Temple, Paris

The Temple was a medieval fortress located in Paris that was used as the public headquarters of the Knights Templar until their disbandment in 1307. Centuries later, the Temple was used as a prison during the French Revolution until its later destruction in the post-Revolutionary period.

History

Middle Ages

On 13 October 1307, the forces of King Philip IV led by Esquieu de Floyrac launched a surprise attack on the Temple, with the aim of capturing the Order's Grand Master, Jacques de Molay. Faced with overwhelming odds, de Molay tasked his advisor with hiding two relics in a vault beneath the Temple, a Sword of Eden and the Codex Pater Intellectus written by the Grand Master.

Unbeknownst to the advisor, however, the Master Assassin Thomas de Carneillon used the assault in an attempt to obtain both artifacts. Eliminating the guards and taking both the sword and the book, de Carneillon was pursued through the fortress by de Molay's advisor, eventually facing his pursuer in combat. The Templar succeeded in recovering the artifacts from the Assassin, using the power of the Sword of Eden dropped by de Carneillon to incapacitate him, and subsequently hid the weapon and the book in the vault as instructed.

French Revolution

Four centuries later, François-Thomas Germain, a Sage and leader of the extremist faction within the French Templars, experienced a vision which led him to de Molay's vault, where he discovered the sword and the book. Reading through the Codex Pater Intellectus, Germain became obsessed with de Molay's ideals and planned to recreate the Templars according to the vision written in the book. However, his radical ideas were not shared by all of the Rite's members of the Order, which eventually led to Germain being exiled by Grand Master François de la Serre. Germain subsequently gathered those sympathetic to his cause and orchestrated both de la Serre's assassination to take control of the Order and the French Revolution to manipulate France's citizens into overthrowing the monarchy.

With the monarchy formally abolished, the Temple became a prison for the royal family, housing King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and Louis XVII. In July 1794, de la Serre's daughter Élise and the French Assassin Arno Dorian confronted Germain in the Temple's vault, seeking to avenge de la Serre's murder. Germain used the Sword of Eden to battle the pair, but was eventually defeated when the artifact shattered, releasing a shockwave which killed Élise and mortally wounded Germain himself. Arno carried Élise's body out of the Temple, leaving Germain's corpse behind.

In 1808, Arno returned to the Temple with Napoleon Bonaparte, then Emperor of the new French Empire. The pair entered the Temple's vault to recover Germain's remains and buried them in the catacombs of Paris afterward. That same year, Napoleon ordered the Temple be demolished, as it had become a place of pilgrimage for nostalgic Royalists. This took two years and today no remains of the structure survive.

Gallery

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  Concept art of the Temple vault

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Unity (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game (mentioned only)