Parisian Rite of the Templar Order

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"For centuries we have focused on the trappings of power: the titles of nobility, the offices of Church and State. Caught in the very lie we crafted to shepherd the masses... In the wake of revolution, the Order will adapt. They will retreat to the shadows and we will, at last, be the secret masters that we were meant to be."

―François-Thomas Germain to Élise de la Serre, regarding the Templars' agenda, 1794.

The Parisian Rite of the Templar Order, sometimes known simply as the Paris Rite, was one of the autonomous factions comprising the Templar Order. The Rite operated throughout Paris and Versailles, during the late 18th century.

The Rite was headquartered in Paris, and notably managed to maintain a truce with the French branch of the Assassin Order, negotiated between the Grand Master François de la Serre and the Assassin Mentor Mirabeau, for several years, despite opposition to the idea among members of both factions.

History

Schism

After discovering the Codex Pater Intellectus, written by Grand Master Jacques de Molay, in a vault beneath the Temple in Paris, François-Thomas Germain, a high ranking member of the Rite and a Sage, became influenced by the ideals of the long dead Jacques de Molay, also a Sage, regarding the shape of the Templar Order and humanity itself. Germain proposed radical changes to Grand Master de la Serre, but was cast out when the Grand Master deemed him fanatical.

In response, Germain came to believe that the Order had become corrupt and that its position among the aristocracy had made the Templars forget their true purpose. In secret, he began plotting with other members in the Order who shared his ideals and recruited individuals disillusioned by the corruption of the French monarchy. Among his first recruits was Marie Lévesque, the only member of the rite who had defended him during his trial. Others included Louis-Michel le Peletier and Charles Gabriel Sivert, the former for his convictions and the latter for his lack of appreciation by François. Sivert in turn recruited the Roi des Thunes and his lieutenant Aloys la Touche, taking advantage of the Beggar King's bitterness over being rejected membership into the order by François.

On 5 May 1789, Germain decided to assassinate the Grand Master de la Serre, but Chrétien Lafrenière, an advisor of de la Serre, caught wind of this conspiracy and hurriedly sent a letter warning François of the imminent peril. When the messenger Perrault arrived at the de la Serre residence in Versailles, however, the Grand Master had already left for the Estates-General. As a result, the letter was handed to Arno Dorian, the foster son of François, who failed to deliver it by hand and decided to slip the letter under the door to François' study. At the Estates-General, François met with the Assassin Mentor Mirabeau to conclude a truce between the two factions.

In the evening, members of the two sides of the Templar Order gathered at the Palace of Versailles for the induction of Élise de la Serre, daughter of François de la Serre. It was here that Germain launched his coup against François. Sivert and the Roi des Thunes lured François into the palace gardens, murdered him, and incidentally framed Arno Dorian for his death when they escaped just as he arrived at the scene moments before the guards.

The French Revolution

Despite Germain's ascendance as Grand Master, he was still opposed by the moderates, supporters of François who were led by Élise, who now craved revenge. At the Estates-General, Germain recruited Frédéric Rouille, a young guard who was passionate for revolutionary ideas but was spurned by his idol Mirabeau. On 5 October, the radical Templars attempted to make the Women's March on Versailles more violent and kill Théroigne de Méricourt, but the Assassins protected the crowd. On the same day, they ambushed Élise and her followers when they met at the Hôtel de Lauzun. The old guard members were killed, except Élise, who jumped in the Seine to escape. After this event, the last allies of Élise were either defected to Germain's faction or purged.

In January 1791, Sivert began to extort money from nobles and members of clergy as means to fund Germain's operations. Sivert, however, was killed by Arno Dorian at the Notre-Dame Cathedral. A few days later, Arno assassinated the Roi des Thunes and learned that the murders of François's murder had a connection with a silversmith named Germain.

