[Canticle_of_Deborah]

If you check the names of the knights buried in the Templar church in London and keyword through google for family genealogies you will find lineal, blood descendants of English Templars. Some pass through lines of Sons of the American Revolution. You can find Catholic and Protestant descendants of these.

Interesting. Weren't they supposed to be celibate, warrior monks?

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Some married noblemen were permitted to affiliate with the order. Sort of like Third Order lay religious associations, confraternities, etc.

[livius]

Picky, picky...

Actually, I think Masons have long tried to claim connections with the Templars, so some of these family connections may actually be initially indirect - that is from a Templar uncle or some other relative - but then have been subsumed into the family mythology, particularly if the family was Masonic.

BTW, before offending any Masons on this board, let me note that Masons in Europe are entirely different from what we think of as Masons here. There, Masonry is a very political, anti-religious movement that has frequently allied itself with left-wing intellectual movements to attack the Catholic Church in particular and Christianity in general.