Philip the fair, King of France tried to secure the Templars wealth and land for himself. For years he tried but couldn't quite pull it off, as they were protected by the pope. Eventually Philip had them arrested under various accusations and forced confessions under torture or threat of torture.
The pope secured access to 72 imprisoned Templars and personally heard their confessions. He absolved them of their sins and of course, Philip had to set them free. However, Philip stopped the pope from gaining access to the Grand Master, Friar deMolay and others.
Friar deMolay confessed to the accusations simply on his torturers showing him the instruments of torture. Hence deMolay was a confessed heretic. deMolay's only option was to ask forgiveness for his herecy and plead mercy from Philip, but it would save his life. Eventually deMolay recanted his original confession which made him a relapsed heretic! Philip burned him at the stake in Paris.(He was of course innocent).
The pope pardoned the Templars from all crimes as demonstrated by the historical Chinon Parchment. However, during the papal investigation, it was proven that the Templars spat on the cross, denied Christ and kissed the lower back of the knight intruducing them to the order. Some of Philip's accusations were true, however, the pope was satisfied with the Templars that they had to do this if caught in battle by the Mohammedans.
After some time, the damage to the Templar order was done and the pope decided that it should merge with the other crusader order; The Knights Hospitaller of St. John. This order exists to this day with an unbroken chain of Grand Masters since the crusades.
As did almost all Christian monarchs, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, disbanded the Templars in accordance with the papal bull and decreed that their lands and holdings in Scotland should be joined with the other crusader order, The Knights of St. John Hospitaller, of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta. This was duly done. [recorded in National Library of Scotland and elsewhere].
In France, King Philip secured their wealth for himself. There was no fleet with treasure trove that escaped. deMolay would have escaped with it himself. As shown, he feared torture!
Brothers of the Templar Order joined their Brothers Hospitallers in Scotland and remained in catholic cloister as catholic monks.
This all happened well over one hundred years before William Sinclair was born or built Rosslyn.
There were no Templars at Bannockburn. For some modern Scots to create such an awful story is unforgiveable. The brave Scots themselves won the day for their freedom. However, the fourth Schiltrom, commanded by Bruce himself, was Gaelic speaking and held the highland clans. This also contained the Gaelic speaking Irish allies. The Welsh bowmen were with the English.
There is indeed a line which is the old French Meridian that bisects the North and South Pole which goes through Paris. This has been replaced by the meridian which goes through Greenwich in London.
It has been claimed that Rosslyn means Rose Line and that Rosslyn chapel lies on the French meridian. This is absolutely not true. Any cursory critique of a European map with lines of longitude shows that Edinburgh/ Rosslyn is several degrees East of Paris. A line bisecting both poles and going through Rosslyn does not go through Paris.
