Under his protection, Templar organizations simply changed their name, from "Knights Templar" to the reconstituted
The Knights Templar Today
The church claims that Pope Clement was pressured by secular rulers to destroy the order. While most historians agree that the Knights Templar fully disbanded 700 years ago, there are some people who believe the order went underground and remains in existence in some form to this day.
There is no known historical evidence to link the medieval Knights Templar and Masonic Templarism, nor do the Masonic Knights Templar organizations claim any such direct link to the original medieval Templar organization.
Summary. The Templars were Latin—that is, Catholic—Christians. Their faith was the faith of pre-Reformation Europe, a broad Church which expected believers to attend church only three times a year and did not expect the laity to take an active role in church services.
Lord Lamont Couto d' Chandos is a descendant of the first Knights Templars and of the Anjou, Plantagenet and Angevins dynasties. As an historical institution, the Order of the Sacred the Military Order Templar Knights of the Lord Lamont Couto is distinctly “Non-Masonic”.
The Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem, abbreviated to the Knights Templar, was created by Hugues de Payens, a French nobleman who had remained in Jerusalem after visiting sometime between 1114 and 1116.
Under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V disbanded the Order in 1312. The abrupt disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the "Templar" name alive into the modern day.
In modern works, the Templars generally are portrayed as villains, misguided zealots, representatives of an evil secret society, or as the keepers of a long-lost treasure.
In 1307, King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V combined to take down the Knights Templar, arresting the grand master, Jacques de Molay, on charges of heresy, sacrilege and Satanism. Under torture, Molay and other leading Templars confessed and were eventually burned at the stake.
The current position of the Roman Catholic Church is that the medieval persecution of the Knights Templar was unjust, that nothing was inherently wrong with the order or its rule, and that Pope Clement was pressed into his actions by the magnitude of the public scandal and by the dominating influence of King Philip IV, ...
They could not be married or betrothed and could not have any vow in any other Order. They could not have debt more than they could pay, and no infirmities. The Templar priest class was similar to the modern day military chaplain.
The Knights Templar were led by the Grand Master, originally based in Jerusalem, whose deputy was the Seneschal. Next in importance was the Marshal, who was responsible for individual commanders, horses, arms and equipment. He usually carried the standard or nominated a standard-bearer.
Many symbols are associated with the Knights Templar; the most famous is probably the Red Cross, which symbolizes martyrdom and their connection to the church. Another symbol of the Knights was two knights riding on one horse.
The Templars' relationship with the Holy Grail is a recurring theme in many legends and has been trying to gain space with new evidence being raised through research. In this case, almost all point out that the Templars were the guardians of the Grail (artifact or bloodline).
The Knights Templar were an elite fighting force of their day, highly trained, well-equipped, and highly motivated; one of the tenets of their religious order was that they were forbidden from retreating in battle, unless outnumbered three to one, and even then only by order of their commander, or if the Templar flag ...
Since Medieval times, The Church has maintained and supported and recognized military and religious Orders and over the years have established new Honoured Orders, or Knighthoods.
Charges included cat worshipping and navel kissing
In 1309 the pope began his own inquiry, which would continue intermittently into 1311. Rather than assessing the guilt or innocence of individual Templars, its primary goal was to determine whether the pope should abolish the entire order.
Under torture, the Templars confessed to all sorts of sinful and criminal behavior: spitting on the cross, kissing and sex between members of the Order, denial of Christ, and worshipping false idols. Over the next several years, dozens of Templars were burned at the stake. The Pope formally dissolved the order in 1312.
Was the Order of the Knights Templar corrupt and evil, as some have made them out to be? No. The Vatican officially acknowledged that all the charges against the Knights Templar were bogus on Oct. 4, 2007, pointing to documentation from the Vatican archives.
1 Rodrigo Borgia
Both a Grand Master and the Pope, Rodrigo was able to exert his influence across all of Europe. What makes him particularly dangerous is that not only did he have the resources of the Templars, but he was able to use religious pretenses as a justification for his actions.
First, the pilgrim rush brought the Templars prosperity, while trading with both Christians and Muslims created a chain of commerce that the knights were able to capitalise on from the renting of their ships to acting as exchange brokers.
Jacques de Molay, (born 1243, Molay, France—died March 19, 1314, Paris), last grand master of the Knights Templar, an order of knighthood founded during the Crusades that had attained extensive power and wealth.
Few Templars became pirates. John Paul Jones was not a descendant. The term “Jolly Roger” probably came from the English term “rogering,” slang for scandalous sexual activity. However, there is actually a real, albeit tenuous, connection of the Templar legacy to the great age of exploration and ocean navigation.
Many of the knights afterwards denied their confessions, but in May 1310 fifty-four Templars were burned at the stake in a field outside Paris, after which many of those still alive in prison hastily announced that their confessions had been true after all.