Editing Grand Master of the Templar Order

{{Era|AC1|Bloodlines|AC2|Brotherhood|Secret Crusade|Renaissance|Bbook|Templars}}
{{WP-REAL|Grand Masters of the Knights Templar}}
{{Spoilerhd}}
{{youmay|the highest rank of the Templar Order|the Assassins' equivalent of [[Mentor]]}}
The title of '''Grand Master''' was the highest rank attainable within the [[Templars|Templar Order]] and granted the bearer full control over its members and their operations.

Having previously born a more public face, more Grand Masters of the Templar Order were better known than their [[Assassins|Assassin]] [[Mentor|counterparts]]. As the Templars slipped into the shadows, the identities of the leaders eventually fell from the public consciousness. While it is assumed that during the middle ages when acting under the banner of "Knights Templar" all Templar leaders are of western nobility , the truth is as the order developed, diversified and relocated many different people of various racial backgrounds and heritages have assumed the mantle of Grand Master throughout history.

==History==
===Middle Ages===
After two years without a Grand Master, [[Robert de Sable]] entered the order of the Knights Templar and reigned as their Grand Master during 1191. During his reign, he sought the [[Pieces of Eden]], particularly the [[Second Apple|Apple of Eden]]. After having lost the apple, he launched an attack to [[Masyaf]], the stronghold of the Assassins. During the [[Battle of Arsuf]], he was killed by his rival, Altaïr.<ref name="AC">''[[Assassin's Creed]]''</ref>

After the death of Robert, [[Armand Bouchart]] took the title of Grand Master. He and the Templars retreated to [[Cyprus]] after Robert's death. But Altaïr pursued him and in the [[Templar Archive]], they fought each other. Altaïr won the fight, and the Templars lost another leader.<ref name="ACBL">''[[Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines]]''</ref>

During the early 14th century, the [[France|French]] King [[Philip le Bel]] was unknowingly influenced by the [[Assassins]], and conspired against the Templars. The Templars were branded heretics and hundreds of them were arrested, and the last official Grand Master, [[Jacques de Molay]], understood that the Order would not survive as a public organization. He allowed himself to be burned at the stake, saving the lives of his brethren and making his enemies believe that the Templars were finished, though in reality the Order continued to exist - underground. Before his death, Molay sent nine of his most trusted men out into the world to continue his work.<ref name="Encyclopedia">''[[Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia]]''</ref>

===Renaissance===
By 1476, the Templars in Europe were eventually led by [[Rodrigo Borgia]], a cardinal under [[Pope Sixtus IV]]. Operating from [[Rome]], Rodrigo's primary objective was to unite Italy under the Templar banner;<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref> however, the Italian Templars strayed far from the main Templar ideology, using the Order as a way to attain power for their own greed.<ref name="Encyclopedia"/> Despite facing complications from the Assassins, mainly [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]], Rodrigo managed to bribe the other cardinals, and was named Pope in 1492, taking on the name Alexander VI.<ref name="AC2"/>

Rodrigo secured the power of the Church for the Templars, and from [[Vaticano District|the Vatican]] he oversaw the progress of the other Templars in Europe, including [[England]] and [[Spain]]. Though by 1500, Rodrigo's resolve had weakened, and control over the order fell to his son [[Cesare Borgia]], who acted as the ''de facto'' Grand Master.<ref name="ACBH">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''</ref>

After he killed his own father in August 1503, Cesare became the official Grand Master of the Order,<ref name="ACBH novel">[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (novel)|''Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood'' novel]]</ref> though without his father's power in the Church, Cesare could not maintain the same influence in Europe that his father had. Cesare was imprisoned, and upon escaping, fled to his brother-in-law [[John III of Navarre]] in Navarre, Spain. He was ultimately killed during the [[Siege of Viana]] in 1507 by Ezio Auditore,<ref name="ACBH"/> destabilizing the Templars in Europe and causing them to temporarily withdraw.<ref name="ACRV novel">[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations (novel)|''Assassin's Creed: Revelations'' novel]]</ref>

The Templars resurfaced in 1509 in the Ottoman Empire as a strong army of [[Byzantines|Byzantine]] remnants,<ref name="ACRV">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''</ref> having shifted their base to the underground city of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derinkuyu Derinkuyu] in [[Cappadocia]].<ref name="ACRV novel"/> [[Manuel Palaiologos]], an heir to the Byzantine throne, led this Byzantine Templar army, aiming to gain enough strength to revive his fallen empire. In 1509, the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Prince [[Ahmet]] discovered Manuel's Templar ties, and embraced the ideology as his own. Being younger and more charismatic than the old and greedy Manuel, Ahmet was able to slip into the role of leader,<ref name="Encyclopedia"/> assuming the title of Grand Master.<ref name="ACRV"/>

After having obtained the [[Masyaf Keys]] needed to unlock the [[Altaïr's library|library]] of [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]], hoping to obtain the location of the "[[Grand Temple]]", Ahmet was chased by Ezio Auditore through the countryside outside [[Constantinople]]. Both exhausted, Ahmet and Ezio were joined by Prince [[Selim I|Selim]], Ahmet's brother, who had apparently been named Sultan by their father, to Ahmet's surprise. In order to avoid possible complications of succession, Selim leaped to Ahmet, strangling him and eventually throwing him off a cliff to his death.<ref name="ACRV"/> With Ahmet's death, the Templars once again fell into disarray, and went into hiding to once again reassemble elsewhere.<ref name="ACRV novel"/>

By the 20th century, the title of Grand Master was no longer existent, after the "Founders" created [[Abstergo Industries]] in 1937, which from that point on served as the front for the Templar Order. Its highest-ranking employees were members of the Order, who also led the Order together.<ref name="ACRV"/>

==Known Grand Masters==
<gallery position="center" widths="168" captionalign="center" bordersize="medium">
Hugh de Payns.jpg|[[Hugh de Payns]]<ref name="Encyclopedia"/><br>(1118 - 1136)
Rober_de_Sable_v2.png|[[Robert de Sable]]<ref name="AC"/><br>(1191)
Armand Bouchart.jpg|[[Armand Bouchart]]<ref name="ACBL"/><br>(1191 - 1193)
Molay.jpg|[[Jacques de Molay]]<ref name="Encyclopedia"/><br>(1292 - 1312)
Char rodrigo.png|[[Rodrigo Borgia]]<ref name="AC2"/><ref name="ACBH"/><br>(? - 1503)
Char cesare.png|[[Cesare Borgia]]<ref name="ACBH novel"/><br>(1500 - 1507) {{c|de facto}}<br>(1503 - 1507) {{c|de jure}}
ACR Ahmet v.png|Prince [[Ahmet]]<ref name="ACRV"/><br>(c. 1509 - 1512)
</gallery>

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Templar Order]]