Templars

tem'plerz, a military order known also as knights templar or knights of the temple. The order was formed in 1118 during the Crusades, and had its headquarters for a time in the temple at Jerusalem. It undertook to protect pilgrims and to defend the Holy Sepulcher. The members wore a white mantle marked with a red cross. The order embraced knights, men-at-arms, and chaplains. It included no little part of the wealth and chivalry of western and southern Europe. Seats were established at Acre, Jerusalem, and Cyprus, and at Paris as well. In its best days the templars did much for the cause of Christendom, but later the order fell into disrepute and was dissolved in 1312 by command of the church. The account of the templars given in the closing chapters of Scott's Ivanhoe depicts the lust and debauchery of their fallen estate.

The term has been revived in the Knights Templar of the Masonic order. Masonic authorities are of the opinion that the medieval order with 15,000 members, 9,000 manors, and the medieval knights with armor, lance, and barb, with gorgeous vestment and brilliant pageantry, were more than a background for the modern Knights Templar. Indeed, writers assert that when ordered to disband, the Scotch and English Templars took refuge under various names, Knights Hospitalers, Royal Order of Bruce, etc., and were incorporated finally in Masonry. At all events, the modern knights have adapted the insignia, ceremonial, and organization of chivalry to their own needs and form a large and powerful body of Masons. The original or oldest English charter is held by the encampment of Bristol. The traditional head of the British Templars is the Prince of Wales, but the present grand master (1910) is the Duke of Connaught, uncle of King George V.

Knight Templarism was introduced into the American colonies, it is claimed, during the Revolutionary War by the officers of an Irish regiment. The earliest patent dates from Charleston in 1783. A grand encampment of Templars was held in Philadelphia in 1797, and a general grand encampment in New York in 1816. The Chicago encampment of 1880 drew 150,000 visitors to the city. The triennial encampment in Denver was attended in 1892 by 10,000 Sir Knights. The number of Knights Templar in America is placed at about 173,000. To be eligible for membership, a Mason must be a Master Mason and Royal Arch Mason in good standing and a member of both lodge and chapter. Among the prominent American knights De Witt Clinton and Henry Clay may be mentioned.