Just What Are the Facts About 'National Treasure'?

has been the top-grossing movie in America for the last two weekends, even though it was largely panned by reviewers. But movie-goers are apparently drawn to the plot line, which goes like this: An order of European Knights, called the Knights Templar, amassed a huge amount of treasure originating in the

. Their treasure is rumored to contain artifacts of spiritual significance retrieved by the order during the Crusades, including the genealogies of David and Jesus and documents that trace their descendants to French royalty.

According to the movie, Freemasons--the descendants of the Templars--brought that treasure to colonial America, then concealed it in a super-secret location in New York City to protect it from the British, leaving clues about its location on the back of the Declaration of Independence and other places in the original colonies.

We looked into some of the claims of the movie in an attempt to separate fact from fiction.

When the Order of Knights Templar was officially destroyed in 1307 by King Philip the Fair of France, it possessed wealth and political power. It is true that none of the treasure the Templars allegedly amassed has ever been found. Some independent scholars believe the Sinclair clan of Scotland were among the members of the royal bloodline-and that they

to a remote island off the shores of present-day Nova Scotia.

These independent scholars also believe the Sinclairs possessed secret knowledge-that they were direct descendants of Jesus--whose

teachings they guarded and passed on through their children.

The Sinclairs, these scholars say, passed on Masonic teachings which were eventually brought to the United States by the Founding Fathers--several of whom were Masons--and written into the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.

Most mainstream historians pooh-pooh these legends as utter fantasy. Yet the public is constantly curious, as evidenced by the popularity of "National Treasure," as well as the famously successful DaVinci Code novel.

The

were a monastic military order formed at the end of the First Crusade with the mandate of protecting Christian pilgrims en route to the Holy Land. The Templars fought alongside King Richard I (Richard The Lion Hearted) and other Crusaders in the battles for the Holy Lands.

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