The Graal Magazine 02 December 2015

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Sovereign Brotherhood of Dames and Knights of The TempleOSMTJ-SPAIN

+ o n o b i s D o m i n e , o n o b i s S e d o m i n e T u o D a G l o r i a m +

December 2015Nº 2

Symbology of the Sword

M a g a z i n e



Digital Magazine Sovereign Brotherhood of Dames and Knights of The TempleOSMTJ-SPAIN

December 2015Director:

Ms. Fuensanta Santos de la Rubia Contact: [email protected]

Editorial Board:Priory Council of HSDCT.OSMTJ.Mr. Jose Maria Fernandez NuñezMr. Luis Antonio Colòn Arce

Writers:Mr. Josè Mª Fernandez NùñezMr. Juan Antonio Cabezos Martinez.Ms. Fuensanta Santos de la Rubia Mr. Jesùs Lòpez RomànMs.Maria de las Mercedes Izquierdo

Designer:Ms. Fuensanta Santos de la Rubia Mr. Jose Antonio Navarro

International Order Contact:Mr. Agustin Ibañez AguirreTfno: 0034 672 110 [email protected]

International Translator Contact:Mr. Luis Antonio Colòn [email protected]

Translators:Mr. Luis Antonio Colòn ArceMs.Mary Angeles Santiago

Edited:Magazine published in Màlaga, Spain

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rights reserved by the Sovereign Brotherhood of Ladies and Knights Templar. It is prohibited thetotal or partial reproduction without the written permission from the Editor.



T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s

Credits.................................................................................... 1Index....................................................................................... 2Editorial.................................................................................. 3

The First Templar Knight (par two................................... 4 Tempañrism the Century XXI........................................ 13 The Symbolism of the Sword................................................. 18Death of Templar Master af the Battel of Ùbeda .......... 23 The Grail and Islam in theTemple..................................... 29Investiture Priory of St. Martin de Porres of Florida. 38

The Grail Translator Team............................................... 42Posting Rules........................................................................ 43



E d i t o r i a l

The Grail

By Juan Antonio Cabezos

The University

One of the problems of the neo Templar organization is the formal training of itsmembers, which is why in many cases, there is no formative curriculum or better yet,such formation is non existent.

The Sovereign Brotherhood of Dames and Knights of the Temple, conscious ofsaid reality, has taken a step forward and it proposes the creation of a University of

Templar formation, where three paths of knowledge merge:

1.- Training in knighthood which implies knowledge of the Middle Ages, historyof the Order of the Temple and the history of the Crusades. 2.- Training in religious knowledge, which implies a knowledge of Christianity, a

knowledge of the parables of Jesus, a knowledge of the historic Jesus and knowledgeof the canonical and apocryphal gospels.

3.- Training in initiatory knowledge, which involves a personal transformation of the individual, seeking and finding the inner Christ.

Unlike other organizations, Templar neo University is accessible to all typesof students, therefore, it is not required to be invested or to belong to any Templargroup.

And lastly, we wish to point out that these courses will be “on line”, for mostof the subjects, and that the facilitators will not be solely from the ranks of theBrotherhood, but will all be specialists in their fields, be they Templars or not.

“Aeneas”Prior.



T he F irst Templar Knight (part 2)

T he Origin o f the Temple

THE RULES

1. Nablus, the Canon Rule of St. Augustine, or LatinRule that will never leave the Order.

2. Council of Troyes, the cleric Jean,Michel byconcession of Bernard de Fontaine, now alreadyknow as of Bernard de Clairvaux, transcribes theLatin Rule to which they add some weight to certainarticles, relative to the militia Fland religious services, itis known as the Primitive Rule.

3. Etienne de La Ferte, also known as de Chartres,was Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1128 until his deathin 1130. After the Troyes modifications he receivesthe rules to which he adds 24 articles and will reviseat least a dozen. It is he who reserves the white mantle

for the knights and the beige one for the Sergeants. Heintroduces clergy into the Order and regulates the adterminum among other measures.

4. Omne Datum Optimum papal bull of 1139expressly forbids any modification of the rule withoutthe consent of the Chapter General.

5. There was a French translation in 1140 wheresome articles are intentionally tweaked, but theLatin Rule was never abandoned or modified, what

comes to be called the French rule is created. In it, allreferences to the novitiate are suppressed. Article 57is modified from its original meaning to the opposite,referring to excommunicated knights, they will now beapproached and urged to return to the service of God.Many of the Templars would come from those ranks.

6. The reform would not arrive until 1163 throughthe “Retraits” (statutes) with its 675 articles that clingto the rule giving it an internal structure with respect tomagisterial elections, chapters, hierarchy, income,etc.But still the Latin Rule survive in the structure of theOrder, never to be abolished.

7. Around 1230/40 hierarchical statutes andceremonies.

8. Around 1257/67 considerations dedicated todiscipline, infractionsrand penalties, known as the“Egards”.

There are no others. and nothing more, it is just a nor-mal adaptation to the reality of an institution, something

as normal then as now. Today we would refer to it as“getting in step”. Very well, to embellish the aforementioned, we shall seethat what was created in Nablus is not the Order, but acongregation of regular canons coming from a Brother-hood.They swear to the three temporal monastic vows of po-verty, obedience and chastity, agreeing to follow these isto profess and the one that does so ceases to be a noviceand becomes a profeso (28).

One adopts the Augustinian rule of the canons (29) ofthe Holy Sepulcher, granted by the Patriarch until its finalapproval by the Pope and they are granted the waging ofwar with no quarter against the infidel, as a fourth vowsworn by the Templars.

Josè Maria Fernandez Nùñez



These grant them in any case the same treatment as theformer, being that their Latin Rules are the mirror imageof the canons from whom they took them,:just as it isrepeated in all ancient documents.There is no place for discrimination between one ruleand another, granted by the same authority who grantedit to the Knights of the Order of Godfrey. Nevertheless,they differed from those through their charisma (30),

which in this case was the mission of the protection ofthe palmists, the defining factor of their very existence,thus when the Holy Land is lost, their continueance isquestioned.These are not traditional monastic communities, the goalof these is not the contemplative life (31), neither arethey mendicants (32), nor do they shun the world in or-der to practice a life ats fringes. Its goal is defense of thefaith. Neither are they reglar clergy, since contrary tothese, regular canons are tethered to a place (the New

Order of Jerusalem) and to a determined community,they chant the Liturgy of Hours as a group.Through various reforms, they acquire a different iden-tity, with its own charisma following the Rule of St. Au-gustine.The secular canons, on the other hand, belong to acommunity of priests connected to a church, but theyhave not taken a vow to live in a community.Truly this is one fact that we must not overlook. Admis-sion into religious orders are not only regulated by theCatholic Church and the rules of religious life, but inaddition, each community has its own guidelines (ca-nons of the Holy Sepulcher, (Augustinian rule).Generally after a long period that spans the neophyte,postulant and novitiate stages, one takes the temporal orsimple vows which are renewed every so often, whilethe candidate tests his vocation.Thus was the case of the Templars until Troyes.If the candidate wishes to be permanently admitted intothe order, a public profession of the Evangelical Coun-sels of poverty, chastity and obedience are required, and

confirmed by the solemn or perpetual vow: One ofthe consequences of this vow is that the member is nolonger free to marry.Hugh and the others may have been married prior toTroyes when such a status was sanctioned and muchlater, in the case of leaving the Order, one must requesta Pontifical Indulgence. The benefits of the perpetualproffession are of spiritual character (33).The conversationem morum (conversion of customs)were only practiced by the Benedictine’s and the Car-

thusians.It was not realized until the sanction of Troyes thereforethey were not yet friars, nor men of a consecrated life,their vows are temporal until the council of 13 January1129 in which Pope Honorius II through his emissary,

Matthew of Albano receives them as a canonical con-gregation (34) and elevates them to a Monastic Order.

WHO CREATED IT

The first history of the Brotherhood is known as thetime that occurs between the Synod of Nablus untilthe Council of Troyes, where the Order is definitelycreated, but...what about before? Before this periodthat covers from 1104 through 1120...what occursduring this period?

This prehistory is the dark era of these knights. How didthey support themselves?, as we shall see they had morethan ample support, powerful support such as no othergroup of this sort ever countedon, not even the Deaconof St. John Hospitalier, to take off with such self assuredsuccess.

They had economic power, they had hosts, theyhad lawul cover, later would come donations thatmiraculously multiply upon being accepted at Troyes,their logistics and marketing worked marvelously.

Their provenance was made up of members of royaltyand from the different noble houses of the Franks,Burgundians, Normans. etc,. made the rest an easypassage of alliance with the highest spheres of the church,perhaps as Mellado says about its early ambition havingno measure, perhaps it was not all bucolic and romanticas it has passed on in the annals of its first history,

It is a natural understanding that prior to this time the-re was already a formation “in testing” since previous years, how many? not known, but logic prevails andwe must yield and honor the closest hypothesis basedon archival documents that were consulted. If my con- jectures are correct (and there is no authentic proof tothink that they are not possible) we could be talking,not of the nine years of its existence until Nablus.

If we count 1104 as the year of its conception until1114 when it is already constituted and is put intopractice upon the arrival of the Hugh’s, in that year,until 1120, when itiis officially recognized at Nablus.

Some 16 years had transpired that would en compassthe novitiate, the temporal acknow ledgment; thecreation of the Brotherhood or congregation in theaforementioned Synod.

It can be stratified in six different periods.

1. Ideological and embryonic phase from 1104 until1107, in which the creation of a police force is percei-ved as necessary. Creative steps are taken that leaveGodfrey of Sainte-Omer tasked with its creation.



2, Formation of the Militia Christi phase, incorpora-ting same with knights related to the conquerors thattake Palestine as the new promised land, there whe-re the mister nobody’s can become someone, forcing

that social stratification (35).In the long run, the church had served on not fewoccasions as a means of social climbing.

3. Phase of activation with the presence of the Hugh’sfrom 1114 to 1120, where their relationship wouldbe without rules,habits, monastic vows, no depen-dency on military or ecclesiastical authorities, boundonly by the particular and personal oath of each of itsmembers.

Here we may apply from William of Tyre who wro-te “the knights wore secular garb, they wore clothingsuch as all folk wear...”

4 Foundation phase, Synod of Nablus of the congre-gation or brotherhood, with a proper name, rules,dwellings, monastic vows, uniformity, disciplines, etc.,5. Acceptance by the church at Troyes phase.The Creation of the Order.6. Definite consolidation of the Order in 1139 by

the Omne Datum Optimum Papal Bull.

Hugh de Champagne, Count of Troyes, in his pilgri-mage to the Holy Land, was accompanied by his re-lative and vassal Hugh de Payens, both pious and de-

vout men, (Payens had already been a monk with the Abbey of Molesmes) he proves it after 2 April 1104,as there is a letter with that date whereas he donatesa property to the Abbey of Molesmes in the name ofhis brother “Fraters meus Odon, constantiam regis

Francorum filiam necnon et comitissam Adelaidemuxorem fratis mei comitis Stephani nepote...” :and it issubscribed by... “Teobaldus puer filius Stephani Co- mitis nepos huius Comitis Hugonis” (36). Aside from de Payen’s, Leroy Thierri, (37), is one of

the most highly accepted biographers-by the scientificcommunity, he tells us that, “it is quite probable thatHugh II of Payens will realize his first journey to theHoly Land in the company of the Count of Champag-

ne in 1104-1107.” The idea was already preconceived, to serve Christin His Sepule cher, the much desired genuflection byall Crusaders and palmists, it was the greatest achie-

vement and goal of every Christian.The participants of the Crusades had done so theday following the conquest of the city, that provesnon intervention in the First Crusade, as some ven-ture, otherwise that gesture would have already beenmade, especially being a principal.

During theirmstay in Jerusalem, they had been wit-ness to the palmist’s situation that the Crusade hadnot solved, upon seeing how these were victims of allmanners of theft, vexations, wounds and even death

during their visits to the Holy sites, inflicted by Mus-lims and disgruntled invader’s that found no comfortsafter the conquest.It was therefore necessary to create a police forcethat would stand up to the aggressors and protecttheir victims. It is quite possible that during this period,

this idea was made clear, to create this much neededpolice, where one of the pillars of the Crusade wasseated.The intention was not merely to become implicated,but to go beyond that, to involve themselves in thatprimordial objective that surmised the security of thepalmists.To achieve this objective required the support of theprincipals of the realm, some kin, others known, themajority Companions at Arms that moved about in the

realm without administrative structure nor legislativebody to channel the rights and obligations of its subjects. This would not reach the Council of Nablus.

Unexpected events cause him to return to France

in 1107 to put his affairs in order, with the promi-se of joining the brotherhood upon his return. “Hugde Campanie, Theobaldi Comitis filius” founded the Abbey of Notre Dame de Cheminon in a letter datedin 1110 (38).

Hugh de Payens returns with his lord and to assistin consolidating his political aspirations, he marriedfor a second time in his life, to Isabeau de Chappes,sometime between 1107 and 1111 (39) (others callher Catherin de St. Clair). We know for certain that

Hugh de Champagne, alongside his faithful vassaland relative de Payens, when he decide to travel toJerusalem (40) between the years of 1113 and 1114,the Militia Christi Hierosoly•. mitani was already

constituted. Bishop Yves de Chartres (41), seriously



adkises him not to join one of the Evangelical Militiasor a Militia Christi that are cropping up in Palestine,as his status as a married man (42)”, such a condition,the obligations undertaken with the sacred bond of

matrimony, blocks his entry into any of these groups. At that time there already existed such a group quiteclose to his heart, that Militia Christi, that from its in-ception had been possibly founded by him and that his

multiple commitments prevented him from heading it,surrendering that honor as of that date to his kinsmande Payens.The count returns anew to his lands at the beginningof 1115, this time, alone summoned by his wife whodemanded his presence to properly govern his vast es-

tates or quite possibly alerted by Bishop de Chartres,who foresaw a disobedience by the count in abando-ning his obligations, and perhaps this sage priest wasnot mistaken; who by the way died on 23 December

1115.It is known that he heeded the call and returned to hishome, there is a letter which Pope Calixtus II sent himso that in his name he was to welcome the Archbis-hop of Mainz upon his arrival at the Synod of Reimsin October of 1119 (43).

During this sojourn, which would be the last, Hughrejects his wife, disinherits his son Eudes I declaringthe boy not his due to his alleged impotence. Thechronicle of the Alberic de Treis-Fontaines, mentionsa “Odonem...de Canlita” as son of Hugo Campanieand his(second) wife, but specifies that “ dictum est unphisicis Comiti Hugoni... no habebat possibilitatemgenerandi” and therefore concludes thatEudes couldnot possibly be his offspring (44).

