Neo-Templarism

Neo-Templarism is a term describing groups who claim to be descendants of the Knights Templar. Following the dissolution of the Templars by Pope Clement V at the start of the 14th century, several organizations have claimed to be secret continuations of the original Templars. This idea has been criticized by scholars of Templar history and is widely regarded as dubious. These orders typically draw from western esotericism, with other groups incorporating New Age beliefs or freemasonry. Other groups are only ceremonial.

The notion of the Templars secretly surviving embedded within masonic movements, resulting in the creation of several Templar grades in Freemason organizations. The origins of most Neo-Templar groups can be traced to a revivalist Templar order founded by French physician Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat in 1805, widely regarded as the father of neo-Templarism, who claimed to have discovered an unbroken chain of Knights Templar Grand Masters descending from the original group. A separate wing of neo-Templarism grew from the works of French esotericist Jacques Breyer in the 1950s.

Background

The Knights Templar (also called the Order of the Temple) were a military-religious and monastic order, founded by Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th century. They were known for their participation in the Crusades. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, they began to face accusations of witchcraft and heresy. They were persecuted by the French king Philip IV. In 1310, fifty-four Templar knights were burned at the stake, and four years later the Grand Master Jacques de Molay and a local leader were as well.

It was officially disbanded in 1312 by Pope Clement V. Following their dissolution, some of the Templars moved to Portugal, where they founded the Military Order of Christ. Though they survived outside of Europe in this way for some decades, by the early 15th century they were completely defunct. A notion of the Templars secretly continuing their existence and activities began to spread, particularly within freemasonry in France and Germany. This idea was based off of previous legends of the Templars embedding themselves in Freemason guilds to continue their activites; this idea led to the creation of several Templar grades in Freemason organizations.

Beliefs

Neo-Templar groups exhibit a diverse array of beliefs, but most orders typically draw from western esotericism, and freemasonry. Other orders incorporate ideas from the New Age movement, or are merely ceremonial organizations only in existence for social purposes. Masonic groups latched on to the idea of having heritage of the Knights Templars as a way to back up the idea of an ancient heritage.

The truth of a historical continuation between these groups and the original Templars is extremely dubious. Some members of the OSMTH cite the Larmenius Charter as proof of their claims; however, this document is suspected to be a forgery. The idea of the Templars' continued existence has been criticized by scholars of Templar history, and was described by French medievalist and historian Régine Pernoud as "totally insane."

History

19th-century revival

Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat, widely regarded as the father of neo-Templarism.

The French Revolutionary period was a period of upheaval for Freemasons; some at the time disagreed with the idea of these Templar grades as being only a part of freemasonry, subservient to the masonic order. Most Neo-Templar groups' origins can be traced to a revivalist Order of the Temple founded by Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat, a physician and former seminarian from Paris. Fabré-Palaprat is widely regarded as the father of neo-Templarism. In 1804, he claimed that he had discovered documents that proved there was an uninterrupted line of secret "Grand Master" Templars from the supposed dissolution to the modern day. Fabré-Palaprat proclaimed himself the Grand Master of the Templars in 1805, reestablishing the Templars independent from freemasonry. This new movement attracted various people, including Napoleon, who approved an 1808 ceremony.

As the Catholic Church, having disbanded the Templars, was opposed to their reconstitution, it was at least officially opposed to any revival moments; in response, Fabré-Palaprat declared Catholicism a "fallen church" and founded the Johannite Church. Fabré-Palaprat desired to link the neo-Templars to his new religion. The Johannite Church consecreated several bishops, resulting in an association of neo-Templarism with Liberal Catholic "irregular bishops" as well. Fabré-Palaprat died in 1838, resulting in a schism between the Johannite Church of Ferdinand-François Châtel and the Templar Order, run by William Sydney Smith and Count Jules de Moreton, respectively. These two groups reconciled three years later, with Jean-Marie Raoul as leader; however, the concept of the Templar order became less fashionable, and a successive leader, A.M. Vernois, ceased the group's activity in 1871.

Later, the "regency" of the Temple Order was passed on to Joséphin Péladan by remaining members of the Order. Péladan was more interested in a separate order he had founded. The Temple Order later became amalgamated among other occult groups headed by doctor Papus and Péladan, one of which, the Independent Group of Esoteric Studies, carried on some of its legacy. This occurred in a revivalist period for occultism at the end of the 19th century, and Templar symbolism became popular and prominent in many occult movements, though many of these were not strictly neo-Templar and also incorporated other elements and symbols, as well as a different worldview from that originally had by Fabré-Palaprat. This era had many esoteric and occult elements blending with each other, with neo-Templar elements combining with Martinist, neo-Pythagorean, or Rosicrucian traditions; many groups had the same leaders.

At the end of the 19th century, groups incorporating such elements were founded, included the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) founded by industrialist and mystic Carl Kellner, the racist and pan-Germanic Order of the New Templars (Latin: Ordo Novi Templi, ONT) founded by Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels, which later had an influence on Nazism. The most direct descendant of Fabré-Palaprat's Templar order came from the Belgian branch, KVMRIS, the only one which had stayed active; KVMRIS was especially interested in sex magic. In 1894, this Belgian branch encouraged the formation of the International Secretariat of Templars in Brussels.

