Medieval People by Michael Prestwich

Author:Michael Prestwich
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Published: 2017-02-20T16:00:00+00:00

LAST MASTER OF THE TEMPLARS

c. 1244–1314

In the years following the capture of Jerusalem in the First Crusade, the Latin kingdom saw the establishment of several military orders – brotherhoods of knights who took monastic vows of service. The two greatest were the Hospitallers, whose original function was to care for the sick, and the Templars, created in about 1120 to protect pilgrim routes in the Holy Land.

Little is known of Jacques de Molay’s career before he became Grand Master of the Temple at a time of crisis for his order. He was a Burgundian, and had joined the Templars in 1265. When he came into office, in 1293, the last remnant of the crusader states, the city of Acre, had fallen to Mamluk forces two years earlier. There were desperate hopes that the Christian position in the east might be re-established. Molay went to France, England and Italy in a futile attempt to try to gather support, men and materials. Raids on the Syrian coast in 1300, in which Molay took part, achieved nothing. Any further dreams that the Templars might play a leading role in recovering the crusader states were soon dashed.

By the beginning of the fourteenth century, the order had become, in effect, a major international bank. The network of Templar houses and properties across Europe, and the links that this provided, put it in an excellent position to transfer money easily across Europe and even beyond. The French crown made much use of the financial facilities the order provided, at a time of severe financial difficulties. King Philip IV had fought an expensive and inconclusive war with the English in the 1290s, and suffered a costly defeat at the hands of the Flemings at Courtrai in 1302. In 1303, the Templars were entrusted with collecting France’s war taxation. But taxes were unpopular and difficult to negotiate; that of 1304 was the last major tax of Philip’s reign. The currency was heavily debased as a means of raising money. In 1306, the Jews were expelled from the realm, and their property seized. The wealth of the Templars was a very tempting further target.

On 14 September 1307, orders went out in France to prepare for the arrest of all the Templars in the realm. Philip IV claimed to have discovered that newcomers to the order were forced to deny Christ, made to take part in homosexual activity and worshipped idols. Once arrested, in a dawn swoop on 13 October, the Templars were tortured. Of 138 who were questioned in Paris before the French Inquisitor, all but four confessed to some of the charges. Only three, however, assented that they had been forced to engage in homosexual acts; one of these claimed to have had sex three times in one night with Jacques de Molay. Molay himself admitted that the initiation ceremony included spitting on the cross, and he agreed to encourage all the Templars to make full confessions.

At the end of December 1307, two cardinals came to Paris. Molay

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