The Templars' Last Days (15 page)

The Pope was outraged by the fact that the King had taken it into his own hands to create a proclamation that he would be expected to sign without thought or question. At the same time, he realised that any undue delay in sanctioning such action against the Knight Templars would bring the fury and displeasure of the King down on him.

To further drive home his wish for the Holy Father to agree with his demands, the King reminded him of who it was that had put him into the Chair of Pope and what had happened to the last two Pontiffs who had tried to defy his wishes. The atmosphere in the room turned from tense to noticeably frosty; the mood of the King was turning increasingly dark.

Risking bringing the full wrath of the King on himself, Guy leaned over towards William and ventured that the Pope be granted a few hours to consider the contents of the proclamation on his own, for he was confident that once the Pope was satisfied with the validity of the two confessions and had been allowed sufficient time to digest the consequences of making public the accusation of heresy, then the signing of the proclamation should be but a formality.

The King threw his arms towards heaven with a look of complete incredulity at this suggestion, and started pacing around the room in an ever increasing state of agitation at the delay. However, William went over to him, spoke quietly into his ear, which initially seemed to make the King’s mood worse, but he then instructed William to leave the document on the desk, saying that he would expect both the Pope and the signed document at supper that evening, before heading briskly towards the doors.

Guy had to move quickly to open the doors as the King stormed out of the room and down the corridor. William bowed quickly to the Pope as he left the room a few seconds later, trying his best to catch up with the King without breaking into a jog.

Moving back across the room, Guy closed the doors which had so rudely been left open by William and tried his best not to appear to be looking towards the bemused and shocked Pope. A silence descended and sat uneasily on the room. The Holy Father was visibly shaken by the ferocity of the King’s attack, but was perhaps more annoyed at the King’s presumption that he, Pope Clement V, was but a mere unthinking puppet for the King to use any way that he saw fit to best suit his own greed and ambition.

After allowing what Guy thought to be sufficient time for his Papa to regain control of his emotions, he rose and moved towards a second door which was situated behind where the Pope was sitting. On reaching the other side of the room, Guy opened the single door, thus allowing Jacques de Molay and myself to enter. Confirming that we had heard every word, Jacques congratulated the Pope on the excellent manner with which he had conducted the meeting and finally exposing the King’s plot. In turn, I thanked Guy for his gaining the time during which a counter proposition could be prepared in readiness for the King later in the day.

The weather outside had finally given way to the inevitable rain, which fell from the dark sky with a steady rhythmic flow beating its tune on the roofs across the city. I was minded that perhaps this was how the Holy Father’s heart was feeling, now that the meeting he had been dreading for so long was finally over and the fate of his beloved Templar Knights irrevocably decided.

Leaving Guy and myself to work out the details of the response to the King’s demands, both the Holy Father and the Grand Master left, and had gone the short distance across the town to pray in the Baptistère Saint-Jean, where I knew the Pope would be pouring out his feelings in prayer. In the silence of the room Guy and myself immediately began to work on the response the Pope was to give later in the day. It was clear that we had a lot of work to do, and not a lot of time to do it in. The principal objective of our counter proposal was one of buying sufficient time for our planned second phase to be executed and completed, and in my estimation we would require four weeks’ grace to be sure of success. In doing so we also had to ensure that the King felt he was still in control, and more importantly that the King continued in his belief that the Pope was still his man to control.

By the time his Holiness and the Grand Master returned from prayers, Guy and myself had the outline of a proposal that we believed met with all our objectives, which we relayed to them. It took another hour or so, but between the four of us a proposal had been agreed upon and Guy was despatched across town to negotiate the final terms with William.

For all his faults and misdemeanours, and much to Guy's surprise, William still had an immense sense of protocol and good manners, and as Guy sat down in his quarters he immediately offered his most sincere regrets at the behaviour of the King at their earlier meeting. He then ushered in some fruit and wine for Guy’s comfort, and the two began to thrash out the details of the deal, the outcome of which would have an immense impact on the future of not only France but the whole of the Christian lands.

Guy started the negotiations with the Pope’s counter-proposals, which was an explanation of how the Pope now fully understood and appreciated the seriousness of the accusations. He explained that it was felt to be of vital importance both for the public and political image of the Papacy that it continued to be seen as remaining independent of any one Christian Monarch, even though Pope Clement V would in private and in practice remain the vassal of King Philip IV. The Pope also felt that it was important that any accusation of heresy against the Holy Order of the Knight Templars should be seen to be coming from the Papacy and should also to be seen to follow the normal Papacy investigation process adopted in such cases.

This was music to William’s ears and these concessions were much more than he had ever imagined he would get. So he encouraged Guy to continue for there was still one vital element missing from the proposal that had so far been put on the table.

Although the Pope could not dissolve the Holy Order instantly, he was prepared to place into the safe keeping of King Philip the Knight Templar treasure held in the preceptories, throughout his lands, pending the outcome of such an inquisition. Further, should the accusation of heresy be proven, then
the lands and estates of that Holy Order would be relinquished to the Papacy.

If these terms were felt to be agreeable, then, for his part, William needed to put forward a proposition as to how such a proclamation could be actioned simultaneously across King Philip’s land in order that as many Templar Knights as possible could be captured and interrogated.

William could hardly believe what he was hearing – there before him was everything King Philip desired; however, such meetings were no place for giving away any sort of indication of victory. So he rose from his chair and paced the room for a few minutes, gesturing as if he was considering the pros and cons of what was being proposed. He had the money in his hands, and was confident that in time he would secure the estates and lands but they were not important today. Finally, he gave his assurance that such a proposition would be in the hands of the Pope within the next hour or so.

