Philip the Fair

The Order of the Knights Templar had been severely weakened by the loss of the Holy Land, in 1291. But even with this loss the Order was still a wealthy and influential organization. They still enjoyed protection from the Pope and commanded respect from all monarchs throughout Europe but within the space of a few years all was to change. Philip IV of France, known as Philip the Fair, through devious plotting and cunning manipulation of the Pope was to bring the Order of the Knights Templar to it's knees.

Philip IV was the grandson of Louis IX, or St. Louis, who had commanded theill-fated Sixth Crusade which had been destroyed during an attack on Cairo. Louis had returned to France after the defeat and had planned to organize another Crusade, despite strong objections from the French nobility. He was granted the right to levy taxes on the French Church to raise enough funds for this expedition but was struck down by illness and died in Tunis before his army was complete. His son, Philip III, succeeded him and continued with the Crusading mentality. He raised taxes to fund a Crusade of his own but it too proved to be a disastrous affair and he was soon killed. Philip III's abortive Crusade had cost a staggering Ł1,229,000 and had completely tipped the French economy over the edge leaving his son, Philip IV, to inherit a bankrupt kingdom.

Philip became king in 1285 at the age of 17. He was educated by Giles de Colonna, a man with a forceful personality who was to instill a strong sense of self importance in the young man - making him a powerful monarch who would be subservient to no-one, including the Pope. Colonna wrote:

"Jesus Christ has not given any temporal dominion to his church, and the King of France has his authority from God alone."

The outbreak of war with Edward I of England in 1294 added even greater strain on the already crumbling French economy and Philip resorted to extraordinary measures to raise extra revenue. He levied a 100% tax on all Jewish possessions and in 1306 he ordered the seizure of all their property and deported the entire Jewish community. He also introduced an extortionate tax on the Lombard and Florentine bankers. When these methods failed to meet his growing expenses he was forced to recall all coinage, melt it down and re-mint it with a much lower precious metal content. Philip managed to raise around Ł1,200,000 but seriously devalued the French mark in the process.

In a desperate bid to raise more funds Philip decided to re-instate the tax on the French clergy (just as his Grandfather, Louis IX, had done) much to the disgust of Pope Boniface VIII. Boniface issued a Papal Bull in 1302 forbidding anyone to impose a tax upon the Church. Philip responded by stopping the export of gold, silver and other merchandise from his kingdom, which cut off any revenue the Church was earning from France. Enraged, Boniface issued another Bull stating that all monarchs were subject to his rulings in matters Temporal as well as spiritual. Again Philip responded bluntly by publicly burning the Bull and sending a message to Boniface which stated:

"Philip, by grace of God, King of France, To Boniface acting as supreme Pontiff, little or no health. Let your extreme folly known, that in Temporals we are not subject to anyone."

Philip called a National Assembly in Paris of all the French clergy where he managed to convince them to stand by him and deny the Temporal jurisdiction that Pope Boniface claimed. In response to this outrage Boniface issued another Bull, Unam Sanctum, which stated that every human being was subject to the Pope and would if so ordered, have to appear before him in Rome.

Philip decided to step up his quarrel with Boniface and resorted to more devious methods. He employed the services of his Chief Officer of State and main advisor (between 1303-1313), William de Nogaret. Nogaret had no love of the Catholic Church as both his parents had been burnt at the stake as heretics during the Cathar Crusade, instigated by Innocent III. Nogaret set about a personal attack on Pope Boniface, drawing up a list of unusual accusations. He accused him of adultery and sodomy (which in fact he was believed to be guilty of) and also of practicing Simony, sorcery and keeping a small demon in his ring which would come out at night and perform unspeakable sexual acts with the Pope. In response to this rather imaginative personal slander Boniface excommunicated Philip, but Philip managed to have the Papal Bull intercepted so it was never publicly announced.

Philip now decided he had had enough of arguing and it was now time for action. He dispatched Nogaret, along with 300 horsemen, to Rome on 7th September 1303. Nogaret and his men arrived outside the gates of the Papal palace at Anagni, forced their way in and kidnapped Boniface. Although Nogaret realized that he could not actually kill the Pope, Boniface was subjected to considerable physical abuse until he was eventually freed by the people of Anagni. Unfortunately for Boniface the stress of this ordeal proved too much and he died of a seizure only weeks after his release. Boniface III was succeeded by Benedict XI, who at first appeased Philip by removing the sentence of excommunication that Boniface had placed upon him. However, as time passed the relationship turned sour. Benedict attempted to re-assert the power of the Church over the French monarch so Philip devised an effective way of stopping him, he arranged to have him poisoned.

