Guide to famous Knights Templar members and grandmasters, including facts, pictures and history of the most famous of the Knights Templar.

Templar expert Tony McMahon investigates the differences between the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller and finds some fascinating facts

What is the Templar's Legacy The Order Of The Knights Templar recognized in 1118 was first created by French Knight, Hugues de Payens. Acting on Baldwin's encouragement, Payens formed ,The Order Of The Poor Fellow Soldiers Of Christ Of the Temple Of Solomon. During the Crusades several European Kingdoms

Famous knight orders in history, including knight orders of the Middle Ages, Catholic knight orders and knight orders of the Crusades.

The Rise and Fall of the Knights Templar (Part I)

Professor Helen Nicholson in conversation with Tony McMahon about her new book on the everyday life of the Knights Templar

The Order of the Temple in Scotland 1128 – 1313: Prosperity of the Knights Templars in Scotland The Templar Order was first established in Scotland in 1128, with its main Preceptory at Ballantrodoch, now the Midlothian village of Temple. With the support of succeeding Scottish kings, particularly David I and Alexander I, II and III,

Knights Hospitaller or the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem was older than both Templars and the Teutonic Knights.

Learn about the formation of the Knights Templar, the crusades, legends, how and why the order came to such an abrupt end, and the legacy they left behind.

Knights Hospitaller or the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem was older than both Templars and the Teutonic Knights.

Uncovering the People that Comprise the System

Synopsis Expand/Collapse Synopsis The Knights Templar were among the most famous of Christian military orders. Created after the First Crusade of 1096 and endorsed by the Catholic Church in 1129, the Order grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights were some of the best equipped, trained and disciplined fighting units of the Crusades. But when the Holy Land was lost and the Templars suffered crushing defeats, support for the Order faded and rumours about their secret initiation ceremony created mistrust. When the Order suddenly disappeared, disbanded by the Pope, it gave rise to speculation and legends that have kept the name ‘Templar’ alive. From Abbasids to Zion, The A–Z of the Knights Templar is an invaluable reference of the places, people and themes of the Crusades, the Knights Templar and their legacy.

The Knights Templar remain fascinating to this day. And in London, you can still visit the Templars' New Temple, and see the Temple Church they built. It's still a fully-functioning parish church, and open to visitors. I am a member of Middle Temple, and therefore a parishoner of Temple Church. It's an absolutely fascinating place.

The best books that offer factual historical information about the Templar Knights, the warrior monks of the Crusades.

