Freemasons Part V {James II}

  James, Duke of York, was the younger brother of King Charles II. The duke converted to Catholicism in 1661. He did so without notice to others or pomp and splendor, therefore there wasn’t any objections raised.

 However 24 years later when his brother Charles II died, James rose to the Throne of England as James II. James began immediately bribing his diplomatic corps and military hierarchy to convert to Catholicism. If they didn’t convert they were removed and replaced with a Catholic.

  As head of the Church of England King James II appointed Catholic bishops. James had sired two daughter Princess Ann and Mary who were raised protestant.

  The assumption was that one of them would inherit the thrown and England would once again be under a sovereign who is protestant. Because of this, James II was tolerated as a distasteful sovereign, and it would be better to tolerate his distasteful behavior than to have the country fall into civil unrest.

  In 1688 a son was born to James which again added confusion. His daughters would no longer inherit his kingdom but his Catholic son would. Therefore there was the prospect that England would have a second Catholic monarch.

  France during this time was after being tolerant of Protestants for the last century had now revoked the Edict of Nantes; which provided for Protestants to practice their faith unhindered.

  King James II demanded that his Anglican Clergy provide a declaration of Tolerance for Catholics and others who had left the Anglican Church.

 Seven Anglican Bishops refused to comply. They were indicted for their disobedience, but also acquitted at the same time as an act of judicial defiance by the judiciary.

  William the Prince of Orange who had married Princess Mary, daughter of James II, were vigorously anti-Catholic. The parliament offered the Thrown to the Dutch Prince. He accepted, on November 5^th, 1688.

  Civil unrest was expected, but to everybody’s surprise King James II departed for France, where he went into temporary exile on December 23, 1688.

  It was a short exile, in March of 1689 with a force of French troops and advisors he arrived in Ireland. He began to form a parliament in exile, and form an Army with the assistance of Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell.

  On April 19^th James II besieged Londonderry which lasted until July 30, 1689, when his forces were relieved. A year later, on the River Boyne, James II again encountered the troops of King William, on July 1^st 1690.

  James II met disaster during this conflict and he returned to permanent exile in France. His battered French force continued sporadic resistance until defeated at the Battle of Aughrim.  The French forces retreated to Limerick, where they were under siege until October 3, 1691.

  With the surrender of Robert II forces at Limerick, the “Glorious Revolution” ended along with the Stuart dynasty. History records James II of political “ineptitude of heroic proportions.”

  This caused much sole searching throughout the British Empire. The Stuarts were considered to have deep roots throughout English society and culture. Not to far in the distant past, a quarter of a century earlier, the Dutch House of Orange was a distinct enemy of England.

  In Scotland the nobles remained loyal to the Stuarts, there were strong family bonds that went back to Bruce. Organized resistance prevailed in Scotland under the leadership of the first Viscount Dundee appointed by King James II.

  The Stuarts were prominent Freemasons as was the Viscount Dundee. The Viscount Dundee was later killed in battle and the resistance lost its leadership and the resistance lost its way for the next generation.

  The theory is out there that Dundee was actually assassinated by King Williams covert operators who had infiltrated the Scottish Army, when Dundee’s body was recovered from the battlefield it bore a Templar’s cross.

 

Knight Templar's Part XI Upsurge in Piracy

Because of the Inquisition and the persecution of the Templar's they went underground, using sacred geometry, symbology, art, and architecture to pass their beliefs, knowledge and secrets to the generations and only the select few with sacred knowledge could interpret them.

  The Holy Grail was an allegory term to hide the real meaning of the treasure. History records it as the Chalice that Joseph of Arminthia caught blood from Jesus side wound.

Also it is thought to be an allegory reference to the womb of Mary Magdalene as the Sangrail, another name of the Holy Grail, that was to contain the Holy Blood or bloodline of Jesus Christ
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With the loss of their properties, nine thousand estates throughout Christendom, their suppression by the Church of Rome, and the country of France. They could no longer act as the shippers of the Nobel between Europe and the Holly Land, provide protection for pilgrims, and be the bankers to France and England.

