Neo-Templarism

Part of a series on the
Knights Templar
Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon
Overview
History Latin Rule Seal Grand Masters Members Trials and dissolution
Councils
Council of Troyes (1129) Council of Pisa (1135) Council of Vienne
Papal bulls
Omne datum optimum (1139) Milites Templi (1144) Militia Dei (1145) Pastoralis praeeminentiae (1307) Faciens misericordiam (1308) Vox in excelso (1312) Ad providam (1312)
Locations
Brittany England Portugal Scotland
Successors
Order of Christ Order of Montesa
Cultural references
In the IOGT In self-styled orders In Freemasonry In popular culture
See also
Military order (religious society) Catholic orders of chivalry Militia Templi
Catholic Church portal
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Neo-Templarism is a term describing groups or people who claim to have revived, to be inspired by, or to be descendants of the Knights Templar. Following the dissolution of the Templars by Pope Clement V at the start of the 14th century, several organizations have claimed to be secret continuations of the original Templars. This idea has been criticized by scholars of Templar history and is widely regarded as dubious. These orders are very diverse, but typically draw from western esotericism, with other groups incorporating New Age beliefs, or freemasonry. Many neo-Templar groups are highly secret and necessitate initiation. Other groups are only ceremonial, and attempt to replicate what they view as the chivalric ideals of the original Order without any esoteric elements.

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