After sixteen years of intense research and the coming and going of many casual and serious researchers the Kensington Rune Stone inscription is finally solved. For years I was never motivated to go search for the "ten dead men" or the "two skerries" as many have prompted me to do. I certainly didn't know they didn't exist, it just never seemed like a productive use of my time. Now I realize these things were never real. The realization that most of the inscription is simply allegory and code would never have come to me if I had not become initiated as a Freemason. In fact, if I had only reached the level of a Master Mason and not pursued the higher degrees of both the Scottish Rite and the York Rite degrees it wouldn't have happened either. I know this paper is going to stir lively debate and will likely be confusing to those who are not Freemasons. However, I will do my best to try to clarify those with questions. I'm sure some will try to claim the inscription was created by a York Rite Mason in the mid to late 1800's. This will be an erroneous claim as no one in modern times could fake the many centuries-old weathering of the inscription or the Dotted R, to say nothing about the other previously unknown medieval runic and linguistic features that had not yet been discovered. For me, this is the final nail in the case that beings everything together and answers all the important questions about the inscription. Keep in mind this discovery doesn't change or eliminate the previous discoveries I've made with other researchers such as the "Dating Code," "Grail Code" or the meaning of the Hooked X. In fact, this discovery brings even more clarity to these discoveries and confirms the author of the inscription was a medieval monk who was initiated in the ancient Hebrew and Egyptian mysteries. This paper was recently submitted to a peer-reviewed Masonic journal and was published in the Rocky Mountain Mason on June 21st. For those interested in a copy of the published article please contact Ben Williams at the following website: rockymountainmason.com What follows is the article I submitted that the reviewers may have changed slightly. I had not yet seen the final publication, but was assured the final version was very close to this one. Enjoy! The Ritual Code on the Kensington Rune Stone By Scott F. Wolter, P.G. Abstract This paper presents the detailed description of a recent discovery by the author he calls the, “Ritual Code on the Kensington Rune Stone.” The existence of another new code embedded within the inscription was first realized by the author during the lecture portion of the Select Master Degree, the second of three degrees within the “Cryptic Degrees” of York Rite Freemasonry. Skeptics of the artifact’s authenticity will no doubt claim the inscription was the work of a York Rite Freemason in the late 19th Century. However, the geological weathering study and microscopic examination conducted by the author, a forensic geologist, independently replicated the geological findings of Professor Newton H. Winchell, who in 1909 declared the inscription genuine and not a late 19th Century hoax. The inscription was found by both geologists to be many centuries old. Subsequent historical, epigraphic and linguistic evidence published by the author reasonably dates the inscription to the 14th Century. The author will demonstrate how the “Kensington Rune Stone Ritual Code” reveals that the author of the inscription was initiated in the Egyptian Mysteries of Isis and Osiris. The author will also argue the artifact was the creation of a medieval monk, most likely Cistercian, who was formally educated in Scandinavia. The discovery of the code provides a new framework for understanding the symbolic, allegorical, and practical aspects of the inscription. Background Information The Kensington Rune Stone was discovered by a Swedish immigrant farmer named Olof Ohman, who was clearing trees in preparation for farming on his property in what is now near Kensington, Minnesota, in the fall of 1898. As the tree fell, it pulled a 202-pound stone out of the ground that was tightly wrapped in its roots. The flat tabular-shaped stone contained a twelve-line inscription carved in Scandinavian runes thought to chronicle a journey to the interior of North America in 1362. The authenticity of the artifact has been hotly debated since its discovery. Scandinavian linguists and runologists have generally concluded the artifact is a hoax citing it was created by a recent Scandinavian immigrant attempting to bolster their heritage. Factual evidence to support a late 19th Century origin for the artifact has yet to materialize. In 1909, Professor Newton H. Winchell, the first State Geologist of Minnesota, performed a geological examination of the artifact and concluded the weathering of the inscription was consistent with 500 years and it was authentic.[1] Winchell’s conclusion was independently replicated by the author who by comparing the weathering with dated slate tombstones, concluded the weathering of the rune stone inscription was older than 200 years from the time of the discovery. Further, the author has provided detailed historical, epigraphic, linguistic and runological evidence that shows the inscription is consistent with a late 14th century creation date and the stone likely served as a land claim.[2] To aid the reader, a current translation of the Kensington inscription with the eight numbers (in bold) believed to be part of a “Ritual Code” is provided for reference: Face Side 1. 8 Götalanders and 22 Northmen on 2. (this) acquisition journey/taking up land from 3. Vinland far to the west. We 4. had a camp by 2 shelters one 5. day’s journey north from this stone. 6. We were fishing one day. After 7. we came home we found 10 men red 8. from blood and death. AVM 9. Save from evil. Split Side 10. There are 10 men by the inland sea to look 11. after our ships 14 days journey 12. from this hill. Year 1362 The author has written about an event that occurred in 1926 where ten businessmen, at least eight of them being Freemasons, held a large rally near the Ohman Farm in an effort to raise $300,000 to build a 204-foot tall obelisk to house the Kensington Rune Stone. The reasons why these Brothers felt compelled to complete such a monumental task was never been made clear. The author will offer some new insights into their possible motives later in the paper.