24. Philip IV Slaughters the French Knights Templar, Paris, 1310

Execution of the Templars
Philip IV and some of the members of his court, having previously executed several dozen French Templars, observe the execution of the surviving leaders of the Order, as imagined by the Bedford Master. c. 1415, Paris, in a copy of Boccaccio’s “Des cas des nobles hommes et femmes.” (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Fr.226, f.265)

After having lost Cyprus, their last holding in the Middle East, the Knights Templar no longer had a bunch of Christian pilgrims to protect, so they tried to figure out what to do next.  Find new mandate? Join the Hospitalers? Well, no, neither one, darn it. Philip IV of France, who owed a whole hell of a lot of money to the order, strong armed the Pope, with the result that the order got disbanded and the French Templars got exterminated. We’re both annoyed at Philip, Pope Clement V, Sir Walter Scott, and anybody continuing to tell lies about the Templars.  It’s not that we approve of them, really.  We just hate the lies. Oh, and we think King Denis I of Portugal is awesome.

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2 thoughts on “24. Philip IV Slaughters the French Knights Templar, Paris, 1310”

  1. Dinis I de Portugal is FANTASTIC. As the grandson of Alfonso X el Sabio (the Wise) of Castile, I would expect nothing less, but I didn’t know he went to bat for the Templars like that!! I just thought he wrote terrific poetry!

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