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It is Friday the 13th of October, in the year of our Lord 1307. I, Jacques de Molay, am writing this, the last letter I will ever write. I have summoned Guillaume de Than, captain of the Paris preceptory to carry out my final orders. We have had word that the King has sent nearly 100 of his knights with men-at-arms to take and arrest us. Luckily we have had, thanks to our spies, good time to steal our valued treasures and sacred texts and documents out of France before Philip and his nobles can get their hands on them. The captain is a good man and one of our best. I commend him to you and place in your charge the knowledge and sacred treasures of the world for you to keep hidden until the time is ripe for the whole world to know the TRUTH!
I am your humble servant in God,
Jacques de Molay, Grand Master
With Philip threatening military action unless the Pope agreed to comply with his wishes, Clement finally agreed to disband the Order, citing the public scandal that had been generated by the confessions. At the Council of Vienne in 1312, he issued a series of papal bulls, including Vox In Excelso which officially dissolved the Order, and Ad Proviendan which turned the majority of the Templar assets over to the Hospitallers.
As for the the last remaining leaders of the Order, the elderly Grand Master Jacques de Molay, who had initially confessed under torture, retracted his statement. His associate Geoffrey de Charney, Preceptor of Normandy, followed de Molay's example and did the same, insisting on his innocence. Both men were declared guilty of being relapsed heretics, and sentenced to death by being burned alive at the stake in Paris on March 18, 1314. Jacques de Molay reportedly remained defiant to the end, asking to be tied in such a way that he could face the Notre Dame cathedral, and hold his hands together in prayer. His request was granted, and according to legend, he called out from the flames that both Pope Clement and King Philip would soon meet him before God. Pope Clement died within a month, and King Philip died in a hunting accident before the end of the year.
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