[3] Introduction It appears the first eight numbers chronicled within the Kensington Rune Stone (KRS) inscription are connected to the Masonic legend of Hiram Abiff; the Grand Architect who oversaw the construction of King Solomon’s Temple, and to the Select Master degree of Cryptic Council degree of York Rite Freemasonry. Prior to my becoming a Freemason, none of the information presented in this paper would have made much sense to me and even if it did, I wouldn’t have fully understood it. However, since becoming initiated as a Master Mason in the “Blue Lodge” on November 21, 2015, which consists of the first three degrees of Freemasonry, and being initiated as both a Scottish Rite and York Rite Mason, my Masonic education in the ritual degrees is now quite extensive. To help the reader better understand how these two branches work, I’ll try to explain them. The first three degrees of Blue Lodge also serve as the first three degrees of both York Rite which has a total of 13 degrees, and as substitute for the Scottish Rite, which has a total of thirty-two degrees. The basic story told in the first three degrees of the Blue Lodge concerns the building of King Solomon’s Temple overseen by the Master Architect, Hiram Abiff. At one point in the story while at “refreshment” at midday, Hiram is killed by three of his workers trying to gain secrets from the Master to earn more wages. The three “ruffians” bury the body that is eventually discovered and reburied with honors. Later in the story the three murderers are captured and brought to justice. In the higher degrees of the Scottish and York Rites, stories of legendary events from Old Testament times are presented both theatrically and through lectures. Essentially, the same biblical stories are told in both branches of Freemasonry, but neither presents the stories in chronological order which creates confusion at times. What caught my attention were numbers uttered during a lecture presented after the theatrical part of a degree in the York Rite branch, called the Select Master degree, which is essentially the 9th of 13 degrees. The story in this degree takes place shortly before the First Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was completed around 1000 B.C. The main characters in the degree are the “Supreme Council of Grand Masters” comprised of King Solomon, Hiram-King of Tyre, and Hiram Abiff. Keep in mind it is not clear whether this story is historically accurate, simply allegorical or contains elements of both. That debate has raged within Masonic academic circles for centuries, but for the purpose of this research it really doesn’t matter. 8 Arches and 22 Men… The relevant part of the ritual relays the following story that led to the first two numbers that revealed the code. The three Grand Masters had been entrusted with the writings of Moses, holy vessels, and sacred treasures which included the Ark of Covenant. To protect these treasures from being forever lost or taken by enemies if the children of Israel ever deviated from the sacred laws, a Secret Vault was constructed that was divided into “arches or apartments.” The three Grand Masters constructed the Ninth Arch where the sacred objects were hidden and where secret rituals would take place. It was during the lecture after the theatrical performance of the degree when the character of Hiram Abiff said the following, “There were employed on the other eight arches, twenty-two men from Gebal, a city of Phoenicia…”[5] My ears instantly perked up upon hearing the two familiar numbers, eight and twenty-two. These were the first two numbers carved on the Kensington Rune Stone inscription “8 Götalanders and 22 Norwegians…” I didn’t hear much of the rest of the lecture and after the degree was finished I asked my mentor and friend, Bro John Freeburg, if there was a ritual book that contained the text of the lecture. He said there was and handed me his personal copy. As I excitedly read the lecture more important numbers connected to the Kensington inscription became apparent, “…together with Ahishar and Adoniram, all of whom were well skilled in the arts and sciences generally, but particularly in sculpture.”[6] It quickly occurred to me that Ahishar and Adoniram are two individuals. The next number to appear in the Kensington inscription after eight and twenty-two is the number two! “We had a camp by 2 shelters…” The ritual book lecture continues, “One of King Solomon’s particular friends, whose name was Zerubbabel, discovered that there was secret work going on…”[7] This was one more person added into the story and if you haven’t already guessed, the next number in the KRS inscription is one. “…by 2 shelters, one day’s journey from this stone.” So, here we have the first four numbers that appear in the Kensington inscription that also appear, in the same sequence as the arches (8) and individuals (22, 2, and 1) as they appear in the York Rite Select Master ritual, and there’s more. In the theatrical part of the ritual, one of the two guards, Ahishar, falls asleep at his post which allowed the overly inquisitive Zerubbabel, upon seeing the entrance unguarded, to venture down into the Secret Vault. Upon discovering Zerubbabel inside the Secret Vault, King Solomon and is angered and orders Ahishar to be executed leaving only Adoniram as the lone surviving guard of the original two. Could he be the second number one that is the next number in the sequence of numbers on the KRS? “We were fishing one day…” While the story at this point doesn’t specifically say it, what Zerubbabel discovers in the Secret Vault are “true copies” of the treasures in the Sanctum Santorum in the Temple above. The most important of the treasures is the Ark of the Covenant which contains the Ten Commandments. Could this be what the next number is referring to that appears in sequence in the KRS inscription? “…when we came home we found 10 men…” At this point, the Select Master Degree story turns very violent. As punishment for falling asleep at his post, Ahishar is killed by the others guards who slice him to death with their swords. As punishment for entering the Secret vault without permission, King Solomon orders Zerubbabel’s eyes poked out and then paraded in front of the people with a bloody bandage over his empty eye sockets wearing a blood spattered apron. Could this be yet another coincidence that the severe violence in the ritual takes place at the same point as the violence in the KRS inscription story, “…we found 10 men red from blood and death.” At this point, the story ends on the face side of the Kensington Rune Stone inscription and the carver appears to offer two prayers. The first appears to invoke the Virgin Mary with only three Latin letters in the entire inscription, “AVM.” The second prayer comprises the entire ninth line on the face side and has always appeared to me to have been added as if to complete some unknown aspect of the inscription, “Save from Evil.” Nine plus Three Equals Twelve There is a short paragraph in the ritual book that describes when the secret work was performed on the nine arches and the Secret Vault, “Their hours of labor were from nine at night until twelve, the time when all prying eyes are closed in sleep.”