He maintains contact with the Abbot of the CistercianOrder, Steven Harding, and to whom he deeds someland where St. Bernard (who had entered the orderthree years prior) founds the Abbey of Clairvaux.The granted locale is known as Clairvaux, the grant

comes with all its dominions, mountains, meadows,waters, woods etc., so that he may build his monas-tery. After putting affairs in order, he returns to Palestine.The Chronicle of Alberic de Trois-Fontaine states,

“Hugh Campanie” became a Knight Templar in 1125and was succeeded by “eius Theobaldus nepos”1125 (45). As time passed and in light of the prolonged and justi-fied absence and with (possibly) the count’s consent,

de Payens assumes the maximum authority that wouldhave corresponded to his lord.He not only replaces the count in his dealings withthe new lords of Jerusalem, but recruits other knightsas well, involving many of them, among who we find

Fulk V, Count of Anjou (afterwards Fulk I, King ofJerusalem) as well as inserting a few others, amongthem his uncle Andre de Montbard.

But it will not be until after the Synod or Aulic Councilof Nablus, specifically in 1126 (46) when the count joins the Poor Soldiers of Christ, with the resultingopposition of Bernard de Clairvaux, as he states in aletter (47) lamenting the !loss” that deprives him of

his company.Hugh, who had done so much to realize this brother-hood, would never see the officials recognition of theHoly See, in the middle of quarrels of Investitures; hisearly death (48), snatched him from that which he soanxiously desired. We place the count as one of the five founding knightsof the Order, in spite of documented proof that it wasnot so, albeit that we tacitly accept this as the truecause of its origin, In spite of this we cannot deny his

role as a founder or ideological founder, although thisdoes not invalidate the previously noted as to his in-volvement (2 from its inception ), to which i attributethe idea of the creation and later development of dePayens, involving himself after freeing his life of ear-

thly ties. had he remained as Count of Jerusalem, hewould most likely have become its first Grand Master.His incorporation to the still canonical congregation,in 1125, and his later death in 1126 deprives him ofthat magistracy.

The well funded financial support by Hugh fromFrance, made it possible for Fulk, future King of Jeru-salem because of his marriage to Baldwin’s daughter,to support two knights from his dominions in theCounty of Anjou upon completing his periof of ad ter-

minum, aside from the sinecures received from the-se principals that would not amount to many alms assome classic sources claim (49).From Baldwin II they would receive lodging, fromthe Patriarch Garnond de Picquigny, a close relative



of Godfrey de Saint-Omer, spiritual supporvand fromthe rest, logistical support. Thus the date of creation of the embryonic Templars,

would be around 1107/1113, if we credit the immuta-bility of Yves de Chartres counsel, advising the countnot to enter the Militia Christi of Jerusalem, whenhe initiates his second journey with the intention of

remaining there and taking charge of the group.From 1114 until 1120 is the recruiting phase. In 1120the Brotherhood is legalized and in 1129 the Order iscreated by the Holy See, and is confirmed in 1139.

SUPERFICIAL BIOGRAPHIES

The support received by the Militia in its formativestage, was diverse and influential, those responSiblefor its creation did not form part of that amalgamated

pack of disoriented knights that loitered in the streetsof the city.These men formed part of the conquering elite, whobecause of this, their influence and power was assu-red.

Hugh de PayensGodfrey de Saint-OmerGodfrey BisolPayen de Montdidier

Andre de Montbard (uncle of Hugh de Payens) Ar-chembaud de Saint-Amand (or) AignantHugh RigaudGondemarRoland.

Hugh de Payens who has passed into history

as the founder of the Order most likely came from asecond level branch of the Counts of Troyes and re-lated through marriage to the Montbards, who were

the family of Bernard de Clairvaux’s mother, as it wascommon practice at that time that families of equallineage on bne side and the other of the frontier thatseparated Champagne from Burgundy, intermarried.

On different documents where the spelling of hisname is present he is listed as Hughes de Paenz, Hugode Paencis and Hugues de Payns or Payens. William

of Tyre refers to him as “Hues de Paiens delez Tro- yes.” (51)

Godfrey de Saint-Omer, his brother Hugh deSaint-Omer (c. 1100-113) was Seneschal of the realm(52) and Prince of Galilee (53), at a crucial period oflogistical support of the early rise of the Knights of theHoly City, while his brother functioned as founder, Thepost of Seneschal in Jerusalem never achieved the pro-minence of its European counterparts, but it was, never-theless important.

Despite this, during coronations, the Seneschal bore theroyal scepter and oversaw the ceremony.

Garmond de Picquigny the all powerful Pa-triarch of Jerusalem, blood uncle of Godfrey de Saint-Omer, organizer along with Baldwin II of the Council ofNablus where the yet unnamed group receive LettersPatent (according to some sources, Knights of the HolyCity) becoming known ap “Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Solomo-

nici”, or Poor Holy Militia of Jerusalem and Christ ofSolomon’s Temple”, after their place of residence.This patriarch was either the son or brother of Arnoldde Picquigny (depending on the source) (54).

Pagan, Payen, Paganus, Payen de Montdi-dier...another important support for the future Order,

yet unnamed or defined, servedin the capacity of Chan-cellor of the realm (1115-1128) (55).The Chancellor created works and letters, and oversawthe realm’s diplomatic service. Chancellors were usuallyclerics who often became bishops or archbishops, some-times, while maintaining the chancery.Just another one of the components of whom we knowonly his last name, as a vassal or relative of Hugh dePayens. Payens is a surname, wewe know that the Pa-

yens have or had their roots in other places, in England,Scotland, Wales or Ireland.The bibliography that gathers the history and crest ofPayens:...descendents of Tybalt Payen, Count of Gisors,

whose son Hugh Payen stated in a letter, Circs 1200,the original which still exists in departmental archivesof Saint Lo, Normandy, six trimesters of income fromwheat from his lands in New Jersey, to the Abbot ofSaint Mary, near Cherbourg. Commencing with this



Hugh Payen who was a nobleman (56) of the King ofEngland and a member of his royal court, scarcely a ge-neration of the family has existed without having a repre-sentative in the local power structure.

At the time of the great rebellion, Abraham and Ste-phen Payn vel. (57), both being fervent realists, emigra-ted to Devon and started families that to this day exist inEngland.

FAMILY CREST

*General Armorial of Johan Baptiste Rietstap. Containsorigins of names and nobility, Lion rampant argent uponazure field.*The depiction of the shield or shields corresponding tothe surname Payen, along with a description of its originsmay also be found in the Great Graphic Dictionary of

Armorial Bearings

Andre de Montbard or Montebarro (5 Nov.1097 - 17 Oct. 1156) son of Bernard, Lord of Montbardand Hamburg. Entered the Order in 1129 and went toPalestine, where he quickly rose to the rank of Senes-chal, the deputy and second in command to the Master.He was the fifth Master of the Knights Templar and alsoon of the founders of the Order. The familycame fromMontbard Hochadel in Burgundy.

Andre was an uncle of St. Bernard de Clairvaux, ashe was a half brother of Bernard’s mother, Aleth de

Montbard (58). According to the death register of theParish of Bonlieu, he died on 17 October 1156.

Godfrey Bisol, apparently one of the first founders,we have no information on him or perhaps .his familyrecords may not be correct. the title of count that is attri-buted to him, does not appear in the Foundation of Me-dieval .Genealogy, which casts doubt on its existence.But we still follow the investigation.Others, although later but with. presence and influence

in the zone since the First Crusade could also have aidedand served as support to these first founders, at the endof the day, all related, all beholden.

Some like Eudes de Saint-Amand (or Odo orOdon) Viscount in 1160, Majordomo in (1164-1167)(59). He was the 8th Master of the Templars. between1171-1179. One of the viscounts duties was to capturedelinquents and the administration of justice in the lowercourt of the citizenry. Similar to the office of Majordomo.these positions did not survive the move to Acre. (60)

And thus we would proceed with all its components.The dark and brooding Gerard de Ridefort(c.1179) Marshaliof the realm (d. 1 Oct. 1189) wasMaster of the Order from the end of 1184 until his deathin 1189. (61)

If we take the first Hugh de Champagne, and

the Count of Anjou, Fulk V and other knightsthat economically supported the budding group of theKnights of the Holy City; wel:see that this poverty has tobe called into question, it is not understood that in spiteof the fact that these personages merge into the brother..hood (not yet order) before Troyes, including some as

“ad terminum ”, as in the case of Fulk V, who was suchbetween 1120 and 1127, (in 1129 he would beco-me King of Jerusalem, under the name of Fulk I) (62),whom we know supported two Templar Knights, howdid they support themselves and their servants withoutmaking use of their personal resources?

The logistics of supporting a host of soldiers to face thie-ves and murderers carries with it, enormous expense oftroops, weapons, garrisons, blacksmiths, farriers, ser-vants, physicians, etc., without any of these they would

not have been capable of such an accomplishment,neven,mind the reality of actual engagement of any ag-gressive groups, well armed and possibly outnumberedby them, as well as attaining such a well deserved repu-tation.These two figures had great power and ample statureto support not only one, but two orders and much moreduring their beginnings.

CONCLUSION

This and nothing else was the beginning of what wouldbecome the most important monastic revolution of alltime due to its initial policing character and not military.It was not a standing police force, it was not a recy-cled heir of the Roman “politia” that was patterned afterthe Greek “politeia”, indirect definitions of an importantwork that much later in the XVIII century, would be



picked up by the always legalist French, defining it aswe know it today “police”.This new police functioned in the outer region, outsideof the city, there where the arm of law and order, if itexisted, did not reach, insuring the norms of coexistencethat must also be respected.Not only for the primary reason of its presence there,but also as a necessary asset to maintain proper order in

that hub that constitutes the city. In every country thereexists a police force. France. has its Gendarmerie, Italy,with its Carabinieri, Portugal, the Guardia Nacional Re-publicana-and-Spain with its meritorious Guardia Ceivil,ancient functions with modern names, whose roots arelost in the annals of time but which were the origin ofthose knights who bore witness to the calamitous misfor-tunes caused by lack of security outside of the city walls.

A necessary securi-

ty, so much so, thatit had provokedthe mobilizationof thousands ofmen and resour-ce brought to theconquest of a landsacred to three re-ligions of the JesseTree.The omission ofthis duty could havecaused very seriousproblems of stabili-ty and prosperity. Thus it must have been perceived bythose, who from a comfortable and eminent social posi-tion, abandoned all to enter a struggle that was at manytimes uneven, ungrateful, dangerous and erratic.They abandoned much to reach their goals. Theseknights, decide to form an independent group withinthe obligatory submission to these social cells that arise

around them, as something necessary for a contingentforeign to that land, those people, those customs.Given the church’s secular doctrine and practice con-cerning the spilling of blood by clergy and the religiouscommunities, we see nothing unusual in that Bernardpartaking of that same spirit, would mull over and overhis decision prior to taking a public position in favor oflife for the new Order of the Temple. as he shows us inhis letter, De Laude Novae Militiae addressing him-toHugh de Payens:

“Once, twice and three times, if I am not mistaken, youasked, my dearest Hugh, that I should write to you and your band a missive that would encourage you andagainst hostile tyranny...”

Although Bernard justifies his negative answer of de Pa-

yens reiterated requests to publicly express his approvalof the new order and does so quite politely. This delaycould hide some lingering doubts that at first overwhel-med him and the need for a major clarification.

These circumstance caused those poor knights to act outin some form, their duality (always a constant in the Or-der) of friars and warriors that would soon be emulated

by others such as the group of St. John (in times of Ray-mond de Puy) and the proper Knights of the Sepulcher,but that was yet at least three years away.The Templars always at the forefront in the social orderof the Holy Land, over time, they ceased to view (unliketheir brothers of other orders) the Muslims as enemies tofight, they viewed with great effect that the First Book,was for all three branches, the basis form which all be-gan at the same time, and which forgave all.

They never appro-ved of the arrival ofmobs to the HolyPlaces of differentcrusades seekingonly power andriches, and cons-tantly destabilizeingthe zone, residingand cohabitationwith the natives...necessary colla-borators for theconstant balance of

the area and that these new arrivals at different stagesalways were threatening the status quo.The definitive loss of the Holy Land for the Christiancause had more to do with the negative help of thesecrusades, than with the internal relationship of the onesalready established.

ABSTRACT

The following article is protected by copyright and itsuse is only authorized by express permission of its author,who will grant it in writing from those who request it.It corresponds with the post that I offered on 14 Decem-ber of 2013, during the Templar Journey’s of Andalucia,presented by the A. I. T., (International Templar Associa-tion), in the always beautiful city of Seville. I would liketo present it in its entirety at the request of several liste-

ners, some of whom are quite interested, by the appa-rent novelty it seems to have.Naturally this work is a summary of chapter IV of thebook of the same title that is in its creative phase and thatI expect will soon be available to the public.



These 33 pages correspond in their compendium, to theone developed among so many others around 136/40. Iadvise the reader that they may possibly encounter thatconcrete information may be slanted; this is due to thevery development of the subject, which was linked usingthe authors memory, also justified by the compresseduse of its definitions, necessary for its transmission to theaudience in a relatively short period of time, that in spite

of the good disposition and collaboration of the organi-zers was not able to be offered in its entirety, leaving anyinterested parties, obliged to await its publication.I hope, that on occasion and by way of titular conceptsand weak developments of the investigation that I amundertaking.One of them is the conceptual tedefinition of terms thatdue to their assiduoudness become legitimate as with thecase of PILGRIM.This term (fr. Latin peregrinus) refers to, in its most clas-

sic meaning to the traveler that, by devotion or vow, vi-sits a sanctuary of a place considered sacred. In its moregenerally accepted use, applies to all those that wanderthrough strange lands. In the strictest sense, for a SpanishCatholic, pilgrim is one who travels to the Cathedral ofSantiago de Compostela to visit the tomb of the Apostle(St. James).Thus, by reason of their destination, they differ from thetraveler’s heading towards other places of deep spiritualsignificance in Catholicism: the Romist, who journey’sto Rome, where the Pope lives, who is considered thesuccessor of St. Peter and the Palmist, who is heading toJerusalem and to holy sites in general.In the Catholicism of the Middle Ages there were threeseperate types of pilgrims:

1. Romists - Those going to Rome2. Palmists - Those going to Jerusalem

3. Pilgrims - Properly those, going to Santiago deCompostela.

In general it implies by reference to some form of:

• . Self imposed penance or sacramentally impo-sed.• . Augmentation of a promise.

• . Penance or promise in name of another that for

some reason is not able to carry out the pilgrimage.Giving thanks in advance for the understanding and pa-tience of those who anticipate these notes, I hereby laythem out just as offered (not all) in Seville on the date,

ut supra.Jose Maria Fernandez Nunez Member of the Founda-tion for Medieval GeneOlogy, Cambridge University

FOOTNOTES28. There two classes of vows, simple or temporal

(ad terminum) and a solemn or perpetual one (monas-tic)29. Thus called as such by the “canon” or rulethrough which St. Helen had organized the substanceand duties of those religious followers. The canonsformed residential communities. Chiefly, they followedthe Rule of St. Augustine. They were the forerunnersof monastic orders, that emulated their way of life.

