The Friderician Templars between Church and Gnosis?

Friderician Templars lay claim to a dubious "Templar heritage".

By Father Paolo M. Siano*

In 2012, Corrado Maria Armeri founded in Gerace (province of Reggio Calabria) the "Sovereign Monastic (Knight) Order of the Friderician Templars", called Friderician Templars for short. The Order presents itself as a Catholic brotherhood and takes a stand on current issues in Sicilian and Calabrian radio and television stations. They call themselves Friderician because they are also based on the Hohenstaufen Frederick II (1194–1250), King of Sicily, Duke of Swabia, Roman-German King, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Jerusalem.

As far as I know, the Order does not currently have its own website on the Internet. There is an old, no longer updated page from 2014, but a Facebook page of the Friderician Templars of the group or the Priory of Teramo is active. Photos and online articles show the presence of the Friderician Templars in churches for religious gatherings or for ceremonies of investiture or "elevation" to knight or queen (e.B. in Teramo, in 2020 and in 2021). The Order also accepts women.

In June 2021, the Friderician Templars took part in the Corpus Christi Mass in the Cathedral of Teramo, which was led by the Bishop. Among the knights present were the Grand Master of the Order Corrado Armeri and his International Vicar, Melinda Miceli, who then presented her book "Templaris Compendium". During the Mass, General Domenico Trozzi was appointed Prior of Teramo. Trozzi was commander of the Air Squadron of the State Police in Palermo for 20 years.

"Templaris Compendium" by Melinda Miceli

In 2020, the Grand Master of the Friderician Templars, Corrado Armeri, appointed Dr. Melinda Miceli (born in 1974) as Vicar of the Grand Master of the Grand Master's Seat of Art and International Culture.

Miceli is an art critic, writer, novelist and is also interested in esoteric topics.

I hold the book "Templaris Compendium. The whole wisdom of the Templars in one volume" 1 by Melinda Miceli for very interesting. I will highlight important terms.

Like other New Templar realities, I have already described, Miceli attributes esoteric, Gnostic knowledge, teachings, and practices to the Templars. It is an official text with a praising "preface" (p. 3f) by Grand Master Corrado Maria Armeri.

In the appendix of the Miceli's book, on p. 170, there is a paragraph by Grand Master Armeri ("The New Era of the Templars"), then the "Catholic Creed" of the Friderician Templars, proclaimed on 8 December 2012 (pp. 170–174), their "Disciplinary Order" (pp. 177–182), their "Prayer" (p. 183), "The Spiritual Way of the Friderician Templars" (pp. 184–186), outlined in 2014 by her spiritual director Msgr. Giuseppe Greco (Archdiocese of Syracuse), "The Defense of the Faith" (p. 186f), "The Friderician Culture" (p. 187f), "The Testimony of Msgr. Vincenzo Filice" (pp. 189–192), "The Secret Alphabet of the Knights Templar" (pp. 193–195).

In the Catholic Creed of the Friderician Templars we find a well-sounding profession of faith that invokes the whole paradise: the Holy Trinity, the Immaculate Conception, the angels, the saints, from St. Francis to St. Ignatius of Loyola... Wonderful. The fundamental problem is that this profession of faith contradicts various contents of Melinda Miceli's text, a text approved and introduced by Grand Master Armeri: while the Friderician Templars call themselves Catholic and believe that they "belong to the friars of the Temple of Jerusalem, whose immortal faith we guard and protect" (p. 171), the vicar of the Grand Master attributes Gnosis and esotericism to the Templars.

Melinda Miceli claims the existence of "affinities in doctrine and organization" between the Templars and the "Ismailis" of the "Old Man of the Mountain" [meaning the Ismaili Assassins], i.e. the "most developed Islamic circles", which also include "Sufis" and "dervishes" (cf. p. 15). Miceli goes on to claim that the Templars had "a double hierarchy," "an accessible hierarchy," and "an occult, superordinate hierarchy" (cf. p. 19).