[8] The numbers are nine p.m. to midnight or 12 a.m. This means the laborers worked for a total of three hours. Suddenly we see the reason the ninth line of text had to be added to the face side of the inscription. When the three additional lines of text on the split side are added to the nine lines on the face side, we end up with a total number of 12 lines of carved text that coincide exactly with the times of labor, 9 (plus 3 hours) and 12. Is this still another coincidence? Not if one considers the importance of signs, codes, symbolism, and allegorical messages so vital in the medieval mind of one who has been initiated into the ancient mysteries. But the sequence of numbers doesn’t stop with the first nine lines on the face side. There are two more numbers on the split side that also figure into this Old Testament allegorical story; “There are 10 men by the sea with our ships, 14 days journey from this island/hill.” Ten and Fourteen Any Freemason who has been through the first three degrees of the Blue Lodge knows the story takes place at the time the First Temple of Solomon was being completed. Just after the three Grand Masters (King Solomon, Hiram-King of Tyre, and Hiram Abiff), had completed the Secret Vault in the ninth arch below the Sanctum Sanctorum, three fellow craft workers from the quarries confront and murder the Master Architect of the temple, Hiram Abiff, for failing to reveal the secrets that would allow them to receive more wages. The ruffians bury the body, for the second time, to the west of the temple and plant a sprig of acacia to mark the grave. Acacia is a famously hardy plant known for growing its own roots after being cut. In Egypt, Acacia became a symbol of resurrection and restored life, and that same symbolism is very prominent in modern Freemasonry. The second “ten” in the Ritual Code on the split side refers either the second Ark containing the Ten Commandments in the Sanctum Sanctorum in the altar of the Temple above the Secret Vault or the ten spheres, called Sefirot, in the Kabbalah Tree of Life. As the story continues, King Solomon grew worried about his missing Master architect and sends a party of twelve men, in groups of three, to search for Hiram Abiff. The recently established acacia plant tips off the men on the search and Hiram’s body is discovered after 14 days. Keep in mind, Hiram’s murder and subsequent discovery happens after the story of the building of the nine arches below the Temple. Based on this, and with the chronology of the Hiram Abiff legend in proper place, we can now put the numbers in place that incredibly result in the exact same sequence as they appear on the Kensington Rune Stone inscription, 8, 22, 2, 1, 1, 10, 10 and 14! It would be easier to pick the right lottery numbers in sequence than for this to be a series of coincidences. When we add in the numbers 9, 3, and 12 that comprise the number of lines of text that comprise the inscription (9 on the face side plus 3 on the split side equals 12) we have an incredible consistency within the Master Mason and Select Master degrees that goes beyond any possibility of coincidence. Three Grand Masters/Mothers and Fathers When considered in context with Masonic symbolism and the story in the Select Master degree, something jumps out when looking more closely at the three strange “o” runes within the KRS inscription. Freemasonry puts utmost importance on the concept of the “Rule of Three.” First and foremost, the equilateral triangle is a symbol of Deity and in the Select Master degree the three sides of the equilateral triangle on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant represent the three Grand Masters; King Solomon, Hiram-King of Tyre, and Hiram Abiff. The Kensington Rune Stone has a total of twenty “o” runes within the inscription; seventeen of them are of an unusual type that still puzzles runic scholars. The typical medieval “o” rune is a vertical line, called a stave, with two parallel lines angling down and left from the middle of the vertical stave at a 45 degree angle. Instead, the symbol has two horizontal lines extending to the left from the vertical stave. These horizontal lines are at 90 degrees and when viewed in a Masonic context, it appears the carver has “squared” the two lines in an apparent symbolic reference to the principle of “Squaring our actions by the square of virtue.” This leaves us with the three remaining strange and ornately carved “o” runes that have also confounded runic scholars. Scandinavian runes are dominantly comprised of straight lines that lend themselves for use in stone because they are relatively easy to carve. These three symbols require much greater skill to carve being comprised of a vertically aligned oval or ellipse. To make matters worse inside the curved lines an “n” rune was carved with two dots added above the oval. Linguists interpret the twin dots as umlauts indicating a specific way of pronouncing the “o” sound. From a symbolic perspective, the three most ornately carved symbols in the entire inscription, along with the two dots, could also represent the three “Mothers” or “Fathers” on the “Tree of Life” in the Kabbalah. World-renowned Torah scholar, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, wrote the following, “The three times in which the expression “God made” appears parallel the three Mothers.” [8] “The three Mother letters, Shin Mem and Alef, represent cause, effect and their synthesis between these two opposites. These three horizontal lines give rise to the three vertical columns in the Tree of life diagram, headed by Keter, Chakhmah, and Binah. These are represented by “air, water, and fire.” These three horizontal lines are the three Mothers. The three columns define the three Fathers, which are the letter Yud Heh Vav. It was from these letters that space is defined, as the Sefer Yetzirah state earlier (1:13). Once space is defined, then creation can take place.”[9] Confirmation Number Code and the Torah In 2013, I published something what I interpreted as a confirmation code that involved four of the strange symbols Scandinavian scholars had rarely or never seen before in a runic inscription in my book, Akhenaten to the Founding Fathers: The Mysteries of the Hooked X. While researching the angles of the hooks on the Hooked X runes in the KRS inscription, I decided to count to see how many there were in the inscription. I was surprised to find there were twenty-two. This prompted me to look at the other odd runes and to my surprise three more of the numbers within the inscription were apparently confirmed. There are seven of the strange “g” runes, ten mysterious “w” runes, and fourteen individual numbers; 8, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 10, 10, 1, 4, 1, 3, 6 and 2. Keep in mind, the carver was almost certainly a Cistercian monk and the Cistercian order didn’t believe in the concept of zero. The carver used Pentadic numbers that include a single symbol for the number ten, and not the two numbers of 1 and 0. These four numbers appear to be confirmed by the number of times a rare or totally unique symbol is used is consistent with the same tradition Qabbalistic scholars maintain is found in the Torah. Quoting Kaplan, “According to the Kabbalists, these 32 paths are alluded to in the Torah by the 32 times that God’s name Elohim appears in the account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis. In this account, the expression “God said” appears ten times, and these are the Ten Sayings with which the world was created. These ten sayings parallel the ten Sefirot. The other 22 times that God’s name appears in this account then parallel the 22 letters in the (Hebrew) alphabet. The three times in which the expression “God made” appears parallel the three Mothers. The seven repetitions of “God saw” parallel the seven Doubles. The remaining twelve names parallel the twelve Elementals.”