ORIGINS OF MASONIC TEMPLARISM IN THE FRENCH

ORDRE DU TEMPLE

PROLOGUE
For the past century and a half, Masonic Templarism has been nearly synonymous
with the name Knights Templar. If one has a notion of a modern Templar, it is probable
that it is a Masonic one.

The official stance of the Masonic Templars today is that there is no historical
connection between the medieval Order and modern Freemasonry, 1 but was created by
"Thomas Dunckerley, [who] wanted to promote a concept of chivalry and Christianity
within a masonic framework." 2 Nevertheless, there is a strong undercurrent of rumor,
legend, and pseudo-history that has existed for centuries that asserts a real, historical
connection to the original Order.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the historical origins of Masonic

Templarism based on verifiable datapoints, limited speculation, and from a perspective
uncolored by Masonic favor.

The modern historians of Freemasonry have largely already done this, however, the
appearance of the Templar degrees are still considered imprecise, although universally
agreed that they were inspired by the famed oration of Chevalier Andrew Michael
Ramsay in 1737.3 Indeed, as Chevalier Ramsay's oration cited the Crusaders and the

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Order of St. John as the origin of Freemasonry, the idea of the chivalric high degrees
was birthed into Freemasonry and quickly proliferated. It is for this reason, Ramsay
becomes the start of this investigation.

Ramsay was a Scottish exile of the Jacobite Stuart Cause 4 in France, and became a
Freemason between 1725 and 1730.5 He was Grand Orator of a lodge in Paris when he
delivered his oration in 1737.6 From 1741, a frenzy of high chivalric masonic degrees
were created, some said to have been developed by Ramsay himself. 7

Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia summarizes the shift his oration inspired: "Rejecting all
references to the Traveling Architects from Como, to the Stone Masons of Germany, and
the Operative Freemasons of England, he had sought a noble and chivalric origin for
Freemasonry, which with him was not a cofraternity founded on a system of
architecture, but solely on the military prowess and religious enthusiasm of
knighthood."

Yet the question remains, where did these rites and degrees originate from?

BEFORE THE ORATION

Most investigations of Masonic Templary do not probe the life of Ramsay prior to
1730, when he began his involvement with Freemasonry. Fewer still have made any
serious inquiry into pre-existing Templar movements.

Prior to the oration of 1737, the only known and historically verifiable Templar claim
is the French Ordre du Temple of Larmenius descent, whose existence has been certified
to as early as 1681.8

The Jacobite Stuart exiles from Scotland arrived in the French Court starting in 1688
into a pre-existing Templar revival. The Ordre du Temple was boastful about the
memberships of learned and godly men, such as Bishop Jean Baptiste Massillon and
Archbishop Francois Fenelon, in their registers. 9 Fenelon was initiated into the Order of
the Temple on Oct. 18, 1695, and Massillon, Feb. 12, 1703, according to rolls of the

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Order.10

Fenelon became the spiritual father and mentor of Ramsay, and they lived together
from 1710-1713.11 Fenelon was instrumental in Ramsay's conversion to Catholicism.
After Fenelon's death in 1715, Ramsay wrote his biography. The closeness of their
relationship cannot be overstated. Andrew Mansfield, author of Fenelon's Cuckoo, goes
as far as saying that his admiration developed into outright emulation.12

For this reason, one should not be surprised that in the period between 1710 and
1713, Fenelon himself initiated Ramsay into the French Ordre du Temple.13

At this point it should be acknowledged that Freemasonry existed only as a

disorganized body of operative, practicing stone masons.

Famed Freemason and Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite, Albert Pike
has said, "Prior to 1700, [Masonic] assemblies consisted of beer-drinking, pipe-smoking,
and working men without ritual." 14 As such, it is difficult to believe that claims of
Masonic Templar continuance is represented in such a fraternity that existed without
ritual, and whose mysticism was only in the seed.

The Grand Lodge of England, founded in 1717, is considered the official beginning of
Speculative Freemasonry, ie, the formal introduction of non-working masons. 15 When
Ramsay became a Freemason in 1730, it was only beginning to introduce the Third
Degree, such was the primitive state of the fraternity at the time. 16 High Degrees of any
kind, including the Templar degrees, did not appear in Freemasonry until the 1740s.