30. There are a multitude of”charismas” or practi-ces of religious life within Catholicism.

31. Rule of St. Benedict that centered on work andprayer within the monastery, generally, the communi-ties that practice this form of life are called contemplati-ves.

32. Formed by monks or nuns, with active partici-pation in the Apostleship and subsist on alms.

33. Dom Columba Marmion, Christ The Ideal of,,the Monk, Ch. VI

34. Religious congregations only profess simplevows instead of solemn and they are, strictly thereforenot religious orders. Yet their way of life and apost-leship differ very little. The congregations are guidedby norms or statutes that bear the name constitutions.These are established by the founder of each group.and can be reformed as needed over time. Each grouphas a specific activity that responds and defines its parti-cular charisma.

35. The idea was ideological; nd set by political

agustinism (Civitate Dei, 426), it was redefined andhoned throughout the Middle Ages, subsequently byauthors such as Isidore of Seville (63), the School of

Auxerre (Hayman de Auxerre (865), in the Burgun-dian abbey where both Eric de Auxerre and his disci-ple Remy de Auxerre worked and who followed thetradition of Escolto Eriligena), Boecio (892), Wulfstanof York (1010), Gerard de Cambrai (1024) or Adalbertde Leon and employed in legislative texts such as the socalled Compilation of Huesca de Los Fueros of Aragon

(James I), and the Code of the Seven Parts (laws) of Alphonse X The Wise, 1265. 36. Laurent, J. (ed.) (1911) Cartulaires de l’abbayede Molesme. Tome II (Paris), 19, pp. 26.

37. Leroy Thierry P.F. Hughes de Payens La Nais-sence des Templiers, The Book Edition, Paris, 2011

38. Cheminon Notre Dame 1110, pp. 42 39. This lineage is directly related to the descen-dants of Dagobert, last of the Merovingian Kings andplaces them in, relation with the Jesuistic or Cristic dy-nasty, protected by the Priory of Zion, whichiit is said,constituted the fighting arm of the Temple.40. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, Medievallands, Central France, Comtes de Blois, by CharlesCawley and others.



41. St. Yves de Chartres, born circa 1049 and diedcirca 1116, is a French Saint. He is one of the keyfigures of the conflict faced by the papacy and the HolyEmpire, the Quarrel of the Investitures. He maintainedthat the investitures were not a sacrament, they couldtherefore be granted by a lay person.42. Migne, Latin Patriology, Vol. 162, col. 251.43. Orderic Vitalis, Vol. VI, Book XII, pp. 253.

44. Les Seigneurs de Montague IES. III 66045. Chronicle Albrici Monachi Trium Fontium1125, MGH SS XXIII, pp. 826.46. Barber, Malcolm, The Origins of the Order ofthe Temple, in Studia Monastica, 12 (1970), pp. 216-240.47. “And yet, I see myself obligated to admit that Imust be deprived, by a secret order of Christ, of yourgracious presence, and never see one with whom Iwould please to rightly spend life with, had it been

possible.”48. Dies 14 June 112649. Jacques de Vitry and William of Tyre.50. Barber, Malcolm, The Origins of the Temple, inMonastic Study, 12 (1970), pp. 219-240.

51. Juan Pablo Benito, Facebook article52. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officers of the

Kingdom of Jerusalem53. “ IT /Hugo de Saint Omer 54 Barber, Malcolm, The New Knight: A History of theOrder of the Temple, Cambridge University Press, 1994.Sean Martin, The The Knight Templar: The Historyand Myths of the Legendary Military Order, 2005 56. From the Latin valvasor; este de vessus vasso-rum, vassal of vassals, nobleman, server.57. The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ire-land and Wales, by Sir Bernard Burke, King of Arms.TRANSLATED IN LETTER VETUSTA, describingthe blazon of the DE PAYENS58. Read Piers, Paul, The Templars (1999), pp. 10159. See 5560. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudes of St.Amand61. “ 11 11 fl “ /Gerard of Ride-fort62. Vide geneologia

Josè Maria Fernandez Nùñez

• Degree in History

• Regional delegate of the UNEE

(National Union of Writers of Spain) to Zaragoza

• Member of the Medieval Foundation for Genealogy. • University of Cambrigde



Templarism the Century XXI

Thank you ladies and gentlemen for your presence

because without you, these conferences about theTemple would not be possible nor warranted.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to the organizersof the First Andalucian Journey si for the trust they haveplaced in me to bring you these musings.

For the past forty somewhat years, a new phenomenon,

has been surging in western culture which we knowby the name of Templarism. and, that it is of globalcharacter as it is not only a European phenomenon, butan American and Asian one as well.

We can define “Templarism”As a reaction of Europeansociety facing a novel phenomenon such as globalizationthat consists of a profusion of neo templar associations.”

This increase of the above stated groups can be explainedvia four facts:

1. Globalization.Historically, there have been globalizations- such asthe Roman Empire or the unification of Central Asia byGenghis Khan.

Those stimulated commerce and culture, but thecurrent globalization is different because it is worldwideand differs from previous ones because it is a purelycommercial incursion.

Globalization actually started in the mid twentieth century,when American corporations, fearing nationalizationfrom the rise to power of sociodemocratic governmentsin Europe, partially displaced the process of productionof goods to ensure it’s presence and control of markets.

Taking Ford Motor Company as an example, we have

the Mondeo model, designed in Germany, where the

engines are manufactured, but the chassis is built inEngland, and assembly takes place in Spain.

So if Mrs. Merckel’s government would wish tonationalize Ford in Germany, she would have engines,but no chassis or assembly; it it were the Britishgovernment,

Mr. Cameron would a chassis, but no engines or

assembly, and if the government presided over by Mr.Rajoy, we have assembly plants, but no engines orchassis.

This fear of nationalization caused the great Americancorporations to morph intoimultinational ones and thisproduced a change in the economic concept because, asof that moment, multinational corporations conceptualizeeconomics on a global level, no longer do they plan forone country, but for the world, therefore, the moremultinational corporations there are, will bring yet more

globalization. We have the Spanish situation when at the end of the50s, there existed a pervasive doctrine and economicdogma of the autarchy that defined the ideological basisof the economic model of the time, but commencingwith the economic liberation of the 60s and the passingof 50 years since this ideological shift in Spain, there arecurrently 8 multinational corporations in existence.

2. The second fact will explain how Templarism marksthe waning of traditional religions.

All religions have problems with globalization, scientificadvances (every five years, knowledge doubles, thissignifies that a veterinary student, at the start of theircareer, must practically re learn it at it’s conclusion, dueto the fact that much of what has been learned, is now

Juan Antonio Cabezos “Eneas”



obsolete) and technological development.

All religions have their particular reaction to postmodernity and this is the fundamental cause of thecrisis and decline of Catholicism, Buddhism, Judaism,Hinduism and Islam, to name but a few.

Fundamentalism or literal interpretation of sacred textsis the response to globalization. But why do we have

fundamentalism? Because in the practice, content andwording employdd by religion, they offer no reply to theneeds of today’s society.

If we take for example Catholicism, and we do so because

we can contrast what we are saying with reality. Wehave what ocbcurred when on the part of the Papacy,an attempt is made to adapt doctrine according to thetimes. John XXIII convened Vatican Council II whoseobjective of, iadapting the ecclesiastical institution to amodern world by giving the ecclesiastical communityagreater role of interaction with the faithful taking centerstage with respect to the clergy, the community is the

center, not the priest.Reaction to this innovative attempt,was that at successiveconclaves of cardinals, only those that were known tobe intellectuals, philosophers and above all, theologianswere elected to the Papacy. Fundamentalist Popes that

have not been able to stem the flow from their churches,but rather, without fault, have caused it to happen, andthat religious transmission is lost, because until now it hasbeen inculcated by women within their family circles.The result is an aging clergy and empty churches.

And this same phenomenon occurs with ProtestantChristianity.

The answer of believers to the breakdown of traditionalreligions is the new spirituality, and in this frame we

must insert neo Templarism because it proposes a newspirituality to believers, but erstwhile pkactitioners oftraditional faiths.

3. The third phenomenon from the XVIII century and itis called secularization.

It is the century in which traditional religions lost theirintellectuals. Secularization in the religious plan means

that believers are not passive beings and thus obedientones, but instead active beings and therefore poseproblems of life to religion.

And this fact is fundamental because if we considerourselves passive beings, then we are but subjects andwe are surrounded by many who have the soul ofsubjects, but if we say that we are active beings, weare then citizens and this fact has modified our way ofcomprehending the world and our reality because, isit a viable democracy where it’s components considerthemselves subjects?,

Would instances of corruption be possible if in the actualdemocratic model of Spain, it’s components consideredthemselves citizens and not subjects?

In the Templar circuit it would be said that secularizationis the casting aside of directive tasks by the nobility ofthe peasantry or those belonging to the middle class,workers who make a living from their labor but with atitle of nobility.

To employ medieval terminology, “the third estate”4. The fourth and last phenomenon has to do with thepsychology of the masses and the Templar Myth.

There is one clear fact and that is, that:the Templarsform part of our collective memory and if the Templarshave reached that category, it, is, in part, due to theirtragic demise.

Tragedy or an unhappy ending in History is part andparcel to the myth.

We shall show two examples.

In our Grecoaatin civilization, we have the myth ofCaesat, From victorious general in Gaul, victoriousgeneral before Pompey, to dictator of Rome.

And Caesar achieved the category of myth when hewas assassinated - by a group of senators amongst whichhis adopted son, Brutus was a participant, and with analmost stony phrase...

“And you Brutus, my son, you too have betrayed me?”

The second example are the tragic loves and here weshall show three examples, one historic and two literary.

In the historic one, we have Caesar’s deputy, rnarcus Antonius (Mark Antony), and one who was his wife and



mother of one of his sons, Cleopatra.

Cleopatra, who enters the story wrapped up in a rug, ina transparent gown and at 16, seduced Caesar and withthe support of her husband, became Pharaoh of Egypt.

With Caesar assassinated, Mark Antony is seduced

and he and Cleppatra enter the myth when he too isassassinated and the last female Pharaoh commits suicideafter the defeat at Actium before by Octavian’s ships.

Another of Caesar’s adopted sons, murders his halfbrother Caesarion, Cleopatra’s and Caesar’s natural son.

Without this tragic ending, the loves between Mark Antony and Cleopatra would have been, but one moreamong the ones that have been and will be in History,such as the loves of Charles III, King of Spain and Amelieof Saxony, or Ferdinand NI, also King of Spain andDolores of Braganza.

In the literary world, we have “La Celestina”, byFernando de Rojas, where a marriage of convenience issubstituted for one of love.

And perhaps the most famous love, that of Romeo andJuliet, the product of the imagination and prolific genius

that was Shakespeare who alongside Cervantes are thetwo great genii of European and universal literature.

In both cases Calixtus and Melba as well as Romeo andJuliet their pure love, for loving purely, they suffer death

Thus occurred something similar with the Templars,for their honesty they suffered death and it is their tragicdemise that raised what had been a military, religious

and economic Order, to the level of myth and legend,that is to say that the only multinational entity of theMiddleAges. was elevated to mythical status.

Had there not been a Phillip the Fair, a Clement V whoacquired the papacy through tactics of dubious honesty,a Nogaret* with thirst for yet more power, the fate ofthe Terri plars would have been the same as the othermilitary orders: to languish away throughout History.

*Guillaume de Nogaret - was a member of a.French family and deputy to Phillip IV. He was anambitious,ruthless and unscrupulous man.

It is possible as some hold true, that they may have beenreconstituted into a personal guard for the Pope, with theduties carried out by the Swiss Guard, but we know notwhy history did not follow this path.

The tragic end, the curse of de Molay who while tied toa burning stake, exhorted the King of France, the Popeand the Chief Magistrate, destroyers of the Temple toappear within a year before God’s tribunal to answerfor their deeds, (thus, this curse came to pass,whetherby divine will or the will of a Templay, all three weredead by year’s end) caused dez Molay and the Templeto enter the realm of myth, and of collective memory andtherefore into the living history of the citizenry and withsame into immortality.

We enter into the second part of the conference andit is the study of Templarism, the associations and the

Templars of today.Perusing through the web pages that are published by amajor part of these groups, we conclude that almost allof these coincide in memorializing the historic memory ofthe original Order of the Temple, bringing about a newstyle of knighthood and the study of the Middle Ages.

Removing the extremes of some that declare them-selvesthe heirs and true followers of the Order of the Templeor followers of authentic Templar esoterism, we can also

conclude in: that almost all are a Christian, but notprecisel a Catholic movement, that try to maintain andpractice traditional fundamental values in solidarity andaid for those in need.

Some authors have declared that the Vatican launcheda study and census of Templar orders and a final resultcame up with a total of some four hundred, at most.This number is outdated, since a year ago the SovereignBrotherhood of Dames and Knights of the Templecarried out a campaign in defense of religious freedom.Said campaign was championed by I.T.A. which

during this public act, they offered profound gratitudeto the Brotherhood, thanks for your help and selflesscollaboration.

The outreach and the documented response of thecampaign that we distributed to Templar organizations,



exceeded 1,200. In other words, between the beginningof these journey’s and the end,in some part of the world,there will have been established a Templar order.

It follows that we establish a classification of these, towhich i propose three categories.

a.Transformed organizations

Belonging to,this category are those Orders that wereCreated on a national level once the Templars weredisbanded, we have in Portugal the Order of Christ andin the Crown of Aragon, the Order of Montesa amongother examples.

These Orders were created to gather the survivingTemplar knights and that, in time, they lost the Templarspirit and sentiment until it disappeared.

b. The Major Order or Major Orders

We enter the subject of “Ius Honorum”.It is a Roman concept because the Ius Honorum is theright of a Roman citizen to choose public office.

In the city of Rome, citizens had the rights of city, (thesewere civil rights such as marriage, making wills, etc.) andpolitical rights that were “Ius Sufragii” or the right tovote, and again the Ius Honorum, which was the rightto seek public office. Let’s enter another aspect, whendoes an Organization become an order?

Let’s apply traditional criteria, thus, am_ organizationbecomes an order of knighthood when it is recognizedby a King or by the Pope. So it’s a case of seeing whatsort of organization is viewed favorably by both King andPope and again we enter into legend.

In 1705, Phillip of Orleans presented the new statutes ofthe Order of the Temple before French nobility.

It is the first establishment of a Templar association sincethe original one no longer existed after being dis¬bandedby the Pope; in spite of this bo become an order, it lacked

recognition by the King or the Pope; the papal route mustbe discarded since the time of the orders had passed, butnot so Napoleon, who saw in knighthood the possibility

of attracting to his cause, the nobility of conqueredhations, therefore NapoleomBonaparte recognizedthem as an Order of knighthood with Bernard-RaymondFabre Palaprat as Grand Master.

Here is another element that is not yet historic, but thatcomes from Iegehd,and it is a letter from Larmenius.