[10] Confirmation of four of the important numbers within the inscription, 8, 10, 14 and 22, using three mysterious symbols, the backwards “g”, the “w” rune and the Hooked X, and fourteen individual Pentadic numbers which have never been seen used before in a medieval inscription, provide additional evidence consistent with a carver who was deeply initiated in Hebrew mysticism whose roots likely date back to the Mysteries taught in ancient Egypt. 14 So what does all this mean? It tells us a lot beginning with the fact the 14th Century carver understood the ancient allegorical resurrection story found in every culture around the world throughout time. The key evidence involves the final number in the Kensington Rune Stone Ritual Code which is prominent in the Isis/Osiris legend of ancient Egypt. One version of the legend has Osiris being captured by his jealous brother Set who kills him and cuts up his body into 14 pieces. Osiris’ distraught lover Isis goes searching and finds all but one of the pieces of his body; his penis. She eventually impregnates herself with a reproduced phallic made of either gold or beeswax, depending on which legend is read, and gives birth to Horus, who grows to adulthood becoming Osiris and the whole story begins again. This ancient legend is an allegorical representation of the annual cycle of life on earth; birth or new life in the spring, death in the fall, and resurrection of the sun on the Winter Solstice when the Goddess Isis becomes impregnated beginning the cycle anew. The other resurrection legend that is relevant to our story is the Roman Christian version with Jesus taking on the symbolic role of Hiram Abiff. In this case, we have what most believe is a real historical figure from the First Century who was mythologized by the early Church fathers to create a “Son of God” using the same allegorical death and resurrection story. In nearly every Catholic Church around the world the Crucifixion and Resurrection story of Jesus is told in images called the Stations of the Cross. It isn’t a coincidence the number of Stations of the Cross is 14. Kabbalah A question one must ask is if this Ritual Code is indeed real, what is the significance of the numbers? All indications are the Cistercians and Knights Templar were well versed in the Hebrew mysticism and if they were they would have certainly have understood and practiced the spiritual concepts associated with the Kabbalah “Tree of Life” or “The Kabbalistic Tree.” For a general understanding of the connection of what I believe I’ve discovered; I should start with a basic explanation of what the “Tree of Life” is. I’ll use the words of noted author and Templar historian, Timothy W. Hogan, to give a general description. “In general, this Tree is composed of 10 spheres called sephiroth, along with 22 paths that connect these spheres; each of which is represented by one of the 22 Hebrew letters, and they rest on three pillars. Thus there are a total of 32 emanations of Deity, with a possible 33rd hidden emanation.”[11] Already, we have an uncanny connection with the Kensington Rune Stone numbers beyond what we’ve already discovered in their sequence in relation to the Masonic/Christian/Isis-Osiris “resurrection” story. It appears what we now have is, 8 Götalanders (Deity) and 22 Northmen (paths that connect the ten spheres); … 2 shelters (Ahishar and Adoniram), and one day’s journey (Zerubbabel). If we add these numbers up, in sequence, as they appear on the stone we get, 8 + 22 + 2 = 32 + 1 =33. Those numbers sequentially, follow the Select Master ritual perfectly, AND that those numbers add up to the same total of 33 as in the Kabbalah, simply cannot be a coincidence. A Masonic Brother reminded me about another connection to the numbers 8 and 22 that I had frankly, forgotten about. At the incredible Santa Maria do Olival Church, in Tomar, Portugal, where we filmed episodes for both America Unearthed and Pirate Treasure of the Knights Templar for History Channel, Christian reminded me that there were twenty-two Grand Masters of the Portuguese Templars buried inside the Church beginning with the first Grand Master, Gualdim Pais, who founded the city upon his return from Jerusalem after fighting in the Second Crusade, in 1161. One of the major points we made in the episode was how the number eight was symbolically represented throughout the church. Simply walking down the eight steps at the west entrance one can count eight columns, eight windows, along with the five-pointed star in the small window high above the altar in the east end. The pentagram is symbolic of the planet Venus and is the symbol it creates when viewed astronomically from earth during its eight-year cycle. In esoteric circles, the number eight and its association with the planet Venus have always been symbolic of the Goddess in the heavens. The Templar’s and their Cistercian brethren venerated the planet Venus, the sun, and all the planets and constellations and that veneration is clearly on display in this church. While standing inside the church and looking west, the large rose window on display is symbolic of Venus’ consort, the sun. They are the eternal travelers; Venus leads the sun when it rises first as a morning star in the east. Conversely, it is the sun that sets first when Venus is an evening star in the west. Both are symbolically represented in the east and west windows of this church, but with the number eight dominantly represented in the architecture it appears the Templars venerated the sacred feminine of the Goddess Venus above the male sun God. What’s important to take away from the symbolism of this medieval Portuguese Templar church is it gives us a look into the minds of the Templar’s and what aspects of their faith and beliefs were important to them. Many researchers, most notably British author, Alan Butler, has written extensively about the Templar’s and Cistercians veneration of