Templars

"Hated out of jealousy, feared out of ignorance, driven to ground by greed and finally betrayed by both Church and State, we are the descendants of those who dared to stand for truth and honor."

The Templars began as a medieval religious-military order dedicated to safeguarding the people of the holy land during the era of the crusades. Originally known as the Poor Soldiers of Christ, they became successful in defending pilgrims and locals against highwayman in the war-torn lands of Old Palestine. When their success won for them the lot atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Knights Templar delved into the secrets of the lost architecture of God's Holy Temple - and were forever after known as the Templars.

Of all the Chapters active on Earth, few are as secretive, as enigmatic, and as silently influential as the Templar Chapter is.

Status: Schism.

Facts:
-The only thing anyone can say with certainty about the Knights Templar is that they are a Chapter shrouded in mystery.

-Chivalry among modern Templars is a wide-ranging thing. Some Templars still follow some form of it, others have forsaken it.

-Templars were not allowed to consume the meat of their horses, a practice other knights would use when in times of strife and starvation. Because of that, modern Templars will often exclaim "horsemeat" when angry or incensed.

-The origin stories of the Templars are numerous and conflicting. Each of the Major Orders had a hand in the creation and growth of the Chapter, and subsequently, every major Order involved seems to have a version of history that posits them as the true originators of the Templars.

The real truth behind the birth of the Knights Templar is complicated and mysterious, and may remain that way until the end of time.

-The Templars do not favor the Orders of Kings or Priests. Both Orders were instrumental in the near total annihilation of their Chapter following the Great Betrayal.

Commanderies & Preceptories:
A Commandery is a base of operations, it is manned at all times by at least one Squad of Adepts, all of whom are Templars. Commanderies serve as headquarters for a specific region, they are often equipped with communications, food and equipment as well as housing for any Templars present and guests (or prisoners).

Preceptories are smaller than Commanderies and serve as administrative hubs. Preceptories will often house Administrators and their staff who serve the Templars exclusively or who operate with the blessing of the Knight's leadership.

Also, specialized Preceptories will serve as archives, keeping the vast amounts of information uncovered by Templar Knights as they operate across the world.

Convoluted:
The Knights Templar have developed multiple sub-divisions, as well as whole new factions and more than one schismatic group. Some groups formed as task forces, seeking to tackle a special and unique threat. Others formed in the wake of tragedy and dedicated themselves to acting as watchdogs, ever on the lookout for the signs of history repeating itself. Still, some groups felt the main body of Templars had become lax somehow and broke away in an act of reformation.

Today, while there is still a recognizable main body to the Knights Templar, there are also a smattering of Templar sects, each with its own unique take on things. Most of the these groups remain friendly, if not aloof, although a few extremists among them have proven to be hostile to other Templars.

The Templars legacy for mystery is apparently true, so true in fact that even the Templars themselves are unaware of the many secrets and hidden treasures of their own brotherhood.

Founding Nine:
There are several different accounts of the origins of the Templars, each telling a different chronology. In most stories, Hugh de Paynes travels alone or with a small group of knights who end up becoming the first Templars. In other stories, Hugh travels alone and picks up the knights when he arrives in Jerusalem. Still in other stories, Hugh and the early knights arrive as members of a large contingent who spent their first, formative years in the holy land acting as bodyguards for pilgrims and ambushing highwaymen.

Whatever the truth of these stories, mainstream Templar history believes that there existed nine early knights, Hugh included, who were the founding members of the Knight Templar. These Founding Nine were led by Hugh, and his best friend Godfrey de Saint-Omer. The names of the other seven knights change with conflicting stories, but generally, it is believed they were Adepts themselves.

Nine is an important number to the Templars, it represents both the founding of the brotherhood as well as the annexion of evil in the world (9 is a 6 turned upside down, and since 666 is the Devil, 6 is therefore symbolic of evil, making 9 symbolic of the defeat of evil).

Friday The 13th:
It happened on Friday the 13th, Jacques de Molay, last 'known' Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was burned on a pyre by Phillip the 'Fair,' then king of France. Phillip, afraid that his charges against the Knights Templar would fall through, had the head of the order branded a heretic and immolated alive.

