Short History Of... - The Knights Templar

Episode Date: March 27, 2022

For almost two hundred years, the Knights Templar were one of the most fearsome military forces in the world. Despite their strict vows of individual poverty, the Order was a global financial powerhouse, with valuable holdings across Europe and the Middle East. Even today, the myth of the Templars endures. But who were the men who devoted themselves to the mysterious order? And how did such a powerful international organisation find itself suddenly brought down? This is a Short History of The Knights Templar. Written by Duncan Barrett. With thanks to Thierry Do Espirito, author of The Knights Templar for Dummies, and to Michel Carnet, voice of the French nobleman.  For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's the 29th of May, 1154. In the desert outside Cairo, Nasseh al-Din and his entourage are on the run, following a bloody killing spree in the city. Nasseh's plot against the Caliph, his friend, and according to some rumors his lover, has ended in disaster. The young Caliph lies hacked to pieces at the bottom of a well. But his supporters are rioting in the streets. Nasser and a small group of family and friends have been forced to flee in disgrace.

But they haven't left the city empty-handed. The Egyptians have brought with them as much of the royal palace's treasure as they could loan onto the backs of their horses and camels, along with a small retinue of slaves to help transport it all. In the lawless desert, the caravan offers rich pickings for bandits, and the fugitives have made little effort to disguise their wealth. Nasser's horse wears an ostentatious saddlecloth embroidered with gold thread. Over the coming week they're set upon again and again by nomadic thieves.

But every time they successfully outmaneuver them. By the 7th of June they've made it as far as Almuela, a small outpost on the way to Damascus. But their luck is about to run out. The next band of warriors they encounter are no simple tribesmen, armed with bows and arrows. They are some of the toughest knights in Christendom and beyond. in Christendom and beyond. The distinctive red crosses that emblazon their white mantles are known and feared throughout the Holy Land. In the Knights Templar, Naseh al-Din and his followers have much more than met their match.

The ensuing battle is distinctly a one-sided affair. Before long many of the Egyptians lie dead and others have fled for their lives on foot or horseback. Among the casualties are Nasser's father and brother. To the Templars, the Muslim convoy represents a rich bounty. The treasure is hastily carted away along with the Egyptian men's wives. But the most valuable prize is Nasser al-Din himself. Held prisoner at the nearby Templar Castle in Gaza, the young man tries to reason with his captors.

He renounces his faith and begs to convert to Christianity. As his captors mull over what to do with him, he even begins learning the Western alphabet. The Templars, however, are unmoved. They may be men of God, but they have no interest in converting Muslims. And the ransom Nasser's enemies will pay to get their hands on him is hard to resist. Though their coffers are already well filled, for an extra 60,000 pieces of gold, the knights are more than happy to hand the young nobleman over. Sources vary on what kind of end awaits Nasser back in Cairo. In one account, he dies a proud Christian, romantically shot through with arrows. In another he's ripped to pieces by a braying mob who tear the flesh off his body with their

teeth. As with many stories involving the Templars, the distinction between fact and legend can be hard to pin down. What is clear, though, is that the Knights Templar are as ruthless as they are formidable, and Nasser al-Din's days were numbered the moment he crossed their path. For almost two hundred years, the Knights Templar were one of the most fearsome fighting forces in the world. But their power went beyond mere military prowess. Officially sanctioned by the Pope,

their reach and influence extended throughout the Christian world. While individually the Knights were sworn to an oath of poverty, the Templar order was a global financial powerhouse, with valuable holdings across Europe and the Middle East. Their skill with money was sought by kings and pilgrims alike. In time they even became the world's first international bankers. Even today, 700 years since the Order was officially disbanded, the myth of the Templars

endures. The Knights have found a new lease of life in fiction, cropping up in popular films and books. Often the line between historical fact and wild conspiracy theories is hard to keep clear. Rumors abound that a secret society of Templars may yet be active around the world. But what is the true story of the Knights Templar, once the mythology is stripped away? Who were these men, thousands at any given time, who devoted themselves to the mysterious Order?

And how did such a powerful international organization find itself suddenly brought down? I'm Paul McGann, and this is a short history of the Knights Templar. The origins of the Knights Templar go back as far as the First Crusade, in which Christian soldiers venture into the Holy Land, attempting to seize it in the name of the Pope. When the Crusade culminates in 1099 with the capture of Jerusalem, the Templars are little more than a small band of its former French fighters. Thierry d'Espirito is the the author of The Knights Templar for Dummies.

