The Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests

Roll of Tabernacles

Boxley Abbey No: 136

Date of Warrant: 21st April 1988

Third Monday in May, First Tuesday in September and First Friday in November  
(Installation - Third Monday in May)

The Order of the Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests (HRAKTP) is open to Past and reigning Masters of Lodges, who are also members of the Royal Arch and of the Knights Templar.

The Order of the Temple was founded in 1118 at Jerusalem which had been liberated from Saracen rule nineteen years earlier. The successes of the Crusaders had brought Pilgrims to the Holy Land from all over Christendom. Rich and poor, noble and peasant, male and female wrought upon by religious excitement came through the most inhospitable countries to visit and offer up their devotions at the places made sacred by associations with the life of Our Saviour. The difficulties facing these Pilgrims were numerous. There was a lack of roads and means of transport; the routes were menaced by Saracen raiders and Christian bandits; there was the risk of being cheated by the innkeepers and merchants of the towns through which they passed. It was to afford some protection to these otherwise unguarded Pilgrims that Hugo de Payens and seven other Knights founded the Order. Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, granted them quarters near the royal palace, and, as the site was traditionally that of Solomon’s Temple, they came to be known as "Knights of the Temple".

The Order received many gifts of land and money, and swiftly grew into an effective fighting force. Soon it began to take a full part in the war against the infidels, and the protection of the Pilgrims became a secondary consideration. From that time until the Crusaders were expelled from the Holy Land in 1291, the Templars and Hospitallers were the only standing armies on the Christian side. The Grand Masters were members of the highest councils in the realm, and the Knights earned a reputation for courage and resolution in many pitched battles over a period of almost three centuries.

The Order of the Temple was largely independent of the rulers of the Holy Lands; they were subject only to the Pope at Rome. The exemption from taxation which they enjoyed, and the fame from their exploits, both served to make them the recipients and possessors of great wealth. Great houses were erected in most Christian countries - particularly in France. This widespread wealth caused travellers to treat the Order as a banking house. Money could be deposited at one Preceptory and made available at another without the traveller incurring the risk of robbery during his journey. In these financial transactions a high reputation for financial integrity was sustained.

Although each Knight took a personal vow of poverty, chastity and obedience on his entry to the Order, he could hardly be unaffected by the great wealth of the Order and the important position it had in the Crusading world. In time this led the Order to exercise caution in provoking the Saracens to renew the fighting, although, the decision having been made, the Templars were still the most formidable troops in battle.

The story of the kingdom of Jerusalem is a sorry tale of discord, and the glorious cause which brought the Crusaders to the East was often forgotten in dynastic struggles and political intrigues. Under these circumstances it is remarkable that the eventual Saracen success was delayed so long, yet it was not until 1291 that the last stronghold of the Crusaders on the mainland of Palestine - the city of Acre - fell. The remnants of the Order retired to Cyprus, and the purpose for which it had been formed now vanished.