Therefore, the Templary which Ramsay was initiated into in 1710-1713 was
completely non-masonic, as high degrees did not yet exist. Masonic Historian John
Yarker confirmed this when he evaluated the Ordre du Temple initiation ritual in effect
from 1705, saying, "He is drawn from the cofffin and takes the vow, which he signs with
his own blood, and a lock of hair, as a tonsure, is cut off and secured with the vow. The
chaplains anoint him with chrism, incense him, sprinkle holy water upon him and upon
the habits with which he is invested. A chapter is read from the Rule of St. Bernard,

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and the ceremony concludes with the 132nd Psalm. There is not the slightest trace of
Masonry or its symbolism in any part of the ceremony."17

The Ritual and Statutes of the Ordre du Temple were reformed in 1705 by Philippe II,
Duke of Orleans, future Regent of France, who was then Grandmaster of the Templars,
and a member the Order of St. Lazarus. Chevalier Ramsay was a member of both
Orders, and developed a fond friendship from these dual relations. 18

With his dear mentor Archbishop Fenelon dead in 1715, and his friend and
Grandmaster Philippe II, Duke of Orleans dead in 1723, Ramsay likely felt unmoored.
When he joined the Freemasons as early as 1725, it seems he found a renewed purpose
and a new field for the seed of Templarism.

INTRODUCTION INTO FREEMASONRY

Early Masonic Templary has always been characterized by an admitted and well-
known political ambition: The Jacobite Stuart Cause. These Jacobites were the guests of
the French Court, the seat of the Ordre du Temple. Ramsay himself, as Scottish Jacobite,
was in personal contact with the greatest Jacobite personages of the time –
Derwentwater, the Duke of Perth, Hamilton, the Duke of Bouillon, John Erskine, Earl of
Mar, James III, the Old Pretender, and Charles Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie" – many of
whom were deeply entwined with the Masonic Templar movement. These Scottish
Degrees, or Stuart Templary was founded and headquartered at Clermont in Paris in
1741, and was known as the Clermont Chapter.19 20

Chevalier Ramsay was not only in "contact" with the Stuarts, but was himself the
tutor of Charles Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie", who would become the Masonic
Templar Grandmaster in 1745. This line of transmission is uncontroversial, as you see
from Freemason's Monthly, Vol 23, "Other Freemasons asserted that the chivalric or
military Order of the Templars had been actually suppressed, but that the ecclesiastical
portion or priesthood had been continued in Scotland and was subsquently transferred
into Freemasonry. But history shows that this Templar Masonry was invented in France
about the year 1740, by the adherents of the Stuarts, and was introduced by Ramsay
and others, as higher degrees, into Freemasonry."

Furthermore, Charles Stuart, as Masonic Templar Grandmaster, is remembered as

using Freemasonry especially for his political motivations, not his necessarily his love

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for the Craft. Consider The Masonic Dictionary's entry on "Stuart Masonry"21: "Prince
Charles Edward took a more active part than either his father or grandfather in the
pursuits of Freemasonry; and there is abundant historical evidence that he was not only
a Freemason, but that he held high office in the Order, and was for a time zealously
engaged in its propagation; always, however, it is supposed, with political views... On
Sept. 24, 1745, he was admitted into the Order of the Knights Templar, an office which
it is said, he held until his death."

It is generally accepted that Prince Charles Stuart desired to leverage the reach,
popularity, and prestige of Freemasonry and the Templars for his ambitions to the
throne. In tying the lineage of the Templars to Scotland, he sought to engender a brave
nationalism that would inspire the Scottish to stand up to the English.

In 1743, Baron Von Hund claimed to be initiated by Scottish Knights in Paris into the
Templar Order by the "Knight of the Red Feather," which he hinted was Prince Charles
Stuart,22 and in the presence of senior Jacobites. Von Hund was commissioned to bring
the Templars to Germany, which he did, and by 1751, he officially organized the Rite of
the Strict Observance, which rapidly proliferated as the premier Templar rite, with
related branches spreading into Sweden, Russia, and elsewhere.

In 1745, a pamphlet entitled Freemasonry Divested of All its Secrets published by an

ex-mason in Strasburg, contains the first glimpse of the Strict Observance, and
demonstrates how much they expected the Brotherhood to "contribute towards the
expedition in favor of the Pretender."

