8

LINE OF SUCCESSION

I find myself starting again at the beginning, with my late mother, Betty Dorsett Duke. She is the reason I got involved in this in the first place: when she brought the truth about Jesse James to light, she opened doors we never knew existed. Had it not been for her, I probably would have never heard of the Knights of the Golden Circle and the treasure legends attributed to them. I would never have looked beyond them and found that stories of their involvement in these treasures are most likely a false trail, leading away from the narrow and rocky path to truth. Through all the years of research, I have continually found myself coming back to the beginning, and each time I return with a little more knowledge than I had before. Running forth, returning, and starting off again with a slightly different view than before.

My objective in this chapter is to show a line of succession tying my research back to the Knights Templar. In previous chapters I have covered connections from where I began my search. I took it back to Williamsburg, Virginia, and further back to Francis Bacon. There are also many other names that could be added to this list, and others who will very likely remain unnamed, but my goal in this chapter is to show a connection between those I have already named and the Knights Templar.

Three names I think are important to start with for the purposes of this chapter are Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin. All three were Freemasons. Washington and Jefferson both had ties to the College of William and Mary and were among several Founding Fathers who attended services at the Bruton Parish Church. “A 17-year-old George Washington received his surveyor’s license through W&M and would return as its first American chancellor. Thomas Jefferson received his undergraduate education here, as did presidents John Tyler and James Monroe.”¹ As for Jefferson, author and Freemason Timothy Hogan writes, “Some would dispute Jefferson’s involvement in Freemasonry since initiation records no longer survive for him, however the record of him being present at several public Masonic events, his appointing several well-known Masons to top level posts, the fact that a Masonic code cipher was found among his personal papers, he was known to have marched in Masonic processions, he attended cornerstone laying ceremonies, two Grand Lodges held funeral processions for him after his death, and his son-in-law Governor of Virginia Thomas M. Randolph, his favorite grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph, and his nephews Peter and Samuel Carr were all members of Door to Virtue Lodge No. 44, Albemarle County, Virginia, should all attest to the fact that he had more than just a side interest in the fraternity.”² Jefferson’s mentor, Professor William Small at the College of William and Mary, taught natural philosophy and mathematics and was a student of the Enlightenment, following in the footsteps of Francis Bacon and Isaac Newton.

In searching for Franklin’s ties with the College of William and Mary, I found that “the College of William and Mary was instrumental in opening a school in 1760, at the urging of Benjamin Franklin, no less and so became the first college in America involved in the education of black students.”³ Benjamin Franklin was a Fellow of the Royal Society and a staunch Baconian. The website for the Rosicrucian order AMORC states that “Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine were intimately connected with the Rosicrucian community.”⁴ Franklin was also accepted into Masonic lodges and academic societies in France, where he found support that was crucial in gaining American independence. One of the early influences on Franklin’s scientific interests came from Harvard professor John Winthrop. Professor Winthrop’s great-uncle was John Winthrop Jr., governor of Connecticut.

Before coming to New England and being appointed governor of Connecticut in 1631, Winthrop, while studying law and Christian alchemy in London, had developed an interest in Rosicrucianism and later became a member of the Royal Society. Winthrop “began to display a special affinity for the English alchemist John Dee. Dee, whose mystical approach to experimental science has been linked by historians to both the origins of the Rosicrucian movement and the Arabic works of Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Artephius, had a special interest in scientific exploration of the New World.” John Dee had ideas of forming a colony in the New World “which he intended to call Atlantis.”⁵ Dee, a well-known occult philosopher, is said by many highly esteemed Francis Bacon researchers to have served as a mentor to the young Bacon.

The fact that Winthrop, the colonial governor of Connecticut, was involved with Rosicrucianism, Christian alchemy, and the Royal Society (formed by well-known Baconians) and had a deep interest in the works of John Dee would place him among possible New World contacts for fostering Bacon’s New Atlantis and helping to bring it into reality.

Like Winthrop, Isaac Newton, one of the most influential scientists in history, was one of the earliest Fellows of the Royal Society and later became its president. Newton was also an alchemist and a Rosicrucian; his friend and associate Christopher Wren was also a member of the Royal Society. It is said that Newton highly regarded the scientific work of Christopher Wren. As I have mentioned earlier in this book, Christopher Wren probably was a Freemason as well.

