Travis Simpkins: "Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry" by John J. Robinson

Born in Blood

The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry

by John J. Robinson

M. Evans and Company, 1989

Brief Review by Travis Simpkins

Of all the many books written about the subject, Born in Blood by John J. Robinson presents the most convincing argument for a connection between the Knights Templar and the Freemasons. Well-structured and articulate, the text creates due pause for thought on a topic that is often too easily dismissed by both mainstream and Masonic historians.

According to Robinson, he did not set out to uncover any great historical secret, but rather to simply research the cause of England's Peasant Revolt of 1381. Repeated mention of The Great Society behind the uprising led Robinson to suspect that a secret society had existed in England far prior to the public unveiling of Freemasonry in 1717. He maintains that the Knights Templar did not cease to exist after their brutal suppression and execution in France in 1307, but rather went underground and on the run finding safe haven in parts of England and Scotland… their rituals and teachings filtered through the guilds of medieval stonemasons, eventually evolving into Freemasonry.

Robinson's strongest argument by far for the connection between the Knights Templar and the Freemasons rests with the bloody penalties and oaths contained within the three Ancient Craft or Blue Lodge Degrees: "The object of the oath is to instill total trust. Since, in the case of the fugitive Templars, betrayal would mean treatment much more horrible than a clean death, the penalty for breaking the oath would have needed to be something horrible. This called to mind the much condemned oath in the initiation of the Master Mason in the third degree, when he asks that his body be cut in two and his bowels burned to ashes should he break his oath of secrecy. Such a penalty would seem totally out of line for a broken oath taken by a stonecutting guild member, but would not have seemed too much to a man whose betrayal would mean days and weeks of torment with whips and chains and red-hot irons, with the the ultimate risk of being burned alive at the stake."

An intriguing historical timeline is drawn out through the pages, with the Templars in England gaining a 3 month head-start after seeing their French brethren burned at the stake, finding a weak opponent in Edward II and trustworthy allies in the army of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce of Scotland… and so on, up through the protestant Reformation. Some points are more clear than others and some revelations are, as can be expected, a tad stretched. Overall, the book is fascinating, especially when approached with an open mind and a desire for a romantic interpretation of Masonic history.