Turning the Templar Key - Hardcover

The third volume in Robert Lomas's Key trilogy, this book explains the relationship of the Knights Templar to modern-day Freemasonry.

The contemporary view of the Knights Templar, according to Lomas, has been romanticized and glorified to the point where it does not resemble the reality: namely, that the Knights Templar were uneducated religious zealots more akin to Al Qaeda than a true monastic order. The order only existed for a couple of hundred years, and was disbanded seven hundred years ago. Lomas asks the question, Why do people even care about them anymore?

Lomas draws on Freemasonic information to answer this question and to explore the rituals and myths of the Knights Templar and how they relate to Freemasonry. Along the way, he delves into the mysteries of Roslin chapel, the history of agriculture, and the role of women in spreading it. At the heart of the book is LomasÆs exploration of how the tolerant and inclusive spiritual practices of modern Freemasonry managed to grow out of what was effectively an order of suicide bombers.

October 13, 2007 is the 700th anniversary of the Dissolution of the Knights Templar