Fugitives - Stripped of the Cross

A letter sent to the baillis and seneschals on September 14, 1307, ordering the arrest of the members of the Order of the Temple."A bitter thing, a lamentable thing, a thing which is horrible to contemplate, terrible to hear of, a detestable crime, an execrable evil, an abominable work, a detestable disgrace, a thing almost inhuman, indeed set apart from all humanity." This is the opening of the letter that called for the arrest of the Templars in France to be carried out on Friday, October 13, 1307. Against all the odds, the raid went off almost flawlessly. History records that in France, a few Templars of note escaped the initial round-up, but most of these were later captured. At least that is how the story is usually told. No one truly knows the number of Templars in France or in any other locations around Europe at the time of the arrest. There were plenty of forewarnings that King Philip of France, along with Guillaume de Nogaret, the king's advisor, were planning something of this nature. If there were Templars left free, what happened to them? We know a few joined other Orders, such as the Hospitallers, and in some countries, notably Portugal, the Templars were left almost entirely alone. Many have asked what became of their wealth, their fleet of ships, and were there more of the warrior monks who were never captured? History has provided no clear answer, and therefore, we assume that the few who remained free merely crept into obscurity. I do not think men of the caliber of what we know of the Templars would do well simply letting life pass them by. These were not men who rode the current of the river of life. These were men who fought against it and then built structures to direct and harness the flow of the river. This book continues the story of what may have happened with the unaccounted for men and assets.

Books in the series

• Betrayal - Darkness Engulfs the Knight
• Fugitives - Stripped of the Cross