So all the story of the Knights Templar began with the Crusade. The first one, the only successful Crusade, 1099. And you know, after the Crusade, a lot of pilgrims decided to go to Jerusalem. But you know, the road leading to Jerusalem was terribly unsafe. For the Christian visitors, travel in the Holy Land is hazardous. The routes into the sacred city offer numerous opportunities for ambush by Muslim warriors. Many pilgrims don't survive the journey. But it isn't just their religious beliefs that make them a target for attack. You know, the pilgrims were traveling, not right now with their credit card and mobile phone,

but they were having, you know, a lot of money with them to pay for the hostel, to pay for the food, to pay for the taxis when they have to cross a bridge. So they have a lot of money with them just for their travel. So very easy to rob because they were alone in a kind of desert land, you see. So it was not, I would say, because mostly they were Christian, but because they were having money like travelers. Even so, some of the French knights who had helped conquer the territory over the past few years see it as their spiritual duty to protect these fellow Christians from attack.

So a small group of knights were, you know, deeply religious and also who didn't want to settle and didn't want to go back to France, decided to help the pilgrims to protect first Jerusalem and also to protect all the roads leading to Jerusalem. All these roads were protected by a small brotherhood. They called them the poor soldiers of Jesus Christ of the Temple of Jerusalem. And for short, they were called the Knights Templar. Knights Templar. It's 1119 when the Templars are officially formed.

Their leader, or Grand Master, is the former French crusader, Hugh de Pain. Little is known about Hugh's early life, or indeed about the earliest days of his Templars. But soon after the accession of Baldwin II to the throne of Jerusalem, Hugh succeeds in gaining royal support for the order. Hugh approaches Baldwin with eight knights, two of them brothers, who have been protecting the roads into Jerusalem. He obtains the king's permission to form an official monastic order. It's Baldwin who provides accommodation in the royal palaces on the Temple Mount,

from which the order will come to take their name. The knights live a simple, holy life, somewhere between warriors and monks. They eat sparingly, dress humbly, pray regularly, and live entirely on charitable donations. The emblem of the new order is an image of two knights sharing a horse, further emphasizing their poverty. But Hugh de Pain has big plans for the Templars. Over the next decade he travels widely, attempting to draw new recruits to the Order. In 1128 he visits England and Scotland, where he establishes Templar outposts, known as commanderies, in London and just outside Edinburgh. But it's the following year that Hugh really transforms the Templars' fortunes, at the

first meeting of the Council of Troyes. A Roman city in the Champagne region of northern France, Troyes borrows its name from the ancient city of Troy. Six years later, it will be the birthplace of the poet Chrétien de Troyes, whose tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table will earn him the title Father of the Novel. It's Chrétien who kick-starts the popular genre of Arthurian romance, introducing the city of Camelot and the quest for the Holy Grail. Right now, though, the city of Troyes will be instrumental in the fortunes of a real-life band of knights, the Templars. instrumental in the fortunes of a real-life band of knights, the Templars.

Hugh de Pau already has the support of the King of Jerusalem, but in January 1129 he seeks the blessing of an even higher authority, the Pope. Convened by a local bishop, the Council of Troyes is intended to provide the Knights Templar with religious backing. Pope Honorius II does not attend in person, but he does send a legate to act as his proxy. Also present are ecclesiastical representatives from all over northern France. Hugh meanwhile has brought with him five of his knights. Key to Hugh's petition to the Church is the establishment of an official code of conduct for the Templars. That will become known as the Latin Rule.

Its 72 clauses define in exact detail what prospective knights can expect from the Order. More importantly, it sets out what is expected of them in return. To each knight brother, we grant three horses and one squire. And if that squire willingly serves charity, the brother should not beat him for any sin he commits. We grant to all knight brothers white cloaks, which signifies purity and complete chastity. These robes should be without any finery and without any show of pride. If any brother wishes to have a better and finer habit,

let him be given the worst. Let not ladies be admitted into the house of the temple, admitted into the house of the temple, that the flower of chastity is always maintained among you. Avoid at all costs the embraces of women by which men have perished many times. We altogether prohibit idle words and wicked bursts of laughter. We forbid any brother to recount the brave deeds he has done in secular life, which should rather be called follies, and the pleasure of the flesh that he has had with immoral women. For the most part, the rules governing the Knights Templar are similar to those in a traditional monastic order such as the Benedictines. But there is one crucial difference.