However, Jacques supposedly used the pyre more as a podium than a gallow. Jacques may have cursed both the French king as well as the Pope, swearing they would both meet him in the afterlife within a year (subsequently, both king and pope died tragically within about a year). The story is colorful albeit a bit unbelievable, accounts of de Molay during his last days suggest that repeated abuses and torture had withered his aged mind to the point of delusion. Some question whether Jacques would have even been heard over the flames and crowd of the people?

Whatever the truth of the story, Friday the 13th quickly became associated with bad luck and equally bad omens. For the Templars of modern times, Friday the 13th is almost like a quasi-holiday, a day of spiritual reflection and solemn peace. The 'victorious dead,' all those who died in the cause of the brotherhood, are remembered, usually in the form of novenas, prayer sigils, etc.

A Templar Curse?:
Did Jacques de Molay curse the Pope and King of France, or was their deaths within a year entirely natural? Is there such a thing as the Templar Curse, and if so on whom exactly does it fall? Anyone who kills a Templar Grand Master? Anyone who earns the ill of the Grand Master? Or is it just a fable?

Great Betrayal:
The Templars fought and bled on the battlefield to defend Europe from foreign invaders. For decades, they kept up a constant fight against determined enemies to protect the innocent. They built a Kingdom of Jerusalem despite being surrounded on almost all sides by enemies. They build a banking empire, a series of hostels and hospitals, and finally they brought order and prestige to serving in the ranks of the Church...

...and in the end it all collapsed.

But it did not collapse from an outside threat, the Templars found themselves assailed from a foe they never anticipated: their own allies. The Knights Templar, the same knights who spearheaded so many assaults to build the Kingdom of Jerusalem, were branded heretics by the Catholic Church at the behest of the French monarchy.

The Templars were hunted down by the French king and the agents of the Pope, tortured, condemned and executed by both state and church. The Great Betrayal, as the Templars call it, resulted in a significant blow to the Chapter, and one which left them separated from Christendom itself.

The Great Betrayal has left the Templars wary of fighting for those they don't know personally. They have also learned not to place their trust in governments, but instead in God and their own wits They also came to hate monarchy, seeing it as a form of vile absolutism. The Knights Templar rededicated themselves to freedom and democracy, and when Scotland vied for independence the knights appeared mysteriously on the field of battle to aid them. And when the American and French revolutions got started, the Templars were there to push the cause in the form of the Sons of Liberty and Freemasons.

Legacy of Secrecy:
For better or worse the Templars have always been cloaked in secrecy. Their rituals of induction, often consisting of nine witnessing knights and a senior knight who properly inducts any new members, are always conducted in secret, often at night and in candlelight. Important meetings are held in the utmost secrecy, and always under armed guard.

Templar communications are encoded, Templar holdings are kept via shell companies and dummy trusts. Templar hideouts and safe houses and bases of operations are kept under lock and key and their locations are always being monitored by someone. One newer member to the Knights Templar purportedly quipped that Templars use encoded messages and passwords just to order pizza for dinner?

Liberty & Democracy:
Beginning in Scotland, with the help of the Freemasons who shared their resources and helped the surviving Templars recover from the Great Betrayal, the Templars regrouped and relaunched their organization. And now they did so with a new higher calling - the defense of not just pilgrims and the holy, but of all peoples, of all citizens of the world who should be free.

Beginning with the Scottish War for Independence, the Knights Templar now fought behind the scenes, acting as a secret society, waging war on those they deemed forces of oppression and tyranny. The Templars began recruiting from Adepts and Initiated alike, anyone who would work against the Darkness. They are especially fond of Nazirites and many new members to the Templars will often take a Nazirite Vow for life in their service to the Chapter.

Roman Catholic Church:
The Catholic Church betrayed the Templars by going along with Phillip la Bell's heresy accusations, further the Church's own officials oversaw many of the trials (and tortures) the Templar knights were forced to endure. The Templars have not forgotten this and today Templars fall into one of three groups in their responses to the Papacy and the Catholic Church...