At that Guy rose and thanked William for his understanding and made his way back to the quarters of the Pope, where he related that William had agreed to all the conditions. More importantly he would deliver the how and when the King would strike our preceptories simultaneously into our hands later that day.

There was nothing more that could now be done, the trap was set, the mouse had taken the cheese and in a few hours’ time a series of events would be put into motion that would change the lives of everybody. The world as we knew it today would be gone forever. I joined the Holy Father and the Grand Master in prayer at the Baptistère Saint-Jean and gave thanks to God for allowing this plan to succeed so far, and for his continued strength and guidance in its completion.

Guy remained alone in the Pope's quarters awaiting William’s communication with only his private thoughts and the rhythm of the rain for company.

William had already prepared the Pope’s proclamation; however, in light of the meeting with Guy, it would require some minor alterations which he set to immediately. Pleased with the changes, he sought an audience with the King to communicate that all was well, and for his approval of the amendments. The King was beyond himself in delight, and quickly put his signature and seal to the document. Nothing could now get in his way.

An hour later, the document had reached the Pope, who read out the contents to Jacques, Guy and myself.

Philip, by the Grace of God, King of the French, to his beloved and faithful knights, etc,etc

A deplorable and most lamentable matter, full of bitterness and grief, a monstrous business, a thing that one cannot think on without affright, cannot hear without horror, transgressions unheard of, enormities and atrocities contrary to every sentiment of humanity, etc, etc, have reached our ears.

That Order known as the Knight Templars have been seen and heard to insult our Lord Jesus Christ, to make him endure suffering even more than in the days before he was put to the cross, have renounced the Christian religion. Of mocking the sacred image of the Saviour: of sacrificing to idols: and of abandoning themselves to impure practices and unnatural crimes.

They are like ravishing wolves in sheep's clothing, a perfidious, ungrateful, idolatrous society, whose words and deeds were enough to pollute the earth and infect the air: to dry up the sources of the celestial dewy, and to put the whole Church of Christ into confusion.

We have been charged with the maintenance of the Faith: after having conferred with the Pope, the prelates, and the barons of the kingdom, at the instance of the inquisitor, from the informations already laid, from violent suspicions, from probable conjectures, from legitimate presumptions, conceived against the enemies of heaven and earth: and because the matter is important, and it is expedient to prove the just like gold in the furnace against the rigorous examination, have decreed that the members of the order who are our subjects shall be arrested on 13 October in the year of our Lord 1307, and detained to be judged by the church, and that all their real and personal property shall be seized into our hands and be faithfully preserved.

Signed this day, 9 September in the year of our Lord 1307

King Philip IV

As he put
the scroll down, our Papa looked each of us in the eye. I had never felt so bad in victory! The King was doing exactly what we wanted; he believed the Pope to be his vassal, and the Holy Order which we all are so proud of would be exterminated, that certainly did not feel like a victorious outcome to any battle we have ever fought.

The silence in the room was only broken by the beating rhythm of the rain which continued in its endless tune. After a few minutes, the Grand Master expanded his huge chest outwards as signifying his acceptance of his organisation’s fate, and inquired of the Pope as to the content of the second scroll that William had sent to him.

It took the Holy Father a few more moments to recover his composure before he continued to read:

Philip, by the Grace of God, King of the French, to his beloved and faithful knights, etc, etc

Each baillis and seneschals are to inform themselves, in great secrecy, and without exciting suspicion, of the number of the houses of the Temple within their jurisdiction: they are then to provide an armed force sufficient to overcome all resistance, and on the said day of 13 of October, at the hour of 5 before noon, are to surprise the Templars in their preceptories, and make them prisoners.

Before proceeding with the inquiry you are to inform the Templars that the Pope and ourselves have been convinced, by irreproachable testimony, of the errors and abominations which accompany your vows and profession: you are to promise them pardon and favour if they confess the truth, but if not, you are to acquaint them that they will be condemned to death.

You are to use whatever means needed, including torture, in pursuit of the truth.

Signed this day, 9 September in the year of our Lord 1307

King Philip IV

Once more the Pope's voice faded into the silence that sat on the room; even though this was exactly what we all had been working towards over the last few months, the reality of being on the cusp of the plan coming to pass was still difficult to reconcile.

The Grand Master rose first, and in doing so looked in my direction to follow his lead. Recognising that the Pontiff and Guy still had to face King Philip later that night over dinner to give their final approval to his demand, they would require what time was left in quiet contemplation and prayer – whilst he and I had no time to lose in putting the second phase of our plan into action.

I felt that it would not be until next day before William issued his orders, which gave us the advantage of the time left this day and most of tomorrow in notifying our preceptory Masters what lay ahead of them. The orders had been written out some weeks ago, and it was now just a simple matter of inserting the relevant dates, and having the Grand Master seal the scrolls. One scroll had the instruction to be opened immediately, whilst the other was not to be opened until 1 of October.

We carried out the task in silence, for we each knew that we were signing the death warrants of our beloved Holy Order. As we worked I silently prayed for the Grand Master and all our gallant Templar Knights whose lives we were now handing over to an almost certain death, for none would ever confess to those ridiculous charges brought by Philip.

I knew that each Templar Knight was prepared and willing to lay down his life in battle to save the Church, but this was to be a battle won by them by not raising a sword in anger. The Grand Master carried into every battle the knowledge that many of his Templar Knights would not return and bore that burden of responsibility with an inevitable certainty, but to witness the demise of nearly 2000 Templar Knights and the whole organisation in this manner must be a burden that he could only carry with the help of God.