Neotemplarism

The "neotemplar" or "Neo-Templar" groups are modern associations that reflect the tradition of the ancient Knights Templar, sometimes claiming some form of direct derivation from this chivalrous religious order which existed between about 1118 and 1314. There is a large number of these groups, very varied, and the modern neo-templar phenomenon as a whole is called the "templarism" or "neotemplarism" and came from the eighteenth century onward, coinciding with the spread of Illuminism.