the planet Venus and other symbolic representations of the Goddess. By understanding the religious ideology of the Templar’s and the symbolism associated with it, one can also make sense of the sacred numbers that go along with it and why those numbers appear on the Kensington Rune Stone since it most likely was created by a 14th Century Cistercian/Templar monk. Clearly the number eight was important to the Templars/Cistercians as it represented the Deity. It’s also been well established within Hebrew mysticism, and specifically, that the “Tree of Life” in the Kabbalah is an important aspect of both modern Freemasonry and Templarism. Therefore, as these numbers consistently appear in association with the medieval Templar/Cistercian ideals and now within the Kensington Rune Stone inscription, this evidence is consistent with a connection between them. Having twenty-two Grand Masters of the Portuguese Templar’s buried inside this church must have consistent symbolic meaning. It cannot be yet another coincidence. As seems to always be the case, when trying to understand the origins of just about anything connected to the Templar’s/Cistercians and Freemasonry, one needs to look at Egyptian history. In Rosemary Clark’s book, The Sacred Tradition in Ancient Egypt: The Esoteric Wisdom Revealed, she writes, “The expressions of ten and twelve, in turn, give rise to the number twenty-two, a figure that plays a prominent role in the cosmological structure of Egypt. Twenty-two is expressed artistically and architecturally at a number of sacred sites, representing the twenty-two original nomes, or provinces, of Lower Egypt. The number also corresponds to the number of encephalographic nodes in the human brain, and denotes the twelve signs of the Zodiac and the ten planets as expressed in the Twenty-two images of the Major Arcana of the Tarot. Hence, the number is the expression of a complete cycle of energetic and material manifestation.” Here we have the number twenty-two having significance in not just ancient Egyptian mysticism, but as many scholars believe, these ideals were passed on into Hebrew mysticism where we find the same numbers being symbolically important in the Kabbalah. Keep in mind that scant documentation exists that can be referred as this esoteric knowledge was passed from master to initiate “mouth to ear”; most notably prior to medieval times. In spite of this, the numbers that appear on the Kensington Rune Stone imply the carver was deeply versed in symbolism, allegory, codes, and specific sacred numbers that appear to have been passed on as a continuous thread through mystical sects from ancient Egypt to the Hebrews, to the Cistercian’s/Knight Templar, and finally into Modern Freemasonry. Brother Timothy Hogan also brings up the concept of the same type of confirmation codes we see in the Kensington Rune Stone inscription using some of the same numbers also being confirmed by various references to God in the Torah and the Bible. Quoting Hogan, “Qabbalistic scholars have alluded to the fact that the 32 paths of are suggested in the Torah by the 32 times that God’s name “Elohim” appears in the account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis. In this account, the expression, “God Said” appears 10 times, and these are the ten sayings with which the world was created. The ten sayings seem to have correlation with the ten sephiroth on the quabbalistic tree diagram, and alluded to by the Sephir Yetzirah, the Sephir Bahir, and the Zohar.” “The other 22 times that God’s name appears in this account seem(s) to match the 22 letters of the Hebrew aleph-beth (alphabet) and by extension the 22 paths.” It appears we have the ancient Kabbalistic tradition of using the same numeric confirmation codes using many of the same numbers known to have been used by the Cistercians/Knights Templar, also being used within the Kensington Rune Stone inscription. “…From Vinland far to the West.” The realization that imbedded within the Kensington inscription is the most important allegorical story of the ancient mysteries; the resurrection of the sun on the winter solstice, was the key that unlocked the secret messages left by the carver that only one who has been initiated could recognize. I’ve tried to flesh out the important elements within the inscription; specifically, what parts are merely allegories and symbolism and what parts are real information being relayed by the carver. I never believed the “10 men red from blood and death” had anything to do with the long-held belief by many they were killed and scalped by Natives during a skirmish. The inscription doesn’t say anything about natives and indeed I’ve always the believed the Cistercians/Knights Templar shared a similar ideology with N Native American’s and were strategically aligned. They didn’t fight their way to the center of the continent; they must have traveled with them. First and foremost, the land claim thesis I proposed over a decade ago is still firmly in place. However, my assumption there were three practical elements to it has now changed. Originally, I thought the three practical pieces of the Kensington Rune Stone inscription, “…from Vinland far to the west,” “…14 days journey from this island/hill,” and “…one day’s journey from this stone,” were part of what was essentially a land deed pinpointing the location that is now the Ohman Farm in Kensington, Minnesota. In light of the new discovery it makes more sense the land claim part of the inscription is dealt with in the first three lines of the inscription. Taking “From Vinland far to the west” at face value, it appears the inscription is claiming land starting in Vinland, which by 1362 would have been known for over 300 years dating from the time of the Viking Saga’s as the northeast coast of North America, far to the west. Where exactly, ‘far to the west’ was intended to be is only a guess. However, one could assume it meant at least to the west as far as halfway across the continent where the artifact was found. If so, and one includes the land associated with the Mississippi-Missouri/Red River-Hudson Bay watersheds as I’ve proposed in the past, then ‘from Vinland far to the west’ would encompass most if not all of the North American continent! “…One Day’s Journey from this Stone” and “…14 Days Journey from this Island/Hill.” The other thing within the inscription that’s changed in light of the Ritual Code discovery is my interpretation of these two lines in the text, “…one day’s Journey from this Stone,” and “…14 Days Journey from this island/hill.” I long thought they were indicators to where the Kensington Rune Stone discovery site location described similar to language in a land deed. Upon reflection and consideration of the new evidence in context with the realization of the Royal Arch legend imbedded within the inscription, it is very likely these are directions that tell the initiated how to get to a certain place. That place can only be the hidden location of the Secret Vault ‘far to the west’ of the Kensington Rune Stone discovery site. What makes sense to me is these are two lines of the otherwise confusing narrative that should be taken literally. A “…day’s journey…” may in fact be the number of days west and north from the discovery site to a certain location. However, I don’t believe the words “days” means 24 hours. I suspect it’s a coded reference to latitude (“…one day’s journey north…”), and longitude (“…14 days journey…”). Masonic scholar and author, William Mann, published the location of the Secret Vault as being in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.