They could no longer use the ports of England, Ireland, Spain, and Italy.  But still had their material wealth which exceeded two hundred tons of gold and silver they still had sacred knowledge and a Secret they held over the church.

 They were still welcome in Norway, Scotland, Portugal, and Sicily.  The Templar's needed a refuge but they were at war with the Vatican and the countries under her domain, because those countries were essentially puppet governments of the Vatican.

  There were several repercussions  relevant to the lost Templar Fleet.  An upsurge in piracy; the beginnings of Atlantic exploration by Templar's from Scotland and Portugal and many charts of accuracy that is inexplicable in their accuracy for that day and age.

 The Templar Fleet was divided into three sections, the Mediterranean fleet stayed in the Mediterranean, they traded the sails of the Rosy Cross, for one of several flags of the Jolly Roger. The second fleet stayed in Portugal or also known as Port-o-Grail, and became the Fleet of the Knights of Christ, the Naval Fleet of Henry the Navigator and the Navy of Portugal.

The northern portion of the Fleet went to Scotland, became associated with the Sinclair Family who gave them refuge on their 500 estates. They became married to the local women established homesteads and became part of the Army and Navy of King Robert the Bruce and his descendants.

 In this authors opinion eighty-five percent of the Scottish force under Robert the Bruce were Templar's.


 

Knight Templar's Part VIII

 King Philippe IV of France also known as Philippe le Bel or Philippe the Fair was an extremely ambitious King.  He had grand ambitions for his country, and willing to destroy anyone who crossed his path.

  He had kidnapped and murdered Pope Boniface VIII, and is widely believed to have poisoned Pope Benedict XI.  By 1305 he had installed his boyhood friend Pope Clement V on the throne of the church.

  In 1309 he moved the Papacy from Rome to Avignon France where it essentially became an arm of the Crown of France, and Pope Clement V a mere governor to the King.

  Over the next seventy years the church was in Turmoil, the Avignon Captivity, and a scheme which produced Popes competing against one another, creating an atmosphere of unrest and divided the church until 1377.  With the Papacy in his pocket Philippe had all he needed to move against the Templar’s.

 He had many motives for doing so, and a personal grudge against the temple.  He had asked to be accepted into the order as Honorary Templar.

  King Richard I had received this treatment from the Knights but King Philippe was rejected by the Temple.  Later in June 1306, Philippe was forced to ask the Temple for protection from a rioting mob and was given refuge in Paris Temple. 

  While there he witnessed the monetary wealth and power of the Temple. This frightened the King to no end! He desperately needed money and the Templar Treasure was vast.  Greed, Humiliation from being rejected as an honorary Knight, and retaliation from the King with low self- esteem were a deadly combination for the Templar’s.

  To Philippe, the Templar’s posed a real threat to the stability of France. 

 The Templar’s were searching for land to call their own.  After the fall of Acre the Knights took up temporary quarters in Cyprus while they searched for a more permanent home.  The area that made the most sense to them was the Languedoc, which then wasn’t part of France, and contained a third of the nine thousand estates that were a part of the Temple’s assets.

   Although the Languedoc was annexed from France, Philippe had claimed it any how and a Templar kingdom on his southern border was too much to bear.

  Philippe was meticulous in his preparations for destroying the Temple.  He had the church in his pocket, he had infiltrated the order with his spies, he had alleged confessions from a renegade Knight and with these allegations he was free to pursue charges against the Order.

  The actions of the King and Pope were sudden swift and deadly.  Sealed orders were issued to his senchaels and sheriffs throughout the country.  They were to be opened simultaneously throughout the country and implemented at once.

  At dawn on Friday the 13th of October 1307, the orders were implemented, all the Knight Templar's in France were to be seized and arrested.  Their preceptories were taken over by the King, their goods seized, all except the incredible treasure of the Temple.

  Very few of the Knights were actually arrested, according to Inquisition records later found in the Vatican Archives only six hundred and twenty fewer than five percent, and the ones that were, went willingly without a fight , as though under instruction.

  The Templars were expecting this event, they destroyed their financial records, most of the knights fled prior to the event, they removed their treasury and treasure, and departed. Some went with the lost Templar Fleet to Scotland and most of the ones in the Mediterranean went to Portugal.