Operative and Speculative Knights Templar


By S.K. Ray Hayward REPGC, KCT

Sir Knights, in our Craft, we learn that there are two kinds of Masons, operative, those who can build with stone, and speculative, those who take the stone builders art and use it as a base for their spiritual growth and self-knowledge. In the commandery we have two kinds of Knights Templar, the historical and the speculative.

Historical Knights Templar were the crusader knights who fought in the holy land and established castles and commanderies around Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. Speculative Knights Templar are those people who take the moral and spiritual aspect of the historical Templars and apply them to lead a fuller, more meaningful life.

The seal of the 6 th Grandmaster of the historical Knights Templar, Bertrand de Blanchefort, shows two knights riding on one horse. Some people say that was to point out the extreme poverty of the early members of the Order. History tells us that they were anything but poor, coming from some of the most wealthy and powerful families in France.

I am going to use that seal to highlight three sets of opposites for discussion and research for the upcoming year:

-Our Minnesota Grand Commandery Past and Future

-Historical Knights Templar and Masonic Knights Templar

-Knights of the East, the politicians, and Knights of the West, the warriors.

There are so many books on the Templars, some are purely historical, and some are speculative to the point of being conspiracy theory based. A good many Templar books combine both areas to try to give the reader as much information and opinion on these monk-knights as is available. As our 1 st Grand Piper, David Bouschor taught me years ago, sometime the best parts of these books are the side research and investigations, not the main themes or points.

As Freemasons, we are obliged to gather more and more light for our journey. Reading is an excellent way to do that. Here are some of my favorite books on the Knights Templar. Some are historical, some wildly speculative, but all these books make me think, ponder, and solidify my own opinion on the Knights Templar.

-Born In Blood by John J.Robinson

-The Knights Templar, A New History by Helen Nicholson

-The Templar Revelation by Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince

-The History of the Knights Templar by Charles G. Addison

-Dungeon, Fire, and Sword by John J. Robinson

-The New Knighthood by Malcolm Barber

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