[12] If Bill is right, then “…14 days journey…” can only be west of Rune Stone Hill. Traveling 14 degrees west and then 1 degree north, or vice versa, will get you to the same end location so it doesn’t matter which comes first within the inscription. As much as I’d like to think it takes you to the location of the Secret Vault, I don’t believe that is the case. For one thing, 14 degrees west of Kensington, Minnesota (45.7781° N, 95.6961° W), puts you a degree and a half east of the foothills of the Rockies (Example: Townsend, Montana, 46.3203° N, 111.5178° W). 14 degrees longitude west must put you in the territory of the Native American tribe that upon receiving the proper passwords, handshakes, and signs of recognition, will then lead the worthy party to the Secret Vault. This theory about a Secret Vault is highly speculative and will likely be too much for some people. However, most Freemasons or persons initiated into a Masonic-like order will understand and appreciate the information presented here and see it as highly likely if not a certainty. The forensic scientist in me is forced to take to notice of the voluminous factual evidence that already existed that led me to conclude the Kensington Rune Stone was a genuine fourteenth century land claim. As a newly initiated Freemason who has witnessed and participated in the higher degrees of both the Scottish Rite and the York Rite Mysteries, I see the unmistakable allegorical story of the Old Testament Masonic legend of the Royal Arch screaming off the rune stone’s text. When linked with the same Royal Arch symbolism and the allegorical resurrection story so beautifully on display on the Winter Solstice in the Newport Tower in Rhode Island, it becomes an undeniable fact the two are contemporaneous and must have been created by a group of people who embraced the same ideology and knowledge.[13] By connecting the two with a long-range alignment that passes from the center of the Newport Tower, through the two symbolic keystones, and then to Kensington, Minnesota, the evidence presents what I believe is a conclusive case.[14] Jesus and Mary Magdalene One would think that if the Kensington Rune Stone was carved by an initiated Cistercian monk traveling with a party that included knights ideologically descended from the disbanded Templar order who understood what many believe to be the historical truth about Jesus and his wife Mary Magdalene that somewhere in the inscription there would be a clue to this knowledge. Here again, the answer to the question depends on whether the reader has the “eyes to see.” To the initiated, Jesus was known as the “Fisher King” as he was the first Grand Master of Freemasonry in the Age of Pisces the Fish. In the Bible, if you were a follower of Jesus, you were a ‘follower of the fish.’ “We were fishing one day…” on line six of the inscription never made sense to me. Of course the Kensington party would go fishing; probably on a daily basis to sustain themselves. However, when viewed in a Masonic light and to one who knew the “secret”, “fishing” on the Kensington Rune Stone inscription must surely be a reference to the biblical Jesus. Not to be excluded, the initiated will also quickly see that his wife is also acknowledged on line eight with the Latin letters “AVM.” In my Akhenaten book, I made the same point and perhaps as way of emphasis, the carver made a punch on the lower right leg of the “M” apparently as a coded acknowledgement to the sacred feminine goddess they revered. While standing firmly behind my long-standing thesis the Kensington Rune Stone is first and foremost a 14th Century land claim many people have asked in whose name the land claim is made. I have always argued that since I believe the Kensington party were the ideological and likely bloodline descendants of the Templar’s who were put down by the King of France and the Pope in 1307, the claim would not have been made in the name of any king, monarch, or the Pope. However, in light of this new Ritual Code evidence, I am forced to admit that I was wrong. It appears the land claim was indeed made in the name of a king. In this case, it was their ancestral and ideological Grand Master, the Fisher King. As if to emphasize the point, there are twenty-two Hooked X’s, as found on the lid of the “Jesus, son of Joseph” ossuary from the Talpiot tomb, emblazoned throughout the inscription.[15] Looking back at the ten men from Alexandria, Minnesota, at least eight of whom were known to be Freemasons, one is compelled to wonder what motivated them to want to build such a large, and very expensive monument, to permanently house the Kensington Rune Stone at the discovery site on the Ohman Farm. They must have seen something within the inscription that told them it was connected to Templarism/ Freemasonry. In the 1920’s, York Rite Freemasonry was very popular in the rural areas of Minnesota and I suspect it’s possible at least one, or maybe all of the men were York Rite Freemasons who recognized the numbers 8 and 22 as being connected to the Select Master degree. There is no known record this is true or what it was that specifically motivated them, but I personally believe they likely saw what I saw and knew the Kensington Rune Stone was somehow connected to their medieval ideological brethren. Conclusions Based on the evidence presented in this paper the following conclusions are appropriate: 1. The Ritual Code on the Kensington Rune Stone completely eliminates the idea a late 19th Century Swedish immigrant farmer created the inscription to express ethnic pride. 2. Any and all theories regarding who created the Kensington Rune Stone inscription now must incorporate the “Ritual Code” discovery into the thesis. 3. The “Ritual Code” discovery is consistent with the idea that many aspects of Masonic ritual are part of a long-standing symbolic and allegorical tradition that goes back through the Kabbalah and the ancient Egyptian Mysteries. 4. The “Ritual Code” discovery eliminates the need to investigate the allegorical aspects of the inscription that do not represent what many have believed to have been actual historical events such as searching for remains of the “10 men red from blood and death.” 