The Pulse of the City: DaVinci Connections in Lakewood?
But first, a bit of history. The facts, at least as far as can be ascertained, are these:
In the 1100's, Hugues de Payens formed a small group of knights, ostensibly to protect pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. The Knights Templar, as they were known, turned into an immense and powerful group. They answered only to the Pope. In battle, they were fearless and gallant. Though each knight was personally impoverished, the Order as a whole had acquired fabulous wealth and influence.
It was, however, off the field of battle that the Templars found their undoing. Although Christians were forbidden to lend money at interest, the Templars did so quite freely, simply calling the "lending process" by another name. They also, frankly, had the ability to influence kings. The Magna Carta (perhaps the first document limiting the power of kings) supposedly came about partly through Templar influence. Frankly, the Templars probably did get too arrogant at times. They probably made more than a few enemies.
The French King, Phillip the Fair, owed them money as well. He also needed to consolidate the power of France. When Pope Boniface VIII mandated that clergy be excused from taxation, Phillip mounted increasing pressure on the Pope, ultimately resulting, it is widely believed, in the Pope's death.
Phillip then engineered the election of a French Pope, Clement V, and had the Papacy moved to France. This eventually created great turmoil within the Catholic Church, but it also set the stage for the demise of the Templars.
On Friday, April 13, 1307 (now you know where unlucky Friday the 13th came from!), on royal orders, Templars all over France were arrested, cast into dungeons, and immediately tortured. Within hours of the arrests, confessions began to flow like water. Templars were accused of blasphemy and sodomy, as well as worshipping a head called "Baphomet," among other charges. It is generally agreed these days that these charges were in fact false, and the torture-influenced confessions worthless.
To his credit, Pope Clement V did not immediately accept what the French king did. Supposedly, he was outraged that a king would usurp the power of the Catholic Church by arresting the Church's own soldier/monks, without apparent prior permission or notification.
As the confessions poured in, however, the Pope was persuaded to let the arrests and questioning continue. The tortures that the Knights endured were far too graphic to repeat in a family newspaper. Interestingly, most "official" tortures back then did not allow blood to be spilled. Instead, imaginative alternatives were developed to circumvent this restriction. These, too, we'll not go into here.
The Templar Grand Master, Jacques DeMolay, was arrested with many others on the first day. He is also supposed to have confessed, but there are groups that allege that he never confessed to anything.
After seven years in prison, DeMolay was made to mount a platform in Paris to publicly confess the Templar crimes. Instead, he and a fellow knight protested the innocence of the Order. They were quite slowly roasted at the stake over charcoal fires that evening for their "crime" of supposedly being "relapsed heretics."
DeMolay is alleged to have asked from the stake that both Clement V and Phillip the Fair join him before God within a year to be judged at the throne of Heaven. Both Phillip and Clement did, in fact, die under strange conditions within the year.
Apparently, the Catholic Church simply decided to dissolve the Order, bypassing any proclamations of the collective guilt or innocence of the Templars.
The history of the Templars after that day, March 18th, 1314, is unknown. Their vast treasure was never found. Their fleet was never found. Some groups of knights simply changed their names; as in Portugal, where former Templars became "Knights of Christ." In Germany, "Teutonic Knights" appeared under a black rather than a red cross. (Some felt that this change may have been made to secretly honor the tragic end of DeMolay.) In Scotland, some Templars allegedly joined Robert the Bruce in his fight against the English.
Of course Columbus supposedly sailed under the red, former Templar cross on the sail of his ship. As well, the Germans adopted the black Templar cross for their aircraft markings in the first World War (not to be confused with the swastika, used in the Second World War). The eight points of the Templar cross, by the way, alluded to the eight beatitudes of Jesus offered in the "Sermon on the Mount." There is speculation that Templar secrets may be in Rosslyn Castle in Scotland, and even in some spots in America, carried there by Templar vessels following the Viking routes.
It seems apparent that many of the Templars banded together in secret for their very survival. A number of writers feel that Templars formed the basis for some of the Masonic Orders. Some of the Templars' spiritual descendants may indeed have been involved with the rise of Protestantism, as well as with the French and American Revolutions. This was due to the fact that some of the original surviving Templars (and no doubt, their descendants) had difficulties with absolute rulers in both Church and State situations.
Now, let's fast forward to the Lakewood connections.
Did you know, for example, that in 1917, Lakewood's only automobile factory began producing the Templar "Superfine" Car? Although the Templar Car lasted only until 1924, the better part of their former factory still stands over there on Lakewood's southeast side. It is not known whether the company's founders were members of the Lakewood Knights Templar or not, although the corporate name and logo clearly reflected Knights Templar influence.
What? Are Templars still around? In Lakewood?
Yes, Holy Grail Commandery of Knights Templar meets regularly at Lakewood Masonic Temple. A part of the York Rite body of Freemasonry, the Knights are a fraternal Order of Christian Knighthood. Modern-day Templars even have a charitable eye foundation, and they have sponsored trips for clergy to the Holy Land. Masonic Templars generally do not directly trace a link to the original Order, although it seems highly possible that some connection may at one time have existed.
A youth organization, Lakewood DeMolay, also continues to meet at the same location. This group is dedicated to the memory of Jacques DeMolay, and to helping young people become better citizens. As a matter of fact, I belong to the Knights, as does my father, as did my grandfather in Pennsylvania. I also have belonged to Lakewood DeMolay since the '60s.
As for finding deep dark secrets of the ages in these organizations? I think the other Knights, past and present, would probably join me in a salute to everyone who values a reverent and humble, spiritually inspired service to others in a world so in need of healing. And that, I suppose, you could call a secret. Yes, perhaps THE secret, that we all need to know and share.
As for that Mary Magdaline question? Look at it this way: We know that she decided to change her life for the better, and that she loved and served her Lord. That's all anyone can ever do.
One other thing, for all you conspiroligists out there; this column contains exactly 1307 words. Now, what, exactly was going on in the world during that year? If you have any trouble, I would simply suggest that you re-read this column. 'Nuff said.
Volume 2, Issue 12, Posted 9:09 AM, 05.26.06