On 31 March, Arno investigated Germain's workshop and found the silversmith, not knowing that he was the new Grand Master. With subtle manipulation, Germain led Arno to believe that Lafrenière, who was the last support of Élise, had been behind François's murder, and that he had been imprisoned at his residence for several months by Lafrenière's men. The Assassin subsequently killed Lafrenière while he was amassing his own forces to launch an assault on Germain's followers later that night. Thus, the radical Templars met at Hôtel de Beauvais later that evening safe from attack, where they organized the last steps of their plan to overthrow the French monarchy and to publicly condemn and execute the king. Marie Lévesque was to hoard the food to trigger a famine; through starvation, the desperate population would be become frenzied and violent towards the royal family. Rouille was to proof that the king collaborated with the Austrians to jeopardize the revolution, and le Peletier was to ensure that the National Assembly condemned Louis XVI to death. In the meantime, la Touche informed them of Lafrenière's demise; in disarray, the remaining members of the moderate faction would be wiped out, leaving Élise as the sole survivor. Arno, eavesdropping on the meeting, learned that Germain planned to kill Élise the next day in another ambush. Shortly after, the Templars became alerted to his presence, but failed to prevent his escape. The next day, the Assassin saved Élise and together they decided to join their forces against Germain.

Taking over France

On 10 August 1792, after a year of hoarding, the people of Paris rioted against the royal family and stormed the Tuileries Palace. Rouille went to the king's bureau to find the documents that proved not only Louis XVI's alliance with the Austrians but also his correspondence with the late Assassin Mentor Mirabeau. The public, hailing Mirabeau as a great hero of the revolution, would come to see him as a traitor to their cause should his negotiations with the king be exposed. Once again, Arno intervened, burning Mirabeau's letters before Rouille could take them.

On 2 September, Rouille participated in the September Massacres at the Grand Châtelet. Arno, who continued his investigation without the permission of the Council, killed Rouille. During the summer of that year, Théroigne de Méricourt tried to stop the hoarding planned by Flavigny, but she was captured. The Assassins saved her and with her help, killed Flavigny. On 31 October, Marie Lévèsque stocked food at the Luxembourg Palace to frame the royal family of the hoarding, but Élise prevented her plot, and Arno assassinated her.

Despite the death of notable members of the Templars, Germain succeeded in effecting a death sentence on the king through the tie-breaking vote of Le Peletier at the Legislative Assembly. On 21 January 1793, Germain attended the execution of Louis XVI. Arno, who killed le Peletier, learned that Germain was there and conducted an assassination attempt with Élise. Nevertheless, Germain escaped when his soldiers kept Élise occupied, and Arno refused to leave Élise behind to pursue him, valuing her safety more than he did Germain's death.

With the monarchy gone, it was replaced by the Republic of France, a new regime where Maximilien de Robespierre, as one of its leading politicians, could begin the Templar's widespread purge. In June, the Templar puppet François Hanriot led an insurrection of Sans-culottes that targeted the Girondists for their Reign of Terror. The Assassins rescued them and helped them to leave the city by boat.

A month later, the Templar General Marcourt and fellow Templars planned a coup d'état in order to accelerate the revolution, but one of the conspirators, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, was in fact an ally of the Assassins and informed the Brotherhood of Marcourt's plot. Marcourt organized a tournament for recruiting men for the coup. A team of Assassins infiltrated the tournament to approach Marcourt and killed him and his conspirators at the Invalides.

In September, Germain and Maximilien de Robespierre initiated the bloodiest period of the revolution, a period of mass purges of all opposition that would go down in history as the Reign of Terror, which they thought essential for the "Great Work". Germain believed that with the horrors of the resulting anarchy, the people would once again submit themselves to a higher power rather than to themselves. Simultaneously, he hoped to eradicate the country of all elements he saw as a incurable ills, to "purify" France as he thought he did the Templars.

In November, one of Robespierre's spies, Didier Paton, discovered the Templar Order and revealed it to his master, Robespierre, not realizing that he was also a Templar. Paton was arrested on charges of treason and condemned to death. The Assassins recovered his notebook where many key Templars were listed and rescued Paton, who joined the Brotherhood shortly afterwards.

