On Friday the 13th 1307, the Knights Templar were placed under arrest across France by order of King Philip IV – and later endorsed, if grudgingly, by Pope Clement V.
Events moved at an astonishing pace taking the Templars completely by surprise. Unless you believe, as some do, that the knights were tipped off in advance and were able to secretly transport their treasure to the port of La Rochelle and onwards to Scotland, Portugal, or another clandestine location. But…sticking with the account supported by most mainstream historians, the Templars had no idea what was coming and were easily rounded up.
FIND OUT MORE: Arrest of the English Templar grand master
Knights, sergeants, chaplains, and even farm hands were taken into custody. Very soon, they were languishing, manacled, in royal prisons. Wasting no time to extract confessions, the torturers got to work and within days, even the last grand master – Jacques de Molay – was confessing to the lurid accusations in the arrest warrants. This included accusations of heresy and sodomy that, if proven, guaranteed a death sentence – by burning at the stake.
The arrests involved an audacious series of dawn raids. It is incredible that an operation on this scale was carried out in utmost secrecy. Once the Templars had been confined in dungeons, the king’s officials began making detailed inventories of the order’s possessions. Philip IV had run up considerable debts in his wars with England and having shaken down France’s Jews, Lombard merchants, and monasteries, he took a keen interest in the assets of the Templars.
For De Molay, the wave of arrests to hit his order was a deep shock. Only the day before, he had been a pallbearer at the funeral of the king’s sister-in-law, believing he was a trusted member of the royal inner circle. But in reality, even while he was at the funeral, the king knew exactly what he was going to do to De Molay within 24 hours. Politics is indeed a dirty business.
If you want to find out more about the Templars – get a hold of this book: The Knights Templar – History & Mystery – by Tony McMahon – published by Pen & Sword – now available on Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, WHSmith, and other online bookstores.
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