-Loyalists are those Templars still loyal to the Church.

-Separatists have given up on the Church and have chosen to follow their own religious path.

-Schismatics have turned on the Roman Catholic Church, and now seek its destruction.

Sworn to Secrecy?:
Templars are not sworn to secrecy per se, at least not in the majority of Templar organizations, however it is understood that going around and telling people you are a Templar is a great way to end up in the sights of some Bad Guys sooner or later. The Templars have spent a thousand years battling the Darkness and during that time, they have racked up a considerable number of enemies, not all of whom even exist on the material plane.

Templars are cautioned to be wise in who they select to tell their secret too. Many Templars have friends and relatives who never come to know of their involvement in the clandestine work of the Temple, or only learn the truth after the Templar's tragic death.

Templar Lore:
The Templars have been fiercely active in history for a thousand years now, and during that time their organization(s) has grown, sophisticated itself, reformed and even suffered schism. All in the name of growth and progress. Templars have developed countless codes, hidden treasures, and long lost secrets. Literally thousands of Holy Relics and unknown documents of exotic origin are in their care.

The history of the Templars has become so deep and complicated that a working understanding of it is a whole field of study in and of itself. Templar Lore is a skill or knowledge set picked up by many members of the Temple who seek to better understand the origins of their own knighthood. Scribes who join as Knights are often occupied full-time in accumulating, cataloging and learning all they can about Templar Lore.

Those versed in Templar Lore will have superior knowledge of the following:

-Historic buildings associated with the Templars, especially churches, cathedrals and castles built, modified or otherwise owned by the Temple at some point in time.

-A working understanding of the many Templar codes, coded frequencies and methods of secret transmission used by Templar Knights throughout the world.

-A better understanding of the various sects and divisions within the family of Templar groups, including knowledge of various symbols, slogans, and heraldry.

-Templar safe houses, bases of operations, equipment supplies, bank accounts, investment portfolios, real estate holdings, etc.

Templar Origins:
There are a number of different versions of how exactly the Templars got started. Most of them are different only in minor details, while others are wholly different to the point of being two different stories. Much of Templar Lore is simply trying to catalog and make sense of all these different chronologies.

- Adepts By Chance Theory = In this version of the story, Hugh De Payens was not an Adept, and neither was any of the Founding Nine (probably not, anyway). Hugh and the early proto-Templars journeyed to the Holy Land where they became knights and stumbled upon some Adepts. In most versions of the story, Hugh orders excavations under the old Temple Mount, where he discovers Solomon's Mines which have been used as a Creator Chantry for centuries.

- Secretly Adepts Theory = Hugh De Payens was an Adept and probably some of the Founding Nine were as well. Hugh may have gone to the Holy Land simply as a pilgrimage, or he may have had the intention of starting up a Chapter of his own. Most theories regarding the Templar's origins are variations of this one.

- Troye's Cabal Theory = Hugh was vassal to a lord who wanted to create a knightly order operating in the Holy Land both for the prestige it would bring him as well the revenue. St. Bernaurd, who happened to be the nephew of the lord, was tapped to promote the early Templars, championing their cause within the Church and among the people. Surely it can't be a coincidence that Troyes was also home to the church council that legitimized the Templars in the first place?

- 300 Theory = No, not the 300 Spartans, some historical records indicate that Hugh had at least 300 knights soon after journeying to the Holy Land. Were the Templars a well established Chapter even before Hugh showed up on the scene?

- Hugh Was A Destro yer = Hugh was a member of the Order of Destroyers who came to the Holy Land to fight the saracens. His best friend, Sant Omer, who was also one of the Founding Nine, was a Creator Adept who journeyed with him, both to aid Hugh in his fight as well as to keep him from losing himself to the Destroyer Curse.

-Hugh Was A Theist = In this version, Hugh de Payens was a member of the Order of Infinity who worshiped God as The Father Of Understanding. Hugh and the Founding Nine may or may not have branched off from an earlier Chapter.