According to this letter there was a secret Templar groupand said latter ;. was signed by all the grand masters thatlived clandestinely. Fabrè Palaprat signed this letter, thusbecoming the first Master and inheritor of the Temple,through the letter of transmission of Larmenius, and byanother as the first master whose Order is acknowledged

by an Emperor, as was the case of Napoleon.

Afterwards, another Napoleon (the III) confirmed saidrecognition. What has become of the OSMTH today?

Well it is an order divided in three large branches, thuswe have the SMTHO, SOMTH and OSMTJ.

The question is that, applying the traditional criteria tothe three branches, to wit, acknowledgment of a king orpope, are they orders?

See Let us another aspect which is the RUPTURE OFTRADITIONAL CRITERIA. Traditional Criteria wasvalid in the past when kings and popes required ordersof knighthood to defend borders and because of this,it was relatively simple to easily obtain both royal andpapal approval.

But society has exchanged that,dependency,for theproducts of illustrations and the Industrial Revolutionhas transferred the sources of income from agriculture toindustry and services.

Therefore our reality is very different because ourborders are not entrusted to Military Orders, butto police forces or civil guards, thus it is necessary topropose alternative cri-teria for an organization to beconsidered an Order and this brings us to associationswith a vocation to be an order or minor order.

c. Associations with a vocation to be an order or minororder.

These associations are those that have not been

acknowledged by neither king nor pope but they cameinto being and therefore have the capacity of investiture,when they fulfill at least one of two modern prerequisites.

1. Historic continuity of at least 20 years and threePriors.



2. Recognition bi nine established orders.

The requisite of historic continuity requires an activeexistence of 20 years, which is sufficient time todetermine if an association is functional. The 20 yearsare considered operational via the actual carrying out ofacts of public character; on the other hand, the existenceof three Priors indicate relevance as to the direction ofthe group. it indicates that there is an inner spark and that

said organization belongs to the Templar soul and not toany one individual. By the recognition of nine existingorders, it is meant that there exists an acknowledgmentof Templar spirit and thus, legitimacy Ius Honorum.

Here thus is the role of the I.A.T. (International Templar Association)Ahereby organizing assemblies, creatingharmonious meeting places for Templar organizations,is fundamental for the application of this criteria.Logically,nine groups shall recognize themselvesamongst each other as established orders, they would

constitute the group of nine and in turn, via protocol,will acknowledge others as being a major order and thusconvey legitimacy or Ius Honorum.

TENDENCIES

At present, we can cluster Templarism in four tendenciesor inclinations;

A. Cutting edge Catholic groups: Are staunchly Catholicgroups in zealous defense of the Temple, and aspire totransform themselves into lay Templars, who participate

of life within the Church the same as any other order, forexample, the Franciscans.

B. Cutting edge Christian groups: These are ecumenicalunder the principles of the Temple, but make nodistinction between Catholics, Protestants or those oforthodox beliefs. In this way, these organizations defendthe Christian faith, but with no fixed allegiance to anyone organized form of Christianity, such as Catholicism.

C. Cutting edge esoteric groups: Whose objective is the

spiritual transformation of it’s members and respond tothe new spiritual reality.

D. Lastly to highlight the existence of a Templar Church,and a base text as is the Levitikon.

SOVEREIGN ORDER OF THE DAMES ANDKNIGHTS OF THE TEMPLE

In the face of this situation, the structure of theBrotherhood is twc4.fold.

One the one side, we have the forming of groups whoseobjective is the molding of knights, night watch of armsand investiture.

And on the other the esoteric path, by way of internalcircles that will commence functioning in 2014 and whoeobjectives are spiritual formation internal transformationand initiation.

And we arrive at the end: cif this donferencefwithothefollowing conclusions:

1. That Templarism, if not a complete globalphenomenon, almost is.

2. That it responds to the nine spiritual needs that arethe product of globalization, secularization and the lossof mainstream faiths.

3. That there are numerous Templar associations witha vocation, be it knighthood, sense of belonging or asearch for esoteric wisdom.

And lastly, where does the Templar path lead?...

I do not know because the only things that we do knowis that history seems to repeat itself, but in the end,the historic solution differs from the prvious ones, butit would please me to know that in the hearts of thepresent and future Templars, there exists a change, with:respect, to: sdeietytowards one of solidarity, free ofhunger and injustice, that in the Templar hearts there is asincere desire of knowledge seeking and that they standon the side of the fortunate, who are so, because theysuffer hunger and a search for justice.

Many thanks

Juan Antonio Cabezos Martinez • High School Teacher; thirty five years of experience. • Degree in Geography and History from the University of La Laguna• Law Degree from the University of Murcia • Founder of the magazine thought “Intellectuals”

•

President of the Association of geographers and historians of the middleteachings of the Murcia region. • Academy honorary of The Municipalistica Brazilian Academy of

Letters.



S ymbol ism of the SwordFuensanta Santos de la Rubia

We have to admit that, of all weaponsinvented by man, none has reached theesoteric symbolism and mystery of the sword.

The sword appears withthe age of metals, aroundthe fourth millenniumbefore C.

Specifically, swords

Bronze Age, have beenfound; previously, thehuman used tools madeof stone, silex or crystalssuitable for this purpose,like obsidian.

The first bronze weretoo soft; so history of

sword runs parallel to thehistory of the forge, the alchemy of metals;companion of the evolution of man and hislearning and mastery in art to dominate andtransmute them, such as copper, iron, tin,bronze and steel, by the fire , water andair ; in a magic combination of all elements,related with Mars as the god of war by theromans, for its relationship with iron, who

believed he chased away evil spirits.But the fact is that, in prehistoric times astoday, the same in various religions as in thepopular folklore, just look at the differenttypes of swords exist in most cultures, torealize that the sword has a similar spiritualsense and a magical mission to fight the darkforces.

Sword appears already in the Bible in Genesis.

“And the Lord God threw the man from thegarden of Eden…..”.. and having expelledthe man, put front garden of Eden cherubim

and a flaming sword to guard the way of thetree of life (Genesis 3, 23-24); referring tothe flaming sword or the flames; and that wewill deal with it later.

The sword is part of Armor of God as Paul ofTarsus said in his letter to the Ephesians:

“Therefore take up, the full armor of God, for

you can resist in the evil day, and having done all,

to stand firm.

Stand firm therefore; your loins close-fitting

with truth, and put on with the breastplate,

of righteousness; and your feet shod with the

preparation of the gospel of peace.

Above all, take up the shield of faith, with which

you can extinguish all flaming darts of the evil one.

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword

the spirit, which is the word of God”.

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 6.

The reference in the Bible to the sword,appears some 345 times; but we will makea journey through the different swords in theoldest cultures:



“The world’s oldest swords were excavated form thetomb of the Kings Aracahüyük; and date back beforethe founding of the Hittite empire; the people who built

remains a mystery”

Sachihiro Ohmura (Japanese researcher )

CHINESE SWORD

In some tombs dating from the period from 770 BC to176 BC, located in JIANGXI Province of China, theoldest sword was found; it’s a black sword, gold andbright red. This sword has been named by archeologistXu Changging, as “the first sword under the sky”.

It measures about two feet long, and is adorned with acarved dragon in its scabbard; in addition to two zigzaglines in the center of the sheet-

In 1965, in the Chinese province of Hubei, it wasdiscovered among the remains of an ancient tomb, ofJiangling, a bronze sword, whose blade appears thefollowing inscription:

“Sword personal use of the King of Yue, Gou Jian”

Gou Jian governed the Kingdom Yue during the last year of the period spring to autumn, more than 2000 years ago.

THE SWORD IN JAPAN

Sword is an essential part of the three Sacred Treasuresof Japan; which consist of a sword Kusanagi; a Jewel

Yasakani not Magatama; and the mirror Yata no Kagami;Japan also attribute supreme human values to the sword;these objects represent the three primary virtues ofJapan: the value (the sword); wisdom (the mirror) andbenevolence (the jewel); these elements are connected

to the Buddhist ideal.Since 690, the presentation of these items to the Emperorby a group of Shinto priests are part of the great secretcoronation; therefore there aren’t any photographs ofthem.

Traditionally were the symbols of the divinity of theEmperor, as descendant of the goddess Amaterasu,which legitimizes his hierarchical role in Japan.

THE SWORD IN THE WEST

Greek mythology tells, that when Perseus killed Medusa,Crisaor was born of his blood; first king of Tartessos.His invencible sword of gold protects Tartessos sinceimmemorial time. The sword has, in all cultures, anambivalent meaning; as the two edges that comprise, firstmeans destruction, death; on the other hand, defense ofjustice, the Divine Word.

The sword, is a military weapon and also a spiritualweapon; as the reign and the defense of peace and orderthrough the authority granting the right. But also, thesword has a symbolism, more deep and esoteric, gettingto be magic, if we understand how magical the faculty,of an object to transmute and transform the inside of a

person; that is to say, provoke the metanoia, necessaryprecondition to any initiation.

The sword is a initiatory element of the first order, to beable to wake itself, in the sincere aspirant a transformativeprocess. The initiation no ceases to be a death of a



previous state to be reborn again another more completereality; the sword, like fire, the air and land

forms part of initiation rites; in theunion of water and fire is the

u n i o n of ying and yang;positive and n e g a t i v e ;masculine andfeminine.

The archetype of thesword, is the one mostidentified with humannature; as an extensionof the individual, anenlargement of the activewill; and thus, it hasbeen, and is the physicalrepresentation of the honorand dignity of Knight advocate ofLight against darkness.t

This has had its greatestexponent in the Middle

Age, when it takes theform of Cross; sacredweapon, preferred by theChristian Knight, who see i t a sintegral part of his being; and which the beingknighted represents acquire the virtues of the swordand to be worthy of it.

That’s the force that takes on (that´s the power of the

archetype), getting tune the subconscious to wake up inthe heart of the warrior, the crucible, the inner struggleto conquer, not only the enemy, but rather the wisdomitself and to annihilate the demons of ignorance.

The accolade was the hit with the edge of sword, the young squire, was receiving, at time, to be armed, andwas the point from which he received and he couldcarry a sword.

The duty of a Templar Knight representing a mandate,was that he should never uses his sword, unless he wasconvinced of the justice of the cause in which he wascommitted, as well as, never sheathe it, until his enemieswere defeated.

This also finds its origin in the customs of medievalswords; usually they manufactured with an inscriptionon the blade. Among the legends more commonly foundare those made in Spain:

Cid’s Tizona Sword has on one side of the sheet theinscription:

“IO SOI TIZONA FUE FECHA IN THE ERA OF MIL

E QVARENTA “

And on the other side:

“AVE MARIA GRACIA PLENA DOMINUS MECUM”

Other inscriptions on swords Spain:

“Don’t unholster to me without reason, or holstering tome without honor “

“ D o n ’ t make me use without justice, or keepm e without honor “

Templars sword had enrolled

“in Nomine Domine” ( in thename of the Lord)

In relation to the spiritual sense ofthe sword and its use, we havethe example of writings of

Bernard of Clairvauxto the Templars;

“Unsheathe thedouble sword,spiritual andmaterial, ofChristians and

dowland hard onthe forehead of the

enemy, to destroyeverything that stands

against the knowledge ofGod”

S a n Bernardo: Loa to theNew Militia

And subsequently Book Cavalry Ramon Llull

“To Knight the sword is given; which is made in the

image of a Cross, to mean that as our Lord Jesus Christ

overcame death, on the Cross, in which we had fallen

by the sin of our father Adam, so the Knight must defeat

and destroy the enemies of the Cross with sword and

as the sword has a double cut, and chivalry is to uphold

justice, and justice is to give each one his right, so the

Knight’s sword means that the gentlemen should keepwith sword the cavalry and justice”.

Ramon Llull : Book of Cavalry, chapter 5

And even the exclusive section devoted to him King Alfonso X the Wise in his Big Book of Laws CodeSeven Games.

THE SWORD AND ITS SYMBOLISM AS THESPANISH KING ALFONSO X THE WISE

The sword symbolizes the virtue of wisdom, strength,moderation and justice.

Wisdom, calls for caution, the stronghold, which isvirtue that makes a man stand firm to the dangers thatcome him.



The measure, which is temperance, peace of mind.

Justice, which is right to apply and go with it.

Seven games, where he established the Virtuesof the Sword

Section II, chapter 21, Act. 4:

Goodness are called moral standards that the men have

naturally themselves, which is called in Latin virtues; andamong all there are four major; so as wisdom, strength,moderation and justice.

And since every man has will of to be good, he should striveto have them; so speakers we said, as others who have togovern the land for their labors and their works, with all thisthere are not any to whom agree more than the defenders,, because they have to defend the church and the kings andall others, and sanity will do them to know to do for theirinterest and without their damage; and strength, they are firmin what they did and they are not changed, and moderation,they work on things as they should and do not go more; and

justice, that they make it closely.

And given that these are in many ways, however all becametwo: the ones, to defend the body that are said armors; andthe others, weapons that are to strike.

The ancients had to make a certain that all these things showthemselves by similarity, and this was the sword; as well as theweapons the man wears to defended show wisdom, which isthe virtue that preserves him of all evil that could come by hisfault; another if shows that same the handle of the sword thatman has locked in his fist, so whereas he had it in that manner,

in his power is to raise or down it, or to hurt or leave it.

And another if as in weapons, that the defender puts in frontof him to defend himself, show strength, which it is virtue thatmakes man to stand firm to the dangers that come him, so onthe knob is all the strength of the sword, because it suffers thehandle, and quillon and iron, well, as well as, the armor that

man wears and the weapons he hurts, and they are as wellas the virtue of moderation among the things that are mademore or less that they should , well to that likeness is placedthe quillon between the handle and iron of it; well anotherif as weapons that man has in his hands straightened to hurtwith them where it is appropriate, showing justice which hasthe right an equality itself, another if shows sword’s iron, thatis right and keen and also chop on both sides.

It would have much to add, but we leave this for anotherarticle...We end this part with the most famous legend inthe West over the Sword.

LEYEND OF ARTHUR’S SWORD

King Uther died and nobody know him any descendants.Then the nobles went to Merlin to find a successormonarch. Merlin made appear on a rock a sword firmlypinned to an iron anvil, with a legend that said:

“this is the Excalibur Sword, who will get it out of

this anvil, will be king of England”. Arthur and Kay, who were already two handsome boys,had gone to the city to attend a tournament in which Kaythought to participate.

When the hour was approaching, Arthur realized thathe had forgotten the Kay’s sword at the inn. He ran atfull speed, but when he got there, the door was locked.

Arthur did not know what to do , he looked around anddiscovered the Excalibur sword.

Approaching to the rock, he pulled the sword. Then a

beam of white light descended on him and Arthur pulledthe sword without encountering any resistence; he ran toKay and offers it. Kay was in surprise because it was nothis sword. Arthur explained to Kay what had happened,Kay saw the inscription of “Excalibur” in the sword, andhe told to his father.



THE FLAMING SWORD

The flaming or fire sword is the one that the Angel ofGenesis at the door of Eden.