20th century and successors

KVMRIS eventually incorporated in 1932 as the Sovereign and Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (OSMTJ), under the regency of Théodore Covias (there were too few members to have a Grand Master), succeeded by Emile-Clément Vandenberg who was elected three years later. The Order's archives were given to Antonio Campello Pinto de Sousa Fontes in 1942 during WWII in Portugal; shortly after, he proclaimed himself the Grand Master, resulting in neo-Templarism spreading internationally. He designated his son Fernando Campello Pinto de Sousa Fontes as his successor, but as several other independent branches refused to recognize Antonio's authority, when he died several groups instead declared their independence. In a 1970 Paris meeting, several Grand Priorates, all who rejected Antonio's rule, instead appointed Antoine Zdrojewski as the grand master. This resulted in two separate primary neo-Templar international groups: the group that recognized Sousa Fontes, the Ordo Supremus Militari Templi Hierosolymitani (OSMTH), and the group that recognized Zdrojewski, the OSMTJ. The OSMTH sometimes uses the French name and acronym of OSMTJ.

Neo-Templar organizations were active in France and Switzerland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During this period, political conservatives and fascists used these ideas and lodges to appeal to an "old order" and an idea of a master race (through ideals of aristocracy common to the groups).

Arginy Renaissance

Jacques Breyer, influential on the development of some neo-Templar groups.

In 1952, the French esotericist and author Jacques Breyer – following what he claimed was a mystical experience in the Arginy Castle – began a rebirth of activity of neo-Templar groups in France (the 'Arginy Renaissance'). This led to the founding of the Sovereign Order of the Solar Temple (OSTS). In 1968, Breyer and the former grandmaster of AMORC, Raymond Bernard, established the Renewed Order of the Temple (ORT). The ORT's main headquarters were located in Auty, where its grand master, Julien Origas, a former member of the Gestapo, was stationed. Origas led members of the far-right to join the ORT. As of 1980, there were over 100 rival Templar orders, which incorporated a variety of different practices. Jean-Louis Marsan later became the grand master of the OSTS; Marsan and Origas were both affiliated with Breyer's revival movement.

An Order known as the Sovereign Order of the Initiatory Temple (OSTI), and its outer order known as International Circle for Cultural and Scientific Research (CIRCES International), with CIRCES being created by Raymond Bernard in 1988. Raymond Bernard describes his initiation into the OSTI in 1955, and the mission he was charged with for bringing OSTI public, in his 1966 book entitled A Secret Meeting In Rome. Raymond Bernard created CIRCES International as an outward Templar vehicle to eventually prepare people for initiation into the inner Order of the OSTI. CIRCES International also continues to protect and perpetuate L'Ordre Martiniste of Papus, which Josephin Péladan had been initiated into. Raymond Bernard asked Julien Origas (1920-1983) to establish an OSTI chapter in 1971, that remained largely dormant until it was revived by Bernard in 1988.

Late 20th century

Zdrojewski became embroiled in a number of political controversies, and Sousa Fontes failed to control all of his authorized priorates; this resulted in more organizations arising, and several independent priorates emerging besides the two main ones. Federations of these groups were formed, including the International Federative Alliance (IFA), created in 1989, and the Ordo Internationalis Militiae Templi Confederationis (OIMT), created in Rome, Italy in 1979.

In the mid to late 90s, many groups tried to "reduce the number of acronyms" and reconcile the differences between the many groups, including the split between OSMTJ and OSMTH. These reconciliation attempts failed for a variety of reasons and new schisms emerged in the meantime, though there did come the success of one agreement between OSMTJ and OIMT, which aimed to create a real association; the OSMTJ was also merged with the IFA in Turku, Finland in 1998. These schisms were additionally influenced by the desire of many neo-Templar groups to distance themselves from the Order of the Solar Temple (French: Ordre du Temple solaire, OTS), a neo-Templar splinter group that became notorious in the 1990s for several mass suicides and murders. The leader and founder of the group, Joseph Di Mambro, was a member of many other neo-Templar groups, including the OSMTJ, and the OTS had been founded out of some of the members of AMORC and ORT.

List of neo-Templar organizations

Name	Acronym	Founder	Founded	Status	Notes	Ref.
Order of the Temple	N/A	Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat	1805	Defunct	French: Ordre du Temple. Original Templar revivalist movement
Order of the Temple	N/A	René Guénon		Defunct	French: Ordre du Temple. Templar revival movement founded in Guénon's youth
Ordo Templi Orientis	O.T.O.	Carl Kellner	1895	Extant	Occultist organization and secret society. Popularized by Aleister Crowley
Order of the New Templars	ONT	Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels	1907	Defunct	Latin: Ordo Novi Templi. Fascist secret society founded in Germany; related to the racist esoteric philosophy Ariosophy. Later had an influence on Nazism
Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem	OSMTJ	Théodore Covias	1932	Extant	French: Ordre Souverain et Militaire du Temple de Jerusalem. Descendant group of the Belgian branch, KVMRIS, of Fabré-Palaprat's Order of the Temple
Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis	AMORC	Harvey Spencer Lewis	1915	Extant	Rosicrucian organization
Sovereign Order of the Solar Temple	OSTS	Jacques Breyer Maxime de Roquemaure		Defunct	French: Ordre Souverain du Temple Solaire
Ordo Supremus Militari Templi Hierosolymitani	OSMTH	Fernando Campello Pinto de Sousa Fontes	1970	Extant	Schismed from OSMTJ, sometimes also uses the name and acronym of OSMTJ
Renewed Order of the Temple	ORT	Raymond Bernard Julien Origas	1970	Defunct	French: Ordre rénové du Temple. Schismed upon Origas's death, one of which became the OTS
Ordo Internationalis Militiae Templi	OIMT	Un­known	1979	Extant	Federation of neo-Templars, founded in Rome
Order of the Solar Temple	OTS	Joseph Di Mambro Luc Jouret	1984	Defunct	French: Ordre du Temple solaire. Notorious for the mass murder-suicides committed by its members in the mid to late 1990s. Schism from ORT
International Federative Alliance	IFA	Un­known	1989	Defunct	Federation of neo-Templars. Later merged with the OSMTJ in 1998

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