Later in February 1794, the Templars planned to use Jacques Roux and his Enragés to seize Paris and create chaos. A first team of Assassin was sent to kill Roux, who was imprisoned at the Salpêtrière Hospital, but they failed and were imprisoned in the asylum. A second team of Assassins rescued the first team and succeeded in killing Roux.

On 5 April, after the opposition of Danton and other Indulgents, Robespierre sent his long time friend and ally to the guillotine for treason along with Danton's allies. Though the Assassins were able to save many of Danton's followers, they stopped short of rescuing Danton himself when he asked that they allow him to be executed, believing that his martyrdom would expose Robespierre's madness.

In May, letters between Mirabeau and Louis XVI were published even though Arno had disposed some copies of them previously. After learning of his relations with the king, the devastated Parisian revolutionaries, believing them to have been deceived by their exalted hero, rioted for the removal of Mirabeau's ashes from the Panthéon. The Templars tried to retrieve the ashes along with other Assassin secrets, but the Assassins arrived first and successfully transferred them to a safer location

In July, La Touche was personally conducting the Reign of Terror in Versailles, presiding over numerous executions. Arno, after spending a period wallowing in depression from his expulsion from the Brotherhood and his argument with Élise, killed him by posing as a prisoner. On 4 June, Robespierre began to lose the popular opinion as he verged closer and closer to establishing a dictatorship and went as far as to host a festival to his personal, newly-devised religion: the Cult of the Supreme Being. At this festival, Élise drugged him so that he looked even more like a mad man during his speech while Arno leaked lists of deputies written by Robespierre to the crowd. Many surviving deputies now believed that they were to be targeted by Robespierre's purges next.

Germain let down Robespierre and on 27 July, the National Convention moved to arrest him at the Hôtel de Ville. Arno and Élise interrogated him just before he was captured and learned that Germain was lurking at the Temple. Germain prepared for the confrontation by taking the Swords of Eden hidden by Jacques de Molay's advisor four centuries before. In the ensuing battle, the sword created a powerful explosion that killed Élise and injured Germain. Arno finished him by slowing driving his hidden blade into Germain's throat. In his last moment, he told to Arno that his plan would still succeed even without him for there would be another shepherd to guide mankind.

On 28 July, Robespierre was guillotined and the remaining Templars from the Jacobin Club were killed by the Assassins before they could escape the city via a tunnel system. With the death of the two Grand Masters, the Templars were no more a threat to France. Under the Directory, the Templars tried to infiltrate the Palais Bourbon with the Election but Arno eliminated them. They also wanted to kill a servant of Louis XVII who they mistook for the prince himself, but Arno saved him.

Members

Radical faction

• Arpinon
• Duchesneau
• François-Thomas Germain (Grand Master; 1789-1794)
• Flavigny
• Jean Gilbert
• Marie Lévesque
• Marcourt
• Denis Molinier

• Payen
• Louis-Michel le Peletier
• Maximilien de Robespierre
• Roi des Thunes
• Frédéric Rouille
• Charles Gabriel Sivert
• Aloys la Touche

Moderate faction

• Jean Burnel
• Jean-Jacques Calvert
• Comte de Choisy
• Crimson Rose
• Le Fanu
• Marquis de Kilmister
• Chrétien Lafrenière

• Magdelaine Lévesque
• Marquis de Pimôdan
• Élise de la Serre
• François de la Serre (Grand Master; 1774-1789)
• Julie de la Serre
• Marquis de Simonon

Allies

• Jean-Jacques Blaise d'Abbadie
• Pacon
• Perrault
• Jacques Roux

Trivia

• In Assassin's Creed: Rogue, Achilles Davenport has a wall where he collected information on the Parisian Rite. One of the Parisian Templars was named Charlette Lévesque.