The Origin of Freemasonry and Knights Templar ... - Lodge Prudentia

FREEMASONRY AND KNIGHTS TEMPLARhistorical by events in the Saviour's life. She erect- jed the famous Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem,the city of His birth; the bui^tChurch of the HolySepulchre at Jerusalem, on the supposed site of Histomb; and laid the foundations of the Church ofthe Resurrection. Her industrious example naturallyawakened new zeal for pilgrimage. Henceforth,thousands upon thousands, princes andpeasants, nobles and beggars,the devout and themercenary, annually thronged the thoroughfareson their way to the "City of the Great King." ___But while this was going on, Jerusalem, thenunder the control of the Roman Empire, was takenpossession of in 637, by the soldiers of Islam,commanded by that famous Mohammedan chieftain,Omar. He erected the mosque bearing hisname, on the site of the temple of Solomon, andrestored the enclosures of the temple a tributepaid to King Solomon, whose faith, like Mohammed's,recognized but one "Living and True God."Owing to Omar's tolerance, for a long period theChristians were undisturbed in their pilgrimagesand devotions, but in 1073 Palestine was overrunand conquered by hordes of Seljook* Turks, whocame out of the northeast through Khorassan andother provinces of Persia. They were more in theform of revolutionists than conquerors, as theywere already the disciples of Islam. The ArabianFatimite* governors were obliged to retire intoEgypt./ The Holy City fell under the dominion of/Sultan Malek Shah and his viceroys, who instituteda high revelChristians and Arabs.of violence and outrage against bothInfested by bands of lawless jmen, the roads to