The Masonic Dictionary on "Stuart Masonry" says:"One Degree was openly called the
'Scottish Master of the Sacred Vault of James VI', as if to indicate its Stuart character.
The Degree still exists as the Thirteenth of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, but
it has been shorn of its political pretensions and its title changed." 23

The evidence shows that Templarism was introduced into Freemasonry by Scottish
Jacobites for that specific political purpose. A summary of the transmission runs thus:

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 To summarize simply the events of the formation of Masonic Templarism we can say
thus:

• The French Ordre du Temple exists.

• Speculative Freemasory begins.

• House of Stuart in France weaponizes Freemasonry for political ends.

• Certain key Stuart Masonic supporters are bought into Ordre du Temple.

• Templarism proliferates in Masonry and takes on Masonic character

After the establishment of the Rite of Strict Observance, the Scottish Templars
released a list of their own line of purported Grandmasters in Scotland, with no mention
of the French succession. While they produced no documents or evidence to support
these claims, several legendary and pseudo-historical tales were generated to attempt to
connect the dots back to the original Templars.

Unfortunately, the actual history of Freemasonry in Scotland disproves this premise at

the outset. Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia states, "This theory of Templar origin which,
mythical as it is and wholly unsubstantiated by the authority of history, has exercised a
vast influence in the fabrication of advanced Degrees and the invention of Continental
Rites." 24

Masonic Scholar John Yarker affirms, "Whilest at Derby, in December 1745, Prince
Charles Edward granted a warrant for the Longnor Lodge of Ancient Freemasons, as
Grand Master, and many writers, amongst the rest, the learned Brother Van Lennep,

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deny any formal connection betwixt the Templars and Freemasons prior to this date." 25

Even in 1745, at the time of the election of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, "some kind
of Templar Order in Scotland was in existence – probably introduced from France by
the Pretender's partisans..." and "...the probability is that these Templars were not
Masonically aligned."26 27

LEGENDARY DEVELOPMENT
Kilwinning: Home of the Templars

Many of the Scottish Templar legends that were maintained in the 18 th and 19th
centuries are still prominently advocated today.

There are too many to be exhaustively covered here, like the legend Pierre
d'Audmond, who supposedly lead the Templars to Scotland, and who, according to
Stephen Dafoe, Past Grand Historian of the Sovereign Great Priory of Canada, “is a
Templar continuation myth” and “is said to be the brainchild of the Rite of Strict
Observance, which was largely promoted by Baron von Hund.” 28

But the heart of Scottish Templarism, and even Scottish Freemasonry as a whole, is
tightly connected to the Mother Kilwinning Lodge, which is arguably the oldest Masonic
lodge in Scotland. “The claim to the honor, however, ...depends on the bare authority of
a legend, the authenticity of which is now doubted by many Masonic historians.” 29

The story runs that Templars fled to Scotland after their suppression in the guise of
stonemasons, assisted Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn, who then
established the Order of St. Andrew at Kilwinning, where the Templars embedded
themselves into the lodge.

Thory puts it like this: "Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, under the title of Robert I,
created the Order of St. Andrew of Chardon, after the battle of Bannockburn, which was
fought on the 24th of June, 1314. To this Order was afterwards united that of Heredom,
for the sake of the Scotch Freemasons, who formed a part of the thirty thousand troops
with whom he had fought an army of one hundred thousand Englishmen. King Robert
reserved the title of Grand Master to himself and his successors forever, and founded

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the Royal Grand Lodge of Herodem at Kilwinning."30

While the great antiquity of operative masonry at Kilwinning lodge is historically

likely, every other extravagance of the story is unable to integrate with known history.
In regard to these legends, it is imperative to understand the distinction between
Operative Masonry and Speculative Masonry. Operative Masonry was a guild of working
tradesman who shared closely held methods for their skill, banded together to assert
their rights against employers, and maintained high standards for their craft. This form
of Masonry has established history into antiquity.

Speculative Masonry, which admits non-masons into the lodge, granted degrees, and
taught mysticism is a much later invention, which can scarcely be said to extend before
1700,31 and for Scotland, much later. Speculative Masonry is a necessary precursor to
High Degrees. High Degrees, being anything outside of the Craft Masonry (the first
three degrees), are necessary for a Templar degree to exist. Therefore, for a Templar
degree to exist, a lodge must engage in Speculative Masonry, not simply Operative.

The Grand Lodge of Scotland was founded only in 1736, one year before Ramsay's
oration. But speaking of 1720, Masonic Historian Findel says "[Speculative] Freemasonry
could hardly be said to exist in Scotland then." 32 If Speculative Freemasonry did not
exist yet in Scotland even in 1720, how much can be said for a Masonic continuation in
Scotland of the Knights Templar back to 1307?