It’s clear that the men mentioned above had ties to one another, either through Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, or both. They were students of alchemy, mathematics, natural philosophy, and more. Some suggest the Royal Society served as an informal Masonic lodge where, because of the climate of the times, they could safely meet and share their findings and ideas. Had these men voiced some of their views publicly, the church would have had them condemned and put pressure on the rulers of the day to punish them as heretics. These highly educated, goal-oriented men weren’t the type to waste time pondering the meaning of life, but instead put their ideas into motion. Adherents of and successors to Francis Bacon, they carried the idea of New Atlantis into reality. They weren’t the only men involved, however: the dream they brought to reality required the efforts and solidarity of many men from various walks of life. As Manly Palmer Hall suggested, this undertaking took the efforts of secret societies throughout the Western world to complete. It wasn’t just the ideas of one man or one group, but many, with the same dreams of liberty and freedom from political and religious tyranny.

One man more than any other is credited with helping to form the mind of the young Francis Bacon. That man is John Dee, the original 007. Dee was a man of many talents; in addition to serving as advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, he was an alchemist, mathematician, occult philosopher, astrologer, and spy. He would often sign letters to the queen as 007. Dee studied with and was friends with Gerolamo Cardano, an Italian philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, and physician. Gerolamo’s father, Fazio Cardano, was a mathematician and devotee of Hermetic science and the occult. Fazio was friends with Leonardo da Vinci, who was in turn a student of John Argyropoulos, a philosopher, teacher, and writer who is credited with bringing the classical literature and philosophy of the ancient Greeks to Western Europe.

Another student of John Argyropoulos was Johann Reuchlin. Reuchlin, born in Germany, was a humanist, Greek and Hebrew scholar, philosopher, and author of several books. At a time when the Catholic church was attacking the Jews, Reuchlin stood in defense of Jewish literature and championed religious toleration in the face of the Inquisition. This resulted in a papal verdict against Reuchlin, ordering him to be silent. Reuchlin became interested in the Kabbalah after meeting another student of Argyropoulos, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. In 1517, Reuchlin published a book, De arte cabalistica (On the Kabbalistic art), in which he covers Messianism, Pythagoreanism, and Kabbalah. In composing this book, he used materials sent to him by Jerome Riccio, the son of Paolo Riccio, who published the Latin translation of Gikatilla’s Portae Lucis. As mentioned in chapter 7, Paolo Riccio also served as physician and counselor to Emperor Maximilian I, who was apparently on friendly terms with Freemasons, who were at that time said to have been actual stonemasons.

In The History of Freemasonry, Albert Gallatin Mackey includes the following extract from the writings of a cardinal archbishop of Westminster:

The south of France, where a large Jewish and Saracenic element remained, was a hotbed of heresies, and that region was also a favorite one with the guild of Masons. It is asserted too that, as far back as the 12th century, the lodges of the guild enjoyed the special protection of the Knights Templars. It is easy in this way to understand how the symbolical allusion to Solomon and his Temple might have passed from the Knights into the Masonic formulary. In this way too might be explained how after the suppression of the Order of the Temple, some of the recalcitrant, maintaining their influence over the Freemasons, would be able to prevent what had been hitherto a harmless ceremony into an elaborate ritual that should impart some of the errors of the Templars to the initiated. A document was long ago published, which purports to be a charter granted to a lodge of Freemasons in England, in the time of Henry VII., and it bears the marks in its religious indifference of a suspicious likeness between Freemasons of then and now. In Germany, the guild was numerous and was formally recognized by a diploma granted in 1489 by the Emperor Maximilian. But this sanction was finally revoked by the Imperial Diet in 1707.⁶

Paolo Riccio’s brother, Augustinus Riccius (Riccio), was a follower of Abraham Zacuto, a Sephardic Jew, historian, astronomer, and rabbi who knew Cornelius Agrippa and was the royal astronomer for King John II of Portugal. Christopher Columbus used Zacuto’s astronomic tables on his famous trip to the New World, and when looking for funding for that trip, Columbus met with King John II. Columbus’s request for funding was denied—though some believe Columbus remained loyal to King John II—so he turned to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. Upon his return from discovering the New World, Columbus announced his discovery to King John II, who replied that Columbus’s discovery was also under the influence of Portugal. Before Columbus could get word to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, King John had contacted them, and in the end, he got a cut of the discoveries. There is evidence enough to cause suspicion, leaving some researchers wondering if Columbus was working for King John II the entire time. If so, the king had a shrewd business plan in that Spain would finance the exploration, and if or when it paid off, Portugal could draw the water from the well which Spain had dug.

