Freemasonry
<p ><b>Freemasonry</b> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraternity" title="Fraternity" >fraternal organisation</a> that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Lodge_of_Scotland" title="Grand Lodge of Scotland" >Grand Lodge of Scotland</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Lodge_of_Ireland" title="Grand Lodge of Ireland" >Grand Lodge of Ireland</a>, over a quarter of a million under the jurisdiction of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Grand_Lodge_of_England" title="United Grand Lodge of England" >United Grand Lodge of England</a><sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry#cite_note-0" >[1]</a></sup>, and just under two million in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States" >United States</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry#cite_note-1" >[2]</a></sup>
The fraternity is administratively organised into independent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Lodge" title="Grand Lodge" >Grand Lodges</a> or sometimes Orients, each of which governs its own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurisdiction" title="Jurisdiction" >jurisdiction</a>, which consists of subordinate (or<i>constituent</i>) Lodges. The various Grand Lodges recognise each other, or not, based upon adherence to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonic_Landmarks" title="Masonic Landmarks" >landmarks</a> (a Grand Lodge will usually deem other Grand Lodges who share common landmarks to be <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_Masonic_jurisdictions" title="Regular Masonic jurisdictions" >regular</a>, and those that do not to be "irregular" or "clandestine").</p>
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There are also <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonic_bodies" title="Masonic bodies" >appendant bodies</a>, which are organisations related to the main branch of Freemasonry, but with their own independent administration.</p>
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<h4 >Freemasonry</h4>
<div class="rellink relarticle mainarticle" >Main article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar_(Freemasonry)" title="Knights Templar (Freemasonry)" >Knights Templar (Freemasonry)</a></div>
<p >Since at least the 18th century <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry" title="Freemasonry" >Freemasonry</a> has incorporated Templar symbols and rituals in a number of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonic_bodies" title="Masonic bodies" >Masonic bodies</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-HC_4-3" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar#cite_note-HC-4" >[5]</a></sup> most notably, the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar(Freemasonry)#The_Degree_of_Knight_of_the_Temple.28Order_of_the_Temple.29" title="Knights Templar (Freemasonry)" >Order of the Temple</a>" the final order joined in "The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta" commonly known as the Knights Templar. </p>
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One theory of the origins of Freemasonry claims direct descent from the historical Knights Templar through its final fourteenth-century members who took refuge in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland" title="Scotland" >Scotland</a> whose King, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_the_Bruce" title="Robert the Bruce" >Robert the Bruce</a> was excommunicated by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Church" title="Roman Catholic Church" class="mw-redirect" >Roman Catholic Church</a> at the time, or other countries where the Templar suppression was not enforced. </p>
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There have even been claims that some of the Templars who made it to Scotland contributed to the Scots' victory at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bannockburn" title="Bannockburn" >Bannockburn</a>. This theory is usually deprecated on grounds of lack of evidence, by both Masonic authorities<sup id="cite_ref-77" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar#cite_note-77" >[78]</a></sup> and historians.<sup id="cite_ref-fmt_78-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar#cite_note-fmt-78" >[79]</a></sup></p>
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The story of the secretive yet powerful medieval Templars, especially their persecution and sudden dissolution, has been a tempting source for many other groups which have used alleged connections with the Templars as a way of enhancing their own image and mystery.<sup id="cite_ref-71" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar#cite_note-71" >[72]</a></sup> There is no clear historical connection between the Knights Templar, which were dismantled in the 14th century, and any of the modern organizations, of which the earliest emerged publicly in the 18th century, and are referred to as Neo-Templars by some authors.<sup id="cite_ref-72" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar#cite_note-72" >[73]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-73" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar#cite_note-73" >[74]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-74" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar#cite_note-74" >[75]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-75" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar#cite_note-75" >[76]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-76" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar#cite_note-76" >[77]</a></sup> However, there is often public confusion and many overlook the 400-year gap.</p>