Masonic scholars with a commitment to tangible history recognize that Kilwinning

Lodge being anything other than an Operative Mason's guild is all but impossible.

“It should be borne in mind that previous to the introduction of Speculative

Freemasonry into Scotland, the number and quality of officers necessary to direct the
affairs of lodges were not such as could render practicable the working of any elaborate
ritual. A Deacon, Warden, Clerk (who was no Craftsman) and Officer, were the only
officials in Mother Kilwinning until December 1735, and in some other lodges till a
later period; and with such a meager array of officers, how by any possibility could the
dramatis personae of Speculative Masonry been sustained?”33

“Even the first "Right Worshipful Master of the Lodge of Kilwinning... knew nothing
of Masonic degrees until the 18th of May, 1736.” 34

While we can maintain a historical assent to the antiquity of the stonemasons guild
at Kilwinning, anything beyond that is not supported by history, and often contrary to

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it.

In conclusion on Kilwinning, “Seeing that the Fraternity of Kilwinning never at any

period practiced or acknowledged other than Craft degrees, and have not preserved
even a shadow of a tradition that can in the remotest degree be held to identify Robert
Bruce with the holding of Masonic Courts, or the Institution of a Secret Order at
Kilwinning, the Fraternity of the "Herodim" must be attributed to another than the hero
of Bannockburn, and a birthplace must be sought for it in a soil still more favorable to
the growth of the high grades than Scotland has hitherto proved.“ 35

But where did these legends of the knights of Kilwinning arise from?

“In treating of the origin of the “high degrees,” Bro. Findel remarks: “Ramsay
pronounces the famous word Kilwinning, and the promise which it held out of reviving
the Order, was, in the then state of things, only too alluring... There can be no doubt
that here we have the source of the high grades.” The votaries of “Scotch Masonry”
should... bear in mind that the place of Chevalier Ramsay's nativity was within a short
distance (fourteen miles) of Kilwinning, — and that to this circumstance may be
attributed his knowledge of the traditional fame of that village as the ancient Scottish
centre of the Mason Craft, and his subsequent use of its name in the promotion of his
newly-promulgated Masonic inventions; although at the time of his birth, and even
during the period in which he was engaged in the preparation of what has been termed
“the corner-stone of the high grades”, the Mason Court of Kilwinning was a purely
operative institution, and its members for the most part were composed of masons and
wrights, whose education was not such as could have fitted them for the study or
understanding of those ineffable and sublime rites of which they were the alleged
conservators. It is certain that Ramsay was not a member of the Kilwinning Lodge; nor
is it likely that he ever had any communication with it... In tracing the movements of
Robert Bruce... he may have visited Kilwinning, but that he ever did so cannot be
established from contemporaneous history.”36

Grand Cross at the Battle of Killiecrankie

The entire timeline of the Scottish Templar claim is incredibly sparse. Apart from
Kilwinning, another significant datapoint in purported history of the Scottish Templars
is the story of David Grahame, Viscount of Dundee, Leader of the Scottish Armies under
James VII, who supposedly died at the Battle of Killkrankie in 1689 wearing the Grand
Cross of the Order. The story is as follows:

“Abbé Calmet received from David Grahame the Grand Cross of the Order worn by
his gallant and ill fated brother [John Grahame of Claverhouse, Viscount of Dundee,] at
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the battle of Killiecrankie. “He was, " says the Abbé , “Grandmaster of the Order of the
Templars in Scotland."

This story is frequently relayed as evidence to demonstrate the secret operation of the
Templars within Scotland with John Grahame, Viscount of Dundee as its Grand Master
of the entire Order. The historicity of the story is unproven, and its first mention isn't
until a pamphlet in 1843, being a third hand account which appears 150 years after the
supposed event.37 For the sake of argument, however, we will treat the story as relating
true events.

An additional detail was added to the story after the fact, that the cross he bore was
an authentic, pre-1307 Templar cross, a detail likely intended to strengthen the claim of
direct descent.38 This detail is conspicuously absent from the purported testimony of
Calmet, the only source of the story.

The first thing that ought to be noticed about this story is that it takes place within
the time frame of known Templar revival in France from 1681.

