ABSTRACT
Rosslyn Chapel is perhaps the most infamous medieval church in the British Isles. This chapter traces the history of reinterpreting Rosslyn as a Templar building, examines various aspects of the chapel which have been misidentified as Templar, and shows the dangerous consequences of these false ideas. First, the facts of the matter. Rosslyn Chapel, more properly known as the collegiate church of St Matthew in Roslin, was founded by Sir William Sinclair around 1450, and the building begun before 1447. Founding Rosslyn was an act of charity by William Sinclair, because it ensured that a group of clergy would sing in perpetuity, giving glory to god. In the 1980s, pseudo-historical Templar narratives concerning Rosslyn Chapel really flourished. Rosslyn only plays a bit part in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, but that book spawned an enormous corpus of writing, and, within many, Rosslyn takes centre stages.
