Baphomet was the imaginary idol or symbol which the Templars were accused of employing in their mysterious rites, and of which little or nothing is known. Research Baphomet
Chivalry is a term which indicates strictly the organization of knighthood as it existed in the middle agea, and in a general sense the spirit and aims which distinguished the knights of those times. The chief characteristics of the chivalric ages were a warlike spirit, a lofty devotion to the female sex, a love of adventure, and an undefinable thirst for glory. The Crusades gave for a time a religious turn to the spirit of chivalry, and various religious orders of knighthoodarose, such as the Knights of St John, the Templars, the Teutonic Knights, etc.
The education of a knight in the days of chivalry was as follows: In his twelfth year he was sent to the court of some baron or noble knight, where he spent his time chiefly in attending on the ladies, and acquiring skill in the use of arms, in riding, etc. When advancing age and experience in the use of arms had qualified the page for war, he became an esquire, or squire. This word is from the Latinscutum, a shield, it being among other offices the squire's business to carry the shield of the knight whom he served. The third and highest rank of chivalry was that of knighthood, which was not conferred before the twenty-first year, except in the case of distinguished birth or great achievements. The individual prepared himself by confessing, fasting, etc; religious rites were performed; and then, after promising to be faithful, to protect ladies and orphans, never to lie nor utter slander, to live in harmony with his equals, etc, he received the accolade, a slight blow on the neck with the flat of the sword from the person who dubbed him a knight. This was often done on the eve of battle, to stimulate the new knight to deeds of valour; or after the combat, to reward signal bravery.
The rules of chivalry only applied to the nobility. While knights on the battle field and in combat enjoyed rules of engagement and a degree of mutual respect - with the notable exception of the Battle of Agincourt where the captured French knights were murdered at the order of king Henry V - peasants, or the ordinary common folk, were slaughtered and raped by knights as though they were not human at all, and certainly not treated in a chivalrous fashion. Research Chivalry
Freemasonry is a term applied to the organization of a society calling themselves free and accepted masons, and all the mysteries therewith connected. This society, if we can reckon as one a number of societies, many of which are unconnected with each other, though they have the same origin and a great similarity in their constitution, extends over almost all parts of the globe, and is consequently of the greatest service to travellers who are members of the craft. According to its own peculiar language it. is founded on the practice of social and moral virtue. It claims the character of charity in the most extended sense; and brotherly love, relief, and truth are inculcated in it. Fable and imagination have traced back the origin of freemasonry to the Roman Empire, to the Pharaohs, the temple of Solomon, the Tower of Babel, and even to the building of Noah's ark. In reality it took its rise in the middle ages along with other incorporated crafts. Skilled masons moved from place to place to assist in building the magnificentsacred structures - cathedrals, abbeys, etc - which had their origin in these times, and it was essential for them to have some signs by which, on coming to a strange place, they could be recognized as real craftsmen and not impostors.
Freemasonry in its modified and more modern form dates only from the 17th century. The modern ritual is said to have been partly borrowed from the Rosicrucians and knights templars, and partly devised by Elias Ashmole, the founder of the Ashmolean Museum. Freemasonry, thus modified, soon began to spread over the world. In 1725 it was introduced into France by Lord Berwentwater; and in 1733 the first American lodge was established. The United Grand Lodge of England recognizes only two species of Freemasonry - the Craft and the Royal Arch; Scotch, Irish, American, and Continental lodges acknowledge higher degrees; but these, with the exception of the Mark Degree and not universal. In ordinary freemasonry there are three grades - those of apprentice, fellow-craft and master-mason - each of which has its peculiar initiation ceremonies; the last of these grades, however, is necessary to the attainment of the full rights and privileges of brotherhood.
At the end of the 20th century the Freemasonry were linked national organisations open to men and women over 21, united by the possession of a common code of morals and beliefs, and of certain traditional 'secrets'. Apart from requiring a belief in the ' Great Architect of the Universe' and acceptance of its moral code, English Freemasons maintain strict impartiality in politics and religion.
Freemasonry assumed a political and anticlerical character; it has been condemned by the papacy, and in certain countries was suppressed by the State. Both in Britain and the USA the freemasons maintain hospitals and institutions for their sick or aged members, and schools for their orphans. Research Freemasonry
Prohibition is usually thought of as the legal ban on the sale and consumption of alcoholic liquor. Prohibition is usually promoted by religious fundamentalists, and historically has proven a disastrous experiment.
In America, which has a long history of indulgence in prohibition, it appeared first as an issue in purely State politics in the Maine Legislature in 1837, a prohibitory bill being introduced, but defeated. Later, in 1846 (and permanently in 1851), a prohibitory law was passed in Maine. Following the lead of Maine, prohibitory laws were enacted between 1850 and 1856, in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, Michigan, New York, Iowa and Connecticut. Other States tried the experiment and local option has been established in some of the towns and counties of these and many other States.