The second thing is that it takes place after the Stuart exile to France in 1688, with
John Grahame, Viscount of Dundee, being a leader in the Stuart Cause. His surviving
brother, David Grahame and other prominent Scottish exiles were given important posts
in the French Army.39

And third, it does not say he was Grandmaster of the Templars – but that he was
Grandmaster of the Templars in Scotland. This indicates that it is more likely that
Grahame was a regional or provincial master over Scotland, what is called a Grand
Prior today. This is further justified by the fact that his brother, David Grahame, did not
retain the Grand Cross in Scotland, but returned it to France. He did not present it to
the succeeding Scottish Grandmaster, John Erskine, the Lord of Mar, but gave it to a
French Priest, Abbé (Abbot) Antoine Augustin Calmet.

Furthermore, historically and today, a Grand Cross is not a synonym for the Grand
Master, but is an award of merit, even within the Scottish Templars of the 18 th an 19th
century.40 This series of events is more consistent with the cross of a regional leader
being returned to an Order headquartered in France, rather than in Scotland. 41

However, some serious anachronisms exist in the story as well. To begin, if the

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transfer of the cross occurred in or near 1689, Abbé Calmet was neither an Abbot, nor a
priest in 1689, but was only a teenager of 17, and was not ordained until 1696. Calmet
certainly became a great and respected churchman, historian, and theologian later in
life, but at the time of the events, he was no great personage, and of no
accomplishment. It seems very strange that a 17 year old would be the chosen recipient
of an authentic pre-1307 cross of the Templar Grandmaster.

Similarly, if the transfer occurred in or around 1689, the supposed successor of John
Grahame, Viscount of Dundee as Scottish Grand Master was John Erskine, Earl of Mar,
would have only been a boy of 14 at the time of death of Viscount John Grahame.
Unless this Templar succession line was tantamount to a high school boys club, the
inconsistencies in the tale lend the judgment to fiction.

David Grahame died in 1700,42 so the transfer must have at least occurred before
that, making the maximum age of the men, 25 for the Earl of Mar and 28 for Calmet. In
this scenario, the evidence suggests this Scottish group was a jurisdiction subordinate to
the Ordre du Temple in France. It is known that Earl of Mar became a close confidante
of Ramsay.43

Surprisingly, this is not the only legend that has developed around John Grahame at
the Battle of Killiecrankie, “the best known of which was the long prevalent but of
course entirely false tale that he was invulnerable to lead (due to having made a pact
with the Devil) and was killed by being penetrated by a silver button from his own
coat.”44 Being such a prominent champion of the King and the Jacobite Cause, who died
in such a valiant way, he was the likely target of numerous spurious inventions.

Concluding remarks will be left to esoteric historian, A.E. Waite, who says of this
tale: “"If this story be true, we are brought at once to the presence of a Templar
survival or restoration which owes nothing to the dreams or realities of Chevalier
Ramsay, and nothing to masonry itself. We know that evidence is wanting at every
point for the alleged perpetuation of the old Templar Order in connection with Masonry
and that the legends of such perpetuation bear all the traces of manufacture..." 45

DEVELOPMENT OF RITUAL
While John Yarker established that the ritual undergone by Ramsay was non-masonic

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in character,46 the history of ritual development must be examined. The most robust
documentation of the Masonic Templar rituals, however, exists across the ocean in
America. The travel of the Templar degrees to America is summarized: "The first
reliable evidence of a Knight Templar Masonic ritual being practiced is in France in
1740 and shortly afterwards it was ‘exported’ to England via the main trade routes."

“On October 1, 1768, several regiments of British soldiers arrived in Boston,

Massachusetts. Among them were the 14th Regiment (Irish), in which Army Lodge No.
581 was held, and the 29th Regiment (Irish) in which Army Lodge No. 322 was held.
In the second week of November 1768 the 64th Regiment (Irish) in which was held an
Army Lodge also arrived. These Army Lodges brought to Boston a knowledge of the
Order of the Temple."47

The earliest references to this Templar ritual is routinely referred to as “conferring

the Order of the Temple” and represented an early Templar ritual tradition in America. 48
Furthermore, this ritual was conferred with only a loose association to Freemasonry
upon its arrival.

