700 Hundred Years Late
The Knights Templar came to an end on March 18, 1314 with the death at the stake of the Order’s Grand Master, Jacques de Molay. According to legend, from his pyre he cursed the two agents of the destruction of the Templars – the French King Philip IV (Philip the Fair) and Pope Clement V. de Molay summoned them to appear with him before the throne of God for judgment before the year’s end. In fact, they both died in 1314, and the 300-year-old Capetian dynasty ended 14 years later.
There are many other interesting and mysterious legends surrounding the Templars: The Shroud of Turin, the Skull of Sidon, and the worship of Baphomet, the Grail, and the various “secrets” they knew about the blood of Christ and his descendents. Many of these legends made their way into Templar lore because of their condemnation as heretics.
Philip IV had the Knights tortured and killed; their money and lands confiscated; and their order suppressed and dissolved based on the charges of heresy and sodomy.
But it was really a struggle about money and power between Philip the Fair and the Order. He wanted his debts to them cancelled; he needed money; and he was afraid the Templars wanted their own state similar to what the Pope and temporal powers had conceded to the Teutonic Knights in Prussia.
In 1308 Pope Clement V decided to save the order as recorded by the “Parchment of Chinon.” But the pope was pressured by the king and suppressed the Order in 1312.
On the morning of October 30, 2007 the Vatican Secret Archives, in collaboration with the Scrinium Publishing House, issued “Processus Contra Templarios” (Trial Against the Templars) a compendium of reprints of the original acts of the hearings against the Knights Templar (1308-1311).
The book reproduces all of the documentation of the papal hearings convened after Philip IV arrested and tortured the Templars on charges of heresy and immorality.
Barbara Frale, an official at the Vatican Secret Achives, found the “Parchment of Chinon” in 2001. Frale told the Associated Press the 3-ft-wide document probably had been ignored because a catalog entry in 1628 was “too vague.” “Unfortunately, there was an archiving error, an error in how the document was described. More than an error, it was a little sketchy.”
Frale was interested in the 1628 entry because it included a reference to Clement V’s aide, Cardinal Berenger Fredol, who had gone with other important cardinals to interrogate someone. (Note: de Molay and other Templar leaders).
Frale indicated the “Parchment of Chinon” reveals the cardinals reached the conclusion the Templars were guilty of some charges, but not “a real and true heresy.”
Now what? The money is gone and the Templars are ashes.
