The last Templar : the tragedy of Jacques de Molay, last grand master of the Temple / Alain Demurger ; translated by Antonia Nevill.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Demurger, Alain.

Contributor:

Constance L. Rosenthal Book Fund.

Standardized Title:

Jacques de Molay. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Molay, Jacques de, approximately 1243-1314.

Molay, Jacques de.

Templars--History.

Templars.

History.

Physical Description:

xvii, 282 pages, 4 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Profile Books, 2004.

Summary:

Between 1307 and 1310 King Philip the Fair of France and Pope Clement V brought to trial one of the most powerful institutions of the medieval world, the crusading Order of the Knights of the Temple. Jacques de Molay was then its Grand Master. Alain Demurger tells the history of Molay's life as a crusader and of the dramatic years of his leadership. With the fall of Acre in 1291 the crusaders lost their last stronghold in Palestine and the Order of the Temple much of its reason for being. Jacques de Molay, elected Grand Master the following year, sought to revive its crusading spirit. But an alliance with the Mongols went wrong, and when their garrison on the Syrian island of Ruad fell to the Mamluks the Templars were discredited. The scene was set for dissolution. Molay was arrested in France in 1307; three years later fifty-four knights were burnt at the stake in Paris; and in 1312 the pope, urged by the king, suppressed the Order through all of Europe. The Temple had been found guilty of heresy, of scandalous rituals in the initiation of new members. The Inquisitor of France, King Philip's chaplain, used torture to get the confessions and the judgement of history has been to dismiss them. Alain Demurger reopens the case. He describes the complex events surrounding the arrests and trials, re-examines the transcripts of the inquisitions, and looks closely at the circumstances of Molay's own devastating confession. He ends his account of one of the most gruesome episodes of European history with a measured verdict.

Contents:

1 1250 - Molay's Youth 1

2 1265 - Jacques de Molay, Rank-and-file Templar 20

3 1273 - Thomas Berard and Guillaume de Beaujeu. Two Masters, Two Policies for the Temple? 34

4 1292 - Grand Master of the Order of the Temple 53

5 1293 - Journey to the West 73

6 1300 - The Isle of Ruad 95

7 1303 - Cyprus 111

8 1306 - Plans and Problems 139

9 1307 - In the Snares of the King of France 154

10 1309 - Escaping the Trap 173

11 1314 - Burnt at the Stake 193

12 Conclusion: A Portrait of Jacques de Molay 206

Contemporary Popes 257

Genealogies 258.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [268]-276) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Constance L. Rosenthal Book Fund.

ISBN:

1861975295

OCLC:

55752889