Jacques de Molay

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"A symbol can inspire fear, and fear can inspire control - but men inevitably lose their fear of symbols. As you can see. This was the truth de Molay died for: the Divine Right of Kings is nothing but the reflection of sunlight upon gold. When the Crown and Church are ground to dust, we who control the gold will decide the future."

―François-Thomas Germain, 1793.

Jacques de Molay (1244 – 1314) was the last publicly recognized Grand Master of the Templar Order, and a Sage. Upon his execution, the Templars disappeared from the public life, and became a secretive organization.

Biography

Early life

Jacques de Molay was born a Sage in 1244 in Molay, Haute-Saône. In 1265, de Molay was inducted into the Templar Order in Beaune. After the fall of Acre, the Order met in Cyprus in September 1291. On 20 April 1292, de Molay was elected Grand Master, leading the Templars to the height of their power. Around this time, he possessed the Shroud of Eden, which later wound up in the possession a fellow French Templar, Geoffroy de Charny.

Grand Master

At some point, de Molay wrote the Codex Pater Intellectus. With the Templars already serving as an economic power through banking, he envisioned in the Codex that the Templars should control humanity through the middle class and capitalism, rather than through the aristocracy and monarchy.

Even as the Order entered a Golden Age, Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V, strongly influenced by the French Assassins and their Mentor Guillaume de Nogaret, plotted to destroy the Templars. With Philip already deeply in debt to the Order, he charged the Templars with heresy, blasphemy and the worship of a deity called Baphomet.

Capture

"The Assassins are far older than Masyaf, my friend. Their anarchic delusions are virulent as the plague, and less easily eradicated. We will not prevail this night. But if you make haste, we may yet save our Order."

―De Molay to his advisor, 1307.

On 13 October 1307, raids were carried out across France with the intent of arresting all Templars. The Templar headquarters at the Temple were also raided by Assassins disguised as Flemish mercenaries, led by Esquieu de Floyrac and the Master Assassin Thomas de Carneillon.

As the attack commenced, de Molay spoke with his advisor, and deduced that the Assassins were responsible. The advisor expressed his belief that the Brotherhood's power had been broken with the fall of Masyaf. De Molay told him that the Assassins were indeed not destroyed, and instructed the advisor to hide the Codex and the Templars' Sword of Eden, before leading his men in battle.

De Molay's arrest

While the advisor was able to hide the Codex and Sword, de Molay was arrested, and the former was assassinated by de Carneillon before he could rescue the Grand Master. As a result of the raids, nearly every Templar in France was arrested.

In 1312, the Templar Order was officially dissolved by Pope Clement, and all of its assets were gifted to the Knights Hospitalier.

Trial and execution

"Pope Clement, hear me! Before this year is out, you will answer for your crimes before God almighty. And you, King Philip, no punishment is too heinous for the great evil you have inflicted upon the Temple. I curse you! Curse you to the thirteenth generation of your blood! You shall be cursed!"

―Jacques de Molay's dying words, 1314.

Following his arrest, de Molay was imprisoned and tortured by de Nogaret, Philippe de Marigny and William of Paris, and was forced to confess to heresy. As their Grand Master, de Molay understood that the Templars could no longer survive in a public image, and decided to make the ultimate sacrifice. Before his inevitable death, he sent nine of his most trusted men - who possessed "knowledge of the Ancients" - out into the world to continue his work. The Templars would fade from public awareness, and secretly influence leaders.

De Molay cursing King Philip

On 18 March 1314, de Molay allowed himself to be burned at the stake. As he burned to death, he cursed Philip to the "thirteenth generation of [his] blood". By allowing himself to be executed, de Molay saved the lives of his remaining brethren, and made their enemies believe that the Order had died along with him.

Legacy

In the late 18th century, Jacques' descendant, Anne de Molay murdered two of the descendants of his interrogators. She failed to murder the third, which resulted in the Assassin Arno Dorian handing her over to the the police.

De Molay was later commemorated in 1937 by the Templar Order's new public front, Abstergo Industries. There, an image of him was displayed prominently in the room accessible only to members of the Order's Inner Sanctum.

In 2001, researchers at the Vatican Secret Archives uncovered a parchment written in 1308 by Pope Clement which absolved de Molay of all charges.

Trivia

• Contrary to other known Sages, Jacques de Molay did not appear to be affected with heterochromia. However this was probably an oversight of the development team.
• Jacques de Molay is revered as a hero among the Templars, similar to Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad among the Assassins.

Gallery

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  Concept art of de Molay
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  Assassin's Creed: Memories art of de Molay
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  Memories art of de Molay
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  An illustration of de Molay
• A painting of de Molay's ordination
  A painting of de Molay's ordination
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  De Molay giving the task to his advisor
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  An illustration of de Molay being tortured
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  An illustration of de Molay's execution
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  De Molay's tombstone