In the Nordic mythology, Surt, is the leader of thefire giants in the South, the ruler of Muspelheim, theKingdom of fire. Its name means brown or black, andthe end of the world, the Ragnarök, his hordes shall run

northward as southern wind to crush the gods.

He is carrying the sword of Flames as the Voluspa says:South Surt

Brandishing fire

The sword of the gods shines in the darkness

Like stars in the night

Mountains collapse into rubble

And demons will fall

Man walks the road to ruin

While the sky opens in two

THE SWORD IN MASONRY

At freemasonry both the flaming sword as the flat areused; the use of the sword as main part of the MasonicInvestidure is limited to higher grades, in which of

course, they have the mosto prominent place as a bageof dignity Knight. Its use in the Lodge, except symboliccharacter, it is strictly prohibited; its basic function is todefend; therefore the only one who carries the sword,in addition to the Venerable Master, is the Temple Guardand experts.

The Temple Guard is in charge of defending againstthe indiscretion of the profane and the Expert upholdthe documentation received with the circulation of theproposals bag.

Among others considerations we can mention:

That it being the sword conceived and created as aweapon, is considered as an active instrument, so it must

be wielded with the right hand because the right side isthe active side.

The Flaming sword to the Masons, basically, is thesymbol of honor, consciousness, and protection, as wellas action, it used by the venerable with the left arm. It isthe proper sword of the venerable Master of the Lodge,who chairs the works masonic.

This sword is implies spiritual power, related to fire, itsplace is on the desk of the venerable Master, becausehe, as greater authority of the Lodge, has to guide and to

defend the brothers against the onslaughts of evil whichis represented by lies, the insubordination and in generalanything that might threaten the peace and harmony ofthe Lodg.

While the Flaming sword, is on the desk of the VenerableMaster, should go with its tip to the south; as well asthe northem column represents the cold and silence, theSouthem represents the noon and heat; it is precisely forthis reason that the flaming sword keeps this position inthe Lodge, because the area of heat is noon.

The Flaming sword does not have cover for severalreasons:

The fire can not be sheathe, and also it representsscience and virtues; so both of them must be accessibleto all.



SWORD IN ALCHEMY

For alchemist sword represents fire, real impulse ofthe matter in its way to the Magnus Opus, it is deathand rebirth, it is a sign of purification by the light andtruth, and is the engine of regeneration and resurrectionlike Phoenix, flame upwards represents the elevationspirituality.

Remember that the sword of the Temple are integratedthe four elements: earth, represented by metal, fire,water and air.

EMBLEM VIII SECRETIS NATURA

Accipe ovum & igneo percute gladio

“Take the egg and beat it with the sword of fire”

EPIGRAM VIII“Est avis in mundo sublimior omnibus, Ovum

Cajus ut inquiras, cura sit una tibi. Albumen luteum circundat molle vitellum,

ignitio (ceu mos), cautus id ense petas; Vulcano Mars addat opem: pullaster et inde

Exortus, ferri victor et ignis erit”.

“ There are a bird greater than all in the world

Worry about only to find its egg

The one in which clear land surrounds the yellow yolk

Attack it skillfully with a fiery sword

Than Mars helps Vulcano

The chicken will come out of there will be winner ofiron and fire”

The word sword comes from the latin word spatha, andgreek spathe but the romans used the word GLADIUS todefine the sword; and of there comes the word gladiator.

There have been several GLADIUS:

The hispaniensis is the oldest ; before the Roman;

it were so effective that the romans decided to adoptthese Hispanic swords in their strife; in addition to theGLADIUS MAGUNCIA, which adopted the nameof the city, and Pompeii which was the best known ofmodel Glaudius….

But that’s another story for later

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Swords Spain. Emilio Sobejano.

Dictionary of Symbols. Jean Chevalier.Loa of the New Knighthood: San Bernardo.

Book Cavalry: Ramon Llull.

Historical European Martial Arts, site of the SpanishSociety of Fencing.

Alfonso X the Wise: Book Seven Games.

Voluspa.

Masonic Swords by Q: .H :. Umberto Luis Santos.

Engraving landmark book Alchemy: Atalanta Fugiens;published in 1617. Michael Maier

Fuensanta Santos de la Rubia

• Templar Master of Ceremonies. Sovereign Brotherhood Ladies andGentlemen of the Temple. OSMTJ. SPAIN.

• Researcher about The Temple, its history and symbolism.

• Edited works about: The book of Chivalry; The magic square of TheTemple; The Templars in the first reconquest of Almeria; The Domus

Eclessiae; The first Christian basilicas. • Director and Editor of the magazine The Grail.

• Academy honorary of The Municipalistica Brazilian Academy of Letters.



The Death of Templar Master Gòmez Ramirezat the Battle o f Ùbeda

Jesùs Lòpez Romàn

The Battle of Ubeda, also called Battle of the Navas(plains), was without a doubt, the most important inSpanish history; this battle was the deciding factor of

Christian dominion over the Iberian peninsula.The reason that it received two different names is due tothe fact that this battle occurred in two perfectly distinctphases; the first involved direct confrontation on anopen field of the powerful Christian and Islamic armieson Monday, 16 July 1212; the second was centered inthe city of Ubeda, which was taken during the assault onthe following Monday, 23 July of the same year.

The open field confrontation took place in the areabetween Saint Elena and Mesa del Rey (king’s plateau)

(Hui-di, 1916 pp 47-60 and 75-90).This author brilliantly dismantles the erroneous thesesthat placed this skirmish in the current neighborhood ofNavas de Tolosa (La Carolina).

The armies of the Hispanic kingdoms of Castile, Aragonand Navarre were able to cross the Sierra Morenathanks to the discovery of a pass that the Muslims did notcontrol. Chroniclers confer a miraculous intervention onthis fact, although, from a rational point of view, in alllikelihood this discovery was made thanks to espionageor treason on the part of Muslims who knew these areasquite well due to their usual occupation as shepherd’sThe true and documented fact is that the aforementionedarmies were able to set up their encampments during thedays of the 14th and 15th of July, in the place referred

to as Mesa del Rey; is because this place is flat and verysuitable for a campsite as well as spacious and wideopen: two and a half kilometers long by one wide. Itselevation exceeds 800 meters and its slopes are difficultto climb; an excellent military position.

Some five kilometers from Mesa del Rey, in a straightline and south east direction, is the present day locationof St. Elena.

Upon descending from the Mesa we encounter thecenter of a town called Miranda del Rey, located on

the right and a short distance ahead there extends theplain of the Americas (Cortijo), whose center lies sometwo kilometers from said Mesa. From that very centerup to Cota 814* (Cerro de los Olivares) (hill of the olivegroves), in which Huici (1916), 51, 52, 83, 86 and 89),places the palisade of the Muslim chief, some distance ofless than one kilomater.

After descending this hill, and heading towards SaintElena, we encounter a glen and, immediately, withthree small hills behind which extends the great

esplanade of Las Viñas, (pron.Las Veenyas meaningThe Vines), where the Muslims had set *Cota 814, anumber indicating the height of a point above the sea orsome other level up their encampment, quite close to thepresent day Saint Elena.

The battle was decided on the plain of the Americasand on the slopes of the Hill of Olive Grovesi,,andztherewere moments when victory could have been in favorof the Islamic army. It commend ced between 8 and 9in the morning and the Caliph Muhammed al-Nasir,called Miramamolin by the Spaniards, fled around two

in the afternoon (Huici, (1916, pp 67) -Miramamoliinmeans Prince of the believers.



With the fleeing of their supreme leader and thesubsequent scattering of the Muslim army, the advanceon the part of Christii ian troops pressed on as theyreached close proximity to Vilches before falling back.They bivouacked in the vacated Muslim encampmentat Las Viñas, on that same day the 16th, the victor’s,

Alfonso VIII of Castile, instigator and organizer of thecampaign and his two allies: Peter II of Aragdn andSancho VII of Navarre.

In the aftermath they easily captured, without any greatdiffi., culty, the castles of Vilches, Baños (banyos) andTolosa.

Once these fortresses were conveniently secured,the victor’s headed towards Baeza that recently beenabandoned by the great majority of its inhabitants.Because of this, it was taken without any resistance.

Following,the host allies headed for Ubeda that hadgiven refuge to the Baezans, some survivors of the openfield battle of the 16th and many other refugees from thearea.

Thus multitude of more than 60,000 people, preventedan adequate defense of the city in spite of its impressivetowers and walls.

According to the Archbishop Jimenez de Rada (1989, 325) on the 2 0th day of July, they set up camp nearthe walls of Ubeda and began the preparation of itsconquest by armed force.

The assault tookplace on the 23rdand was, accordingto documentedIslamic sources,more devastatingthan the struggle ofNavas de Tolosaconcluding with thecomplete destructionof the besieged city.

In this sense, thea f o r e m e n t i on e dIslamic sourcesconcur with theChristian ones.

Through the greatmagnitude and

repercussions of this second event, the clashiiniitsentirety became, known in the Middle Ages and longafterwards, as the Battle of Ubeda. Rosado Llamas and

Lopez Payer (2001, 33-35) add six chronicles in whichthey are known as such; such chronicles span from theXIII through the XIV centuries and were written indiverse geographic areas (Castile, Aragdn and Navarre).

The aforementioned authors (2001, 34) indicate,

besides, that: “Even Argote de Molina in his Nobilityof Andalucia offers the news of Christian victory underthe epigraph of Battle of Ubeda”.

The conquest of this city, was therefore, the completionof the open field struggle that had taken place on July16th and it corresponds with what is now referred to, inmilitary strategy, as “milking it for all its worth”.

The opening clashes of the assault did not bode well forthe Christians. Nonetheless, in no time, their luck shifteddue to the collapse of one of the defensive towers that

had been previous been booby trapped. A pact of surrender was proposed, but it was rejectedby some factions of the victorious army according todocumented Christian sources.

Jimenez de Rada (1989, 325) states: “In the end andupon forbidding such an accord, the Bishops of Toledo,Narbona and the rest with pontifical authority, agreedthat the city should be razed to its foundations”.

The letter sent by Alfonso VIII to Pope Innocent III,

collected in GonzZlez (1960a, 572) states in thisrespect: “But briefly by divine grace we take it and levelit to its foundation because we had no multitude of folknecessary to populate it”.

The Archbishop of Narbona, in his letter to the chapterof Cistercian abbots (Huici, 1916, 175), manifests thefollowing: “Alas returning to their original agreement,the kings decided on another adjustment to be made:that the Moors pay the agreed upon sum and us to razethe city. leaving them free to vacate with all their chattelsand goods. But it happened that by divine disposition

they were not able to fulfill their agreements and as aresult they were reduced to slavery by the Christians andthe walls of the city were demolished”.

The first General Chronicle of Alfonso X, in theMenendez Pidal edition (1977, 705) states: “Finally the



Archbishop of Toledo and the Archbishop of Narbonaand the bishops that were there and with them, pleadingthrough the church, this plea that is asked of us, takeheed of this decree: that the city should be leveled toits foundations and that the Moors attempting to flee,to be taken captives”.The “Cronichon Mundi” of Lucasde Tuy lin the romanticized text edition (1926, 415)specifies that in Ubeda “Many thousands of Saracenswere slain” and, lastly, the Toledan Annals, I, (Florez,1979, 397), express thus: “And were the Christian kingswent and took Ubeda and apprehended many captivesmen and women more than LX thousand” .

Islamic sources consider that the siege and conquest ofUbeda was a fact of war more disastrous to them thantheir defeat in open combat on the 16th of July. Proof ofthis affirmation can be found in Huici (1916, AppendixII, IV and VI).In Appendix II a text from El Marraquexiis transcribed, that refers to Alfonso VIII of Castile, itsays: “later he lay_siege to Ubeda and left with so many

captives that the land of the Christians became filledwith them; this calamity was more grave than the defeatof Hisn-el-Uqub (Navas de Tolosa).

Appendix IV contains the testimony of El QartAs thatdoes not correspond with reality by stating that all whowere found in Ubeda were slain. And lastly, Appendix

VI picks up the version of Ahmed ben Abdaluahab:“he lay siege to Ubeda 16 days and took her by force,capturing and looting and this was a greater calamity forMuslims than the very defeat at Hisn-el-Uqab” (Navasde Tolosa).

We have brought you all these testimonials to show, viarigorously documented sources, the importance that thesecond phase of the struggle had.

That is why it became known as the Battle of Ubedafor such a long time and our end , upon analyzingworthy chronicles and documents, is directed towardsrevindicating said name. Historiography, in this aspect,should return to its ancient flow and the aforementioned

acts of war of July of

1212, they must beknown as the Battle ofUbeda or Navas deTolosa.

This legitimate wish isnot a capricious one noris it a fantasy; it is backedby contemporarychronicles of narrated

facts and other sourcesof the Lower Middle Ages, as well as intestimony of latter dayauthors who took up theoriginal tradition.

The Temple took part in the Battle of Ubeda or Navasde Tolosa with these words of praise from ArchbishopJimnez de Rada (1989, 310): “the friars of the Order ofthe Temple under the command of its Master GòmezRamirez who died in peace after the battle.

These were the first who were forged in the NewTestament taking the teachings of the cross, theostentation of military pride with the links of charity andreligion, without loss of ferocity”.

Further ahead (1989, 319-320), the archbishopdescribes the changing of the order of march to thatof battle and the order of combat in the battle of theopen field. “Diego Lopez with his men commanded the

vanguard; Count Gonzalo Ndfiez with the friars of theTemple, the Hospitaliers, the Ucles and Calatrava, thecentral nucleus.

Just as it went in all important military encounters, allthe Military Orders participated, although as we canappreciate, Jimenez de Rada places the Templars in firstposition, which constitutes obvious proof of the highregard and esteem he held them in.

The central nucleus, that immediately followed the

vanguard, was tasked with carrying out the principalcharges due

to the fact that Christian troops advanced at the:fore fronttowards the palisade that protected the Miramamoliin(Gonzalez 1960b, 1044).

In the First General Chronicle of Alfonso X, the Wise(1977,700), again they cite, in prime position, theTemplars: “ and the Count Don Gonzalo Nufiezwith the friars of the Temple, and the Hospital. and ofUclhs and of Calatrava”.

Along with these testimonials of praise, the prestige ofthe Order of the Temple increased due to an incidentof first magnitude: the heroic death of its Master donGdmez Ramirez, as a result of wounds suffered duringthe attack on the city of Ubeda.



Don Gómez Ramirez Master of he Templers. Santa Elena, Jaèn.

The Master had full jurisdiction over the Templars of thekingdoms of Castile, Leon and Portugal. This event, ofgreat emotional and symbolic value for all the membersand admirers of the Order, is reflected in the “ChrniconConimbricense” (Chronicle of Coimbra) that is offeredby Florez (1799, 330-356).

