Conspiratorial medievalism: History and hyperagency in the far-right Knights Templar security imaginary

Imagery associated with the Knights Templar appears in the public discourse and symbolism of many white supremacist and white nationalist groups. The 2011 Norwegian mass murderer cited the Templars in his manifesto, as did the 2019 New Zealand shooter. Templar crosses were on display at the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, North Carolina. To understand the security imaginary behind these racialised medievalisms and their contemporary animation within right-wing extremism, this article develops the concept of ‘conspiratorial medievalism’. The Knights Templar imaginary blends a specific, racialised, and romanticised vision of history with the grammar of conspiracy theory. This is characterised by (a) a belief in the racialised decline and victimisation of a ‘righteous’ White Christendom; (b) a sense of threat posed by racialised Others and betrayal by insiders; and (c) an anachronistic view of near-omnipotent individual agency. Significantly, conspiratorial medievalism demonstrates an aspiration to not merely combat ‘undue’ agency of racialised Others, but to reclaim and perform extreme agency themselves. Agency is cast in the idiom of medieval chivalry and framed as the moral obligation of righteous White men. Although Knights Templar imagery may appear superficial, this article finds it is an important justificatory and enabling discourse for racist violence.

The Knights Templar

Over seven hundred years after the pope dissolved their Order, the Templars remain as controversial as ever. How could warriors also be monks? What did they really believe in? Why did they fail to protect the Holy Land? What impact did they have on society? Why were they dissolved–-were they really heretics? Based on the medieval evidence and the latest research by modern scholars, this book surveys some key areas of the Templars’ history. It argues that despite their wide landholdings and apparent power the Templars‘ influence depended on the patronage of popes and kings, and that they were destroyed when their most powerful patron had more to gain than lose from their dissolution.

THE PHENOMENON OF SWEDISH FREEMASONARY IN RUSSIAN AND EUROPEAN HISTORY

The purpose of the article is to study the history of one of the little-known Masonic organizations - the Swe-dish Rite of Freemasonry. A significant part of the work is devoted to the Swedish system development in Russia and the ties between Russian and Swedish Freemasonry. The author pays attention to the specific nature of the Swedish ritual, which differs in many respects from traditional Freemasonry. These con-cerns, first of all, the legend about the origin of Swe-dish Freemasonry from the medieval Knights Templar order. Based on this legend, the analysis of the hierarchy of Swedish ritual degrees is given and their inter-nal content is revealed. This article can become the basis for a great scientific research of the Swedish Masonic system and the peculiarities of its existence in various European countries.