Prohibition first appeared as a national issue in America during the session of the Right Worthy Grand Lodge of Good Templars, held in Oswego, New York on May the 25th, 1869. A committee was appointed to issue a call for a convention. This convention assembled at Chicago on September 1st, 1869, and formed the National Prohibition Reform party. The first nominating convention of this party was held at ColumbusOhio on February the 22nd, 1872. James Black, of Pennsylvania, was nominated for President and polled 5608 votes.
Prohibition was largely entered into both national and State politics since that time, but is most influential in the States. In 1876 Henry Blair, of New Hampshire, introduced into the House a joint resolution to amend the Federal Constitution by prohibiting from and after 1900 the manufacture and sale of distilled alcoholic intoxicating liquors. It was not adopted. In national politics the Prohibition vote steadily increased. In 1876 its Presidential candidate, Green Clay Smith, received 9522 votes; in 1880 Neal Dow received 10,305; in 1884 John St John, 150,369; in 1888 Clinton Fiske, 250,290; in 1892 John Bidwell, 268,361.
During the Great War a temporary Wartime Prohibition Act was passed in the USA to save grain for use as food and in 1919 the National Prohibition Act, popularly known as the Volstead Act after its promoter, Congressman Andrew Volstead, was enacted, providing enforcement guidelines and the 18th Amendment was introduced banning the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within and the importation of same into the United States. This resulted in the birth of organised gangs of criminals illegally distilling, importing and selling alcoholic liquor to the masses. This in turn led to gang warfare between rival criminal gangs, a plethora of killings and the notorious gangsters of the 20's. In 1933 prohibition was repealed in the USA by the passing of the 21st Amendment which repealed the 18th Amendment, and once more allowed the manufacture, sale and importation of alcoholic liquor in the United States.
Baldwin II was the fifth and last Latin Emperor of Constantinople. He was born in 1217 and died in 1270. During his minority John of Brienne was regent, but on his assuming the power himself the empire fell to pieces. In 1261 Constantinople was taken by the forces of Michael Palaeologus, and Baldwin retired to Italy.
Baldwin II was king of Jersualem. He was the cousin and successor of Baldwin I, king of Jersualem, and reigned from 1118 until 1131. During his reign the reduction of Tyre and institution of the order of Templars took place. Research Baldwin II
The Good Templars were a temperance brotherhood which combined the principles of tee-totalism with certain mysticrites, imitated more or less from freemasonry, having secret signs, passwords, and insignia peculiar to itself. It originated in New York in 1851, and extended to Britain in 1868. The organization consisted of local 'subordinate' lodges, county 'district' lodges, national 'grand' lodges, and an international 'right worthy' grand lodge. A 'juvenile order' was also attached; and the Templars founded an orphanage at Sunbury, near London, at a cost of 10,000 pounds. Research Good Templars
The Crusades (or Wars of the Cross) were seven Military expeditions in the Middle Ages for the conquest of Palestine, the first occurring in 1095 led by Godfrey of Bouillon, to the Holy Land, originally sanctioned by the Church and Pope. They were called Crusades, because the warriors wore the sign of the cross. The antagonism between the Christian and Islamic nations had been intensified by the possession of the Holy Land by the Turks and by their treatment of pilgrims to Jerusalem; and the first strenuous appeal was assured of response alike from the pious, the adventurous, and the greedy. The proclaimed objective of the Crusades was two fold - to ensure the safety of pilgrims to Jerusalem, and to recover the Holy Land for Christendom. Their reality was the plunder of the captured lands and the genocide of all Saracens before them. The last crusade occurred between 1248 and 1256 and between 1268 and 1270 and was conducted to satisfy the religious scruples of Louis IX.
Captured cities were cleansed of all 'pagans', Muslims and Jews, with all men, women and children being murdered by the Christian crusaders. When Jerusalem was captured during the First Crusade, more than 30,000 of its inhabitants were killed. Almost a thousand years later the Arabs still recount the horrors inflicted upon them by the Western Europeans 'barbarians', which included - according to Christian witnesses - murdered children being spit roasted and eaten by the crusaders, and adult victims being boiled and eaten.
On returning from the Crusades, many of the soldiers were absolutely destitute and immediately availed themselves of robbery in order to obtain clothes and food. Research Crusade
The Templars were a military order founded in 1119 at the time of the Crusades by Hugues de Payen and Godfrey de Saint Adhemar, with seven other knights. They took vows of chastity, poverty and obedience and the undertaking to protect pilgrims to the holy places from attacks by the Saracens. Research Templars
The Order Of Teutonic Knights was an order similar to the Templars and Knights of St John but restricted to Germans. It was founded at Acre in 1190 originally to tend wounded crusaders, it soon took up aggressive warfare against the heathen. The order was suppressed in Germany by Napoleon in 1809, but was still in existence in Austria in the 1920s caring for those wounded at war. Research Teutonic Knights
Abbreviations
Research Baphomet