On page 335 there appears the year 1212 and by its sidethere appears a synthesis, in medieval Latin, as to whattranspired during the bellicose incidents of the monthof July that we are commenting on: “etceperunt Obedaquae erat maxima villa ad VIII dias quod bellum fuit, et obiitibi Magister Domnus Gomez. Ramirii in die Sancte Jacobi etceperunt Veetiam” (“....and they took Ubeda which a greatvillage on the eight day of the war and there died the MasterDon Gomz. Ramirez on the day of Saint James and they tookBaeza”).

Archbishop Jimenez de Rada (1989, 325) affirms. onhis part, that they commenced the attack on the cityof Ubeda: “Monday, meaning the eighth day after thebattle”.

It is quite clear in the two chronicles, that we havecited, an inclusive computation of days is employed. Forthis reason, they speak of eight days in place of seven.Fortunately, the archbishop, who was an eyewitness toall these happenings, indicates with absolute certainty asbeing a Monday; thus, we can set the exact date of theattack: July 23, 1212.

It is evident that the death of Templar Master GomezRamirez occurred in Ubeda on July 25, 1212, as a resultof wounds suf, fered in battle during the conquest of thecity on the 23rd, there exists, aside from the narrationin the “Chronicon Coimbricense”, another graphic

Proof of great importance stated by Barroca (2000a,179) whenspeaking of certain Portuguese Templarinscriptions, he presents us with number 267 with a dateso doubtful that he himself questions the actual day: 19(?) July 1212. This author analyzes the aforementionedinscription #267 and offers us the following details(2000b, 657-662): it concerns a commemorative markerdedicated to the death of the afore mentioned Masterthat is currently located in the Templar Church of SantaMaria de Los Olivares in the city of Tomar, (Portuguesedistrict of Santarem). There is no doubt as to the monthand year (July 1212), but the part corresponding tothe day is practically illegible due to the:ektreme.tate oferosion on said marker.

Barroca (2000b, 657-661) attempts to recreate theday, but in all honesty, he dares not attempt to do so inneither a caterogorical nor impetuous way, so he optsfor doubt. For this reason, he indicates the date placinga question mark in parenthesis after the day: 19 (?) of

July 1212. This way he avoids criticism that, with goodreason would have been raised by other investigators.

The young author incurs, on another matter, on amistaken date when he affirms (2000b, 660) that: “thesiege of Ubeda commenced on July 20th and concludedon the 22nd. As we have shown before, Christiantroops headed towards Ubeda, coming from Baeza, onJuly 20th and laid siege to it, but the attack began onMonday, the 23rd; therefore it is impossible for it to haveended on the 22nd as Barroca indicates.

The most important Portuguese historians, amongstwhich we include the classic Brandao (1632, 72), accept,without a doubt, that the Master Gdmez Ramirez died indbeda, on July 25th, day of Saint James the Apostle, asa result of wounds he sustained during the attack on thecity just as affirmed without a doubt in the “Chronicon

Coimbricense”. In light of the Portugues historiographyand the difficulties that the inscription presents, and dueto the impossibility of positive reconstruction of the exactdate of his death, Barroca (2000a, 359) declines to fix aset date and indicates that said Master could have diedafter the battle on,the open field (Navas de Tolosa) or



perhaps during the siege of Ubeda. From all the above wecan conclude, without a doubt: there exists documentedand graphic proof that show the death of Templar Dias,:ter Don Gòmez Ramirez at Ubeda, on July 25th, 1212,as a result of wounds sustained during the attack of saidcity the 23rd day of that month and year.

The epic death of Master Gòmez Ramirez should haveremained associated to the city of dbeda in the hearts and

minds of all those involved directly or indirectly with theOrder of the Temple in Castille. Ùbeda should havebecome, for them, a powerful symbol that representedthe “consummate ideal of a medieval knight throughglorious death in combat,”. The Battle of Ubeda orNavas de Tolosa marked the disintegration of Islamicpower in Spain. The Christian armies had to redoubledue to epidemics and exhaustion caused by the greatefforts of prolonged combat, but the field was left clearfor the following and definite victories of Ferdinand III,who was always accompanied by the Military Orders,

among which, the Templars were prominent.

We have centered ourselves on the death of Master

Gomez Ramirez because it will;establish for themoment, one of the many argu, ments at our disposal

to defend, with conviction, the Templar presence inÙbeda. There are ample architectural and symbolictraces of said presence in the city; we have also founddocuments directly confirming said presence, albeit later.Other primary documented sources are questionable,but exist nonetheless in spite of the intentional andsystematic destruction of Templar documentation, onthe part of usurpers of the goods and properties of the

religious militia. The unjust suspension of same gaveplace, in Castille and in the same part of Andaluciathat had just been regained, a process of uncontrolledplundering; therefore, it was necessary to destroy alldocumentation referring to the Templars in order toavoid possible restoration of lands and properties in thehypothetical case of any future restoration to grace of a“rehabilitated” Order.

FOOTNOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

ALFONSO X EL SABIO (1977): Primera Cronica General. Madrid:Universidad Complutense (Edition de D. Ramon Menendez Pidal).BARROCA, M. J.(2000a): Epigrafia medieval portztguesa. Lisboa:Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian . Volumen IBARROCA, M. J.(2000b): Epigrafia medieval portuguesa. Lisboa:Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian . Volumen II, Tomo IBARROCA, M. J.(2000c): Epigrafia medieval portuguesa. Lisboa:Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian. Volumen IIIBRANDAO, A. (1632): Ivlonarquia Lusitana, Parte IV. Lisboa.FLOREZ, E. (1799): Espaila Sagrada. Madrid: Oficina de la viuda e hijosde Marin. Tomo XXIII.GONZALEZ, J. (1960a): El reino de Castilla en la epoca de Alfonso VIII.

Madrid:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas. Volumen III.GONZALEZ, J. (1960b): El reino de Castilla en la epoca de Alfonso VIII.Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas. Volumen I.HUICI, A. (1916): Estudio sabre la campaira de las Navas de Tolosa.

Valencia: Anales del Institute General y Tecnico de Valencia.JIMENEZ DE RADA, R. (1989). Historia de los Hechos de Espaira.Madrid: Alianza Editorial.LUCAS DE TUY (1926): Cronica de Esparza. Madrid: Tipografia dela “Revista de Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos”. ( Edition romanceada del“Chronicon Mundi” a cargo de D. Julio Pueyo).ROSADO LLAMAS, M. D. y LOPEZ PAYER, M. G. (2001): La batalla de

has Navas de Tolosa. Historia y Tito. Andujar (Jaen): Caja Rural de Jaen.

Jesùs Lòpez Romàn

• Doctor of Philosophy

• Lecturer, researcher and writer on history.

• Professor in “Fairfield University”. USA Connecnticut.

•

Writer for the University academic articles.• Author of “The Order of the Temple in Andalucia”



Relations between the Temple, Judaism and Islam havealways been litigious.

The following words of Juan G. Atienza sum up thespirit of this article quite well.

“The Temple was created, as such in the East. But it wascon-sciously created there, by special envoys from theWest who went to the Holy Land in search of ancestralsources of knowledge, known, or better yet, suspected,from the cryptic symbolism of the sacred texts. Once

there, saturated with roots even more distant than thosethey seeked, and thanks to their encounter with parallelgroups of Muslims and Jews, theycontinued their searchin the lands where they hoped to encounter the origins

of that Biblical knowledge that had captivated.them.With all the strength of their economic and politicalmight, they systematically gained control over thoseterritories in which, under diverse guises, one wouldfind the first clues, and the last as well, of their search.”(1)

In his time, Rene Guendn wrote the following:

“Within the bosom of the same organization. heclarifies, there can exist, somehow, a double hierarchy,and this more,so case where the apparent leaders arenot conscious of a union or spiritual core; there couldthen be, outside of the visible leadership, an invisibleone in which it’s members, without occupying anofficial post, will be the ones who will trulk ensure,by their mere presence, the effective union with thatcore. These representatives of the spiritual cores, in the

relatively “outsider” organizations (as without a doubt,the Templars were, as guardians of the Holy Land), theyhave no need to make themselves known as such, andthey can assume an appearance that conveniently bettersuits the act of presence they must perform, albeit assimple members of the organization if they are to play afixed and permanent role.”

The Templars were guardians of the Holy Land, asRene Guendn explained quite well. In the Holy Land,they engaged themselves with the discovery of the Holy

Grail in the infinite variety of it’s forms and it was fromit’s Asiatic teacherls,especially the Sufi’s, from whomthey learned that the Grail was not only the Chalice ofChrist, but a multitude of manifestations, including thelineage of Jesus. The knights became well versed on themysteries of the Grail, to handle the the Arabic tongue

with ease and the ability to translate the scrolls of hidden

wisdom that the Sufi teacher’s possessed and that wereconnected to the mysteries of the Grail.

The Sufi teacher’s were quite apt in teaching spiritualthemes in depth including the Christian mysteries. Andin this way we encounter the Templar Master Philp of

Nablus, who was educated by Islamic teacher’s in Syria.It was precisely that vision of equality of the Sufi’s thatwas transmitted to the Temple. One of the most eclecticschools fotnded by the Sufi’s in in the Middle East wasthe Ijwan-al-Safa, the Brotherhood of Bosra, founded inSyria in 959 with the intention of joining Arab science,with Islamic, Greek, Persian, Hebrew, Chinese andHindu mysticism.

These Sufi’s were known as “philosophers of purity”,

they gathered all the knowledge that,kthe Muslim empirecould offer and compiled it in a collection of 52 epistles,that served as a foundation for a multitude of schoolsin the Middle East, Africa and Spain. Angel Almazàn,explains to us that ready in 1065, this knowledge is beingtaught in al-Andalus:

T he Grail And IslamIn T he Temple

Maria de las Mercedes Izquierdo



The esoteric Templars must have had the 52 volumesof exoteric and esoteric epistles or encyclopedia of the10th century Ismaili initiates group, called the Brothersof Sincerity or Purity in their hands, said encyclopedia

published by Maslama-Al-Majriti (native of Madrid) inal-Andalus around 1065, and who, as I highlighted inTemplar esotericism, inclilded especially in the fraternityof framers of Muslim origin, so ever present in romanicSpanish, some Drusiahs would become part of the

fraternties protected by the Temple...It is not likely thatJewish,esotericism, the Kabbalah, had any influence onthe Temple, contrary to what has been expressed bynumerous authors, among them, Juan Garcia Atienza.This is due to a chronological question, being that theKabbalah resurges in the Middle Age, almost towardsthe last quarter of the XIII century, starting withZohar, written as stated, around 1270 in Guadalajara.This vivification of ’ Jewish,bsotericism arose, just asrecogniced by the Jewish mystic Gerschom Scholem(1897-1982), due to the influence of Sciences of

Alphabets (Ilmul Huruf) of Islamic ,esotericism, as present, like wise, in the Rasail Ifwan As Safa (Epistlesof the Brothers of Sincerity).

For many centuries, Medieval Christian bsotericismdrew from neoplatonic Christian works such as thoseof Dionysius Areopagita (controversial 5th century ADmystic), or the texts attributed to St. John (Gospel and

Apocalypse), as well as those of her-meticism;

The esotericism of the Sabians of Harran, a gnostic sectthat lived during the first century of Islam had Al-Andalusas a bridge. (2) Assin Palacios explains that the corpus of

all these doctrines contained elements of Plotinos andPythagoras, neoplatonic texts, gnostic, Christianity, etc. And from this corpus, Maslama-AlMayriti, astronomer,mathematician, alchemist and Madrid born Sufi, willemerge, whose opus, Science of the Alphabet,will beessential for the creation of the Cabala, Scholam himself

recognizes that it was the contact and spiritual exchangebetween Jesus and the Muslims that permitted thebirth of Cabala. Also important is the influence of themetaphysics of Avicenus, (Persian physician 980-1037),the philosophy of Averroes (Ibn Rushd, medieval

Andalusian polymath, born in Cordoba, died inMarrakesh ?) and the mysticism of Ibn Arabai the Sufi(Andalusian scholar and poet of Islam 1165-1240).The Brothers of Sincerity, had their influence on thepeninsula, of whom Angel Almazan (Epistles of theBrothers of Sincerity) (3)tells

“The brothers to which the encyclopedia refers wereto be faithful in their hearts to the true wisdom, whichrequires absolute sincerity with the light of knowledge::- ,It’s conclusion was spiritual liberation...the fundamental

pillars of its knowledge are the science of DivineSingularity and of its creative origin and the understandingof the only possible loyal guides: the members of theProphet’s family (Fatima and the Imam’s). In this way,

the wisdom locked in the encyclopedia is nourishmentfor the spirit and a light to the souldJilut only for thosewho are prepared for it.”

The most philosophical central nucleus of this doctrine isthat all which exists comes from the original One and toHe it shall return. An idea expressed in the Ouroboros,alchemistic symbol par excellence (a dragon consumingits tail, therefore itself) Islam, along with Judaism andChristianity, is a “religion of the book”. God manifestedHimself via a messenger, the Archangel Gabriel, whospoke His holy word to the Prophet. But already at thebeginning of Islam, Ali, his .son-in-law said,

“There is no Quranic verse that lacks four meanings:the exoteric (ZAhir), the esoteric (batin), the limit (hadd)and the divine plan (mottala).”. The exoteric is for oralrecitation and the esoteric is for inner knowledge.

One of the esoteric currents is that of Ismailism, that wasdivi; ded in that of the East that would be representedby the assassins of Alamut who would be the Persians,and the westerners who inhabited Egypt and Yemen. (4)

For the Ismaelites, the Imam is a “temple of light” purelyspiritual. His office is the mystic corpus made up ofall the forms of light of its adherents. In Alamut, theywent beyond and proclaimed the Great Resurrection,the advent of a pure spiritual Islam, liberated of Sharia(Islamic Law) that would discover and bring to life themeaning of the prophetic revelations. When Alamut istaken by the Mongols in 1251, this movement does notend but instead perpetuates itself disguised in the Sufifraternities.

Ismaelite philosophy can be summed up in these words:“The Imam has said: I am with my friends in every placethey may seek me, in the mountain, on the prairie and inthe desert. To one whom I reveal my essence, to wit, themystic understanding of myself will no longer require a



physical proximity. This is the Great Resurrection.”

These words relate to the fabulous image of theconcealed Imam associated with the escatological mythof the Mandi (guide).

The Mandi, to the majority of the initiates is Aisa (Jesus).The concealment and reappearance of the Mandi at theend of times play a principal part in Islamic eschatology.

The Kaisanites, have as their Mandi, Mohammed,who still lives apparently ina dream within his tomb ofMount Radwa. He will return when the degenerationof mankind reaches its highest point, in times rife withcatastrophes after which will come light and peace.

Sufism, represents the most mystical side of Islam and itsmost esoteric tradition.

This mystic and ascetic tendency was already definedat the onset of the Omeyan Caliphate and many of thefaithful felt disappointed that the Caliphs were only

preoccu pied with the expansion of the empire.The esoteric dimension of Shiism (bltin) was identifiedamong Sunni as akin to Sufism. The Sufi way requires ateacher, disciples and lengthy instruction. The venerationfor the teacher soon descended into a cult of the saints.

