Father of Understanding
- "May the Father of Understanding guide us."
- ―A Templar blessing.[src]
The Father of Understanding was an entity to whom the Templars pledged allegiance, and asked for guidance.
In the Third Crusade, the Templars would usually sign his name before theirs in letters they wrote.[1] During the Renaissance, Templars would often ask him for guidance as a greeting, or at the end of a meeting.[2]
During the Golden Age of Piracy, the phrase was used briefly by Laureano de Torres y Ayala during his first meeting with Edward Kenway.[3]
Before and during the American Revolutionary War, the phrase was used twice by Haytham Kenway; first during the induction of Charles Lee to the Templar Order, and secondly when Haytham was required to enter the Smith and Company Brewery with his son, Connor.[4]
The use of the blessing continued into the early 21st century, as Abstergo Industries' CEO Alan Rikkin once emailed Warren Vidic, where he placed the phrase at the end of his message.[1]
Behind the Scenes
This blessing is a reference to the demonic entity Baphomet, whose name comes from an Arabic phrase which means "the Father of Understanding", and which the real-life Knights Templar were accused of worshipping at the time of their downfall.[5]