The throne of Peter was again empty and selection of a new Pope proved to be difficult. The Italian and French Cardinals within the Conclave remained divided for ten months. Philip saw his chance to manipulate the events and struck a deal with one of the candidates, Bertrand de Gotte (Archbishop of Bordeaux), in exchange for him granting the King favors he would make him the new Pope. Six of these favors were:

A reconciliation between the French monarch and the Church.

Admission to the Communion for himself and his nominees.

The tithes collected by the French clergy would be paid to the French court for the next five years.

The persecution and destruction of the memory of Pope Boniface VIII

James and Peter Colonna, two of Philips Cardinals, to be made Bishops.

The new Pope was to be relocated to France.

The seventh favor Philip kept to himself saying that he would make it known in the near future - was this favor related to the plans Philip was hatching against the Knights Templar? It seems highly likely.

Bertrand de Gotte was crowned Pope Clement V at Lyons on 17th December 1305. Philip now had the head of the Church - the only man on earth the Templars owed allegiance to - under his control. He now turned his attention to the vast wealth the Order possessed and began to hatch his sinister scheme. Philip had no love for the Order, he was already seriously in debt to them after borrowing large amounts of money to finance his war with England. He had also been reminded by his mentor, Giles de Colonna, that the Order had been reluctant to pay his Grandfather's, Louis IX, ransom after his failed Crusade - this was a point he actually brought up during his attack on the Templars. First he had to draw the Templar Grand Master, Jacques DeMolay, back to France from the Order's headquarters on the Island of Cyprus. He achieved this by instructing his puppet Pope, Clement, to order DeMolay and the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller (William de Villaret) back to France to discuss merging the two orders. This was an idea that had previously been brought up by Nicholas II, and it had been violently opposed by both of the military orders. Villaret could not attend the meeting as he was far too busy attacking the Island of Rhodes, but DeMolay immediately set off for France. He left Cyprus with a fleet of 18 Templar ships and anchored at the port of Rochelle. DeMolay was accompanied by 60 of his most distinguished Knights, 150,000 gold Florins and 12 packhorses carrying unminted silver. DeMolay met with Clement to put forward his reasons for not combining the orders and to discuss a new Crusade to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims. DeMolay met with Clement again the following year, worried about allegations of impropriety made against the Order. Clement managed to set DeMolay's mind at rest but the Grand Master had no idea of the events that were about to unfold.

Meanwhile, Philip was again facing serious problems, His increased taxes had caused riots in Paris and the King was forced to seek refuge from the angry mobs at the Paris Temple. The two ringleaders of the riot were arrested and whilst in prison confessed to have once been Templars. This caught Philips imagination and the pair were brought before him. The two men, Squin de Flexian and Noffo Dei outlined a list of crimes they alleged The Order of the Knights Templar were guilty of. Squin de Flexian testified:

"All Templars upon admission swore never to leave the Order and to further its interests by any means, right or wrong.

That the leaders of the Order are in secret alliance with the Saracens and they have more of Mohammedan infidelity than Christian faith, every novice being required to spit and trample upon the cross.

The leaders of the Order are heretical, cruel and sacrilegious men who kill or imprison any novice, who upon discovering the iniquity of the Order, tries to leave it. That furthermore they teach women who are pregnant by them how to procure an abortion and secretly murder new-born children.

That they are infected with the errors of the Fratecelli; they despise the Pope and the authority of the church and scorn the sacraments, especially those of penance and confession.

That they are addicted to the most infamous excesses of debauchery. If anyone expresses his repugnance he is punished by perpetual captivity.

That Templar houses are receptacles of every crime and abomination that can be committed.

That the Order works to put the Holy Land into the hands of the Saracens.

That the Grand Master is installed in secret and few of the younger brethren are present and that he repudiates his Christian faith by doing something contrary to right.

That many statues of the Order are unlawful, profane and contrary to Christianity.

The members being forbidden, under pain of perpetual confinement to reveal them to anyone.

That no vice or crime committed for the honor or benefit of the Order is held to be a sin."

Whether these men had invented these charges themselves or whether Philip and William de Nogaret had constructed them is unsure, but now King Philip IV had two ex-Templars who were willing to accuse the Order of the ultimate crime of the Middle Ages - heresy, and this gave him the perfect excuse to seize the wealth of the Knights Templar.