This page is about a Masonic organization. For the medieval Knights Templar, see Knights Templar, and for other uses, please see Templar (disambiguation).

Masonic Knights Templar is an international philanthropic templar organization and is a part of the York Rite in Freemasonry. In the 1700s when freemasonry became public they began to incorporate symbols and traditions of the medieval Knights Templar. The original medieval Order of Knights Templar was established after the First Crusade, and existed from approximately 1118 to 1312. There is no historical evidence conclusively proving links between the medieval Knights Templar, and Masonic Templarism.

Description

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The Masonic Knights Templar is one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the United States, and the largest Templar order in the world. The Order's efforts include the "Knights Templar Eye Foundation", and the "Knights Templar Holy Land Pilgrimage", which sends American clergy members on trips to the Holy Land. Scholarships for those seeking higher education are also provided on a case by case basis.

The Order of Knights Templar is the highest possible degree in York Rite Masonry. Local organizations in the United States are known as Commanderies, and state governing bodies are organized as Grand Commanderies. The national organization is governed by the Grand Encampment. The Order is one of the degrees in Freemasonry that requires the Master Mason to take an oath to always defend Christianity. The organization meets in a designated Masonic hall, temple, or in a building owned by the Commandery.

The Sovereign Great Priory (SGP) is the governing body in Canada of the United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St. John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta -- the chivalric orders in the York Rite of Freemasonry or Masonic Knights Templar. As of 2006, there are 76 local bodies in Canada called Preceptories, and are grouped into fifteen geographic districts, governed by a Provincial Grand Prior, who is the representative of the Supreme Grand Master.

Membership in the Order is open to York Rite Masons who have completed the degrees of the Royal Arch Chapter, and in some cases, the Council of Cryptic Masons. As in all Masonic organizations, membership requires that the candidate be of sound moral character, have an exemplary reputation, and believe in a Supreme Being.

Templar traditions

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In spite of Freemasonry's general disclaimer that no one Masonic organization claims a direct heritage to the medieval Knights Templar, certain degrees and orders are obviously patterned after the medieval Order. These are best described as "commemorative orders" or degrees. Nevertheless, in spite of the fraternity's official disclaimers, some Masons, non-Masons and even anti-Masons insist that certain Masonic rites or degrees originally had direct Templar influence.

• Masonic youth organizations such as the Order of DeMolay for young men are named after the last Grand Master Templar Jacques de Molay who was executed in the final suppression of the Templar order in the early 1300s.

• The Knight of Rose-Croix Degree in the "Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite", and honorary Orders like the Royal Order of Scotland are interpreted as evidence of a historical Templar-Masonic connection, though there is no factual basis for this belief.

• Legends in certain degrees pertain to the involvement of Knights aiding the excommunicated 14th Century Scottish King Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn; however this remains a point of debate. Lack of documentation on behalf of the medieval Knights themselves, and battle memoirs usually written years if not decades after the actual engagement, have left much room for speculation. This story is the basis for the degrees in the Royal Order of Scotland an invitational Masonic honorary organization.

• Templar connections have also been suggested through the Earls of Rosslyn (St. Clair, or Sinclair) a family with well documented connections with Scottish Freemasonry, one being a Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland

• Many other old and new organizations are called "Knights Templar". However, organizations like the Order of the Solar Temple, Militi Templi Scotia,or the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem are in no way related to Masonic Knights Templar, and share no relationship in either history, hierarchy, nor ritual.

See also

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• Freemasonry
• List of Masonic Grand Lodges
• List of famous Freemasons
• Masonic Lodge
• York Rite
• Scottish Rite
• Royal Order of Scotland
• National Treasure (film) (2004)

References

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• The History Channel, Decoding the Past: The Templar Code, 2005, video documentary
• The History Channel, Mysteries of the Freemasons, 2006 video documentary
• Sean Martin, The Knights Templar: History & Myths, 2005. ISBN 1560256451

External links

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Masonic Knights Templar organizations

• DeMolay International
• Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States of America
• Sovereign Great Priory of the Knights Templar of Canada
• Grand Commandery Knights Templar of the State of Missouri
• Grand Commandery Knights Templar of the State of New York
• Knights Templar Eye Foundation
• Order of the Temple - Great Priory of Scotland
• Provincial Grand Lodge U.S.A. - Royal Order of Scotland
• The Web of Hiram Section on The Royal Exalted Religious and Military Order of Masonic Knights Templar of England and Wales at Bradford University

Masonic organizations | Knights Templar