Archive for the 'Knights Templar' Category
I have some very fine Knights Templar rings that look very nice and are crafted using the finest materials. I love these rings and looking at them all the time. The rings mean a lot to me. These rings are very intricate and they contain the symbols that mean the most to me. I have one that I especially like.
My favorite ring of the Knights Templar kind is a ring that has the Blue Lodge emblem on one side of it and it has the Royal Arch Mason emblem on the other side. This is a heavy ring and I love that about it. It is solid and it was made by a jewelry manufacturer who makes only very high quality jewelry.
The Knights Templar is a masonic order that I have been part of for a long time. I feel very proud to have been part of this order for so long and I am very glad that I discovered this masonic fraternity. It has taken a lot of commitment, but I have gained so much knowledge and wisdom over the years that I wouldn’t have gotten any other way. My Knights Templar rings are of very high quality and they represent something that is very special to me.
Knights Templar and Modern Banking
Although the primary mission of the Order was military, few participants in the Knights Templar were actually combatants. Most Knights Templar’s acted in support positions to assist the knights and to manage the financial infrastructure. The Templar Order, though its members were sworn to individual poverty, was given control of wealth beyond direct donations. A nobleman who was interested in participating in the Crusades might place all his assets under Templar management while he was away. Accumulating wealth in this manner, the Order in 1150 began generating letters of credit for pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land: pilgrims deposited their valuables with a local Templar preceptor before embarking, received a document indicating the value of their deposit, then used that document upon arrival in the Holy Land to retrieve their funds. This practice was an early form of banking, and may have been the first formal system to support the use of checks. This system improved the safety of those journeying to the Holy Land by making them less attractive targets for thieves, and also contributed immensely to the Templar coffers. They acquired large tracts of land, both in Europe and the Middle East; bought and managed farms and vineyards; built churches and castles; and were involved in manufacturing, import and export. The Templar’s had their own fleet of ships. Based on these kinds of donations and business dealings, the Templar’s established financial networks across much of Europe and the Middle East. An illustration of a Knights Templar Ring can be found amongst the many Masonic Rings illustrated at Fox Jewelry.
The Knights Templar were the most powerful military order that played part in the Crusades. The Knights Templar were formed from several groups of knights for the express purpose of protecting Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land. The incorporation of these groups of knights created a powerful military force which formed the nucleus of the Crusading Army. The order adopted a monastic way of life based on that of St. Benedict. This dual identity brought about the famous description of them as “fiercer than lions and gentler than lambs.” The monastic life of the Knights Templar granted them the peace of mind and soul to fulfill their prescribed mission. The successes of the Knights Templar were numerous, especially in the Third Crusade. The Knights Templar fought fiercely against Saracen encroachment into territory held by the Latin Kingdoms of Palestine, but were driven into Cyprus when Acre fell in 1291. From Cyprus, the Knights Templar achieved financial success which in turn brought them the wrath of King Philip IV of France. The order was persecuted from 1308-1314 and destroyed with the death of the last Grandmaster, Jaques de Molay. An eaxample of a Knights Templar ring can be found at Fox Jewelry where many other Masonic rings can also be found.
Although the primary mission of the Order was military, few members of the Knights Templar were actually combatants. Most Knights Templar’s acted in support positions to assist the knights and to manage the financial infrastructure. The Templar Order, though its members were sworn to individual poverty, was given control of wealth beyond direct donations. A nobleman who was interested in participating in the Crusades might place all his assets under Templar management while he was away. Accumulating wealth in this manner, the Order in 1150 began generating letters of credit for pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land: pilgrims deposited their valuables with a local Templar preceptor before embarking, received a document indicating the value of their deposit, then used that document upon arrival in the Holy Land to retrieve their funds. This practice was an early form of banking, and may have been the first formal system to support the use of checks. This system improved the safety of those journeying to the Holy Land by making them less attractive targets for thieves, and also contributed immensely to the Templar coffers. They acquired large tracts of land, both in Europe and the Middle East; bought and managed farms and vineyards; built churches and castles; and were involved in manufacturing, import and export. The Templar’s had their own fleet of ships. Based on these types of donations and business dealings, the Templar’s established financial networks across much of Europe and the Middle East. An example of a Knights Templar Ring can be found amongst the many Masonic Rings illustrated at Fox Jewelry.
