*In 1114, the “Milice du Christ” or “Soldiers of Christ” were organized as an early version of the
Templars
   *In March 1117, King Baudouin I, who owed his throne to the Order of Sion, took the Constitution
of the Knights Templar to the Order of Sion for approval. (bk-2,57)
   *The Knights Templar were organized as a military priesthood in the Catholic church.
   *The Templars became the Military and administrative arm of the Order of Sion. Their name
derives from their quarters in Sion’s fortified palace above the ruins of Soloman’s Temple. (bk-2,57)
   *Formally organized in 1118 in Jerusalem by Hugh de Payens, their first Grand Master, who,
following the crusades, derived the name from the Temple of Jerusalem. (bk-2,16)
   *In order to protect the new King of Jerusalem and his Sion Cult, the Order of Sion backed Hugh
de Payenes in founding the Knights Templar. (bk-7,143)
   *The Templar’s initial stated purpose was to guard and guide pilgrims to the Holy City of
Jerusalem. Gradually, the Templar’s duties expanded to defend the Holy Land against all infidels and
“any force menacing Jerusalem of their religion” (bk-8,992)
   *The nucleus of the Templars consisted of 9 men. As the order grew, de Payenes created 13
degrees within it. (bk-8)
   *One source of their wealth was gifts from Kings and Princes grateful for their services. Also,
many of the nobility had joined their ranks over time.
   *As their wealth and influence grew, the Templars developed into an efficient military organization
that adopted absolute secrecy to cover all internal activities. (bk-8,992-993)
   *Supposedly, there was over 1000 tons of gold buried somewhere that Soloman had amassed
during his lifetime. (I Kings 10:14)
   *According to the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1949, there were over 24 different hoards
buried beneath the Temple itself. (bk-1)
   *The Templars were known to maintain “intelligence agents” in the principle cities in the Middle
East and the Medditerranean Coast and they would necessarily have employed covert means of
communication. International financial dealings required total secrecy, Naval operations required it to
hide shipping information from Moslem or private forces, and Military administration over two
continents would certainly require it. . As a matter of record, the Templars gained a reputation, and
not a good one, for their dedication to secrecy, even in the meetings and councils of the order.
(bk-9,77)
   *In the 10 years that followed, the Templars had become extremely wealthy and the source of the
wealth was questionable. The wealth was supposed to have been aquired from the crusaders in
payment for their protection on their journey to the holy city, but when the Templars were questioned
about the source of their gold, they explained it away by claiming they had discovered the alchemical
secret of the transmutation of metals. (bk-2,59)
   *In Jan., 1128, a church council convened at Troyes and the Knights Templar were officially
recognized and incorporated as a “Religious Military Order”. At this same time, Hugh de Payenes
was made the 1st Grand Master. He created 13 degrees for the order, which is one of the ways
researchers have been able to trace the order down through the centuries, the “13” appears on
tombstones throughout Europe. >>> Saint Bernard
   *After their approval as an official Religious Military order of the church, the Templars rose to
great fame throughout the holy land and through Europe.
   *In 1146, the Templars adopted their famous insignia—The splayed red cross of the Merovingians,
placing it on their mantles, swords, buildings and gravestones. (bk-2,61)
   *In 1156, under the administration of Bertrand de Blanchfort, the Knights imported to the area of
Rennes le Chateau, a contingent of German speaking miners. Their alleged task was to work the gold
mines on the slopes of the mountains of Blanchfort, gold mines that had been utterly exhausted by the
Romans nearly a thousand years before. But the truth, which was revealed later, was that they were
not mining. Instead, they were “smelting, perhaps melting something down, constructing something
out of metal, perhaps even excavating a subterranean crypt of some sort and making a species of
repository”. (bk-1,93)
   *Almost immediately afterwards, the Templars created and established the institution of modern
banking. By lending large sums to destitude Monarchs, they became the bankers for every throne in
Europe. With their network of preceptories throughout Europe and the Middle East, they also
organized at moderate interest rates, the safe and efficient transfer of money for merchant traders.
Money deposited in one city, for example, could be claimed and withdrawn in another by means of a
promissory note inscribed in intricate codes. The Templars thus became the primary money changers
of the age, and the Paris preceptory became the center of European finance. It is even probable that
the “check” as we know and use it today was invented by the order. (bk-1,71)
   *During the next 100 years the Templars became a power with international influence. They were
constantly engaged in high-level diplomacy among Nobles and Monarchs throughout the western
world and the holy land. We can turn to England for an example of how pervasive Templar influence
was in Europe. So powerful was the Master of the Temple, that he was regularly called into the
King’s parliament and was regarded as head of all religious orders, taking precedence over all Priors
and Abbots in the land. (bk-1,69)
   *In 1191, when King Richard, the Lion-Hearted took his English army on a crusade to the holy land,
he lived with the Knights Templars at Acre.
   *In June, 1215, when King John signed the Magna Carta, a document constituting a fundamental
guarantee of rights and priveliges, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar was right there.
(bk-2,63)
   *The Templars also made powerful enemies, among them King Philip IV (The Fair), who ascended
the throne of France in 1268, his country near bankruptcy. The Templars possessed both money and
land in abundance.
   *The Templars had associations with the Cathers or Albigensians, who were Gnostic, replacing
faith with knowledge, which was to them firsthand religious or mystical experience (bk-2,17)
   *On Friday, Oct. 13, 1307, King Philip ordered the arrest of all Templars in France.
   *In 1314, following the French inquisition of the Templars and on Philip’s order, then Grand Master
Jacques De Moley and several others were burned at the stake. During this time a remnant of the
order fled to Scotland, allying themselves with Scotland against England. (bk-2,18)
   *Many English and French Templars found a Scottish refuge and a sizable contingent is said to
have fought at Robert Bruce’s side at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The order maintained itself
as a coherent body in Scotland for another 4 centuries. (bk-1,77) - * KING ROBERT BRUCE OF SCOTLAND *
   *The secret purpose for the Knights Templar was to preserve the Merovingian bloodline in hopes
of one day establishing a “World Government” and putting their King upon the throne—A King who
could claim to be the offspring of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdelene. (bk-4)

Proceed on to Bertrand de Blanchefort - *

Proceed on to Gerard de Ridefort - *