5. The “Ritual Code” discovery does not change the following previous discoveries made by the author and other researchers and introduces new conclusions about the artifact: a. The KRS was created by a group of post-putdown (in 1307) Cistercians/Knights Templar. b. The KRS was created in 1362. c. The “Dating Code” of a second date of 1362 that was encoded within the inscription using the medieval Easter Table dating tradition as proposed by the author in 2006, is still valid. d. The idea the KRS is a 14th Century land claim as proposed by the author in 2006, is still valid. e. The presence of the word, “Gral” (“Grail”) as singled out in sequence by the carver using punch marks and short lines after the inscription was carved. f. The KRS land claim was the beginning of the founding of what would become the United States of America. The Cistercians/Knights Templar began the effort to establish what they called the “New Jerusalem” which was successfully completed in the late 18th Century by their ideological direct descents; modern day Freemasonry. g. The new discovery explains why Scandinavian scholars without the knowledge base and understanding of the allegorical and symbolic aspects of the Hebrew mysticism and the Egyptian mysteries have struggled for over a century to understand and appreciate these aspects of the inscription. h. This new discovery may shed light on what motivated the ten men in Alexandria to want to build such a substantial monument. Perhaps they too saw the Kensington as the beginning of the founding of the United States by their ideological medieval brethren. 6. The new discovery can also be argued provides a direct connection between the Cistercians/Knights Templar to modern Freemasonry. The exact path between the two is not yet totally clear. References General Grand Council Cryptic Masons: Under the supervision of the Ritual Committee , Adopted September 24, 1900, As revised October 10-11, 1960 in New Orleans, Louisiana, 24th Edition. Hogan, W. Timothy, The 32 Secret Paths of Solomon: A New Examination of the Qabbalah in Freemasonry, ISBN: 978-0-557-04610-2, 2009. Kaplan, Aryeh, Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation, Weiser Books, Boston, MA/York Beach, ME, 1997. Mann, William F., Templar Sanctuaries in North America: Sacred Bloodlines and Secret Treasures, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, 2016. Minnesota Historical Society’s Museum Committee, The Kensington Rune Stone, Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Volume XV, St. Paul, Minnesota, Pages 221-286, May, 1915. Winchell, Professor Newton H., Report on the Kensington Rune Stone, by Professor N. H. Winchell of the Museum Committee, Minnesota Historical Society, April, 1910. Wolter, Scott F., and Richard Nielsen, The Kensington Rune Stone: Compelling New Evidence, Lake Superior Agate Publishing, Chanhassen, Minnesota, 2006. Wolter, Scott F., The Hooked X: Key to the History of North America, North Star Press of St. Cloud, St. Cloud, Minnesota, 2009. Wolter, Scott F., Akhenaten to the Founding Fathers: The Mysteries of the Hooked X, North Star Press of St. Cloud, St. Cloud, Minnesota, 2013. The face side of the Kensington Rune Stone that contains nine lines of text carved in Scandinavian runes. (Wolter, 2013) The split side of the Kensington Rune Stone with three lines of text that includes the date 1362 carved using Pentadic numbers in Arabic placement. (Wolter, 2013) This graphic shows the thirteen degrees of York Rite Freemasonry. The first three degrees are called the “Blue Lodge”, the next four are called the Royal Arch degrees, the next three are called the Cryptic Council degrees and the final three are the Order of the Knights Templar degrees. The degree that tipped me off to the Ritual Code numbers on the Kensington Rune Stone was the Select Master degree, the second in the Cryptic Council. (Internet) The typical “o” rune used in medieval Scandinavian runic inscriptions has two parallel lines angling down roughly forty-five and left from the main vertical stave. On the Kensington Rune Stone seventeen of the twenty “o” runes have the two parallel lines squared at ninety degrees left of the main vertical stave. The initiated medieval carver likely employed the concept of “squaring our actions by the square of virtue.” (Wolter, 2004, 2002) Three of the twenty “O” runes are ornately carved vertical ovals with “n” runes inside the oval. Two dots above the three symbols represent umlauts indicating the “ö” sound. The Masonic concept of the “Rule of Three” appears to have been employed and could represent the three horizontals and/or three columns in the “Tree of Life” in the Kabbalah. (Wolter, 2002) This diagram shows the ten Sefirot (spheres) and the 32 paths of the “Tree of Life” in the Kabbalah as defined by the Ari (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria), considered one of the greatest Kabbalists of all time.[11] The Latin letters “AVM” are carved at the end of line eight of the Kensington Rune Stone and appear to be a coded reference to Mary Magdalene. The carver added a punch mark to the bottom right leg of the “M” as if to add emphasis to the initiated that these letters were carved to symbolize the “other” Mary. Three-dimensional microscopic imaging clearly shows the punch hole added to the far right leg of the “M” was deeper than the vertical line it was added to. (Wolter, 2002 and 2013) [1] Winchell, 1910 [2] Wolter/Nielsen, 2006, Pages 13-58 [3] Wolter, 2013, Pages 16-20 [4] General Grand Council Cryptic Masons, 1900, Page 64 [5] ibid [6] General Grand Council Cryptic Masons, 1900, Page 65 [7] General Grand Council Cryptic Masons, 1900, Page 65 [8] Kaplan, Page 7, 1997. [9] Kaplan, Page 143, 1997 [10] Kaplan Page 7, 1997 [11] Kaplan, Page xxv, 1997. [12] Hogan, Page 14, 2009. [13] Mann, 2016 [14] Wolter, Pages 198-210, 2009 [15] Wolter, Pages 221-228, 2009 [16] In May of 2015, I published a paper I wrote about the discovery of a monogram of two symbols, the Hooked X and a Tau Cross, carved into the lid of “Jesus, son of Joseph” in the Talpiot tomb in Jerusalem. The reader can also read a short synopsis of the discovery of the Talpiot Tomb in Jerusalem, in 1980, in my paper, “Reconsidering a Mark on the Lid of the Talpiot Tomb’s Jesus Ossuary” at the following link: http://scottwolteranswers.blogspot.com/2015/08/hooked-xtau-cross-monogram-on-jesus.html Janet Wolter stands within the original rectangular footprint within the cemetery at Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg, On September 29, 2015. One of the tour guides told us recent excavations did not find evidence of a secret vault below the original church.

Thank you Veronique! The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon Active: c. 1119–1314 Allegiance: The Pope