The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors

by Dan Jones

According to letters sent to the king of Aragón, on May 30 William of Plaisians stood on a stool and hectored the pope and his audience on the familiar theme of Philip IV’s inherent grace: “The providence of God chose as minister in this affair the king of France who is the vicar of God in his kingdom in temporal matters, and to be sure nobody more suitable could be found. For he is a most devout and Christian prince, the richest and the most powerful. So all those slanderers should be silent.”

Philip IV's reign is interesting to me. He covered up his financial mismanagement of France by essentially seizing Jewish and Templar possessions and expelling, imprisoning or executing both populations. But he got a free pass from Christendom because all was done under the banner of religious piety. In my opinion, Philip IV's reign is eerily reminiscent of the current US administration, and its current political and moral climate.