National Geographic - The Knights Templars
Knights Templar is an international philanthropic Masonic order affiliated with Freemasonry. In some countries it forms part of the York Rite, while in others it is a separate order on its own. In the mid 1700s the Freemasons began to incorporate symbols and traditions of the medieval Knights Templar. The original medieval Order of Knights Templar was established after the First Crusade, and existed from approximately 1118 to 1312. There is no known historical evidence to link the medieval Knights Templar and Masonic Templarism.