These brothers are expected to fight. During the Council of Troyes, it was a very important point which was discussed. Why, how and in what situations they are allowed to kill. It was a brotherhood. They were not really monks, but very close. But you know, monks like the Benedictines, they were only working a little and praying. But the difference with the brotherhood of the Knights Templars, they were praying, they were working, but they were also fighting,

which was very different. You have never seen before a monk fighting because you have to kill somebody. And to kill somebody, you have to have an order of, I would say, a better power because you have to kill somebody and to kill somebody you have to have an order of i would say a better power than you for example the pope or the bishop with the formal endorsement of the catholic church hugh begins to grow his order into a major international organization his recruitment drive sees the templar ranks swell from less than a dozen to a fighting force of thousands. And the change to the order is not just in terms of manpower, but money as well. Though individually the Knights have sworn a vow of poverty, the brotherhood itself grows increasingly wealthy. The great master of the Knights Templar make a sort of roadshow in Europe to meet important people and to say

we have a very important project. We wanted to build a new kingdom in Jerusalem and to protect Jerusalem. So give us something to us. And at this time, you know, the most, I would say, expensive thing was the land, the land given. So they were given a lot of land in many countries, in I would say 11 or 12 countries. They were given land and, you know, it was given to them and they were making money with the land. You know, they were putting peasants and getting the crops and selling the crops. For example, in Burgundy, they were having vineyards, they were having wheat fields. In Paris they were having windmills and water mills, you know, just to have money. They became very rich because they were getting a lot of land, a lot of castle, a lot of manor, a lot of taxes.

After the death of Hugh de Pins in 1136, another knight is elected as Grand Master. The Templars go from strength to strength. As their public profile increases, they receive generous gifts from wealthy benefactors. When King Alfonso of Aragon dies, he leaves the order a third of his land and holdings. he leaves the Order a third of his land and holdings. Then in 1139, just ten years after the Council of Troyes, Pope Innocent II issues a bull, or decree, known as Omne Datum Optimum, or Every Perfect Gift.

As well as extending papal protections of the Order and allowing them to travel freely through the Christian world, the bull offers substantial financial benefits. The Templars are now exempted from paying local taxes and granted the right to keep any spoils taken in the Holy Land. Bit by bit, the Templars continue to grow, becoming not just a military but also an economic powerhouse. As their influence increases across Europe as well as the Holy Land, they become, some historians argue, the world's first multinational corporation. Monarchs across Europe begin taking advantage of the Templars' financial

services. The order guarantees debts, provides credit to pay ransoms, offers loans to cover military operations, and even acts as a royal pawnbroker. In 1240, Pope Gregory IX employs the Templars' international network to pay off his debts. But the Templars never forget their original mission to protect European visitors to the Holy Land. Here too, their financial connections prove extremely handy, providing a way to travel without the risks of carrying physical cash. You know, they were, for example, easy to transfer money from Paris to Jerusalem. Not using big bags full of gold, but with letter of change.

You see, you give a letter. For example, you go to Paris. You want to go to Jerusalem. You go to the ninth Templar to Paris. You give them your treasure, your money. They give you a letter. With this letter, you can travel safely. And when you arrive in Jerusalem, the ninth Templar of Jerusalem will give you the counterpart

because you show them the manuscript with the seal of the Knights Templar. By the mid-12th century, the Templars are known throughout the Christian world. They're respected both as canny financiers and as the superior military order, the medieval equivalent of the SAS or Navy SEALs. And it's now that they're called upon to prove their mettle in the most significant action in their history. Over Christmas in 1144, the great city of Edessa in the Holy Land is recaptured by the Imad al-Din Zengi, the tyrannical governor of Mosul and Aleppo.

His troops lay waste to the city, killing over 6,000 people in the first day of the campaign. As one chronicler puts it, neither age nor condition nor sex was spared. Among the victims is Edessezard's bishop, Hugo, whose body is cut to pieces with an axe. As Zengi's forces rage through the city, women are raped and murdered, and 10,000 children are taken away to be sold into slavery. By Boxing Day, Edessa is in Muslim hands once again. For the Christian leaders in Europe, the conquest of Edessa is a wrong that once again. For the Christian leaders in Europe, the conquest of Edessa is a wrong that demands to be righted.