The Knights Templars’ existence was tied closely to the Crusades. When the Holy Land was lost,
support for the Order faded. Rumors about the Templars’ secret initiation
ceremony created mistrust, and King Phillip IV of France who was deeply in debt
to the Order, took advantage of the situation. In 1307, many of the Order’s
members in France were arrested, tortured into giving erroneous confessions,
and then were burned at the stake. Under
pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V broke up the Order in 1312. Portugal was the only European country where the Knight
Templars were not persecuted and arrested. An example of the ring worn by the Knights Templar is shown in the category Knights Templar Rings.
Within two decades of the victory of the First Crusade (1095-1099) a group of knights led by Hugues (Hugh) de Payens offered themselves to the Patriarch of Jerusalem to serve as a military force.This group – often said to be nine in number – had the mandate of protecting Christian pilgrims who were en route to the Holy Land to visit the shrines sacred to their faith.
Somewhere between the years of AD 1118 – 1120, King Baldwin II granted the group quarters in a wing of the Royal Palace on the Temple Mount (the Al Aqsa Mosque).
It has been generally accepted that, for the first nine years of their existence, the Templars – as they came to be known – consisted of nine members.
In the mid 1700s the Freemasons 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 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.
The full title of this order is The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta.
The Knights Templar is an additional order and is not a higher degree within freemasonry. Knights Templars meet in Preceptories or commanderies.
Membership in the Order is open to Master Masons of Christian faith (in some jurisdictions, the order is also open to those of other faiths who are willing to swear to defend the Christian faith) and who have been exalted into the Holy Royal Arch Chapter.[citation needed] 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. The Knights Templar have the additional requirement that the candidate be a professing Christian.
An example of a Knights Templar Ring can be found at Fox Jewelry.
Within two decades of the victory of the First Crusade (1095-1099) a group of knights led by Hugues (Hugh) de Payens offered themselves to the Patriarch of Jerusalem to serve as a military force.This group – often said to be nine in number – had the mandate of protecting Christian pilgrims who were en route to the Holy Land to visit the shrines sacred to their faith.
Somewhere between the years of AD 1118 – 1120, King Baldwin II granted the group quarters in a wing of the Royal Palace on the Temple Mount (the Al Aqsa Mosque).
It has been generally accepted that, for the first nine years of their existence, the Templars – as they came to be known – consisted of nine members.
Although it has been widely speculated that the Templars wished to keep it this way to cover their secret mission of digging for buried treasure on the Temple Mount, the simple fact remains that the lifestyle adopted by the Order was not to everyone’s taste. As such, the Templars had difficulty in recruiting members to their cause in the early years.
In the year 1127 the Cistercian abbot, Bernard of Clairvaux, wrote a rule of order for the Templars that was based on his own Cistercian Order’s rule of conduct. Additionally, Bernard did a great deal to promote the Templars.
Perhaps Bernard’s greatest contribution to the Order was a letter that he wrote to Hugues de Payens, entitled De laude novae militae (In praise of the new knighthood.)
This letter swept throughout Christendom drawing many men, of noble birth, who joined the ranks of the Templar Order. Those who were unable to join often gifted the Templars with land and other valuables.
While it is true that the Templars were not permitted, by their rule, to own much of anything personally, there was no such restriction on the Order as a whole. As such, the gifts of land were accepted and put to immediate use by the Templars, who farmed the land generating additional wealth.
Over the years the Templars rose from their humble beginnings to become the wealthiest of the Crusading Orders – eventually garnering the favour of the Church and the collective European monarchs.
This wealth, generated in the West was put to immediate use in the East to buy arms and raise armies. Although the Templars are regarded as the greatest of the medieval military Orders, the record shows that they lost more battles than they won. Despite a brutal win/loss record, the Order did play an important role in the Holy Land.
The Knights Templar Ring shown on Fox Jewelry™ website is indicative of the Masonic Rings worn by Masons that have earned the Knights Templar Degree.