by Silvia Dekumbis

Created on: April 15, 2010

One of the darkest chapters of European history takes us back to the destruction of the Templar Order.  It was the year 1314. Grand Master Jacque de Molay was sentenced to death, having been accused of blasphemy and sodomy.  Consequently, he was burnt at the stake near the Cathedral of Notre Dame after having been imprisoned and tortured for the previous seven years.  Had he not revoked the extorted confession, his life would have been spared.  Facing death, he shared his obvious boisterous opinion about the pope and the King of France, two people who had acted ruthlessly against the Order.  A few months after his execution, his curse was fulfilled as both opponents died unexpectedly. 

A well-hidden mystery accompanied the Knights Templar since the founding of the Order.  It was the year 1119.  Hugh de Payen and a few knights left France, heading to Jerusalem in order to protect travelling pilgrims to the Holy Land.  Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem encouraged the small fraternity, offering a section of his palace on the grounds of the old Solomon’s Temple. 

The Order had grown rapidly.  Donations from every country led to its incredible wealth.  In addition, the Order was given many privileges such as exemption from customs duties and other taxes.  Its foundation, however, remained in France.  Bernard of Clairvaux, founder of the Cistercian Order, became the great protector of the Order, and the knights vowed to lead their lives according to his religious statutes of chastity, obedience, poverty and the fights against the infidels. 

In 1139 Pope Innozenz II issued a Papal Bull in which he ordered the Templars to assume no secular or ecclesiastical power other than that of the pope.  This had marked the beginning of the golden age of the Order.  Many young noblemen joined the Brotherhood handing over their wealth to meet the requirements of poverty.  The Templars gained many possessions, including entire regions.  They gained power which could not be limited by any temporal ruler.  After the conquest of Jerusalem in 1187 and Akkas in 1291 by Muslim armies, the Templars had to leave the Holy Land in 1303. 

Almost the entire Languedoc in Southern France was influenced by the Templars as they practiced good connections to the Cathars, a religious movement.  These Cathars were labeled as heretics and were chased after.  Thus, the Knights Templar

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