It will be more than two years before their avenging armies arrive in the Holy Land. But when they do, the Templars will be at the heart of the operation. It's the 27th of April, 1147. At their European headquarters in Paris, 130 Templar knights have gathered to witness an unusual sight. The King of France and the Pope standing side by side. Pope Eugene III has announced a second crusade, and King Louis VII has volunteered to lead it in person.

Now the two rulers, one spiritual and one temporal, have joined forces to muster an army. The Order's new Grand Master, Everard de Barre, is impressed by the two men's zeal. He doesn't hesitate to commit his own forces to the great undertaking. Alongside the 130 knights gathered together that day, resplendent in their crisp white mantles and bright red crosses, are at least as many dark-clad support staff. Templar sergeants, servants, blacksmiths, cooks and more. Combined, there can be no doubt that they are a force to be reckoned with.

But the Templars will make up only a small part of a much bigger crusading army. Before long, thanks to the hard work of King Louis and Pope Eugene, the ranks of the assembled French forces have swelled to over 15,000 men. Two months after the grand meeting at the Templar house in Paris, Louis' crusading army sets off for the Holy Land, determined to avenge the conquest of Edessa. As they march out of the city, they wave their banners proudly above their head. The Templars accompany them on horseback, undaunted by the long road ahead. But for the less experienced French foot soldiers, the epic journey is challenging.

Marching overland from Paris to Constantinople, and then down towards Damascus, over land from Paris to Constantinople, and then down towards Damascus, the crusaders begin to look less like a disciplined army and more like a rabble. King Louis attempts to whip his troops into shape with physical violence. He even resorts to cutting off the ears or even hands and feet of those falling short of his standards. But his efforts have little success. Those falling short of his standards, but his efforts have little success. In January 1148, after half a year on the march, the indiscipline of Louis' men proves disastrous.

Attempting to cross the challenging terrain of Mount Cadmus in modern-day Turkey, they are set upon by local Seljuk warriors. In the chaos that ensues, many crusaders are killed, and the king himself only escapes death by fleeing the scene of the battle. He returns in the dead of night to find his army decimated. The only soldiers who have acquitted themselves well of the Knights Templar. Exasperated at the state of his forces, and impressed by the performance of the Templars, Louis takes an extraordinary decision. He hands over command of the entire crusading army to the Templar master, Everard, and his knights, instructing every Frenchman to enlist in the order temporarily, so they can fight as one unit.

The Crusaders are divided into 50 manned divisions, each led by a Templar knight. They swear an oath never to flee from the battlefield, and to obey any order given by their new officers. The Templars start training up the raw recruits, who, despite months of travel, have very little battle experience. In particular, they school them in the fighting styles of the local Turkish warriors, whose light armor is a tactical weakness when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. The next time the Crusaders encounter the Seljuks, their training is put to good use.

This time it's the Turkish warriors who are forced to flee in terror, and the Christian army emerges victorious. By January, when they arrive in Adalia on the Mediterranean coast, not only has the discipline of the French forces improved, but morale is at an all-time high. King Louis, however, now has a new problem. Wintering in Adalia turns out to be an expensive business. With the crusaders at their mercy, the locals charge outrageous prices for food and other basic necessities. By the time the army finally reaches the Holy Land the following March, the budget for the expedition has run out. In desperation, Louis turns to the Templar master Everard, begging him to arrange a loan. But the amount the king needs is more than 30,000 French pounds, around 10 million dollars in modern currency. The huge sum represents around half of King Louis' annual revenue, and even the Templars don't have that kind of money lying around.

Leaving the king and his men in Antioch, Everard sets off on a fundraising mission. He raids the Templars' liquid assets from across the Holy Land and mortgages many of the Order's properties. As the grateful king confesses to a friend, Everard's generosity is enough to bring the Templars close to bankruptcy. Once again, the Knights Templar have saved King Louis Bacon. But even they can't bring the Second Crusade to a satisfactory conclusion. In June 1148, a year after they first set out from Paris,

