Honour

The Burning of De Molay

The ropes were getting uncomfortably tight now. Of course, he had not expected them to lenient. He was, after all, the most hated man in France. That dawn, he and sixty of his men had been arrested on charges of heresy. The royal agents had extracted a false confession from every last one, even De Molay. He had then been forced to write a letter commanding all Templar knights to confess as well. The torture for not giving in had been intense. The punishment for trying to send for help had almost broken him. But they could only break his body not his mind. Whilever that was still intact and free to make decisions, he still had a chance. He had gone through with their plan, because of the certainty that no matter what happened after today, he would fade, become unimportant in the affairs of this world. But even so, the Templar order would not be dishonoured or shamed in the records of history. He would ensure it. 

It was midday now. The heat of the French sun added to that of the pyres, and intensified the stench of burning bodies. In a few minutes, he would join his bodyguard in the afterlife. But he could not help thinking about the days before. They had been invited to attend a funeral, that of Catherine of Courtenay. He had stood as one of the pallbearers, though it had been cloudy, making the load easier to bear. She had been buried at Maubuisson Abbey with all the honour and respect due to an empress. Now, on the Ile aux Juifs, an island in the middle of the Seine, the man who had tormented his last hours advanced to his pyre. Philippe De Marigny. 

'Can't you let a dead man have his peace?'

'No, because you are not dead, and the head of the inquisition demands your life.'

'At least retie me, so i can face the cathedral and spend my last moments in prayer to our lord and saviour.'

'As you wish. I can only hope that the Lord will purify your heretic soul, and you find redemption in heaven.'

They did as he wished, grudgingly. He did pray, but only for forgiveness for condemning his order to destruction and for what he was about to do.

'Philippe, face me. Look at me, and hear my words. God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death. Testor Illum Mihi.'

'Swear all you like, heretic. Your pagan gods will not save you, and my god will not persecute those who dispense justice. Set the fire.'

Later that year, both instigators of the inquisition, King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V met their deaths, as Molay had sworn they would. But the damage was done, the Templars were no more. All their former assets were set to be taken in by the Knights Hospitaller, and with them, some amount of the order. All others later retired or formed a new order, the Supreme Order of Christ of the Holy See. But many hundreds of years later, the Chinon Parchment was discovered in the Vatican Secret Archives. It was written by Pope Clement, absolving the Templars of all sin. He also wrote a letter to King Philip, mentioning that all Templars, dead or alive, were restored to the sanctity and unity of the church.