“At the time of the introduction of Templarism into the United States, it was entirely
disconnected with Freemasonry proper, the degree of Templar being conferred on
persons who were not Masons.”49

Additionally, “there were many encampments established which were not connected
with Craft Lodges, nor under the control of any body.”50

One early non-mason is recorded as being installed as “one of the most Noble Order
of Knighthood, a Templar of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller, and Knight of
Malta” on his certificate, an “ignorant conglomeration of titles” that only seems to make
sense if the Templars embedded in the Knights of St. John, as proposed in the previous
paper, “Re-Examining the Larmenius Charter.”51

These earliest rituals that were brought to America through the British, Irish and
Scottish soldiers via France were therefore not expressly Masonic. Conferring “the Order
of the Temple” was still able to be accomplished outside a purely Masonic context. In
fact, the name of conferring the Order of the Temple, may be a vestige of French roots,
Ordre du Temple.

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 However, later on, the ritual was developed to take on a specific Masonic character.
Regarding the evolution of the ritual, William Moseley Brown, writing for the Masonic
Grand Encampment of the United States says, “ The ritual of the Order of the Temple
has so far presented the most satisfactory research as well as a number of interested
and, as yet, unsolved problems. . . . The legend of the origin and development of the
present Grand Encampment ritual is based on the old "Webb Work." The story runs that
Webb and others took the then existing ritual, rewrote it in dramatic form and also
included certain features typical of our ritual today." 52

Unfortunately, the original ritual that Webb edited and his original notes have been
lost to time. However, what can be gleaned is that the previous ritual that initially
landed in the Americas was not uniquely Templarism of Freemasonry, but of another
character that required Masonic revision.

THE MASONIC REJECTION OF TEMPLARISM

In the 1780s, the Jacobite Stuart Cause was officially failed. As a consequence, the
tremendous rise of the Strict Observance Rite met an equally tremendous fall. In 1782,
a large meeting was held in Germany, called the Wilhemsbad Congress, presiding was
Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, head of the Strict Observance. It took place over 30
sessions, with the endeavor to "to discuss the general reformation of Freemasonry, the
origin of the different systems, rites, and doctrines that had formed, and to solve the
question as to whether or not Freemasonry is a modern society or derived from
something far more ancient."53

The conclusions of the Congress were the ultimate disavowal of the Rite of the Strict
Observance as well as the Templar continuation myths. The result was the final and
immediate collapse of the Strict Observance. The Fraternity was in agreement, the
scholars spoken in unison.

"In this opinion of Barruel, a great number of Masonic writers concur - Clavel, Ragon,
Rebold, Thory, Findel, and others too numerous to mention; all indicate Craft Masonry
as the only true kind and the upper degrees as constituting a danger to the Order.
Rebold, who gives a list of these writers, quotes a masonic publication, authorized by
the Grand Orient and the Supreme Council of France, in which it is said that "from all
these rites there result the most foolish conceptions, ... the most absurd legends, ... the
most extravagant systems, the most immoral principles, and those the most dangerous
for the peace and preservation of States," and that therefore except the first three
degrees of Masonry, which are really ancient and universal, everything is "chimera,
extravagance, futility, and lies." Did Barruel and Robison ever use stronger language
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than this?"54

The Grand Lodge of Scotland in October of 1800 even issued a decree, "prohibiting
and discharging its daughters to hold any meetings above the degree of Master Mason,
under penalty of forfeiture of their Charter." 55

There is strong evidence that the Craft Masons of the first three degrees rejected the
claims of Templar descent long before the Wilhemsbad Congress. There exists a forged
document called the Cologne Charter, written in Latin, which purports to be from 1535.
The entire purpose of this document is to roundly disavow any historic association with
the Knights Templar. Its known as a forgery because "the customs are referred to in it
were not known in the rituals of initiation until 1731; that the Advanced Degrees were
nowhere known until 1725... the declaimer against Templar Freemasonry was
unnecessary in 1535, as no Templar Degrees existed until 1741." 56

Its authenticity is irrelevant, simply because it conveys the existence of a rejection of

Templar origins and degrees by a strong and resourceful subset of Freemasonry prior to
the official conclusions of the Wilhemsbad Congress.

With the Masonic Templar descent proclaimed a fraud bringing the death of the Strict
Observance, there left an opportunity for the Templar chivalric tradition to reform as
way "to promote a concept of chivalry and Christianity within a masonic framework," 57
just as the current position is today.