Louis and his men are planning their first assault on the Holy Land. At a conference in the town of Palmyra near Acre in modern-day Israel, At a conference in the town of Palmyra, near Acre, in modern-day Israel, the French king is joined by his German counterpart and the young ruler of Jerusalem. Both pledge their own troops. Together they decide on the best target for their opening battle. Not Edessa, as Louis originally intended, but the even bigger prize of Damascus. On the 24th of July, the great attack finally begins. But the siege of Damascus does not go as planned. Communication between the crusading

armies is poor, and the battle soon turns into yet another fiasco. Within a matter of days, the Christians are running out of food and water. Each group blames the others for the failure of the mission. After four days of ineffectual attacks, they settle on the only practical solution, to give up and return to their homelands. After more than a year of misery and toil, the Second Crusade has accomplished precisely nothing. Despite the best efforts of the Knights Templar, not to mention their generous financial backing,

the expedition has been a humiliating failure. Some go as far as to blame the Templars for the defeat at Damascus, even suggesting they may have accepted a bribe by the Muslims to put up a poor fight. It's pure baseless slander, but to some it carries a ring of truth. For the past five decades, the Knights Templar have become so associated with military success in the Holy Land that now their involvement in a crushing defeat is considered suspicious. It's far from the last groundless accusation that will come to tarnish the Templars' reputation.

Five years later, the Templars' next major military engagement is also dogged by rumor and scandal. In theory, the Templars provide military backing to King Baldwin III as part of their religious commitment. But there is always that promise of treasure. The siege of Ascalon, a major fortress on the Mediterranean coast, 40 miles west of Jerusalem,

ends in victory for Baldwin. But for the Templars, it comes at a heavy cost. After months of siege, the walls of the city are finally breached thanks to a fire, giving the Christians an opportunity to enter. First on the scene is the new Templar Grand Master, Bernard de Tremley. But Bernard insists that only his knights should enter the city, leaving the rest of the Christian army outside. Whether this is an act of foolhardy bravery or something more calculating

is hard to ascertain, but at least one chronicler took a dim view of the Grand Master's actions, writing, It was said that he barred others from entering so that his men, as the first to enter, would get the greater part of the spoils and the choice of booty. If this account is correct, Bernard's greed will soon prove his undoing. Entering the city with just forty Templar knights, he and his men are no match for the garrison holding it.

Before long, the hole in the wall has been barricaded shut, and the bodies of the Templars are hanging from Ascalon's ramparts. It's a dire warning to the Christian forces outside of what awaits them should they dare to enter the city. Three days later, Ascalon surrenders to the King of Jerusalem. But for the Knights Templar, the battle has not only cost them their master and forty of their best fighters, but further damage to their noble reputation. Two decades later, the Templars give perhaps their most impressive military performance at the Battle of Mount Giza. The Sultan of Egypt, Saladin, has recently conquered Syria.

Now he has his sights set on driving the Christians out of Jerusalem. When Saladin launches a surprise attack in November of 1177, the 13-year-old Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, known as the Leper King, is caught on the back foot. At 40, Saladin is an experienced military commander with tens of thousands of troops at his disposal. All Baldwin can muster is around 400 knights, among them 80 Templars and a few thousand infantry and archers. But Saladin's confidence in the face of the tiny army proves to be his undoing. What the Christian warriors lack in numbers, they make up for in discipline and experience.

The Templars in particular are unrivaled in their military expertise. In the years since their original code of conduct, the Latin rule, was developed at Troyes, they've added a repertoire of advanced tactical strategies to the document, which is now guarded with the utmost secrecy. The fighting in the Middle East was totally different than the fighting, for example, in France or in England. First because, you know, the weather is totally different. It's very hot.

And also they have to adapt the technique of fighting. For example, we know that they were very, very skillful about charging. They were charging with their horses in three lines. The first line was to destroy the front line of their enemies. The second line was, I would say, finishing the job and the last one was killing the last survivor. So they have developed different techniques of battle. That's why they were used by the king of Jerusalem to be in the front line when there was a battle. Not only are the Templars unusually proficient,

but their prowess is boosted by their spiritual fervour. The vows they take still form the backbone of their identity. There is a particular personality of the 9th Templar. You know, they were making three vows before entering into the 9th Templar. You know, they were making three vows before entering into the Ninth Templar. The first vow was chastity, no women of any kind, with very few exceptions. Second, poverty, nothing for them, everything for the other. And the last was obedience. So they were obeying. And this is very important for a soldier to obey. So we know that they were very skillful,

we know that they were very, I would say, brave. If I can make a weird comparison, we can compare them with the jihadists. For them, we can die, we can survive, it's okay. And that's why they were very important for the king and for the army. At Monkizar, the Templars' uncompromising zeal helps them succeed against overwhelming odds. For Saladin, it's a humiliating defeat.