- Templar Evolution = This theory is a variation of Hugh Was A Theist: in this chronology, Hugh was probably a Crusader or Destroyer (a standard Military Orders Adept). However, after arriving in the Mid-East and encountering all these different cultures and Tribes and theologies, some or all of the Templars began to explore God outside the confines of their Roman Catholic upbringing. They began to open up to all of God and in doing so became Theists.

In this scenario, the Church and State (Priests and Kings, the leading Ruling Orders of Europe) turned against the Templars when it became clear the the knights were operating outside the Church's dogma.

- Just Business = The rise of the Templars was pre-planned, either by Hugh, the Founding Nine, or parties unknown. The Templars showed up in the Holy Land bearing letters of introduction which got the King of Jerusalem to grant them personal living quarters in the wing of the palace where Solomon's Temple was said to have been (which was a pretty sweet deal for a couple of newly arrived knights).

The Templars immediately started building an infrastructure; protecting pilgrims to build up celebrity status, inventing an early banking system so pilgrims could do business in the Holy Land without fear of losing money, and providing other services all towards the goal of making money. This theory makes sense because it's all historically accurate - the Templars were much more successfull than other knightly orders at doing business and building up their own assets.

- Secret Treasure Theory = The Templars came to Jerusalem with the express purpose of excavating underneath the Temple Mount. There, they discovered something which brought them fame, fortune, the blessings of the Church, and success in warfare. Was it a powerful Holy Relic, some kind of Forbidden Knowledge, or something else entirely?

- Secretly Heretics = The Roman Catholic Church dominated medieval Europe, but it wasn't the only Tribe operating across the land despite what they teach in history class. Cathars, Mumblers, Waldensians and other heretics abounded. The Templars were themselves secret heretics who came to Jerusalem seeking something they could use to threaten the Church with. The Templars were known for taking in men excommunicated by the Bishops, and they were believed to have taken in many of the survivors of the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathar heretics.

If the Templars were orchestrating a bid to topple the Church, it would explain why the Templars did not involve themselves in the purging of heretics. It would also explain why the Church heirairchy so readily turned against them.

- Pawns of the Priests = In this simple Theory, St. Bernard of Clairvaux is the man responsible for the formation of the Templars. Hugh was just a simple knight who journeyed to the Holy Land to do what he felt God had called him to do - fight the invading Saracen forces. However, Bernard, a member of the Order of Priests who wanted to create a military wing to the Catholic Church, preached on the merits of possesing a 'Christian militia' and eventually won nobles and bishops over to his idea.

In this scenario, the Templars were formed so that the Church had a body of soldiers it could call its own. The fact that the Pope granted the Templars papal honors, including the ability to cross borders at will and not have to pay royal taxes, would certainly fit in with this theory.

Of course one glaring problem with this theory is that the Templars clearly came to criticize the Church at times? And the Church leadership sold them out to the French king rather hastily? Did the Church lose control of their pet Templars and sought to eradicate them for it?

- Seekers of Knowledge = Europe at the time of the crusades had been under the crushing weight of the Dark Ages for some time. Education and culture were still trying to climb back up to the same level it had been under the Romans. But the far East was an oasis of knowledge and prosperity, and one with many new cultures and mysteries. Hugh created the Templars for the express purpose of revitalizing Europe by importing literature, technology and other resources from the East.

Unfortunately the hard-line traditionalists, usually this means the Church, felt threatened by these practices and orchestrated their downfall.

Templar Sects:
"You ask me what it is the Templars are really up to? I ask you, exactly which Templars do you mean?"

Sects among the Templars may be breakaway groups or specialized task forces operating within the ranks of the brotherhood, or they could simply be ritualistic or intellectual traditions that formed in certain locations over time. Being a Templar usually means being a part of, or associated with, at least one sect, although nobody owns the rights to the franchise of the brotherhood, so nobody can definitely state whether someone is or is not a Templar. The following is a brief list of the most common Templar sects:

- Abbey of Clairvaux = The Abbey was founded by Bernard of Clairvaux, a Destroyer/Priest/Monastic Adept of renown and piety who was said to be a founding member of the Knights Templar in his own way. The Abbey is still a major nexus for Templar activity in Europe and the mysterious monks who inhabit it are keen on knowledge of supernatural activity. However, rumors circulate of deep dungeons running under the abbey and of people disappearing, but then such rumors are to be expected when the Templars are involved.

