Prologue
Being warrior monks
and military defenders of the Catholic Church, the Knights Templar existed
purely for the Crusades; or so it was commonly thought. When Jerusalem
finally fell, under the never-ending onslaught of Saladin, the Holy Land was lost and support for the Order quickly
faded.
King Philip IV of France ,
deeply in debt to the Order, took advantage of the situation. In 1307, under
extreme duress, Pope Clement V was forced to issue an arrest order for the
Knights Templar on the charges of heresy. Pressured by the King to act, the
Holy See operated more swiftly than could be anticipated.
Overnight, Templar
strongholds throughout France
were raided simultaneously. The knights were arrested by the King’s men,
tortured into giving false confessions, and burned at the stake.
Outrage spread
throughout the land and as far away as England . Due to the continuous
quarrelling, Edward I King of England, who was Philip’s brother-in-law, did not
condemn the Templars, prompting many of the French-based knights to flee to England .
Philip’s daughter,
Isabella, married the Prince of Wales, becoming Queen of England, producing an
eventual English claimant to the French throne itself, and war – a war that was
later to be known as the ‘Hundred Years’ War.
Back in France , things
had taken a decidedly bad turn for King Philip. Villagers rioted, and fires
burned. The Templars’ Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, called for a crisis
meeting and summoned one of his most trusted knights, Vladimir Gaudin, son of
the former Grand Master, to the helm of the meeting. It was a grisly
atmosphere. Eleven Templar brothers stood in waiting.
‘Vladimir , your father’s plan to persuade
everyone that the Templars had always been the guardian of the sacred bloodline
was the work of a genius. He even managed to convince our so-called friends and
allies, the Catholic Church, that it was the bloodline of Jesus Christ and Mary
Magdalene that we were protecting.
‘It seems, however,
that tonight our allies wish to see the evidence. Your father passed on the
knowledge after the fall of Acre – the
knowledge of more than two thousand years of religious turmoil, which has been
recorded in the book of the way. Within lie the truth and the
details about the real guardians of the bloodline, along with the bloodline
itself. This book has been in our possession since the beginning of time, and
has graced the hands of the Lord.’
De Molay opened the
casket and removed the face covering of the leather box inside, being very
careful not to touch the contents. As he tilted the box up to be viewed under
candlelight, a gold pentacle could be seen on the face of the book, along with
numerals and ancient writings. The Templars bowed in awe and immediately knelt
on one knee; only Vladimir
remained standing.
‘No matter what
happens to me or to our brothers in this room, it shall remain the
responsibility of all brothers to serve and protect this manuscript. Without
it, our very existence shall perish. King Philip will attempt to take the rest
of our treasures, the daggers, the jewels, and the goblets; he is not to be
crossed. We shall sacrifice our gold for our future. I have faith in our church
and our holy father the Pope; he shall not fail us in our hour of need.’
A commotion broke
out among the knights, only to be subdued by Geoffroi de Charnay, de Molay’s
right-hand man. Vladimir
looked distraught over the task ahead. De Molay passed Vladimir
a small parcel wrapped in a brown paper like material, stood up, and placed his
hand upon Vladimir ’s
shoulder.
‘Within this package
is my caul, Vladimir .
It is the only way you can prove your identity and the only way the Brotherhood
will accept you. Should you be captured along the way, it
must be destroyed? The Catholic Church must never be allowed to possess such a
powerful symbol. Therefore, I must remind all of you before you depart that our
main joint objective is to preserve the existence of the Brotherhood at all
costs; this means protecting the manuscript. When I talk of the Brotherhood, I
use the term loosely. You all know that we are many singular groups;
nevertheless, we all worship the Grand Architect of the Universe, and we are
all governed by God’s personification here on earth, the Brotherhood of
Nazarenes. Your journeys will take you to lands far away, and along these
journeys, you will encounter many enemies; however, you all know where to seek
shelter.’
De Molay hugged Vladimir , whispering an
ancient Brotherhood blessing, as a tear trickled down his cheek. ‘You must
travel to Salon-de-Provence, Vladimir .
Once there, you will be greeted by the monks of the Order and led to a place of
safety. They will then ask to see the caul. Being high priest caulbearers, the
monks will know it belongs to me. Then, and only then, will you receive your
final orders.
‘You will choose
four Templar brothers to travel with you on your journey to our leaders. The
rest will stay by my side and fight for our honour. You must travel swiftly, Vladimir , for our very
existence depends on you.’
The meeting was
interrupted; the King’s men had arrived. The charge was heresy. The plea was
not guilty. The result was fatal.
With the sacred
manuscript intact, Vladimir and his companions managed to escape. De Molay and
de Charnay were arrested, but the remaining knights were true to their oath and
were brave till the end. The five Templar brothers were murdered, stabbed in
the left side of the neck with ceremonious daggers, and later burnt at the
stake. De Molay and de Charnay were imprisoned.
Constantly under
pressure from King Philip, the Pope disbanded the Order in 1312. Almost two
years later, on March 18, 1314, three cardinals sent by the pope sentenced de
Molay and de Charnay to life imprisonment. Realizing that all was lost, de
Molay rose up and recanted, proclaiming the Order’s innocence. Philip
immediately ordered de Molay and de Charnay to be taken to the Isle des
Juifs, where they were executed, burnt at the stake. From the flames, de Molay
cursed both Philip and Clement V, saying that he would summon them before God’s
Tribunal before the year was out.
Believing the two to
be the last remaining leaders of the Templars, the king, with his debts now
cleared, could put his plan into action.
However, a little
over a month later, Pope Clement V died on April 20, 1314. Seven months later,
King Philip fell from a horse while out riding and died on November 29, 1314.
Unknown to Philip at
the time of his death, the caulbearer fraction had taken refuge amongst another
secret brotherhood and, thus, under this secret umbrella, lived on.