Father of Understanding

The Father of Understanding, is a being that the Templars pledge allegiance to and ask for guidance. In the Crusades, the Templars would usually sign his name before theirs in letters they wrote. During the Renaissance, Templars would often ask him for guidance as a greeting or at the end of a meeting:

"May the Father of Understanding guide us"

and in an e-mail, Alan Rikkin writes to Warren Vidic: "May The Father of Understanding guide you to success", meaning that the Templars still use the saying.

Sources

• Assassin's Creed
• Assassin's Creed II

Trivia

• The Father of Understanding may be a reference to the pagan deity, Baphomet, although it is unknown if the Templars did begin to worship him. More likely The Father of Understanding is refering to Cain or some other early Templar, or perhaps the Those Who Came Before analoge of the religious entity of Satan.