Product Description

Lively...illuminating. A refreshing example of scholarly detective work.--Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15387 in Books
• Published on: 1990-10-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 376 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Unlike most of its five million members, including many world leaders, who believe that the Freemasons, the world's largest fraternal organization, evolved from the guilds of medieval stonemasons, historian Robinson persuasively links Freemasonry's origins and goals to the once powerful and wealthy Knights Templar order. Banned and persecuted by a 14th-century papal bull, he claims, the Knights were forced to form an underground society. The author combines scholarly research and entertaining storytelling in tracing Freemasonry as a worldwide political, religious, economic and social body dedicated to self-improvement and charity while governed by secret rituals and symbols (explained here in detail).
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Historians are always wary of newcomers who try to reinterpret old events in a new way. Here, Robinson (not a professional historian) takes a fresh look at the Peasant's Revolt of 1381 in England and emerges with something really new. It had been thought that this revolt against feudal landlords and royalty was a spontaneous one led by ad hoc people. Robinson shows, in what seems to be a convincing way, that far from being spontaneous, the revolt was a well-planned and highly organized attempt on the part of remnants of the Knights Templar (disbanded by the Pope 65 years earlier) to get retribution against the Knights Hospitaller. Robinson's hypothesis explains many previously unanswerable facts; for those interested in medieval British history and Freemasonry.
- Gordon Stein, Univ. of Rhode Island, Providence
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Fascinating Look at Freemasonry's Origins
I have seen a lot of speculation as to Freemasonry's origins, but Robinson's is the first account that analyzes the ritual and symbolism associated with Masonry and attempts to find a probable explanation for it.

After a brief explanation of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt and some of the more mysterious aspects of it, Robinson delves into the final days of the Order of the Knights Templar and how they evolved into today's Freemasons.

Robinson's accounts are well-written and well-researched. I also appreciate that he kept the account fair, avoiding any hint of Illuminati-style conspiracies. Instead, he uses historical and Masonic sources to describe an (extremely) likely origin of Freemasonry.

If you have any interest in the history of the Knights Templar or the Freemasons, this is a good place to start.

Unbiased Historical Journey into Freemasonry! Excellent, Must Read!!!
Excellent book! A completely unbiased look at the history of freemasonry from a non-mason. This book is one you must read if you are doing research for a paper, curious or interested in joining the fraternity. The best and only unbiased masonic book I have ever read.

A Work of Brilliant Scholarship, Engagingly Written
A Work of Brilliant Scholarship, Engagingly Written

Reviewed by William Courson

In "Born in Blood," John J. Robinson, an avocational historian and medievalist, makes a patiently reasoned and thoroughly documented re-appraisal of the Peasant's Revolt of 1381 in England (known popularly as Wat Tyler's Rebellion) and emerges with a truly convincing demonstration of the sub rosa connections between the Templar order, the Wat Tyler uprising and the foundations of Freemasonry.

It had for long been thought that this popular revolt against a pathologically avaricious landlord class, a backward, decadent Church and corrupt, venal and self-involved royalty was but a lightning flash, operating under a disorganized, "ad hoc" leadership. Mr. Robinson has effectively disproved this. "Born in Blood" demonstrates convincingly that far from being a spontaneous swelling of discontent, the revolt was a well-planned and highly organized attempt on the part of remnants of the Templar order (brutally dissolved by the French King and his lieutenant, the Roman Pontiff, seven decades earlier) to avenge itself against their oppressors. The author's hypothesis sheds copious illumination on a host of previously anomalous events and processes and misunderstood connections.

Unlike the overwhelming majority of its members who believe that Freemasonry evolved from craft guilds of medieval stonemasons, the author persuasively links Freemasonry's origins, doctrine, governance and ritual to the once powerful and wealthy Knights Templar. In the face of persecution of almost unbelievable cruelty, the author claims that surviving Templars, having secured temporary refuge in England and a rather more secure home in Scotland, were forced to form an underground Great Society. The author combines scholarly research and a captivating, storytelling style to trace Freemasonry's birth in the bloody carnage following Papal censure and evolution into a globe-spanning fraternity dedicated to self-improvement and good works. His painstaking analysis of the derivations and meanings of words like "cowan," "cabletow," "due-guard" and "tyler," which occur in Masonic liturgy and nowhere else in the English language, is nothing short of brilliant as well as conclusive.

John Robinson makes a compelling argument. This book will be enjoyed by brother Freemasons, non-Masons and anti-Masons alike as well as conspiracy theorists and aficianados of what has come to be called 'alternative history.' I highly recommend it particularly for those interested in the Templar order, the medieval Catholic Church, British history and Freemasonry. This is an excellent book and a pure pleasure to read, and will surely provoke serious thought about the real origins of the Masonic Craft.