In the heart of medieval London, a new and powerful force emerged, a synthesis of military might and mystical devotion that would leave an indelible mark on the city's occult landscape: The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, better known as the Knights Templar.
Founded in the 12th century, the Templars were a Catholic military order, the first of their kind. Their stated purpose was to protect Christian pilgrims on their journey to the Holy Land. But their true purpose was far more complex and esoteric. The Templars were not just soldiers; they were alchemists, bankers, and practitioners of a powerful, syncretic form of ceremonial magic. And their London headquarters, the New Temple, was one of the most important magical centres in the medieval world.
The Knights Templar
The New Temple: A Magical Fortress
The Templar complex in London, located between Fleet Street and the Thames, was a vast and powerful institution. It was a fortress, a church, and the headquarters of the first multinational corporation. The famous Temple Church, with its distinctive round nave, was a replica of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a powerful symbol of the Templars' connection to the magical heart of Christendom.
But the New Temple was more than just a church. It was a repository of esoteric knowledge, a laboratory of financial alchemy, and a centre of immense political power. The Templars invented the modern banking system, creating a network of credit that stretched across Europe. They were, in essence, practising a form of money magic, transforming the abstract concept of credit into tangible wealth and power.
The Secret Rites of the Templars
The Templars were a secret society, and their initiation rites were shrouded in mystery. It was this secrecy that would ultimately lead to their downfall. They were accused of heresy, of spitting on the cross, of worshipping a mysterious idol known as Baphomet. While these accusations were likely exaggerated by their enemies, there is little doubt that the Templars practised a form of magic that was far from orthodox.
Their symbolism, rich with esoteric meaning, points to a deep engagement with Hermeticism, Gnosticism, and the magical traditions of the East, which they had encountered during their time in the Holy Land. The two knights riding on a single horse, their most famous symbol, represented the dual nature of their order: the warrior and the monk, the material and the spiritual. The Baphomet, often depicted as a horned, androgynous figure, was likely a symbol of alchemical transformation, of the union of opposites, a concept central to all high magic.
The Fall of the Templars and the Dispersion of Knowledge
The immense power and wealth of the Templars made them a threat to the established order. In 1307, King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the order, conspired with Pope Clement V to have the Templars arrested and charged with heresy. The order was brutally suppressed, its leaders burned at the stake, its assets seized.
But the Templars' knowledge was not so easily destroyed. It is said that on the eve of the arrests, a fleet of Templar ships slipped out of La Rochelle, carrying with them the order's vast treasure and, more importantly, its sacred texts and magical secrets. Many of the surviving knights went underground, finding refuge in other orders or forming new secret societies.
The suppression of the Templars did not extinguish their magical legacy; it merely dispersed it. Their knowledge, their symbols, and their practices would resurface in the centuries to come, in the rituals of Freemasonry, in the teachings of the Rosicrucians, and in the complex web of secret societies that have shaped the course of Western history.
In London, the New Temple was given to the Knights Hospitaller, another military order, but the magical imprint of the Templars remained. The area around the Temple Church would become a centre of legal and intellectual life, the Inns of Court, a place where the principles of law and order, so central to the Norman magical system, would be refined and developed.
The Templars represent a crucial stage in the development of London as a black magic temple. They were the first to systematically combine financial magic with military power and esoteric ritual on a grand scale. They were the bridge between the ancient world of myth and magic and the modern world of international finance and corporate power. They were the soldiers of a new kind of god, a god of gold and of the law, and their temple in London was its first great cathedral.
In our next post, we will delve into the shadowy world of medieval grimoires, the forbidden books of magic that circulated in the back alleys and secret libraries of London, and explore the dangerous art of summoning spirits and demons.
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Join us as we continue to uncover the secrets of the Secret City.
Solomon Jones (Author/Researcher)
Knights Templar: The Secret Masters of Medieval London (Sources)
•Rule of the Knights Templar - Original Latin text, c. 1129
•William of Tyre, Historia Rerum in Partibus Transmarinis Gestarum
•Chinon Parchment - Vatican Secret Archives, 1308
•Barber, Malcolm. The New Knighthood. Cambridge University Press, 1994
•Nicholson, Helen. The Knights Templar. Sutton Publishing, 2001
•Partner, Peter. The Murdered Magicians. Oxford University Press, 1981
•Temple Church archaeological surveys
•Museum of London - Medieval religious artefacts
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