With the following statements, Miceli shows little knowledge of the history and theology of the Christian Liturgy and Mass: "The Mass, which comes from the ancient and oriental world in the narrower sense, did not exist before the supreme regulator, Innocent III. In the East, it was originally a magical and apotropaic instrument of worship adopted from Hinduism and Buddhism. This archaic aura has never faded and is manifested in the Liturgy of the Mass, which is sung Gregorian and spoken in Latin" (p. 55).

Miceli believes that the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi, who was "close to Brother Elias, alchemist and political advisor to Emperor Frederick II," was "connected to the Templars" (cf. p. 80). I do not know on what basis Miceli claims: "Francis' mother was a Cathar, and it is no coincidence that Franciscan spirituality was much closer to Catholicism than to the Catholic Church, at least in its external forms" (p. 80).

The author also makes St. Francis an esoteric and Gnostic: "Francis was a disciple of John, i.e. he belonged to that spiritual current to which the Cathars, Albigensians, Bogomils, Patarenians, Dolzinians, Faithful of Love, Rosicrucians and Templars also belonged, who in their faith and thought completely agreed with the Sufis, Kabbalists, but also Buddhists and Hindus" (p. 81).

Melinda Miceli (right) in the sacristy of Teramo Cathedral

According to Miceli, the Castel del Monte in Puglia belonged to the Templars and they had "their idol Baphomet" (cf. p. 115). Castel del Monte: a place where "the occult science of alchemy" was practiced (p. 115), a place that symbolizes "the highest synthesis of the esoteric culture of that time" (p. 116).

The seal of the Templars, which depicts two knights on a horse, stands "for the dualism and balance of opposites to which their ideal refers" (p. 117); "in each of us" there is the "masculine" and the "feminine" (cf. p. 117).

Miceli connects the Templars "with the Mother Goddess" (p. 122), with the "holy feminine" (p. 122), with "places of energetic worship, of harmony of the two energies, of the masculine descending from heaven, and of the feminine rising from the earth" (p. 122).

According to Miceli, the "dragon" (or "Satan") defeated by St. Michael is "a symbol of evil that can be subjugated, but never completely extinguished, because it is functional for evolution" (p. 124). So evil is necessary?

Together with the esoteric and alchemist Fulcanelli, Miceli sees the cathedrals as stone books with magical and alchemical symbols (cf. p. 132), symbols of the cosmic action of "two opposing principles, light and dark" (cf. p. 133).

Miceli mentions the "Great Mother, the Earth, whose cult was embodied in Isis up to Mary Magdalene, depending on the historical epoch" (p. 135f).

According to Melinda Miceli, an important symbol of the Templar Order in France is "the Templar Thorn" (p. 145, emphasis added). The Vicar of the Grand Master ascribes an esoteric meaning to the Templar thorn and to the Templars certain practices towards the "thorn":

"According to the Hindus, the human body consists of two poles: a lower one, which corresponds to the sacrum, and an upper one, which corresponds to the skull. Certain yoga techniques cause a certain energy present at the base of the spine to rise above it to the crown. This path is synonymous with enlightenment. The energy is compared to that of a coiled snake that has to unroll. This practice is called Kundalini and is the principle of yoga. The biblical serpent and the Uraeus serpent on Pharaoh's forehead are the same images of kundalini" (p. 145f).

Miceli continues: "During the trial of the Templars, they also had to reveal the existence of a practice in their chapels: the Master kissed the sacrum, i.e. the lower part of the spine, to stimulate the 'revival of the serpent' so that this energy could rise in an exact and controlled way. According to Hindus, awakening can actually be dangerous, to the point of madness and even death" (p. 146).

Miceli describes Mary Magdalene as a woman who devotes herself to "sacred studies with the Essenes or the priesthood of Isis," then follows Jesus and will live in France in a cave where "she feeds only on angelic energies" (p. 147).

