Knights Templar (Freemasonry)
The Knights Templar, full name The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta, is a fraternal order affiliated with Freemasonry. Unlike the initial degrees conferred in a regular Masonic Lodge, which (in all Regular Masonic jurisdictions) only require a belief in a Supreme Being regardless of religious affiliation, the Knights Templar is one of several additional Masonic Orders in which membership is open only to Freemasons who profess a belief in Christianity. One of the obligations entrants to the order are required to declare is to protect and defend the Christian faith. The word "United" in its full title indicates that more than one historical tradition and more than one actual order are jointly controlled within this system. The individual orders 'united' within this system are principally the Knights of the Temple (Knights Templar), the Knights of Malta, the Knights of St Paul, and only within the York Rite, the Knights of the Red Cross.
Mythology of Carnivàle
"Carnivàle" introduces the Knights Templar, a medieval Christian military order, in the late Season 1 episode "Lonnigan, TX", where Ben meets the freak finder Phineas Boffo. When Ben comes in contact with Boffo's ring, he experiences a powerful series of visions of the Knights Templar practicing rituals, putting heads on spikes, and being burned at the stake. The ring bears a red-crossed symbol, and when Samson passes a trinket with the same symbol to Lodz, the mentalist has the same visions as Ben and falls to the floor chanting "in hoc signo vinces" ("in this sign you will conquer"). The Knights Templar remain a recurring subplot until Ben discovers the symbol's significance in early Season 2. The Lodge of the Benevolent Order of Templar has its last appearance in the mid-Season-2 episode "Old Cherry Blossom Road", where the escaped convict Varlyn Stroud uses it to track Ben. When Wilfred Talbot Smith asks for the location of the Saunière manuscript late in Season 2, Scudder answers that it is hidden in Rennes-le-Château.