- Abraxas = The Knights of Abraxas, or simply 'Abraxas,' are a group of Templars who have embraced Gnostic teachings. They pursue lost or forgotten spiritual lore and are strong proponents of modern expressions of Gnosticism. Obviously this means they recruit from the Order of Gnostics.

- Agnes Dei = The Agnes Dei are hardcore Christian Templars who monitor Christian persecution across the world and actively get involved any way they can.

- Blood & Chalice = These Templars were said to claim descent from the original Knights who discovered the Holy Grail (if that ever really happened). It is said they once possessed the cup of Christ but it was taken from them, now they are obsessed with getting it back.

- Blue Templars = The Blue Templars came to venerate the Virgin Mary and in time broke away from the mainline Chapter before the events of the Great Betrayal. For more info see Blue Templars.

- Bornholm Island = Supposedly the sight of an ancient observatory built by medieval Templars, centuries before any modern astronomical observatories were constructed. These Templars supposedly sought the Star of Bethlehem and mastered Persian astrology in emulation of the Magi from the Bible.

- Cathars = The Cathars were a pre-Protestant religious reaction to medieval Christianity found largely in Southern France. Heretical in that they were duelists (believed in two gods instead of one) the Cathars believed in a Creator God of light and a Destroyer God of darkness and death. When the Church called the Albigensian Crusade against them, it appears the Templars took a neutral stance towards them. Some later folk stories posit that Templars with saving the surviving Cathars by absorbing them into their own Chapter.

- Colony of Saguenay = A band of Templars arrived in the New World following the Great Betrayal and brought with them countless Holy Relics, manuscripts and gold straight from the Holy Lands. The colony was founded near the shores of the Atlantic in St. Lawrence Cove and after several initial skirmishes with the natives, the Templars began rebuilding their Templar culture in a strange new world. The colony may or may not have died or faded away, stories speak of "white" native tribes during the time of colonization, right up until the American Revolution?

There are persistant rumors that this sect of Templars, may in fact, be the true founders of the Sons of Liberty Chapter, and not the Reis Soleil of France. If this is true then it begs the question just how involved the Templars still are in the SoL?

- Excommunicants = The Templars had a history of taking in people banned by the Church, swelling their ranks with men happy to be free and in service to God.

- Father Of Understanding = This isn't actually a sect but a Holy Name infused within the Chapter. The Order of Infinity claims this is the Name under which Hugh de Payne and the Founding Nine knew God and so the Name is the metaphysical bedrock upon which the Knights Templar are built. For more info see Father Of Understanding.

- Guardians of Knowledge = These Templars serve to protect the mass of esoteric knowledge the brotherhood has accumulated over the centuries. They also have a pesky habit of worming their way into other organizations in search of their secret knowledge as well. Adepts from the Scholastic Orders make up most of their ranks.

- Loyalist Templars = These Templars are still loyal to the Papacy and will actively work to bring the Templars back into the fold again. If there are any Priest Templars, this is where you can find them. For more info see Loyalist Templars.

- Knights of Christ = This sect of Templars, based in Portugal, operates several European military academies. They still follow the more monastic-like spirituality of the original Templars, but the modern KoC seems more interested in preserving local culture and religion more than anything.

- Masonic Knights = A major sect in the Templars, places like Roslyn Chapel and the Bornhom Island Observatory are supposed to be the constructions of the Masonic Knights. Masonic Knights are both members of the Knights Templar and Fraternal Order of Builders.

- Merovingians = This sect of Templars are said to serve the Merovingian bloodline down through the ages, a bloodline which can also be found in the Hapsburg Dynasty and all the resulting descendants from that family today. Apparently, members of this bloodline are, technically, the next in line for the throne of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem, which was destroyed almost a thousand years ago by Salahadin. The modern Merovingian family is greatly embedded in the central bank of both Europe and the United States and are served by the True Templars who hope to one day rebuild that lost Kingdom anew.

