☩ The Trial of the Templars: What Really Happened - Part 1 ☩

during the 12th and 13th centuries a highly disciplined order of warrior monks known as the Knights Templar defended the holiest SES in the Christian World unlike ordinary Knights the Templars gave up personal wealth and power and lived by a strict code of work training prayer and battle as they achieved outstanding victories alongside the Crusader Kings of Jerusalem their Fame grew and Christians throughout Europe knew them as God's Own night Kings began to prize the Templars as counselors and in every Royal Court in Europe Templars acted as diplomats and advisors in Paris especially the Templars cooperated closely with the King of France but at the close of the 13th century the battle for the Holy Land grew more intense a new power arose the mamluks led by the sultan Byars who conquered the Muslim kingdoms across Egypt Syria and Mesopotamia B Bar's mamluk Empire Empire could field armies larger than any yet seen in the arena of the Crusades in the face of these impossible numbers the Templars still held firm and fought on but at last the mamluks overwhelmed the Templars and in 1291 the Templars lost acre their last great stronghold in the holy land yet their resolve was unbroken in 1292 the Templars elected a new leader Grandmaster Jac deole a combat veteran of the Fierce mamuk Wars Jac deole was determined to lead the Templars in regaining territory lost to the mamluks but amid this difficult period a new threat emerged the templar's former Ally the king of France himself Philip ivth King Philip ruled at a time when France was at the peak of its power and he was Keen to eliminate any obstacles to the expansion of that power determined to overcome his old rival the king of England Philip I wanted to consolidate his own wealth and his own ability to wage war it came as a shock to the Christian world when in 1307 King Phillip suddenly ordered the mass arrest of the Templars in France charging them with heresy why did the French King suddenly Target the men who had been among his closest allies was there any truth to Philip's charges or was this just a power grab by a tyrant today on real Crusades history we'll begin a new series exploring in depth the trial of the Templars one of the great enigmas of the Middle Ages join [Music] us guys before we get into today's topic I'm happy to announce that I'm collaborating with Paradox for Crusader Kings 3 a grand strategy game that allows you to conquer and Triumph with the medieval dynasty of your choice the graphics are incredible and feature many of our favorite figures like El Sid or William the Conqueror ck3 allows you to launch your own Crusade playing as either Crusaders or sens you can even found your own military order like the Knights Templar or the Knights of Santiago if you're playing the rayon Kista starting on May 9th Crusader Kings 3 will be free to play on Steam for the whole weekend use my link in the pin comment to check out the game and start conquering and winning honor and glory with your favorite historical Heroes and now let's dive into the trial of the Templars in 1294 Grandmaster jacqu de Malai traveled West to meet with Pope bonfice VII to discuss a new Crusade the pope issued jacqu privileges to raise funds and Men The Grandmaster traveled to the courts of king Edward I of England and King Philip IV of France urging them to take the cross that is vow to lead Crusades both kings were polite but non-committal for they were presently engaged in a war with each other this war between England and France would dramatically impact the future of the Knights Templar in 1294 Philip IV of France known to history as Philip the fair for his looks not his conduct invaded gany a fom of the king of England located in southwestern France Edward I met force with Force so that allout war broke out between two of chrom's most important kingdoms Philip the 4th's aggressive policy was in stark contrast to the approach of his grandfather King Louis the9th canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church Louie had been a committed Crusader who' preferred peace with the King of England Louie viewed Henry III of England as his brother Christian Monarch and so accepted the English King's rule in gany with Henry III taking the feudal oath to the king of France Louie explicitly stated that he preferred this Arrangement as a means of preserving Concord within Christendom in the late 13th century at the height of the age of the Crusades Louis the9th saw himself and the King of England within a broader context of Christian society which included emphasizing the business of the holy land and support for the Knights Templar in their mission but Philip IV had a different view of the world he strove to maximize his own power by consolidating Royal dominance within France and overcoming his traditional rival the king of England for Philip the fair his grandfather's ideal seemed outdated and even naive but while Lou policy had brought Tranquility to the realm Phillips would plunge France into the hellish Hundred Years War as War dragged on Edward and Phillip burned through their Royal treasuries the death desperate search for war funds consumed both sides both Edward and philli took a controversial step they began taxing the church within their kingdoms to pay for their military campaigns this was a shocking move at the time previously the church had been exempt from the king's taxes only holy war crusading was paid for by the wealth of the church when complaints from English and French clergy poured into the court of Pope bonfice VII the Pope threatened to excommunicate both Edward and Phillip if they continued to violate the rights of the church in the face of the Pope's reprimand King Philip was defiant a debate raged between the papal and French courts over the very role of the papacy and the crown Philip challenged the very legitimacy of the papacy introducing a new worldview in which the King was absolute Sovereign answerable to no earthly Authority religious or otherwise this was a dramatic departure from the traditional cosmology