Columbus himself is said by many to have been a member of the Knights of Christ, while others say he was closely associated with them and that his father-in-law was a member of the order. The Knights of Christ were a modification of the Knights Templar, and King John II is said by some to have been the order’s grand master at that time. “In Portugal, the Order was cleared by an inquiry and simply modified its name, becoming Knights of Christ. Under this title, they functioned well into the sixteenth century, devoting themselves to maritime activity. Vasco da Gama was a Knight of Christ, and Prince Henry the Navigator was a Grand Master of the Order. Ships of the Knights of Christ sailed under the familiar red pattée cross. And it was under the same cross that Christopher Columbus’s three caravels crossed the Atlantic to the New World. Columbus himself was married to the daughter of a former Knight of Christ, and had access to his father-in-law’s charts and diaries.”⁷

Societies such as these often had similar goals and interests. Among the interests shared by various societies, scholars, alchemists, artists, and others was the need for an outlet where they could express their ideas without fear of persecution. Among those individuals was Abraham Gikatilla, author of the Portae Lucis. He was a Kabbalist and a student of Abraham Abulafia, a Spanish Jewish mystic and founder of the school of prophetic Kabbalah. Abulafia’s dream was for Christians, Jews, and Muslims to unite through the beliefs they had in common, which some researchers believe is one of the secret goals held by those who founded the Knights Templar. Abulafia wrote to Pope Nicholas III, announcing his intention to come to Rome to convert the pope. The pope responded by ordering his men to burn Abraham Abulafia at the stake as soon as he arrived in the city. Luckily for Abraham, the pope had a stroke and died the night before Abraham arrived; he was jailed for a short time and then released.

Abraham was the nephew of Meir Abulafia, who often corresponded with and was friendly with Rabbi Samson ben Abraham of Sens; although the two quarreled later, Meir spoke of Samson’s father, Abraham, “as a pious, saintly, and noble man.”⁸

Samson was a great-grandson of Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, also known as Rashi, who was a favored court guest of Hugh (or Hugues), Count of Champagne, one of the most important figures involved in the formation of the Knights Templar. Author Karen Ralls states that the court of Hugh was “known to have been a haven for Jews and other non-Catholics who fled persecution. Rabbi Rashi started his famed Kabbalistic school, also based at Troyes, in 1070. He was renowned for his expert translation skills and especially adept at translating Hebrew into other languages, including French. St. Bernard, the Cistercian abbot of Clairvaux, as well as abbots from other Orders, highly valued the skills of certain learned scholars in Champagne (and elsewhere) who were well versed in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Aramaic, some of whom stayed at various abbeys for long periods of time translating texts.”⁹ In addition, Timothy Hogan says in his book The Way of the Templar, “Rashi had been initiated into the Rose Cross Order established by Amus, and was one of the leading lights within it. Rashi was born in Troyes and he in fact likewise secretly initiated Godfrey de Bouillon into this tradition, and had originally entrusted in him certain secrets regarding artifacts in the Holy Land. Rashi had also been an early tutor of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who wrote the first Rule for the Templar Order. In fact, this is why the first Templar Rule was 72 articles, which corresponded to the 72 Qabbalistic names of God.”¹⁰

Those mentioned above are but a few of the great people involved throughout the centuries in building a great work—a nation free of tyranny and oppression from heads of state and powerful religious figures. Many had the common trait of having been persecuted for views or beliefs that differed from the established powers of their day. Some kings were lenient, as were some religious leaders, but there was little stability in that; when one leader passed away, he was oftentimes replaced with a holy terror. The New Atlantis was a beautiful dream, formed in large part by the oppression all these figures had suffered. Through the efforts of Jewish and Christian Kabbalists and adherents of various other religious faiths, along with secret orders such as the Knights Templar, Freemasons, and Rosicrucians, this dream has been, and continues to be, formed into a reality.

The people listed above show a clear line of succession from the founding of the Knights Templar through the Middle Ages into the Age of Discovery and to the founding of America, where they buried treasures using the Tree of Life and Veil templates.

Why did they do this, and what exactly did they bury? We know of treasures consisting of gold and jewels in Victorio Peak, New Mexico and in Georgetown, Texas, and we know of the gold buried by Jesse James aka James L. Courtney and a young George Roming in Bell County, Texas. We also know of Marie Bauer Hall’s writings concerning the Bruton Vault stating that its treasure may contain documents and records of great importance. But what kind of documents and items could possibly be so important that secret societies would have gone through so much trouble over the centuries to keep them hidden? The answer to that could lie in a mystery you’ve most likely already heard about, and one of the clues just might be found in a famous work of art.