In 1188 there was an “altercation” (Wikipedia’s words) in Gisors, a commune in Normandy, remembered as the ‘Cutting of the Elm.’

This is about a real tree, once a traditional gathering place where the French and English met to hammer out their differences.   In 1188, just after Jerusalem was lost to the Muslims (in 1187), the two “sides” met in Gisors and the result was that the “French” cut down the giant tree. 

The conservative view is that this was just a spat between the French and the English.  But, were the two countries on such friendly terms that the French needed to cut down the tree to make their point?  The other view, which I subscribe to, is that suggested in ‘Holy Blood Holy Grail,’ that this was symbolic of a parting of the ways between the Templar Knights and the parent Order which had created them nearly two centuries earlier, the Priory of Sion.  (This wasn’t merely “symbolic” though, it was the “French” side which cut down the giant tree, indicating that it was the Priory sending an emphatic message to the Templars.)

The clue that clinches the latter of these two hypothesis is the date.  This followed right on the heels of the loss of Jerusalem by the Templars – who lost the Holy Land as a result of their arrogance and stupidity.  The conquering and maintenance of Jerusalem was critical pursuant to the goals of the “Priory,” which had been established (at the end of the First Crusade) to protect and forward the interests of the desposynic (and, I contend, “elven”) House of Lorraine.  Following the conquering of Jerusalem, the “Grail Romances” were published and the public was exposed to new ideas, the concept of ‘the Grail,’ and “hints” of a royal bloodline descended from Jesus (which the Church of Rome would rather not have seen disseminated).   The ‘Courts of Love’ emerged as well, centers of progressive thought which challenged the rigid dogma of Catholic Europe (and from where our notions of romantic love actually derive!).

This was a concerted effort on the part of the families descended from Christ (notably the House of Lorraine, but also those of Guise, I think Hohenstaufen, the House of Flanders and other allied dynasties) to tip the scales of power in Europe.  The Templars dropped the ball, and 2 centuries of effort went right down the drain.

The ‘Priory of Sion,’ or the influential people who it represented, washed their hands of the Knights Templar in 1188, and cut down the giant elm tree in Gisors to make their point – that’s what I think.

Now, why do historians associate the Templars with the English?  Could it be that, by that time, the Templar Knights had become essentially a Norman institution?  – I think so – and, we mustn’t forget that at least one of the original 9 Templars was Norman – Rozel, alleged to have been Hughes de Rozel, whose descendants were the Russell family.  One William H. Russell, in 1832, co-founded the Skull & Bones society at Yale.  The Skull and Bones symbol, originally, is of Templar origin.

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[Edit] – It occurred to me today that a pertinent snippet of information which supports my contention that the Templars had become largely a Norman institution (which I propose at the end), is revealed at the beginning.  Just to make sure the reader didn’t miss it, the elm which was cut down was in Gisors, in NORMANDY.