of the Medieval era in which the church had the right to Shepherd the broader Christian Community and even correct an airing king would Philip's position make the king a tyrant subjecting him to no restraints Louis the 9th of France had in many ways personified The Virtuous Christian King at the height of the sharc age he had been loved and respected across Europe his justi as so renowned that foreign rulers often asked him to help settle their disputes Philip IV had a different reputation he was cold Sullen pitiless and willing to inflict any suffering to advance his own power Bernard sassed Bishop of pame wrote he is neither man nor Beast he is a statue the conflict between Philip and the pope escalated in 1301 Bishop Bernard of pomier wrote to the pope complaining that King Philip's ministers continued with their intolerable abuses against French clergy this was an old rhetorical tactic criticize the king's ministers and avoid criticizing the king himself our Sovereign greatly resembles the Royal owl wrote the bishop the most beautiful of all birds but it is worth nothing the only thing he knows how to do is stare at people without talking this was a poetic if thinly veiled criticism of the king and all the same Philip's ministers were carrying out his own agenda whatever Al Philip displayed in public he would not suffer Bernard's Defiance disregarding the Pope's right to intervene and judge a clergyman Philip declared Bernard guilty of high treason and condemned him to death this was a critical escalation of the conflict between the French King and the pope but bonfice VII was no easy opponent deeply knowledgeable of church law and dedicated to the teachings on papal Authority Bon us would not allow the king of France to usurp his rights Philip sought nothing less than the removal of the pope from Power his lawyers argued that the French Crown was absolute Master of the church in France that the pope had no right to govern the church in France not surprisingly bonfice decided to excommunicate Philip from church membership excommunication was an ancient tool of the bishop of Rome reserved for the those Christians who Gravely violated Christian teaching and refused to repent bonfice prepared to issue a bull of excommunication on September 8th 1303 but on September 7 a French army under the leadership of Philips jurist Guam deur approached the city of anogi where bonfice was staying nog captured the pope held him prisoner for 3 days and had him beaten and tortured the goal was to dispatch the pope to Paris where he would be tried and deposed by the Royal Court outraged the town's people of anag fought and overwhelmed the French freeing the pope who fled to Rome but the Pope's injuries were severe and he died several days later the Pope's bull of excommunication against philli was never published but remained on hand at the papal Court hanging over Philip's head as Barbara fril describes it like a Sword of Damocles news of Philip's abuse of a sitting Pope spread across Christendom for the average person it was Unthinkable that a king would treat the Pope in this way the incident further darkened the French King's reputation even in his own kingdom throughout bonfice VII's conflict with the King of France the Templars remained staunchly loyal to the pope however the Templars also had had a close relationship with the French Crown as Templar operations grew over the course of the Crusades the Templar Brothers developed a system by which pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land could protect their finances a pilgrim could deposit funds with a Templar house in England France or somewhere else in Europe then once the pilgrim arrived in the Holy Land his funds were available to him at a Templar house in cities like acre or Tire the system nullified the risk of traveling with money and enhance the well-being of Christians journeying to the east so effective was this Arrangement and so widely were the Templars renowned for their honesty that powerful men called on the Templars to manage their funds thus it was that in the early 14th century Philip IV borrowed money from the Templars and employed the templers to manage his Royal treasury the grow of Templar Financial operations resulted in the development of effectively two branches of the Templar organization a financial and diplomatic Branch based in Paris and a fighting Branch based in first the holy land and then in Cyprus after 1291 the Templars tended to place individual Templars based on their personal aptitudes the courageous and physically strong were assigned to the front lines in the holy land or the Iberian Peninsula while the more diplomatic or administratively capable brothers were assigned to houses in Europe such as Paris where they would manage the more mundane day-to-day Affairs of the order the active war zone of the holy land required more than just physical prowess and also demanded mental toughness the ability to maintain cool in the face of terrifying situations to understand the sarasin to deal with them diplomatically and to manage visiting Crusader forces as well as the ability to manage fortresses and Garrison to keep men properly equipped large numbers of horses in good shape and food and supplies well stocked back in Europe on the home front the Templars needed to keep up to date on the situation in various courts throughout chrom to understand conflicts between rulers and to help resolve tensions diplomatically these Templars also needed to be money smart to manage the order's finances well and to be trustworthy so that the order's High reputation remains remained intact they also needed to have a good sense of business to be able to manage various properties assets and [Music] Enterprises these dual roles of the Templars made them very close to the rulers of Christian Europe especially the king of France this closeness to the king of France would go disastrously wrong for the Templar as we'll continue to explore next time in part two of this series join us as we continue to follow the trial of the Templars I stand the the choice I would want you the SEC of