Egyptian casualties number in the thousands, and his entire baggage train is seized by the Christians as well. Saladin himself only narrowly avoids capture by fleeing on a camel. What's left of his army limps back to Egypt after him, defeated and broken. But Saladin's determination to take back Jerusalem remains undimmed. He has learned his lessons from the disaster at Monqizar. It will be ten years before he launches his next full-scale attack, but when he does, even the Templars will be unable to stop him. It's the 4th of July, 1187.

After a decade of skirmishes, the fifty-year-old Saladin is ready for another attempt at seizing Jerusalem. But the battle that will seal the fate of the city is fought a hundred miles away on the plains of Hattin in the shadow of a pair of extinct volcanoes. Saladin has brought with him the biggest army the Holy Land has ever seen. Some accounts give the number of his men as upward of 40,000. Set against them are around 20,000 Christians, including several hundred knights-templar. They are led by two men, the bullish King of Jerusalem, Guy of Lusignan, and Reynard the Châtillon,

the former mercenary responsible for the defeat of Saladin's army at Monquizar a decade earlier. In recent months, the personal beef between Reynard and Saladin has only increased. After Reynard attacked a Muslim caravan the previous winter, Saladin proclaimed a jihad, or holy war, against the Christians. He vowed to personally kill the French leader. Now it seems he might finally get his chance. As dawn breaks on the morning of the battle, the Muslim forces engage the Christians. First Saladin instructs his men to set scrubby vegetation around them on fire. The dry air of the desert is soon filled with choking smoke.

He then orders a devastating barrage from his archers. As thousands of arrows rain down upon the Christian forces, men and horses begin dropping to the ground. It's a terrifying onslaught, and discipline in the French ranks soon begins to break down. When the Templar knights lead a charge against Saladin's army, many of the soldiers behind them

refuse to follow. Before long, the crusaders are surrounded. Three more attempts to charge through the enemy ranks fail miserably. By late afternoon, Guy and his knights are preparing to make a final stand. The Christians fight bravely, but they cannot withstand the might of Saladin's army. The Sultan looks on in satisfaction as Guy's royal tent falls to the ground.

The Battle of Hattin marks a decisive victory for Saladin's forces. Before long, Guy of Lusignan, Reynard de Châtillon, and around two hundred knights Templar have all been taken prisoner. That evening, Guy and Reynard are brought to Saladin's own sumptuous tent to learn their fate. Thoroughly exhausted and parched from battling in the blazing desert, Guy seizes upon a cup of rose water offered by the Egyptian leader. But when he moves to pass the cup to Raynard, Saladin stops him. According to Arab custom, offering hospitality to an enemy carries with it a pledge not to harm them.

A king does not kill a king, Saladin tells Guy meaningfully. But Reynard de Chateau is no king. Saladin offers him one chance to save his own life. Renounce Christ and convert at once to Islam, but it's an offer he knows the Frenchman will refuse. Sure enough, Raynard declares that he would rather die. Without wasting any time, Saladin draws his scimitar and brings it down on Raynard's neck, but instead of beheading him, he succeeds only in

hacking off one of his arms. It's left to some of the Sultan's underlings to finish the job for him. When the deed is done, Raynard's head is taken away to Damascus, to be dragged along the ground in front of the people there. Guy, meanwhile, is hauled away to prison. But Reynard's death is not the only gruesome execution in the aftermath of the Battle of Hattin. Normally, the Templar knights Saladin is captured would expect to be ransomed, and collectively they might fetch quite a sum

for the Egyptian leader. But such is their reputation as the most formidable of fighters that he decides they are worth more to him dead than alive. Coolly, Saladin gives the order that all but one of his prisoners are to be beheaded. The Templars are offered to members of Saladin's entourage in a kind of grotesque bloodsport. One by one, clerics, lawyers, mystics, and other non-soldiers line up for the chance to murder a Christian. Many of the executions are more bungled than Reynard of Chatillon's.

