Overview
The Ironclad Knights and Dames of the Priory of the Monitor and the Merrimack welcome you to our website. Located in Southeastern Virginia, we are a member Priory of The Autonomous Grand Priory of The United States of America (GPUSA). Our international parent organization is Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani, which is Latin for "The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem" and often shortened to the initials OSMTH or SMOTJ. More colloquially, we are also known and frequently referred to simply as "The Knights Templar". We are members of the world's largest Templar Order, and the only such order recognized in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations.
OUR PRIORY
The Priory of the Monitor and the Merrimack was first established by GPUSA as a Commandery in 1991. Today, this dynamic corps of Knights and Dames is enthusiastically engaged in a variety of endeavors. First, we are dedicated to actively demonstrating and upholding the ideals and chivalric traditions of our order through our work in our local communities. To this end, the Priory proudly supports many highly deserving charities with both funds and personal efforts, which we refer to as "sweat equity". These charities are all either local, locally based but with a broader reach, or locally focused offices of larger organizations, and in various moving and often heartwarming ways, and within their own areas of concentration, each of them supports the neediest and most unfortunate in our communities. In addition to our direct sweat equity we conduct a variety of fundraising efforts throughout the year, sometimes in partnership with like-minded organizations, to augment our financial support to these superlative charitable organizations.