This resulted in the Sufi’s being taken for heretics bysome orthodox theologians. In Sufism, the Manichaeaninfluence was evident as well as that of Christiangnosticism and neo platonicism.

After the execution of some teacher’s/ the Sufi’s beganto convey their experiences and concepts to trusteddisciples and to a restricted circle of initiates. Sufi teacherswhile being despised by the Ulemas (prominet. Musslimtheologians past and present) were loved by the peoplethat flocked to their public spiritual concerts.

Their popular religious chants soon became quite therage, their instrumental music (cane, flutes, cymbals,drums), the sacred dance, the incessant repetition ofGod’s name moved the people the same as the initiates.

As I say, music and dance are fundamental to Sufisymbolism.

The Sufi prayer, the Dhikr, resembles the Byzantinechant that constantly repeats the name of God or Jesus.

After the start of the XII century, a mystical physiologyis joined Lob:the music, dance and the Dhikr, and a sortof yoga (specific physical postures, breathing discipline,acoustic and chromatic manifestations, of probableHindu influena ces ).

One of the executed teachers was Hallaj, one of his

accusers wrote:“Hallaj maintained unto death that he who tames hisbody through natural obedience, occupying his heartwith pious works, suffers the denial of pleasures andis master of hissoul while forbidding desire and thus

he raises himself to the place of those whom approachGod and continues purifying his nature and essence, thespirit of God from whom Jesus, son of Mary was born,descends upon him. He becomes that one who obeysall by the work of God as any of his acts are from God.”

On his part, the greatest teacher of Sufiism was Ibn Arabi,a Spaniard born in Murcia who made it clear that Sufismand the and the mystical experience is something to

experience and which is useless to explain as one cannotreach it through deduction, it is a sublime knowledgethat cannot be within the grasp of all men. This is due toits difficulty and risks. For Ibn Arabi, creative imaginationand love, are the latentshapes that are reflected andprojected in the illusory so that God may be perceivedas an object.

The perfect man is masculine, he representsheavenand the word of God and is also feminine as he also re-presents earth and the cosmos. For his part Suhrawardi,

recovers the Eastern theosophy of Ancient Persia, and isthe mystic of the light.

We end this small summary, with Rumi, the greatestpoet of the divine in Islam whossaid:

“In the cadence of music a secret is hidden, if I wereto reveal it, the world would be turned on its head_wehave all come from the body of Adam, and we all haveheard these melodies in paradise. In spite of the fact thatwater and clay have placed doubt in us, we still recall abit of all that”.

For the Sufi’s their sacred dances are an echo of theangel’s dances and their movements are a cosmic andtheological reflection.

THE TEMPLE AND ISLAM

The Templar’s were accused on numerous occasions of



having converted to Islam. There are even some author’sthat see a relation between the mysterious “Baphomet”with “Mohammed”. And if all points to this being anunjust accusation, if it is true that they fraternized on morethan one occasion with those Muslims that consideredChristians to be infidels. How could..that be?

“..the providential role of Islam concerning Christianityin its true perspective. If further proof of that role werenecessary, we can recall the trips to Islamic lands (Syria,

Arabia, Egypt) of Christian Rosenkreutz, founder ofthe Rosacrucians, spiritual heirs of Templarism, trips on

where Rend Guencfn, already cited, saw precisely theconfirmation of an accord between the two .esotericismof Christianity and Islam, for the restorationt hof Ltheinitiating western organizations after the destruction ofthe Order of the Temple...” (5)

From the Order’s beginnin sisthe Temple was able todistinguish between leveling-conquering and occupyinga territory. For the second,. one must respect the localpopulation. Respect brought a desire to blend in with thelocal culture, and this as well as the climate began to altertheir way of life. Soon the Grand Masters of the, Templebegan employing secretaries and helpers who wereMuslim. A fascination with poetry, astronomy, medicine,mathematics, algebra, physics, agronomy, optics andphilosophy began...the Templars never stopped havingcontact with the finest points of Arab culture in the HolyLand and Spain.

That respect for Muslim was not shared by the Crusadernewcomers to thoe lands and it was from those,uncouth and rough men who arrived from the west, thataccusations arose. One thing led to anothers and Muslim

right began to replace the Udgment of God that waspracticed in Europe. Vows were sworn on Christian,Jewish and Muslim texts, in Latin, Greek, Arabic orHebrew.

The Crusader’s married Muslim women and their

offspring were called “colts”, Templar’s had within theirranks, auxiliary Muslim troops called “Turcopoliers”.

This text by Emir Usama when he visited Fulk of Anjou,explains the situation better than a thousand that I maygive.

“I entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque that was occupied by myfriends, the Templar’s. Next to it was a small mosque that

the French had converted into a church. The Templar’shad assigned me this small mosque for my prayers. (...)One day i entered it, and glorified Allah. I was taken upwith my prayers, when one of the Frenchmen rushedupon me, seized me and turned towards the east saying,This! is how one prays... A group of Templar’s rushedtowards him, seized him and expelled him from the place.They asked my forgiveness saying: ...He is a strangerwho has recently arrived from Frankish lands. He hasnever seen anyone pray not facing east... I responded:I have prayed enough for today. I left astonished at the

contorted features of that devil’s face, how he trembledat seeing someone praying while facing the Kaaba.”

This text speaks better than any of the respect andtolerance of the Temple towards Islam, off the battlefield.

As more texts are translated and studied, the intent ofthe Templar’s to make peace with the people of Islamis evident, that universal spark and to rely on an armyof Sufi’s and Templar’s. Ribats (6) were quite abundantin Spain. Could Spain have been the place of origin,bfthat Islamic current in the Temple? Just as the Templewas being created, already in Spain and ins cities such as

Toledo, Cordoba, etc. All three cultures lived side by side. It was the Templar’sfrom Spain, that without a doubt understood the Muslimsprayer customs as well as their philosophy and religionin a most profound manner. Quite surely the most.esoteric circle of the Temple had its beginnings amongthe peninsular Templar’s that spoke fluent Arabic, as acultured language and as natural to them.



Prior to the expansion of Islam, there existed a tradition ofknighthood, in the east that was called “Yaw an Mardi”,its principles were to help the needy, compassion,generosity, honor, humility and sacrifice. These principleswould be adapted to the Sufi doctrine that would ariseprecisely in Al-Andalus.

This knightly practice was the fundamental base of theRibats that abounded in Spanish lands, their knights were

like monks. Sufism took from Yaw-an-Mardi, that internalway of spirituality, whose exterior expresses a knightlyethic. Besides, Sufism drinks from Christian fountains,which in Islam, borders on heresy. It also drinks ofgnostic Christianity, and Hebrew philosophy, and evenincludes elements of Zoroasterism and Manichaeism.

Besides ofin,Spain, the Temple found itself face to facewith Sufism and hashish in Syria. It was there in Byblos,where paper made from hemp was manufactured, andgrains and oils were exported, and it had been used since

ancient times for therapeutic and religious practices, fromsimple shamanistic rites to complex Persian and Brahmanones.

The Arabs knew the virtues of hashish through thewritings of the Greeks such as Galen, and by the Xthcentury, via the translation of a book titled Nabataean

Agriculture which was written in Aramaic. Mamad-Ibn-Rustum al Isirdi, wrote in the XIII century.

“hashish is the secret with which the spirit rises to themost sublime places, a celestial ascent of a spirit freed

from earthl and physical bonds.”

The assassins collaborated with the Templar’s on morethan one occasion im the Holy Land. And without adoubt, they were the inspiration for the Temple, includingtheir attire. (7)

Another faction they met in the Holy Land were theDrusians, founded by Hakem, sixth caliph of Egyptwho with his Persian advisor Hamza, converted theDrusians of Lebanon. (8) Hakem was a Fatimid. Forhistorian Michel Lamy, the Drusians are the heirs of the

Essenes, Ophites and Nazarenes. It is a sect that beginsin Lebanon, which fuses Islamic principles with otherscoming from gnostic Christianity. Between these theyspeak of the origin of light and darkness, both createdby God.

The Drusians were divided as initiates and laymen,its religious tenets were very simple and based onrenouncing the devil, love of truth and helping theirfellow believers. Their esoteric philosophy, however, isquite complex and secret, and within it we find that they

di-vide their adherents as being Yakil or combatants and Akil or elders. Only the Akil had the privilege of theirmost secret initiation.

This initiation was carried out after three difficult tasksor tests, the first was to fast, where the neophyte, after

an intense bout of fasting, was seated at a table coveredwith delectable food and where they were expected tonot give in to the temptation of eating. The second wasto ride a horse for three days, without stopping, in thedesert, without partaling of any fresh water offered froma clay pot, and the third was to spend a night with anincredibly beautiful woman and not succumb to lust.

After completing these trials, he was considered Akil andcould then be initiated. Drusians believe in reincarnationand Hakem’s return. The sect was persecuted in Egyptbut managed to survive in Syria.

Proselytism was forbidden and it became endogamous(marrying only within the sect), and very secretive,practiced in very closed groups, Syrians have-a.thegreatest number of practitioners, followed the theLebanese, Jordanians and Israelis, there is even a small

group in America.In Driiism there is equality between men and women, inmarriage and divorce, as well as in the initiation. They donot follow the Quran as their holy book, but instead theyfollow the Book of Knowledge, which is a compendiumof epistles and writings of its leaders.

They submit to their own laws and not Sharia or Muslimlaw.

They are quite faithfill.and close knit amongst themselves,

although tolerance and overlooking faults is highl*praised, if it is of benefit to the group. Drusians, assassinsas well as Nazarenes, come from Ismaelism. (9)

Another group that influenced the Temple in the HolyLand were the Yazidis, another Sufi influenced sect.



These professed an ancient Kurdish cult reformed by theSufi Sheik Adi in the XI century. Yazidi culture extendedthroughout Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.

This sect took from Zoroasterism, Islam and Judaism,and its principal deity was Melek Taus, the peacockangel that refused due to his pride, to kneel before Adamand for this, was turned into Lucifer. The story of MelekTaus is the basis for The Fisher King, who is also avictim of his pride and condemned to live wearing a hatadorned with peacock feathers, in the castle of the Grail.The practice of the rope beneath a Templar’s garments

could have been inspired by the red and black cordworn around the neck by the Yazidis. The Yazidis had anangel inspired cult, with veneration towards a deity thatwas represented by a sword plunged into the groundthat could quite possibly have been the inspiration for

Arthur’s Excalibur in the stone.

Jean Vernet, author of What Europe owes to SpanishIslam, says the following:

“The esoteric teachings of Ismaelism would havebeen made clear via the explanation of the Quranic

versicles (24, 35/35 and 23 20/20), which would haveinfluenced the theme of murals in the primitive churchesin the Pyrenees and would also have been the cause ofthe filtering of some ideas and arabisms in the Contedu Graal de Chretien, de Troyes , and in Wolfram VonEschenbach’s Parsifal.”

THE GRAIL AND ISLAM

The Persian heritage of the Holy Grail came from Sufistsand from them to the Temple friars, we find it in the veryorigin of The Fisher King, that Parsifal states is descendedfrom Mazadan, Persian name linked to Mazda (AhuraMazda) the great Persian di Another of these easternchalices is one called Jami-Jamshid or cup of Jamshid,which was made of turquoise and held the nectar of life,it could forecast the future and make a human immortal.

This king should have lived for 20,000 years accordingto the legend.

The Stone of Heaven of which Wolfram VonEschenbach speaks, makes reference to the alchemisticelixir of the Sufi’s, aside from Lucifer’s Emerald, vinity, italso plays on the word Yazadan (God). Another name ofPersian origin is Parsifal or Persival which means “destiny”in Farsi. Parsifal’s half brother, Feirefiz, is also of Persian

origin and his father named Ghamuret, could have beenfrom Gaymart, the first man who appears in the Avets,(Persian text teaching purity of body and mind).

Flegetanis was a Persian astrologer whose name means“familiar with the stars” and the word Gohar couldresemble “Grail”, playing on the Castilian “Grial”, inFarsi “crial-copa” means precious stone.

In the book, From Scythia to Camelot, (10), the authorssustain the the Arthurian cycle and tie Grail, are of Scythianorigin, product of migrations that came to Europe. Forthem there is no doubt that Parsifal is an adaptation ofthe Iranian song of glorious feats “Barzu-Name” andMontsalvat, is nothing else but “Sal-Wadshe”, a sacredPersian site. If this is so, the feats began in 1200 BC andended reaching Toledo via Arab hands and from there itpassed to Mainz where it becomes known to Wolfram

Von Eschenbach. He mair6s it quite clear that the lineageof the guardians of the Grail springs from the joining offamilies from the east and the west.

Arthur Edward Waite, speaks to us of the SumerianGrail, a fragment of which was brought to the Universityof Pennsylvania by Dr. Waddell, it was discovered in theoldest Temple of the Sun in Mesopotamia where it washidden by King Udu de Kish, “king of the hidden vessel”,



he was the great grandson of the first Sumerian king Dur,who stole the chalice from the Chaldean aborigineswho worshipped the serpent.when he substitutedthe serpentine cult with a solar one, he engraved itsgenealogy on the vessel.

Of the Grail, it is said to reside in the octagonal Temple,and in Islam, 8 is an alchemistic number that representsenlightenment and the joining of heaven and earth andis represented 14 the cube and the Kaaba, in which

Shah incorporated within its structure, 31 rows ofstone and wood, to later add two more that symbolizeheaven and earth. Thus they became 33, the number ofenlightenment.

One of the more interesting Islamic legends is the one thatspeaks of paradise possibly being in another dimension.

Besides the Kaaba, Muslims have another sacredoctagon and that is called evan ha shettiya or Domeof the Rock, the fundamental stone. Upon that rock,

Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac and it is the spot

where Mohammed ascended into heaven.This place belonged to the Templar’s, who were initiatedby Sufi’s into its clues. According to them this placei§athe spiritual center of the earth, it is the axis mundipar excellence,it is a ladderto transcend into divinity andthis place was used by Solomon as the foundation stoneof the Temple.

The alchemistic value of this place as a spot of universalpolarity was known to Caliph Abd al-Malik whoconstructed the octagonal dome so as to intensify its

power. The Sufi monks who initiated the Templar’s inthe mysteries of the colors and symbols of the Dome,belonged to a construction lodge called Al-Banna, (11)after being initiated by them, the Templar’s built octagonalchurches in certain places. This lodge also spoke to them

about al-Khadirf King of the World, the Green Man, thepriest king Melquisedec. Experiencing al-Khadir wasreached through hashish and in time, Juan G. Atienzaconnected the possible use of the “funeral Lanterns” asthe inspiration for the shape of the octagonal temples forIslamic initiations.