Only their Grand Master will be allowed to return to the Order, to tell his brothers of the grave loss they have suffered. For the Christians in the Holy Land, the Battle of Hattin is a watershed. Three months later, in October 1187, Jerusalem itself falls to Saladin's forces. In a merciful gesture, he grants the citizens free passage out of the city. But now, more than 80 years since it was taken in the First Crusade, the most holy place in the world is back in Muslim hands. For the Templars, the defeat means a major relocation.

Forced to abandon their headquarters in the Temple of Jerusalem, from which they originally took their name, the very identity of the Order is called into question. Over the next hundred years, the Templars remain a major player in international finance. And from a new base in Acre, known to the French as Saint-Jean-Dac, they continue to prove their military prowess. They fight in a number of key battles during Richard the Lionheart's Third Crusade, making significant gains against Saladin's army.

Jerusalem, however, remains tantalizingly out of reach. In 1291, the Templars suffer their worst humiliation when they're forced to abandon the Holy Land altogether. After the Christians lose control of Acre in the Battle of Saint-Jean-D'Ac, the order is forced to relocate once again, this time to Cyprus, an island which they previously owned outright before selling it to Guy of Lusignan. It was, I would say, the beginning of the end

for the Knights Templar. They were defeated in Saint-Jean-d'Arc, so they have to leave totally the Holy Land. And if you remember the purpose of the Knights Templar, they were here to protect the Holy Land. And if you remember the purpose of the Ninth Templar, they were here to protect the Holy Land, but there were no more Holy Land. All the Holy Land was taken by the Muslims. But their new Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, struggles to forge a new identity for an order wrenched from its spiritual home. It was one of his mistakes. He was not able to give a new project to the Knights Templar.

The idea of the king and the pope was to merge two great orders, which were in the Holy Land at this time, the Knights Templar and the Hospitallers. The Hospitaller is another military order, but the pope said, you have to merge these two orders and we have to think to a new project, maybe a crusade. And Jacques de Molay didn't find the new project. And he was not aware of what was going on in the mind of the king.

Young and handsome, the new king of France, Philip IV, is known colloquially as Philip Lebel. But his other nickname, Roi de Fer or Iron King, is more appropriate to his dealings with the Templars. Divorced from their original purpose as protectors of Christian Jerusalem, the order becomes a pawn in an ongoing feud between King Philip and Pope Boniface VIII. Imagine you are the king of France and you want to build a modern state. And you have everywhere, chapel, churches, monasteries, everywhere all around France. So the most important power facing the king was the pope.

And also the pope was ruling the ninth templar so one of the weapon used by the king to fight against the pope was to destroy the ninth templar because they were representing the pope into the kingdom of france the most important thing was politics i want to be important thing was politics. I want to be the emperor in my kingdom. This is a quote of Philip the Fair. Everybody has to obey to me, even the monastery order, even the pope, even the church, even the nice templar. You don't want, you will be destroyed. And this is what happened. As dawn breaks on Friday the 13th of October 1307, King Philip makes his move against the order. In a coordinated police operation that has been in the planning for over a year,

more than 600 Templars living in commentaries all over France are simultaneously placed under arrest. One of Philip's chief ministers has been quietly assembling a dossier of allegations against the Order. Most of the claims are as improbable as they are inflammatory. Brothers are accused of engaging in group sex, worshipping pagan idols, and forcing new recruits to spit on representations of Christ. Other accusations are grounded in reality, but grossly distorted. The Templar initiation ceremony does indeed involve a kiss on the lips between brothers, but this is a traditional expression of Christian peace, not an act of lust.

Unfortunately for the Templars, though, truth is of little interest when it comes to the King's smear campaign. And under medieval torture, brothers will confess to pretty much anything. They were heavily tortured because at this time, torture was part of the process of justice. And the torture was a way to have the answers to the accusation. Are you heretic? Just imagine, are you heretic? a way to have the answers to the accusation. Are you heretic? Just imagine, are you heretic?

You say, no, I'm not heretic. I fought in Jerusalem, I am a good Christian. Let's go to the torture chamber. And one hour or two hour after, the answer will be a little bit different. After the trial made by the king, the pope made a sort of parallel inquiry to see what happened in his own order.

And you know the ninth Templar without torture were talking totally differently. But we have the testimony of one ninth Templar and he said, you know, look at my bones, look at my legs, see what they have done to me. And you know why I'm not going to resist right now. Even if they ask me if I kill God, I will say yes, because I don't want to be tortured anymore.

