Jacques de Molay

Jacques de Molay
23rd Grand Master of the Knights Templar
In office
1292–1312
MonarchKing Philip IV
Preceded byThibaud Gaudin
Succeeded byOrder Disbanded
Personal details
Bornc. 1240–1250[1]
Molay, Haute-Saône, County of Burgundy
Died11 or 18 March 1314 (aged c. 70)[2]
Paris, France
NationalityFranc-Comtois
Military service
Allegiance Knights Templar
Years of service1265–1314
RankGrand Master (1292–1314)
Battles/warsSiege of Ruad
Coat of arms of Jacques de Molay

Jacques de Molay (French: [də mɔlɛ]; c. 1240–1250[1] – 11 or 18 March 1314[2]), also spelled "Molai",[3] was the 23rd and last grand master of the Knights Templar, leading the order sometime before 20 April 1292 until it was dissolved by order of Pope Clement V in 1312.[4][5] Though little is known of his actual life and deeds except for his last years as Grand Master, he is one of the best known Templars.

Jacques de Molay's goal as grand master was to reform the order, and adjust it to the situation in the Holy Land during the waning days of the Crusades. As European support for the Crusades diminished, the French monarchy sought to disband the order and claim the wealth of the Templars as its own. King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Templars, had Molay and many other French Templars arrested in 1307 and tortured into making false confessions. When Molay later retracted his confession, Philip had him burned upon a scaffold on an island in the River Seine in front of Notre-Dame de Paris in March, 1314.[6] Both the sudden end of the centuries-old order of Templars and the dramatic execution of its last leader turned Molay into a legendary figure.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference demurgerBeck1a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference demurgerProf14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Demurger, pp. 1–4. "So no conclusive decision can be reached, and we must stay in the realm of approximations, confining ourselves to placing Molay's date of birth somewhere around 1244/5 – 1248/9, even perhaps 1240–1250."
  4. ^ Barber, Malcolm (2006). The Trial of the Templars (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-511-24533-6. The apparently demoralised Theobald Gaudin did not long outlive the fall of Acre. Sometime before 20 April, 1292, he had been succeeded by a highly experienced Burgundian Templar of twenty-seven years' standing called James of Molay.
  5. ^ Goyau, Georges. "Jacques de Molai." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages Vol. III by Henry Charles Lea, NY: Hamper & Bros, Franklin Sq. 1888, p. 325. Not in copyright.