The new Masonic Templar Order was officially founded in 180558 when a charter was
issued to Alexander Deuchar, a seal engraver, from an Irish lodge operating under the
Mother Kilwinning Lodge in Scotland and became the first Grand Assembly of Knights
Templar in Edinburgh.59

THE FRENCH AND THE SCOTTISH

One might imagine that after the end of the Strict Observance and a firm disavowal
of Tempalr continuation by the Freemasons, any future Masonic Templar movement
would have very little to do with the French Ordre du Temple, but this is not the case.
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 Just one year before the establishment of the Grand Assembly, in 1804, is when
Bernard Raymond Fabre-Palaprat first publically revealed the French Ordre du Temple.
As was the fashion at the time, may members were also Freemasons, and over the
course of the next several decades, much cross-pollination occurred between the French
and the newly reformed Scottish Templars.

One such man, Dr. C. Morison de Grenfield, held extremely high position in both
Orders, being the Ex-Grand Chancellor of the Ordre du Temple, and Grand Cross in the
Masonic Scottish Templars from 1798.

Dr. Morison had a falling out with Grand Master Fabre-Palaprat and left the Order
late in life, but retained his membership with the Masonic Order.

A series of letters by Dr. Morison wrtitten from 1843-1846 have been preserved in
Ars Quatuor Coranti Vol. 25, which demonstrates an alarming shift in policy by the
Masonic Knights.60

He relays his concern that in the last four or five years (since 1840-41), the Scottish
Templars have again begun to claim descent from the original Templars, and then
quickly asserts the true origin of the new Scottish knights, because he was there.

The Scottish Grandmaster Deuchar had only recently passed away in 1844, and it
seems shortly thereafter, the policy began to turn.

Dr. Morison, a friend of Deuchar for decades, exposes this shift:

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previously disavowed as false, Morison said:

Granting that even if the previous manifestation of Scottish Templars were legitimate,
Morison points out that they cannot even prove their descent from the previous
generation!

As one of the only surviving authorities of the origins of the new Scottish knights,
having joined even before Grand Master Deuchar, the adaption of its history inspired
Morison to a palapable anger.

He then proceeds to cap his complaint with a threat: either do not publish this false
history, or take me off the membership rolls.
 The strength of his passion regarding the publishing of this false history is so
powerful that he was willing to discard a distinguished Scottish Templar career of
nearly 50 years, based purely on principle.

Ultimately, Morison was forced to keep to his word, and ultimately left the Scottish
Order when they insisted on printing the false history.

The final, and most significant accusation by Dr. Morison is that the Scottish
Templars openly pilfered certain distinct elements of the French Ordre du Temple in
recent times. These accusations, remember, are being made by a man who was
presently a member of the Scottish Order, but no longer a member of the French.

Morison plainly states that many of the elements of the Scottish Templars were taken
from the French, from Statutes, Diplomas, even the cross and crown motif, which has
since evolved and is characteristically identified with the Masonic Templars.

The statements in these private letters are not unexamined, however. John Yarker,
famed Masonic historian says, "The writer has examined the vow of the Scottish Order
and finds that it is but a modification of that of the French Order. The Latin Certificate
of the Scottish Order is word for word that of the French Order, saving the officers
names; and the idea of granting certificates to Commanders, and Grand Cross, is taken
from the French Statutes which were printed in 1825, and previously by Thory in
1815."61

Dr. Morison is evidentially correct when he asserted that certain elements of the new
Scottish Templars were pilfered from the French Ordre du Temple. However, after these
events, the French Order was on the decline, and the Masonic Order was on the ascent,
taking advantage of its vast network of lodges in Europe and in the Americas.

Today, the Masonic Templars are essentially synonymous with modern Templarism.

CONCLUSIONS
The Masonic Knights Templar continue today as a fraternity of honorable men who,
at least in the official capacity, have come to terms with the lack of history tracing them
back to the original Templars. Evidence shows that the true origins of Masonic
Templarism were birthed out of the pre-existing French Ordre du Temple during the
Stuart exile in the French Court. Chevalier Andrew Michael Ramsay, a man with a foot
in both worlds, was the main catalyst to introduce Templarism into Freemasonry.

Nevertheless, the perception of Templar continuation from Freemasonry is still a

widely held belief which has produced dozens of books on the topic.

