The Order of the Temple

The Order of the Temple is the final and crowning order of the York Rite. Its theme is the making of a knight after the manner of the medieval Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, the Knights Templar, and its ceremony brings the pilgrim of the whole Rite, from the building of the first Temple onward, to a solemn conclusion at the foot of the cross.

History of the medieval order

The historical Knights Templar were founded around 1119, when a small band of knights bound themselves to protect Christian pilgrims traveling in the Holy Land after the First Crusade. Under the patronage of Bernard of Clairvaux the order received papal recognition, grew into an international institution with fortresses, estates, and a banking network across Europe, and served as the standing military force of the crusader states. After the fall of the last crusader strongholds, the order’s wealth and independence made it a target: King Philip IV of France moved against the Templars in 1307, and Pope Clement V suppressed the order at the Council of Vienne in 1312, transferring much of its property to the Hospitallers, the Knights of St. John, whose Masonic commemoration precedes this order in the Commandery.

History of the Masonic order

The Masonic Templar order is a commemoration, not a continuation. It emerged in the mid-eighteenth century, first in Europe and soon after in colonial America, as chivalric ceremonies attached themselves to Masonry; by the early nineteenth century the American Commanderies had organized their series of orders under the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States, established in 1826.

The relationship between the medieval order and the Masonic one is a matter the Grand Encampment addresses directly, and the Commandery page preserves its statement: claims that Freemasonry was founded by the Templars, or that fugitive Templars took refuge within it, are acknowledged as theories, with no proof to justify them. The Order of the Temple asks its knights to carry on the spirit of the historical order: courage, discipline, and service in defense of the Christian faith.

In the York Rite

The Order of the Temple completes the series conferred by the Commandery, after the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross, the Passing Order of St. Paul, and the Order of Malta. All York Rite degree and order histories are indexed on the degree histories page.