Knights Templar and Freemasonry connection controversy

After Chevalier Ramsay suggested in 1737 that Freemasons were closely connected with the Knights Templar, it set off a tidal wave of interest in Freemasonry. It also generated a desire among Masons to participate in knightly orders. As a result, the Scottish Rite and York Rite branches of Freemasonry became filled with knightly degrees.

In an effort to provide some support for all this mania, several proposals were made over the years about how an actual connection between the Knights Templar and Freemasonry could have existed. The most famous one was that -- when the Templars were attacked by King Philip IV and Pope Clement V in 1307 -- some of them made their way to Scotland by 1314. There they helped Robert the Bruce win Scotland's independence from England. That famous battle at Bannockburn is depicted above, and it actually took place. But the presence of any Templars has never been proved, and in fact the opposite has been fairly well established.

Several other attempts to make this connection between Freemasons and Knights Templar fared no better. John Robinson made a valiant effort in 1989 to show this connection in his book Born In Blood, and many of his points were very convincing. But he stopped short, and as a result the controversy has continued.

Now a new series of facts have been collected that show a more full and complete picture of how Freemasonry took shape prior to 1717, the year it finally emerged into public view. And those findings have serious implications for how the legacy of the Knights Templar may have become mixed into Masonry. Sworn In Secret presents many facts, sources and supporting details that are likely to take these controversial discussions in a new direction. You can see it here.

A new chapter begins in the long and controversial debate over connections between the Knights Templar and Freemasonry.