New legends continue to be birthed to substantiate a Scottish Templar line, such as

the legends surrounding Rosslyn Chapel, which began to proliferate in the 1980s. This is
done despite facts like:

1. The Sinclairs testified against the Templars at their trial, not for them. 62

2. The three pillars, beginning with the Apprentice Pillar, representing the Three
Degrees would have had to exist hundreds of years before the existence of the
Third Degree, introduced in 1730.63

3. Rosslyn Chapel underwent a Masonic renovation in the 1860s. 64

Despite this, the official position of the Masonic Knights Templar stands. Furthermore,
it has now been demonstrated that the Masonic Templar High Degrees originated from
an interplay with the Stuarts in the French Court during their exile, being exposed to
the Ordre du Temple. Chevalier Ramsay, member of the Ordre du Temple for nearly 15
years before being a Mason, carried his Templarism into Freemasonry to inspire support

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for the Stuart Cause.

A summary timeline of all significant events is as follows:

• 1681 - Petit Resurrection des Templiers.

• 1688 - Stuart exiles first arrive in Court of France.

• 1695 - October 18 - Fenelon initiated by "Apostolic Princes."

• 1703 - February 12 - Massilon initiated.

• 1705 – Duke of Orleans reforms Statutes under Order du Temple.

• 1710-1713 - Ramsay initiated by Fenelon.

• 1717 – Grand Lodge of England founded, officially starting Speculative Masonry.

• 1725-1730 – Chevalier Ramsay becomes a Freemason.

• 1736 - Grand Lodge of Scotland Founded.

• 1737 - Ramsay's Oration tying Masonry to the Crusaders.

• 1740s - High Templar degrees of Masonry begin to appear.

• 1741 - Clermont Chapter of Masonic Templars established. Massilon is Bishop of

Clermont.

• 1743 - Von Hund claims to be initiated into Templarism by Senior Jacobites.

• 1751 - Von Hund officially organizes Strict Observance Rite. Templarsim rapidly
proliferates as a high degree in the lodges.

• 1769 - William Davis, first Masonic Templar initiated in Americas brought over
by Irish regiment conferring the "Order of the Temple." The initiation of "The
Order of the Temple" established encampments "which were not connected with
Craft Lodges nor under the control of any body." This is also true within Ireland
itself.

• 1783 - A Masonic Convent at Wilhelmsbad resolved and declared that the

freemasons were not the successors of the Templars, and that the playing at
Knight Templars was to be discontinued. In effect, the Strict Observance ceased
to exist.

• 1791 - Thomas Dunckerley begins to gather the scattered Templar groups.

• 1798 - Dr. Morison de Grenfield joins the reformed Scottish Templars.

• 1802 - Alexander Deuchar joins the reformed Scottish Templars.

• 1804 - Fabre Palaprat goes public with Ordre du Temple, 1705 Statutes,
Larmenius Charter, and former registers.
 • 1805 - Grand Assembly of Masonic Knights Templar officially founded. First
official warrants given to grant Knights Templar Degrees.

• 1830 - Dr. Morison sends Statutes to Scottish Grand Master Deuchar.

• 1830+ - Scottish Templars co-opt French Templar materials into their own.

• 1843 - Scottish Templars begin to claim authentic descent once again.

• 1846 - Dr. Morison again disavows Scottish Templar origins.

In the present day, the Masonic Knights Templar are a uniquely distinct
representation of the modern Templar heritage. The descendents of both Orders of the
1800s have arrived at two unrelated chivalric traditions. It must be acknowledged that
greater detail into fine specificites of this narrative is possible, but largely fall into the
perview of Masonic Templar development without adding anything to the history of the
Ordre du Temple, and are there left to the skill of Masonic researchers for their own
benefit.

This research in no way is designed to disdain or discredit the Masonic Templars

with malice – they ascent to many of these same conclusions. For this reason, the
majority of the sources used are Masonic ones.

It is the joy of any sincere reseacher to discover the truth of a matter. Anyone who
dearly holds a fondness for Templar tradition, Masonic or otherwise, can learn that we
ought to resist the pull of wishful thinking and confirmation bias and hold only to the
positions that the facts lead us to. While every whisper of a lead is worth investigating,
we must not trust some new or popular claim simply because we desire for it to be so.

Freemasonry has done an admirable job at self-examination and critical inquiry. This
is a virtue that ought to be an example to all – not just on an occasion, but as a matter
of habit. May we so do.

nnDnn.

Daniel J. Clausen, GOTJ

Grand Historian of the OSMTJ
International Templar Historical Committee
Templar Digital Research Library Administrator
Templar Relic Exhibit Curator