‘God knows who is wrong and have sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death.’ Last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay. 

Pope Clement V died within a month of these words being spoken, King Philip IV of France died within the year. The Knights Templar were arrested on Friday, October the 13th 1307, disbanded in 1312, and the last Grand Master burned at the stake in 1314.

Hugues de Payens (1070-1136), the first Grand Master is said to have founded the Order of 9 Knights in 1119. Scholars believe they were founded before the death of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1100. The Pope gave his official approval at the Council of Troyes in 1129. Hugues and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux created the Latin Rule, a code of conduct consisting of exactly 72 rules. 

The Templars were by far the most popular Order during the Crusades and era of the Grail legends. Many believe the legends were based on the exploits of the Knights as the guardians of the Holy Grail. King Philip of France was heavily in debt to the Templars and had them arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and burned at the stake. 

Many escaped the betrayal of the King and Pope and fled to Scotland, one of the few places they were safe from prosecution. The other, and less well known place, was Portugal under the protection of King Denis I. The Templars were given space in Tomar and only had to change their name from Knights Templar, to Order of Christ. They kept all their holdings and treasures as they were key in helping Portugal reconquer parts of the Iberian Peninsula. They were also left alone in Spain, but not in France and England. 

Grand Master Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. This betrayal left a huge unhealed wound in the psyche of the French people. As did the murder of the Cathars during the Albigensian Crusade, and the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of unarmed Protestants in 1572. Not to mention the usurpation of the throne by Pepin the Short from the Merovingian kings in 751 with the help of Pope Zachary. 

Taken together, all of these betrayals directly contributed to the French Revolution of 1789. A legend about the FR states that when Louis XVI was executed, a Freemason dipped a cloth in the kings blood and said, “Jacques de Molay you are avenged.” In order to understand the Templar Magdalene Triangle and alignments of Paris, an in depth study of French history and culture is required.

Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master. Hugues de Payens, first Grand Master.