FREEMASONRY & SECRET SOCIETIES. The Knights of Templar and the Rosslyn Chapel have recently been catapulted to Hollywood fame. "The Rosslyn Templar" avoids well worn grail legend, instead providing new research concentrating on the symbolism of R.T. McPherson's 1836 painting, "Templar Knight at Roslin Chapel". McPherson's recently discovered painting is the earliest material evidence linking the Knights Templar to Rosslyn Chapel.Cowie presents an engaging discussion of the painting, the history of Freemasonry and the architecture of Rosslyn, opening up new artistic evidence for a connection between the Templars, Freemasons and Rosslyn. This beautifully produced book contains detailed photographs of the interior and exterior of the chapel making it appealing to academic enthusiasts and visitors to the chapel alike, especially as public photography has been banned in the building since 2007.

Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh has long exerted a powerful magnetism and mystery for people all over the world. The flamboyant Gothic church became a third Temple of Solomon for the Knights Templar, under the patronage of the St Clairs of Rosslyn. In the eighteenth century the Templars supported the Jacobite cause, and after the final defeat at Culloden, moved their radical Scots Lodges to America and France, where they played a powerful part in the revolutions in both countries. This book offers an enthralling trail through the rich tapestry of events witnessed by Rosslyn over the centuries. Andrew Sinclair, himself descended from Prince Henry St Clair, who could have taken the Templar treasure from the original vaults beneath Rosslyn Chapel to the medieval Newport Tower, Rhode Island, explores - and sometimes explodes - the many myths and misinterpretations that have grown up around Rosslyn, as the fortunes of the Sinclair family declined and the Church and Castle fell into ruin.

Much has been written over the years about Rosslyn Chapel and its connection with Scottish Freemasonry, as well the St.Clair family, the Knights Templar and a variety of 'lost treasures'. The author looks in depth at the validity of the published material and the legends associated with the Rosslyn Chapel exposing major differences between Scottish Freemasons' view of their history and heritage and that described by those who are not Freemasons.

Places and books like Rosslyn Chapel and The Da Vinci Code have focused attention on Scotland's Knights Templar. Who they were and what they did has been touched upon, but never properly explored until now. They were close advisors to Scotland's early kings; they were major property owners and respected landlords in a harsh and unforgiving time; and they were secretive and arrogant. But did they really flee from France to Scotland just prior to their arrest in 1307? Did they fight with Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn in 1314? And how did the Templars continue on after Bannockburn? In The Knights Templar and Scotland Robert Ferguson intertwines Templar and Scottish history, from the foundation of the order in the early twelfth century right up to the present day. Including a comparison of the arrest of the Templars in France with the Templar Inquisition at Holyrood, and an examination of the part they played at Bannockburn, this is an essential book for anyone with an interest in the history of the Knights Templar.

Why do the powerful medieval Knights Templar, the famed warriors of the Crusades, still intrigue many today? A secret society long shrouded in mystery, the Templars were believed to conduct mystical rituals, to guard the Holy Grail, and to possess the priceless treasures of the Temple of Jerusalem. Did they bring their treasure to North America, as some legends say? This definitive work about the Templars and their presumed hidden knowledge addresses many such fascinating questions, with rare photos from the Rosslyn Chapel Museum (Scotland) included.

Nestling in an exquisite glen just seven miles from the centre of Edinburgh, Rosslyn Chapel is one of the world's most extraordinary places. Ever since it was built in the mid fifteenth century it has cast a mesmerising spell over all who have visited it, exuding an aura of profound mystery, as if it holds the key to some vast, unearthly secret. Six hundred years later it continues to confound and intrigue, inspiring stories of The Knights Templar, the Holy Grail and a myriad of esoteric beliefs, most notably in the 1980s bestseller The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, which made the chapel known to millions throughout the word. In this book Roddy Martine sifts through mounds of unfounded conjecture and fantasy to make sense of it all. The Secrets of Rosslyn is the only book that lets the facts speak for themselves, showing ultimately that the truth is no less amazing than fiction.

Rosslyn Chapel has fuelled controversy and debate, both recently in several best-selling books as well as in past centuries. Revered by Freemasons as a vital part of their history, believed by some to hold evidence of pre-Columbian voyages to America, assumed by others to hold important relics, from the Holy Grail to the Head of Christ, the Scottish chapel is a place full of mystery. This book will guide you through the theories, showing and describing where and what is being discussed; what is impossible, what is likely... and what is fact. At the same time, the book will virtually guide you around all enigmatic and important aspects of the chapel. The history of the chapel, its relationship to freemasonry and the family behind the scenes, the Sinclairs, is brought to life, incorporating new, forgotten and often unknown evidence. Finally, the story is placed in the equally enigmatic landscape surrounding the chapel, from Templar commanderies to prehistoric markings, from an ancient kingly site to the South, to Arthur's Seat directly north from the Chapel -- before its true significance and meaning is finally unveiled: that the Chapel was a medieval stone book of esoteric knowledge, 'written' by the Sinclair family, one of the most powerful and wealthy families in Scotland, chosen patrons of Freemasonry.