After the Khadir enigma, we find the word “Khadar”,palm tree. The palm tree symbolizes the Baraka or vital

force for Arabs and that very root, “khdr” is related tothe khudrat, the sea, or water of life. According to theSufi Idris Shah, the Noble Order of the Vessel was acopy of the Order of Saint Khadir, of the Middle East,in his manifestation as Akhadar, the spirit of knighthood.For Shah, there was no doubt, the Order of Khadir, wasthe Order of the Guardians of the Holy Grail that wereoverseen by the Sufi’s, who divided groups of 13 parti-cipants called Halkas. The red cross with the pointedstar’ of the Order of the Vessel even copied this symbolfrom the Order of Khadir.

El Khadir, was the initiator, as the incarnation of the lifeforce and he kept the secret of the awakening of theKundalini (represented as Naga, the Cobra coiled andslumbering within man) Khadir, in the human body,symbolizes the power of Kundalini, the energy thatascends through our spine via two serpents or currentsrepresented by the Caduceus

It was through contact with with Hindu masters thatthe Sufi’s came to know the text that Epiphaneus quotesfrom in Great Questions of Mary, where it says that

Jesus and Mary practiced Tantra. The transmission ofthe Baraka, could be done by touch, mantra, a kiss or justby thought.

The Sufi’s were able to transmit the Baraka (Kundalini)in water or bread that had been blessed and perhapsthrough the secret of transmission, arose the black legendof the Templar’s kisses that were but another form ofopening the Chakra of neophytes. Once the Kundalinihad ascended, the Templar was a human Grail.



THE GRAIL IN TOLEDO

Neither Wolfram, Christian of Troyes nor Robert ofBoron presume that their tale is original, they affirm to nothaving invented anything but only faithfully transcribedwhat was found in “a book’; The Grail is the sign ofthis “Mystery transmitted in secrecy from the depths ofthe ages”, thus, we understand that they are refertIng tono particular authority, but more to a unique teaching

and transmitted through all revealed traditions, the threeheirs of the great Abrahamic tradition.

“Kyot, the well known teacher, discovered among someneglected manuscripts he found in Toledo, the tale ofthis adventure written in Arabic script...where it tellsof a Pagan (Arab) named Flegetanis acquired greatrenown for his wisdom. This great physicist (experton cosmological sciences) was of Solomon’s lineage:his parents were part of a family in Israel that wentback many_ centuries...he is the one who penned the

adventure of the Grail. Flegetanis was born of an Arabfather...studying constellations, he discovered profoundmysteries of which he spoke only as he trembled. Hesaid that an object called a Grail existed.He clearly readits name in the stars. A host of angels had deposited iton earth, and afterwards they flew beyond the stars...since that time, its care was entrusted to some men that`anverted to Christianity through baptism and are as

pure as angels.

The ones called to guard the Grail were always men ofgreat virtue. Thus Flegetanis expressed himself. Then

Kyot, the wise teacher, searched in the Latin books asto where there could have lived a people pure enoughand with a propensity towards living ilife of voluntaryrenouncement, so as to become a guardian of the Grail-He read the Chronicles of the kingdoms of Britain,France, Ireland and many others until he found what hewas seeking in Anjou...”

Of an Arab father, and of Solomon’s lineage, he speaks tous of his dependence on prophetic wisdom, or esoteric,since the wise Solomon, is venerated in Islam as a great

prophet, and his esoterism is considered the prototypeof a spiritual path linked to the sciences of cosmic order,the ones studies by a physicist”, just as explained byEschenbach in his text. Solomon is the builder of theTemple, to which the builderand the Militia Templi arebound. There are so many historians that speak of an

Arab book that is behind Flegetanis’ enlightenment, thebook is called Felek-Thani. This book holds a secretteaching, linked to the “second sphere” or “secondplanetary heaven” which is agreed upon by the Abdal(reclusives).

The Abdal, were only seven, so says Ibn Arabi’. Forthem, Allah watches over the seven earthly clines, towhich the planetary heaven corresponds.

The second sphere is Mercury, and the pole of this heavenis Aisa (jesus Christ). The Badal that rules this sphere

possesses.Ahe gift of scribing, since from Mercury’sheaven (al-Katib) is from where orators and writers drawinspiration, while poets get it from spiritual influencesfrom Venus (Zahrah). The Abdal, are connoisseurs ofwhat Allah has placed in the planets concerning theorder of things and secrets, to know ylof,jits movementsand positions in the celestial continuance. (12)

Felek-Thani, whose author we are told was a prophet,astronomer and of Christic leanings, was partial to thebull, one of the four living creatures that support theThrone of God, or the pillars of the world. This is tosat that its knowledge rests upon Aisa’s heart. Ibn Arabi,speaks of “Who caused the wisdoms to descend uponthe hearts of the prophets, who are as celestial stonesthat carry the traces of divine royalty, and who havedescended to settle upon the human condition and toinditate the corresponding cycles.” The “Lapis Exilit”,the stone in exile of which Parsifal speaks, seen fromthe texts of Ibn Arabi, would be “the seal of universalsanctity” (Khatmu’l-wilaygtiammah) who is none otherthan Aisa, Jesus.

The stone whose name Flegetanis read in the stars.

This stone is guarded by a celestial knighthood, unknownto the west albeit Christian, whose esoteric ties withIslam, are achieved with Kyot’s journey to Toledo.

And curiously enough, although Wolfram VonEschenbach, cites the protagonists with French names,

the places that are recognizable in the poem are in Spain.

In Titurel, Wolfram, tells us that he is an ancestor ofParsifal who is originally from Asia, and who converts toChristianity, and that during Vespasian’s reign, he settlesin north east Spain.



But let us retake Toledo and one of the places linkedto the Temple, the Church of St. Michael, which wasonce an ancient mosque. There in the radiant octagonaccording to the best experts in these matters, we havean octagon and a baptismal ‘ font...who knows if it isperhaps the grailic cup.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND FOOTNOTES

(1)Juan Garcia Atienza, La Meta Secreta de los Templarios (TheSecret Goals of the Templar’s) Martinez Roca Editions, Barcelona,2000, pp12

(2)The Quran, sacred book of Islam, mentions the Sabeans alongwith Jews and Christians, as monotheists protected by divinetolerance and worthy of salvation. Who are these “Sabeans”?

They can be described as “gnostics”, but one can also associatethem with the emotional history of the ancient city of Harran, inr10rt northern Mesopotamia, near present day Mossul. Surrenderedwith-u out resistance in the first years of the Arab conquest, scarcely70 years later a mosque was built there and two centuries after theMohammedan era, its inhabitants were still not Islamicized, and still

faithful to their own cults and customs.. But, what were their beliefs,what did they worship, these !,!sagesof Harran? The so called “Arab

Herodotus”, the historian Abul Hassan-al-Mas-Udi, born in 871,who calls them “Falasifa” or, “philosophers” and recalls that theyhad erected temples to honor “intellectual substances” (the Templeof the First Cause and the Temple of Reason, among others) and thefacade of their meeting place bore a phrase by Plato in Syrian. Thiscurious philosophic ethnicity, a residual of native Helenization ofMesopotamia. The cultured minorities of Harran played a decisiverole in that labor of translation and adaptation of Greek philosophythat would later centralize al-Mamun in the Schobl of Wisdom ofBaghdad. But its intervention was not that of a simple stevedore of

the knowledge of others. Abed Yastri insists upon the geographicand political fracture between two models or schools unequallyfertile: one “eastern” that, breaking with the original rationality of

Al-Kindi and Al-Farabi, would end up imposing with Avicenne, a“spiritualist and gnostic” thoughrof Harrani and Persian inspiration;and another “western”, located in Al-Andalus thatuwotid pave theway for the development of science, independent of religion andthat, after Abentufail and Avempace, would find its expressionmore structured and complete in Averroes. Abed Yabri’s conclusioncannot be more provocative: “After Averroes, and upon having the

Avicennian moment introduced to Islam by Algazel and preciselybecause we clung to it, we Arabs have condemned ourselves toliving outside outside of history, while the European’s were applying

themselves to living history precisely by having taken from us the Averroism and living that moment.”’- - -

( 3)ALMAZAN DE GRACIA , Angel, Esoterismo Templario(Templar Esoterism) Sotabur Editions, Soria, 2003, pp. 48

(4)FRANZIUS, Enno, The History of the Order of Assassins, Funk& Wagnalls, New York, 1969

(5)GUENON, Rene, Discourse of the Initiation, found on theinternet.

(6)The Ribat, according to Alain Demuger: “Is a religious andmilitary center, fortified, installed on the frontiers of the Muslimworld. Service is voluntary and secular, it constitutes an_act ofdevotion and is considered as an aspect of the duty of Jihad. Ribatswere numerous in Spain.’...} A diffusion of characteristics of the

Ribat was produced during the formation of the military orders andespecially during the appearance of the Templar’s in Spain.

(7)WASSERMAN, James, The Templar ‘and the Assassins : TheMiitia of Heaven, Inner Traditions, Rochester, 2001

(8)In 1925, a rebellion of Drusians in Damascus caused France toevacuate the city.

(9)MALL() SALGADO, Felipe, Vocabularios de Historia Arabe eIs1Smica, Akal Editions, Madrid, 1996

(10)LITTLE & MALCOR, From Scythia to Camelot, Garland,N.Y.1994

(11)SHAH, Idris, The Sufi’s, Anchor Books, N.Y., 1964

(12)BN ARABI, Muhyddin, Los Engarces de la Sabiduria (TheConnections of Wisdom)

Maria de las Mercedes Izquierdo

Graduated in Art History at the UCLM.

• Master in Management of tourist destinations.

• Project Director “Toledo bridge between cultures”

• Guide Toledo Templar and director of the project “Between

the Cross and the sword”.



Investiture of the Priory St. M artin de Porresof F lorida OSMTJ-USA .

Conducted by Pryor Augusto León-Braga

The South Florida Priory was formed on February 28th of the current year, as the Commandery of St. Martin dePorres. Initially, it consisted of just two people, this writer and Brother Sergeant Daniel Torres, better known asDanny, and myself as Knight Commander.

Since that time we immersed ourselves in the search for new brothers and sisters, who unaware of their destiny, felt a calling to the Temple. Finally, this

past November 1st, we held our first investiture ina private room of the Double Tree Hilton Hotel in Tampa Bay, Florida.Ordained and elevated to full knighthood were. Luis Antonio Colón-Arce and Dr. Mac IvánRivera. Ordained and appointed Knight Commander JoséE. Vandervis, Commandery of St. Michael, Fort Lauderdale and Miami.Ordained and appointed as Sergeants: Edna Tuiran Correa, Brian Olejniczak and Maurizzio León-Braga.

As Companion at Arms : Elizabeth Malpartida and Alicia Díaz. Sergeant Danny Torres appointed as Knight Commander, Commandery of St. Lazarus-Tampa.

My humble self elevated to Prior, Commandery of St. Martin dePorres of South Florida by gracious authority of Timothy BryantJones, Grand Prior USA.

On November 25th we celebrated in the United States, the feastof Thanksgiving and we carried out an activity that was conceived, planned and directed by newly appointed Sergeant Maurizzio León-Braga.

This activity consisted of providing 100 Thanksgiving dinners to those in need within the community, participants in this activity were:Priory sergeants Maurizzio León-Braga and Edna Tuiran, novice

Samira Otero,Commander Danny Torres, two friends of Maurizzio and myself.We have planned for each Commandery a minimum of one activity per month, and the Priory will help in any way it can in

these activities. We have also established a used clothing bank, which in case of a natural disaster, will be turned over



to the Red Cross or whatever entity is in charge of such aid.Next Monday which is December 7th, we will celebrate oursecond investiture in the Church of St. Barbara in South WestMiami.His Excellency, Bishop Erick Frank Martínez, Pastor of

the Church of St. Barbara, will be invested and installed as

Priory Chaplain. Sergio González will be invested and appointed Commander of the St. Barbara Commandery of Miami. Jeans Paladino is to be invested and appointed as Sergeant. The Right Rev. Ciro deJesùs Alberne and the Right Rev. José M. Rivera López,

both of the Church of St. Barbara and Esteban Reyes asCompanions at Arms.

At present we have several candidates for the investiture of April 2016. They are:

Rick La Pier, Mark Mora, Donald Kropp, Michael Vrana, Gary Revelt, Mike McCorristin, Rick Payne, HenryMurphy, Robert B.J. Jackson, Justin Sanderson, and Samira Otero.

A total of 27 members between Prior, Commanders, Sergeants,Knights, Companions at Arms and novices.I feel that the present moment is of the greatest importance to the

Temple on a global level. The teachings of the Temple foundersare alive and vibrant at this crucial time in history.

In our Priory it is as critical to recruit as it is to act, this isa mission for each and every one of us. Recruit and spread the Templar philosophy, of practicing the teachings ofJesus Christ and following through with same.

Augusto León-Braga, ESQ.

Prior OSMTJ-USA The Knights Templar Priory of Florida

International Coordinator of I.T.A.International Templar Assembly



P h o t o G a l l e r y





Translators TeamLuis Antonio Colòn Arce New Jersey USA

• University of Santiago

• BA History

• University of Naples

• Studied local art history and architecture.

• Member of the Scientific Committee of the Grail

Maria de los Angeles Leòn Santiago Valencia SPAIN

• PhD in chemistry from the University of South , Argentina

• Professor of chemistry and physics in middle education

• Templar lady, Sovereign Brotherhood ladies and Gentlemen ofthe Temple. OSMTJ. SPAIN.



Grail

The Posting

RulesThe Grail is an electronic magazine that offers all historians and scholarsof Temple; a place to share information and disseminate their workIt is a result of everyone as an effort to spread the history of the Order inall areas of the culture in which it was engaged and formed an active part-

The content, of the Grail magazine, will be about the history of the Tem-plars knights in the Middle Age, even to this day; as well as architecture,art, symbolism, theology and economics.

A) Sending work

The author must submit to the direction of the magazine THE GRAIL yourtext or original material (which, in turn, it will be sent to the scientific commit-tee ), in word document. The work will be owned and published in its origi-nal format.B) The works will have a length of five or six pages, in Times New Ro-man 12, spacing 1.5; the images will be free of copyright, and the right toprivacity will be respected if you include photos of people outside; in whichcase there will be proper authorization.C) The pictures will be numbered in jpg and in separate files. The textssent, are entirely the responsibility of the authors. In each collaboration shallcontain the name of the author or authors; the institution or the workplaceand address electronica. Sending of originals for evaluation and publicationimplies acceptance of these conditions and its possible subsequentdiffusion in different media, provided the evidence of the authorshipof each article is maintained. The text should include footnotespage and the corresponding bibliography at the end of work.

D) Previous evaluation of the submitted materialUpon receipt of the material, the editorial team checks thatall formal characteristics required are met. If not met, the authors are communicated. Then articles areevaluated by the Scientific Committee. Once receivedboth tests, if they are positive, the articles areaccepted for publication.

Fuensanta Santos.Director.



Sovereign Brotherhood of Dames and Knights of The Temple OSMTJ-SPAIN

Documents

The Graal Magazine 02 December 2015