Jacques de Molay (1244??-1314)

Master of the Order from 1292 to 1312.

The absence of correct files prevents from being able to locate exactly the places and date of birth of Jacques de Molay. Nevertheless, indications found in the minutes of the lawsuit, in the files of the European kingdoms of the time, allow us to think that Jacques de Molay was born about 1245 in the French region of Haute-Saône, in the County of Burgundy, territory always vassal of the Germanic Empire.

In 1265 ,he is received in the Order in the city of Beaune by Humbert de Pairaud, visitor of France and England and by Amaury de la Roche, Master of France. Around 1270, he is in the East where his action remains very discrete. It is not known if he is among the survivors of Acre who succeed in escaping with Thibaud Gaudin to Cyprus, but he participates a chapter which is held in the island in autumn 1291. He is elected Master of the Order before April 1292, little time after the death of Thibaud Gaudin.
As of his election, Jacques de Molay hastens to avoid urgently, he sets up a government and deals with the defence of the island of Cyprus and the Kingdom of Little Armenia, last Frankish possessions in the East.

In spring 1293, he undertakes a long voyage in Europe, where he regulates various problems in the domains of the Order, but especially, he beseeches the assistance of the Western princes and the Church for the defence of the last Christian States.
During this voyage, he ties close relations with several monarchs, of which Edward 1st of England, Jacques II of Aragon and the pope Boniface VIII.
He returns to Cyprus in autumn 1296 to regulate there problems which have occurred with the king Henri II.
In 1298, he organises a raid in Cilicie after the fall of Roche-Guillaume, the last fortified town of the kingdom. Unfortunately, the Christian forces will not manage to benefit from the victory of Ghâzân, Khan of Persia, over the Mameluks at Homs in December 1299.
In 1300, he continues to strengthen the small island of Ruad opposite Tortose to make of it a base advanced for operations combined with Mongolian. But Mongolian, too occupied by their tribal wars, will never be able to be combined with the Christians against the Mameluks.
In September 1302, Templars of Ruad are massacred by the Egyptian Mameluks.
Jacques de Molay then gives up this strategy of the Mongolian alliance which proves to be a total failure.

In 1305, the new pope Clement V, requests the opinion of the Masters of the religious Orders for the preparation of a new crusade and on a project of unification of the Orders.
June 6, 1306, Clement V officially convenes them in Poitiers, but because of the health of the pope, the interview with Jacques de Molay will take place only in May 1307.
As he had already mentioned with the pope before, Jacques de Molay categorically refuses this project of union between the Orders.
This decision will have heavy consequences for the future of the Order of the Temple. Initially, the King of France takes shade of this decision, because it disturbs his ambitions, moreover it puts at evil the negotiations between Clement V and Philippe IV about the judgment of the memory of Boniface VIII and finally, it disturbs the organization of new crusades.
With the occasion of this voyage in occident, Jacques de Molay discovers that libellous rumours run about Templars. Philippe IV and his advisers will immediately benefit from this weakness and will establish a plan to destroy this intransigent Order.
On June 24th, Jacques de Molay is in Paris where he meets king of France to discuss about the charges carried against the Order. He returns to Poitiers, reassured by the discussion with Philippe IV, but request with the pope that he organises an investigation to wash the Order of any suspicion.
On August 24th, Clement V announces to Jacques de Molay that a board of inquiry is installed. Philippe IV wants to precipitate the things to prevent that all the affair which is announced does not remain between the hands of the pope. On September 14th, helped by Nogaret, he makes transmit in great secrecy all to his bailiffs and to seneschals an order of arrest for all Templars of the Kingdom and the setting under sequestration of all their goods.

This operation of scale begins on October 14th 1307 at dawn. All Templars of the kingdom of France are arrested. In some preceptories, Templars are massacred by treachery, because the royal men-at-arms fear to have to face these frightening warriors in honest combat.
Jacques de Molay is arrested in the chieftain house of the Order, in Paris.
A strange event occurs during the first interrogation of Jacques de Molay on October 24th. Instead of denying the charges, he confesses certain facts and thus credits royal propaganda against the Order.
In December 1307, Clement V sends cardinals in Paris to question the Master of the Order. In front of those, Jacques de Molay revokes his admissions. It engages then a loggerheads between Philippe IV and Clement V who concludes itself in August 1308 by a compromise between the two parts concretised by the bull "Faciens Misericordiam". By this bull, the pope reserves the right to judge the dignitaries of the Order.
Transferred to Chinon with several other dignitaries from the Order, like Geoffroy de Charney, Hugues de Pairaud, Geoffroy de Gonneville, Jacques de Molay is new interrogated by royal agents. During this interrogation, he will return to his admissions made in October 1307.
During more than one year, the pontifical commission sets up itself and begins its audiences. Jacques de Molay will be able to deposit there only twice towards the end of November 1309. With this occasion, he changes strategy of defence and wants to keep silence and to rely only on the judgement from the pope, trusting the contents of the bull "Faciens Misericordiam".

In 1310, several tens of Templars want to arise in front of the pontifical commission to testify in favour of the Order and thus to put at evil all the bill of indictment.
This movement of protest is broken clean through by the sentence to be burn at the stake of 54 Templars, judged as relapsed by Philippe de Marigny on May 10th 1310.
Moreover, the leaders of this movement of protest disappear from the jails of Philippe IV without leaving traces.
On March 22nd 1312, Clement V announces officially the abolition of the Order of the Temple during the Council of Vienna.
In spite of his will and his insistent requests near his jailers, Jacques de Molay continues to stagnate in prison without being able to be received by the pope. This last agree nevertheless to send 3 cardinals in Paris in December 1313 to rule on the fate of the dignitaries.
Arrived to Paris in March 1314, the verdict of the three cardinals is without call, the dignitaries of the Order are condemned to life imprisonment.
Jacques de Molay and Geoffroy de Charnay rise with vehemence against this verdict, understanding that they were played since the beginning by a pope who did not want to hear them. They both revoke all admissions made and proclaim the Order innocent of any charge carried against it,
Jacques de Molay and Geoffroy de Charnay are immediately recognized like relapsed and are delivered by the cardinals to the secular arm. A stake is installed the very same day on an island (island of the city) of the Seine to the foot of Our Lady Cathedral.
To the evening of March 18th, 1314, Jacques de Molay and Geoffroy de Charnay are delivered to the flames.

Previous Master : Thibaud Gaudin

Back to Masters list

1. "Armorial des Maîtres de l'Ordre du Temple"
   

   Bernard Marillier; Editions Pardès 2000

2. "Histoire des Templiers"
   

   J.-J.-E. Roy ; Editions Pardes 1999