the day and gained regard even from their foes, the Assassins. Today however, people view them in a more intriguing manner, believing them to be the keepers of a great secret.

They enjoyed their power through the thirteenth and 14th centuries, but then were virtually overnight imprisoned and tried as heretics. Their decline began on Friday 13th October 1307 as soon as Philip le Bel (Philip the Fair) of France made a decision to detain every one of the Templars. Following similar arrests across Europe, the Pope decided to eradicate the Knights Templar in 1312. The very last Templar Grand Master was Jacques de Molay, and he was slain at the stake in 1314 in Paris.

There is information how the Templars persisted in secret. A few ideas claim that a few Templars were able to escape and fled to Scotland, which was under excommunication at the time and therefore outside of the arena of the Church.

The Templars & Freemasonry

Some people suggest that Freemasonry is continuing within the practices of the Templars. This specific concept was first promoted by the Catholic Church, not Freemasonry. In 1738 a Papal Bull by Pope Clement XII declared the heretical as well as abolished Knights Templar carried on into Freemasonry, and therefore condemned the order.

Not all the Masonic historians reckon that there was a continuation, however there are good reasons to believe that something took place in Scotland and underground Templars might have revealed a selection of their secrets. Several books have suggested that the traditions of Freemasonry developed from the Templars and even more supply evidence for their retreat to Scotland.  Rosslyn Chapel therefore features conspicuously within this theory.

Hugues de Payens, certainly one of if not the first Templar, wedded into the St Clair family and it was the St Clairs who were responsible for the building of Rosslyn Chapel. Is it possible that when the Templars fled to the excommunicated Scotland, they went directly to their relations, however remote, and asked the St Clairs of Roslin/Rosslyn for assistance?  Perhaps as a mark of gratitude they might even have provided some of their secrets or wealth.

Carvings that depict symbols common with Templar seals can be found throughout Rosslyn, such as the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei).  This seemed to be used to signify St John the Baptist.  In addition the well-known Templar symbol that shows 2 knights riding only one horse can be found in the stonework of Rosslyn.

Even the Sinclair cross, or Engrailed Cross as it is also known, has got the Templar cross in the centre. Inside Rosslyn you can also see a gravestone of a certain ‘Sir William de Sinncler’ that was found on the site of an earlier church which used to exist at the present village cemetery. Perhaps this is the gravestone of Sir William who perished in 1330 on a campaign to take the heart of the Scots King Robert the Bruce to the Holy Land, or maybe it’s the 3rd Baron of Roslin/Rosslyn who had been at Bannockburn in 1314.  Maybe it is even the gravestone of the chapel builder themselves? The gravestone shows a sword and floriated cross, frequently found on proposed Templar graves, but what makes this even more interesting is that both of the candidates for the stone perished after the order of Knights Templar have been abolished.

About the Author

Go to TempleofMysteries.com to learn more about the enigma which is Rosslyn Chapel and it is connections with the Knights Templar and Freemasonry.

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