According to Miceli, the Black Madonna is "Isis", the Egyptian goddess of wisdom, "the Gnosis" (cf. p. 148). And also: "The Creed of the Templars is therefore a Gnostic Christianity, spread by Mary Magdalene and her disciples in the south of France and practiced, hidden from the clergy. The initiation cult of the female Isidic principle of divine wisdom was disguised as The Marian deification and devotion to the Black Madonna. According to this confession, which is similar to that of the Cathars, every man and woman is a son and daughter of God, capable of attaining their own spiritual enlightenment and ascending to higher heavens without intermediaries. [...] According to the Templars, the teachings of the Catholic Church would lead the devotee into oppression by a vengeful God. The Catholic Church persecuted Gnosticism like never before, and the enlightened knowledge of the divinity of the self was persecuted [...]" (p. 148).

Investiture of a Frederick Templar by Grand Master Armeri (with sword)

Later, the author also associates Mary Magdalene with Gnostic and magical culture (cf. p. 154). She is "Divine Teacher of Heavenly Wisdom and Gnosis" (p. 157).

Miceli thus confirms the accusations made against the Templars. They were credited with "blasphemous acts such as spitting on the cross three times and cursing Christ at the institution" (p. 161). According to Miceli, with this gesture the Templars denied and sacrificed the most sacred only in order to free it in its redemptive action... (see p. 161).

Then follows the accusation of worship "of a bearded head, Baphomet, for whom," Miceli is convinced, "the entire Order showed a special reverence" (p. 161).

Miceli continues: "The Baphomet, who was called the head of the devil or Muhammad by the Inquisitors, had a much deeper esoteric meaning than the simple accusations made against the Templars" (p. 161).

Miceli later wrote: "The worship of Baphomet must also be studied with the help of the hermetic tradition; in many depictions, the Baphomet is depicted as Janus with two faces, that is, he has two faces, one white and one black, in the same colors as the Baussant, the flag that the Templars led in battle. This leads the Templar researchers to adopt the ideological principle of dualism, that is, that of the union of opposites, as the basis of the entire spiritual and philosophical wisdom of ancient cultures" (p. 162).

Miceli continues about the Templars: "Their relations with Islam and Sufism, its most spiritual part, were aimed at finding points of contact with Christianity and creating a single religion that would put an end to all wars hidden under the seal of faith. The knights were convinced that God is the 'One', but was declined by men into various entities who, in the union of religious opposites, would have to find that cohesion that alone would be able to reach the true God" (p. 162).

In reality, Melinda Miceli turns the Templars into Gnostics and Esoterics and contradicts herself when she describes the accusations that the Templars are an "esoteric sect" as "dishonest" (cf. p. 164).



Let's also check out the video "The Discovery of templar Secrets with writer Melinda Miceli" 2 (minute 11:28), which was posted on YouTube on May 8, 2021. Gotha Tv World interviews the author of "Templaris Compendium". Let's listen to some of Melinda Miceli's statements.

The Templars are "custodians of a knowledge as old as the earth" (min. 1:30–1:36), "commissioned by the Church to discover the mysteries of other religions" (1:40–1:44). "Their research had also led to the erection of an idol, which was the end of [the Templar Order] (1:46–1:53). The book was written at the request of Grand Master Corrado Armeri (cf. 1:53–1:57). The Templars are a "mystical, ascetic, and mysterious order" (3:20–3–25). Miceli wonders how an order like the Templars, who fought for the Church, could be called "heretical" (cf. 4:36–4:53). Miceli explains that the accusations of heresy did not take into account the "symbolic and very hermetic vision that belongs to the ancient Christian tradition of hermetism" (4:53–5:13), and therefore with this book she wants to restore the truth about the Templars (cf. 5:20–5:22) ...

Commenting on the "myth" of the Templars, Miceli states: "This myth is more relevant than ever, because the slogan that connects all the hermetic knowledge of the Templars is the conjugation of opposites, that is, the fusion of opposites. This was never understood" (6:00–6:17).

