More than ninety years before Columbus, Prince Henry St. Clair of Orkney reached North America with a Venetian captain and three hundred colonists. Based on stunning new archaeological evidence, The Sword and the Grail confirms Prince Henry's voyage and reveals the role played by the outlawed Order of the Knights Templar, who later evolved into the Masons of Scotland. This book is both an important revision of the history of the discovery of America and a fascinating revelation of the origins of the Masons. Some of the Templars carried their treasure to the St. Clair castle, where the knights' relics are still buried. The tomb of their St. Clair Grand Master, with the Grail carved on his stone, lies in Rosslyn, the core chapel of the Masonic movement. With the help of the sea skills and wealth of the Templars, Prince Henry tried to found with them a new Jerusalem in the New World, landing first in what is now Nova Scotia and then in New England. Written by a descendant of Prince Henry, The Sword and the Grail reveals startling evidence of the pre-Columbian European settlement of North America. It unveils secrets about the Knights Templar, the Grail, and the Masons that will fascinate the untold numbers of readers whose interest was stimulated by books like Foucault's Pendulum and Holy Blood, Holy Grail. All the research is original, and profound hidden mysteries of the Middle Ages are revealed at last.