- New Order of the Ages = This mysterious sect of Templars is said to follow the ancient rituals of Solomon's Temple. They believe in the ancient ideal of the Priest-King that King Solomon embodied and the modern order is supposed to be pushing for the day when a new King Solomon rises up to bring peace and order to the world. Some reports claim they are a task force within the True Templars, while others say they are a separate entity with a different agenda?

- Ordo Seculorum = The Ordo seeks political and financial power, all the better for the Templars to combat their enemies. Unfortunately, their methods may leave others afraid of them, since the Ordo has acquired quite a bit of power and influence in the modern world. Many Seneschal Templars serve this Sect as financiers and economic agents.

- Pendant Shield = Also known as the Shield Cross, these Templars specialize in defensive measures against occult activities, counter-surveillance and the supernatural. Needless to say, knights of the Shield Order predominant among them.

- Plantard Plot = This extremely heretical sect of Templars practice the dark art of summoning demons. They do not wish the demons to serve them, however, instead, they just bind and torture them for information?

- Priory of Sion = A much-vaunted sect especially in recent times due to explosive literary fiction, the Priory is commonly believed to be protecting an ancient bloodline from between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. To the minds of most Xtrian Adepts, if the Priory does exist, they are protecting the Desponzyni, but of course there are people who disagree and claim the Priory is actually protecting the children of the bloodline of Christ. According to most tales, the Priory is awaiting some future time when the 'True Heir' (a champion of the bloodline) will make themselves known to the world for some obscure purpose.

- Rose Knights = The Rose Knights were an initial sect of Magdalene Knights that formed shortly after the Great Betrayal and Rebirth of the Templars. They exist still in the modern times. Magdalenes who join the Templars are automatically labelled Rose Knights, although there exists a more formal organization within the brotherhood that has its own traditions and culture.

- Roslyn Chapel = Roslyn Chapel served as a secret meeting place and archive for centuries, right up until modern times. The Chapel's noteriety has rendered it useless for keeping secrets, but it's still a treasure trove of Templar history and Holy Relics.

- Schismatic Templars = Isn't a specific sect but a label for any Templar who works to bring down the Papacy (and probably has a grudge against the Order of Priests to boot). Sadly, some of them have descended into their own rank hells of hatred and self-pity, causing a few to become Fallen. For more info see Schismatic Templars.

- Separatist Templars = Unlike the Schismatics, these Templars feel apathy towards the Papacy, not hate. They do not wish to return to the fold of Western Christendom, but neither do they seek to do the Roman Church any harm.

- Society of St. John's Head = These were the 'Baphomet' guys, the Templars accused of worshipping an idol in the shape of a head. The reality is that the head was actually a sculpture tribute to John the Baptist, who was martyred by beheading. Baphomet is a bastardization of "bufimet" which translates best as "source of understanding." These Templars saw the Baptist as an ideal to be meditated upon and followed.

- Temple Arcanum = This sect of Templars are descended from those Templars taken to Egypt during the Crusades by the Saracens as captives. They are attempting to rediscover and rebuild the lost Library of Alexandria, slowly recovering the timeless manuscripts which were scattered across the world ages ago.

- The New Order = This extremist sect of Templars believe that mankind is simply too chaotic within its own nature to survive on its own. They seek methods of control, not just political and financial or military, but instead outright control of the mind. Only when the masses have been freed from the burden of having to think for themselves will the world know true peace.

- True Templars = The True Templars recruit exclusively from the Order of Crusaders and they firmly believe that Hugh and his early companions were all Crusader Adepts. The True Templars are one of the most active and aggressive sects within the Templar Chapter and they have a history of tackling demonic incursions into the material world. And sticking it to the Order of Priests whenever possible.

Templar Treasure?:
Stories of Templars escaping the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem with boatloads of gold and silver, possibly artifacts recovered from Solomon's Temple, are undocumented among modern Templars. Given the state of the modern Templar brotherhood, that may not mean much.

Most stories cite Templars recovering back to Europe with everything from precious jewels and gold, to the Holy Grail, the Shroud of Turin, the True Cross and any number of other famous Holy Relics.