The Templars "believed in the duplicity of the cosmic principle" (6:45–6:48), that is, in spirit and matter, which must be kept in "perfect balance" (6:54–6:55) in order to "achieve evolution" (7:01–7:02). Then the author notes that "even the symbol of Baphomet, which has been claimed to be satanic, is not satanic, but a code for deciphering what could be a kind of totem to ward off evil. Solve et Coagula. The same star that is on the forehead of this idol, the Jewish star, has its tip not directed downwards, like the satanic ones, but upwards. This means that it is a positive idol, not a satanic one" (7:05–7, 35).

Miceli finally says that "the book is also initiatic" (8:23–8:24). The first nine Templars possessed "superior initiate knowledge" (9:24–9:26), "they were initiated beings who were already predisposed and predestined for knowledge" (9:34–9:40). Miceli points out that "the book belongs to the Order" (9:55–9:57), of which she is "the International Vicar for Culture and art" (10:04–10:06). And she declares, "Our goal is to spread the new era of the Templars" (11:13–11:17).

I will conclude with a few questions:

Grand Master Armeri (3rd from left), symbol of the Frederick Templars and Melinda Miceli. Armeri is accused by other New Templars of being Freemasons.

Do the Friderician Templars share the Templar wisdom (Gnosis, Esotericism, Baphomet – Union of Opposites, Kundalini, Kissing the Sacrum, etc.), presented by the International Vicar with a praising preface by the Grand Master, and to what extent?

What do the Monsignori and clerics, who act as protectors and spiritual directors of the Friderician Templars, say about all this? Will their investitures continue to take place in the churches?

Is it fair to say that there are also those among the Friderician Templars who try to unite opposites such as church and gnosis?

*Father Paolo Maria Siano belongs to the Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (FFI); the doctor of church history is considered one of the best Catholic connoisseurs of Freemasonry, to whom he has dedicated several standard works and numerous essays. Von Katholisches.info has so far been published by him:

In the series Esotericism and Gnosis:

• The Ambiguity of "Christian" Esotericism I
• The Ambiguity of "Christian" Esotericism II
• The Ambiguity of "Christian" Esotericism III
• The Ambiguity of "Christian" Esotericism IV
• The Ambiguity of "Christian" Esotericism V

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Corrispondenza Romana/Twitter/Facebook/Wikicommons (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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1 Original title: Templaris Compendium. Tutta la Sapienza Templare in un grande compendio, Santocono Editore, Rosolini 2021.

2 Original title: "Alla Scoperta dei Segreti Templari con la Scrittrice Melinda Miceli".

AMDG

The Templars and Their Revival

No order of the Church is more shrouded in mystery than the Templar Order. A large number of very different organizations refer to it. What is fantasy, what is reality?

In 1312, the Poor Knighthood of Christ and the Solomon Temple of Jerusalem, better known as the Templar Order, was abolished by Pope Clement V. At that time, the Pope did not act freely, but under pressure from Philip IV, King of France. A large number of groups from Catholics, Protestants, Gnostics to Freemasons today refer to the Templars and claim to have succeeded them. What is it all about?

The Templar Order was founded in 1118 by Crusaders in the Holy Land to protect the Holy Places, as the Crusade armies returned to Europe after their successful or failed military operations. The monastic knightly orders, including the Order of the Templars, were to support the Crusade armies, but above all to ensure the defense and protection of the Holy Places in their absence. The Knights Templar, which had its focus on French chivalry, became the militarily and economically strongest knightly order. Until 1302, this elite of Western knighthood defended the last base in the Middle East, the island of Arwad off today's Syrian coast.

While the Teutonic Order had found a new task in Prussia and the Baltic States and the Order of Malta (at that time still The Order of St. John) had found a new task in the Aegean, such a task was still missing for the Templars, who retreated to their European enclaves at the beginning of the 14th century. Whether France's king also feared their now idle military power is unclear. It is certain that he considered them obsolete and, due to his financial hardships, wanted to lay hands on the proverbial Templar treasure (better, Templar possessions). The Order had built this up through a large number of foundations over two centuries to finance its very costly presence in the Holy Land (construction and maintenance of castles, maintenance and armament of the brothers). In contrast, Philip IV was on the verge of national bankruptcy.

