The Head of God [antikvár]

The True Nature of the Templar Treasure The French king's soldiers came in the early hours of Friday 13 October 1307. Just before dawn, when men sleep most soundly and guards are least vigilant, the seneschals of Philip IV descended simultaneously on the most renowned military order in Christendom, the Knights of the Temple. Every member of the order found was arrested, including the grand master. The accusation against the Templars was stark and terrible - a charge of heresy. In the words of the royal order for their arrest, the Knights of the Temple had 'abandoned God their maker and sacrificed to demons ' It was 'a bitter thing, a lamentable thing, a thing which is horrible to contemplate, terrible to hear of, a detestable crime, an execrable evil, an abominable work, a detestable disgrace, a thing almost inhuman, indeed, set apart from all humanity'.' But amongst all this high-flown hyperbole there was not one word of what was most probably the real reason behind Philip iv's unprovoked attack - his desire to acquire the fabulous treasure of the temple for himself. Yet ironically, the base motives for Philip's assault on the Templars brought to light the presence of an even more valuable treasure within the Order of the Temple - a forbidden relic of inestimable worth. Despite their full title, 'The Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon', by the early fourteenth century the Templars were possessed of immense power and wealth. In