The Order of the Rosy Cross

As were the Order the Rosy Cross, which begat the Royal Order of Scotland & "Speculative" Freemasonry. I believe that many of the pieces to the map that leads to the key to the origin of Templars lie in the following streams of influence:

The Desposyni:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desposyni


James the Just:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_the_Just


The Council of Jerusalem:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Jerusalem


The Ebionites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebionites


& other believers in the Gospel of the Hebrews:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_the_Hebrews


& that this tradition's complex relationship with the Vatican revolved around the latter's public position of promoting what was ostensibly Pauline Christianity:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Christianity


The Ebionites & co. were deemed heretical by the Church fathers (so-called) in their polemics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Fathers


As were the Edionite-derived Elkasites (also a very likely predecessor to both Sufi Islam & Templar secret doctrine):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkasites


All of which & whom - from a Reformation viewpoint - would fall under "the Great Apostasy":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Apostasy


A reading of most of the above will provide a good grounding in understanding some area of high significance in the power struggles within what is commonly known as Christianity, that have almost certainly led to the largely covert, internecine battles within Western religious institutions.

-Troy