The biggest judicial scandal in the history of the Church

Pope Clement V, a friend of the French king, had led the papacy into exile in Avignon in 1309 and thus made it a "prisoner" of the French king. Clement V, a weak pope in the See of Peter, conducted a lengthy, confused and opaque show trial against the Templars on behalf of Philip IV, which culminated in the condemnation and violent annulment of the Templar Order. Pope Benedict XVI had the trial files made available in 2007. Since then, there is no longer any doubt that the Templars were victims of a judicial scandal. It is also documented that Clement V [Despite being a French puppet, himself] not convinced of her guilt, was too weak to prevail against Philip IV. Nevertheless, a revival of the Order was refrained from in the late Middle Ages, because the reputation of the Order was considered too damaged by the trial and its destruction.

Most of the Templars surrendered to their fate, disappointed and broken. They had defended themselves as well as possible in the trial against the heinous accusations. They could have taken up arms, but a struggle against the legitimate authority of the Pope and the King was beyond the realm of possibility.

Its twenty-third and last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, had been arrested in 1307, like many other Knights Templar, on the orders of Philip IV. Under severe torture in 1309, he confessed to abominations charged to the Order, but immediately recanted his confession. The proceedings dragged on and the members of the order, since they had nothing to expect from the secular power, placed their hope entirely on the Pope, from whom they saw themselves betrayed in the end.

Still impressive today: The ruins of the Templar castle Krak in Jordan

In order to stifle any resistance in the Order, Philip demonstratively had 54 Knights executed in 1310. The Order, rendered leaderless by the arrests, was paralyzed. In 1314, the king also ordered the execution of the Grand Master, although he had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment. Molay was burned at the stake in Paris, one of many breaches of the law in this sensational smashing of a hitherto so respected and important order, to which so many members of the most distinguished families had belonged in two centuries.

The abolition of the Templars differed from the abolition of other orders in history because of the violence used against them, but otherwise it was comparable. The property was confiscated and mostly passed into secular, less often into spiritual hands. The surviving and non-imprisoned members of the Order had to lookfor a new place to stay, each for themselves. Deprived of leadership, dispossessed and threatened by severe repression, the Order simply dissolved.

Only on the Iberian Peninsula, where the Reconquista against the Muslims was still in progress, were new knightly orders founded by the kings of Aragon and Portugal, to whom templar ownership was transferred in these countries, and thus offered a new home to the Knights Templar there, who were knights and monks, which must not be forgotten.

Did the Order live on in secret?

Claims that the Templars persisted in secret in some areas of Europe lack any historical basis. Such theses only emerged in the 18th century in the context of the Masonic guilds that appeared at that time, which absorbed everything that was "tangible" for them and their intentions in terms of actual and even more supposed pre-Christian and non-Orthodox "knowledge", in historical personalities, organizations and currents. The judicial scandal that had led to the end of the Templars for political reasons was particularly predestined to be co-opted by Freemasons and lovers of the mysterious. Until then, it was not so much the Order, but emblematic for it, that the tragic figure of the last Grand Master had been in the public interest. The apparently instinctively recognized judicial scandal was condensed in the narrative that Grand Master Molay had cursed Pope and King at the stake or at least prophesied their death in the same year – and with the king the end of the Capetians – since both Clement V and Philip IV died in 1314.

It was only in the context of "enlightened" circles of the 18th century that imaginative stories and claims about the Templars really shot into the weeds. Only since then have there been ex novo claims of a secret continued existence of the Templar Order and mysterious symbols and signs by which they would recognize themselves. Centuries later, the spectacular and tragic judicial scandal was accompanied by a gigantic humbug.