To Pope Boniface, it's clear that many of the accusations against the Templars are groundless. But, politically, King Philip has outmaneuvered him. In March 1311, at a council convened in Vienne in southern France, the Pope issues a bull known as Vox in Excelsior. Translated as A Voice from on High, this decree revokes the one issued almost 200 years before at the Council of Troyes. With a sad heart, Boniface declares, we entirely forbid that anyone from now on enter the Order or receive or wear its habit or presume to behave as a Templar. The penalty for breaking the new edict?

Excommunication. For those Templars found guilty by the King's Inquisition, the punishment is even more severe. Already fifty-four brothers have been burned at the stake. Now after seven years in prison, the time has come for their leader, Jacques de Molay, to face the music as well. At sundown, on the 18th of March 1314, the 70-year-old Grand Master is brought to a small island in the Seine. A pyre has been prepared for his execution.

His last words are known because we have a witness, Guillaume de Paris, who was a sort of chronicle writer. And we know that he said, I see here my judgment and I died freely. God knows who is wrong and who has sinned. Misfortune will soon overtake those who wrongly condemn us. God will avenge our death.

And he died. Very, I would say it was a very brave death because, you know, it was not a big burst of fire. It was a very slow burning. Just imagine the suffering. And before the fire was put to the stack, he asked the executioner to put his face and to see Notre Dame in the distance.

At this time, there were no buildings. So he was able to see Notre Dame in the distance. At this time, there were no buildings. So he was able to see Notre Dame because, you know, Mary was the patroness of the Knights Templar. And he wanted to see his patroness before dying. In the years following Jacques de Molay's death, the Knights Templar recede from living memory and gradually become the stuff of legend. And as they do,

the final words of the Order's last Grand Master take on a new significance. In some accounts, de Molay calls down a curse upon both King Philip and Pope Boniface. The fact that both men died within months helps the rumours to grow in popularity, regardless of the lack of historical evidence. You will be cursed until the 13th generation of your race. Curse, curse, curse, which is a very funny thing and a very tremendous statement. But it's like, you see, maybe you have read the

story of Anastasia, the daughter of Nicolas II. It's a very cruel death. So if you have another story telling that, yes, she escaped from the firing squad, I think you are better to follow this story because it's better for you. And for Jacques de Molay, I think this is the same story. People wanted to have a sort of alternative story to tell about the cruel death of Jacques de Molay because it was so unfair. De Molay's curse is merely one of many legends that spring up around the Knights Templar in the centuries following their dissolution.

Some claim that European Templars escaped to Scotland, where the Order continues as an underground organization. Others see them fleeing to America, arriving 100 years before Columbus. Many accounts have them guarding mythical Christian relics, including the Holy Grail. I think there is a lot of legend about the Holy Grail, the curse, the treasure of the 9th Templar.

You have to imagine that after the death of Jacques de Molay, the 9th Templar were very quickly forgotten. It's only around the 18th and 19th centuries that historians begin to work on the story. That was the reason why there were so many legends. When there is nothing to say, the legend is taking its place. In recent years, works of fiction have ensured the Order's mythology remains in the popular consciousness. Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code depicts the Templars

as a secret society guarding ancient secrets in the modern world. The movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade features a Templar knight who has guarded the Holy Grail for almost 2,000 years. Forged in the intense crucible of the Holy Land. The idea of the Knights Templar has endured in the imagination for almost a millennium. But although the wilder theories about the Order continue to attract new acolytes, the historical basis for them is distinctly lacking. We can say that some of these stories are possible, but we have no evidence for that.

This is the only thing we can say. It's possible that they escaped, it's possible that they fought in Scotland, it's possible, but we have no evidence for that. This is the only thing we can say. It's possible that they escaped. It's possible that they fought in Scotland. It's possible, but show us the evidence. And it's not very easy to show the evidence. And historians have to work with evidence. Next time on Short History Of, we'll bring you a short history of the Vikings.

These are the great rags to riches stories of medieval Europe. I mean, you literally have people starting life as a 13-year-old going to war without any prospects and no land and no money and no hope. And then ending life as a king, like as a literal king. There's something inspiring about these people as well. They're so pragmatic and they are so strong that I think people are drawn to that. I think it probably represents something we're missing

maybe a little bit in the modern world. That's next time on Short History Of.