Turning The Templar Key: The True Origin of Freemasonry

About 80% of this current electronic edition was first published in 2007 to mark the seven hundredth anniversary of the destruction of the Knights Templar in 1307, under the title Turning the Templar Key. This new edition only focuses on those sections of the original draft which addressed the questions How, Where and Why did Freemasonry start? It also includes material on these topics which was not included in the original edition.

The main questions which Lomas posed himself when he began to write Turning the Templar Key were.

1. Did the original Knights Templar survive their apparent destruction and morph into Freemasonry?
2. Are the Masonic Knights Templar the legitimate successors of the original Order of Knights Templar founded in Jerusalem and disbanded in 1307?

Whilst investigating these questions he accidentally uncovered the real history of Freemasonry. He also discovered how Freemasonry came to have such a strange legacy of mythical histories, including its persistent and popular idea that Masons are really Knights Templar in disguise.

It turned out that Freemasonry has two histories. One that is mythical, inspirational and ambiguous and another that is mundane, prosaic and about the hopes and ambitions of real people who can be named.

The original book concept, which had to be completed in time for the anniversary of the destruction of the Templars did not leave enough time or space to tell both stories within the restrictions of the original concept and sections of the purely Masonic material had to be cut out to meet the publication deadlines. This is something we have always regretted and so now we have given Lomas a chance to write this two part revised ebook version. Part 1 is about the Masonic Knight Templars and their role in the creation of Freemasonry. Part 2, published separately, looks at the ancient roots of the symbols and stories which are still used in Freemasonry.

Now with the flexible capacity offered by an ebook format it has been possible to release this revised and extended two part edition where this first part is focused purely on how Templarism came to play a role in the development of Freemasonry. Whilst creating Part 1 of Turning the Templar Key, Lomas has been encouraged to remove a lot of material which was concerned simply with the origins of major Masonic mythical themes and to replace it with historical information about the development of Freemasonry. It also contains previously unpublished material about the beginnings of The Grand Lodge of London, which went to to become UGLE.

If you are interested in the real Knights Templar, or the ancient origins of the religious myths which inspired them, this revised edition is not meant for you. But if you are interested in where Freemasonry really came from and how it developed, then this book will try my best to enlighten you.