Armed Christian militia in Syria with the Templar flag

Since the knightly orders, the Crusades, the Holy Land, the ideals of the Crusaders, their castles, their monastics and knighthood, their military and political power, their defensive spirit and overall, their quarrelsomeness, obviously inspire the imagination and exert a certain attraction to this day, a wide variety of groups around the world, often more bad than good, try to follow in the footsteps of the Templars.

According to the Ecclesiastical understanding, an order can be suppressed, but not abolished. It therefore rests only, because the Order continues to exist in the already deceased members of the Order in heaven and purgatory. The Templar Order could therefore also be revived at any time with ecclesiastical permission. So far, however, the Church has refrained from doing so. It would necessitate the annulment of the 1312 conviction, which was long considered a hardly feasible undertaking due to the time distance, lack of documents and witnesses. Since Benedict XVI opened the Vatican archives, it has been known that the annulment of the judgment is possible and would even be necessary. However, there is no one to be seen who could legitimately demand such a repeal. Above all, however, this would compromise the highest ecclesiastical authority, which at that time could be made the instrument of Philip IV. in the Vatican, this is considered an unnecessary mea-culpa compulsory exercise, since there is no need for a revival of the Order.

A Revival of the Templar Order: Claim and Reality

Thoughts about a possible reactivation did not appear in the ecclesiastical scene until 1847, when the Ottoman Empire – five and a half centuries after the fall of the Crusader states – allowed the re-establishment of an ecclesiastical hierarchy in the Holy Land. However, a revival of the Templar Order contrasted with the understanding of the papacy established by the First Vatican Council at the same time, in 1870. The Church met the now existing need for the preservation of the Holy Places by constituting the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 1868. This was done without possibly provoking the Ottomans by a reappearance of the Templars and, above all, without "damaging" the papal authority at a delicate moment by admitting that a pope had supported and facilitated a serious judicial scandal in 1312. The "delicate moment" concerned the often misunderstood Dogma of Infallibility of 1870, which caused sufficiently violent conflicts within the Church and even more so hostility from outside. In the Second German Reich, proclaimed shortly thereafter, there was therefore a "culture war" against the public influence of the Catholic Church.

Today, however, the Church recognizes a number of lay associations that were founded after the Second World War and are close to the Templar Order without being able to claim its succession. They follow the ideals of a Christian life and charity, as sought and promoted by the three great ecclesiastically recognized knightly orders, the Maltese, Teutonic Knights and Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, for their lay members. In addition, there are also several "connections" in the Catholic field that are not recognized by the Church, which are committed to more or less the same goals. They usually make a valuable contribution to the Church and society, especially for persecuted Christians.

In addition, there is also a large number of would-be Templars outside the Church and mostly without a religious reference. These groups come together for historical, social or sometimes political reasons. Overall, today's "Templar landscape" is characterized by a high fluctuation: groups, sometimes small and smallest, often arise and dissolve again soon.

Since the end of the 19th century, this has also included a myriad of imaginative organizations in the haze of esotericism and gnosis and, of course, groups that belong to the Masonic cosmos and somehow refer to the Templars.

This myriad of very different groups, none of which can claim an actual succession to the Templar heritage, creates a mess and sometimes exposes even church-recognized organizations to suspicion, as the name "Templar" is discredited by dubious, Gnostic and Masonic initiatives. Overall, it has caused no minor damage to the memory of the Templar Order. A precise distinction is therefore needed.

However, this is made more difficult by groups that are close to the Church, but are on the verge of dubious intellectual property. Father Paolo Maria Siano of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, one of the best Catholic connoisseurs of Freemasonry, deals with them. He shows the confusion that seems to prevail in some circles that claim foundations ecclesiastically and are according to their outward appearance. These include the so-called Frederick Templars or Frederician Templars. The self-designation alone mixes the ecclesiastical with the secular and seeks the aura of the mysterious, the resistant and the criticism of the Church.

See the essay by P. Siano on the Friderician Templars (Frederick Templars):

• The Friderician Templars between church and Gnosis?

Historical fresco: depiction of a Templar.

Text: Giuseppe NardiImage
: Wikicommons/MiL