The Temple and the Lodge

When I bought THE TEMPLE AND THE LODGE I thought I would read about the Templars and the Masonic order and I did. However, I did not know I would discover so much of interest about US history. Baigent and Leigh provide a great amount of information about the origins, experiences and demise of the Knights Templar including their battles in the Holy Land and the persecution and destruction of their order by King Phillip of France. The authors also provide a cogent argument for the involvement of the remnants of the Templar order in the battle of Bannockburn which freed the Scots from England. And, Baigent and Leigh discuss the rise of the Freemasons and their connections to the White-Robed Knights. However, one of the more interesting parts of this book is the story of the founding of the US (shift from British colony to Republic) which took place under the guidance of Freemasons such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. Was the Revolution a Masonic plot? Baigent thinks not, but he does point to British officers and their men who were Masons (Howe, Cornwallis, etc) who might not have put their hearts and souls into a fight with fellow American Freemasons. He also notes Freemasons came from all over Europe to assist the colonists-France (Lafayette), Germany (von Steuben), Poland (Pulaski), etc. Baigent points out quite correctly that the ideas of European thinkers such as Locke, Hume, Adam Smith, and the French philosophers are incorporated in the Constitution. He also suggests that most of these thinkers were Freemasons or men who moved in Masonic circles. Masonic notions such as the "separation of church and state" are at the heart of the Constitution. "In God We Trust" (found on the one dollar bill) was not the motto of the men who drafted the Constitution. Their motto was "Novus Ordo Seclorum" (also found on the one dollar bill above the pyramid-a symbol of Freemasonry). Novus Ordo Seculorum refers to the "new secular order" the founders thought they were establishing. They recognized the tyranny of religion and wanted it kept arms length from the public arena. Novus Ordo Seculorum was pushed aside in the 20th century-may it be restored in the 21st.

Readers who found Foucault's Pendulum intriguing will probably be surprised by this non-fiction account of the history of the Templars and early Freemasonry. Many of the characters are the same as those found in the novel, but any expectation that the facts are less bizarre than fiction will meet with disappointment. Friday, October 13, 1307, Phillip IV of France ordered the immediate and surprise arrest of all the Knights Templar in France. His captive Pope, Clement V, subsequently excommunicated them all and dissolved the order. The Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, was roasted alive over a slow fire by the Inquisition. The last Crusade was over, the Holy Land was lost and the Templars, the best fighting force in Post-Crusades Europe were no longer needed. An international Order of warrior monks, the Templars were too powerful, too wealthy and too unpredictable in their future allegiances for Phillip to tolerate.Evidently, the French contingent of the Knights Templar was forewarned. Most escaped France to places unknown on 18 sailing vessels, carrying with them the vast Templar treasure. Leigh and Baigent surmise through exhaustive research that the Templar destination was Scotland, where they secretly carried the order through several violent centuries of intrigue. The authors argue convincingly that Templar intervention was responsible for the victory by Robert Bruce over English forces at Bannockburn on June 24, 1314. Their descendants gradually evolved, these authors suggest, the organization that became Freemasonry.March 20, 1737, Andrew Michael Ramsey, member of the English Royal Society, Rosicrucian and Freemason, delivered a public address (concerning Freemasons and Templars) in France, which stated, in part, "This sacred promise was therefore not an execrable oath, as it has been called, but a respectable bond to unite Christians of all nationalities in one cofraternity."Police in Holland and Sweden had already acted against Freemasons. Within a few days of Ramsey's oration the French police followed suit. April 24, 1738, Pope Clement XII issued a Papal Bull "En enimenti apostolatus specula', forbidding all Catholics to become Freemasons under threat of excommunication. Two years later, in the Papal States, membership in a lodge was punishable by death.The long, winding trail through the centuries with these authors in the facts leading monarchs and church authorities to damn members of the organization to which such notables as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Sam Houston and countless others is well worth the reading. Baigent and Leigh have done a great job of research and writing.

If you are stuck in your Columbus discovered America view of the world, Dont read this book. Great book that questions our school book view of history! It will make you think.

It is books like these that keeps one in the light when all the powers that be would like to keep us all in deepest of darkness and night. I consider what I have read to be a warning from the past ..not to be ignored in the future.

William Wallace(Brave Heart), Robert the Bruce and many interesting Templar characters from the middle ages through Freemasons of Washington's time