Part II,
As the Templars became a more militant force they also began to acquire sea going vessels and galleys (note; in the early to high middle ages the term"galley"was used generically for any oared or oared with sail type of vessel). From about the middle of the 11 hundreds until 1293 there is documentation that they continually added to their fleet through purchases or by building their own vessels. Most of these would have been of Venetian design, as that type is mentioned many times. "In 1293 they had bought 6 Venetian ships to add to those that in 1300 made a number of raids on the coast of Egypt and Syria, and in November of that year, transported a force of 600 knights to Ruad as a base for an assault on Tortosa" paraphrased from Piers Paul Read's "The Templars".
In 1300 the Templars had ports at Cyprus (after the fall of Acre, their Eastern Headquarters) Marseille, France ( where they were not very welcome), at Collioure, France, and at La Rochelle, France.
At La Rochelle, a port that they had been given control of through an 1139 Charter by Eleanor of Aquitaine, "Queen of France" they enjoyed a very lucrative wine trade. Evidently this trade extended all the way to Briton as they also had a license to operate commercial shipping operations to that country.
In the Templars Paris Headquarters, "Temple Villeneuve", they kept most of their wealth, but on Cyprus, the Eastern Headquarters, they also had a great amount of acquired treasure.
They had received, through donations, large amounts of lands and houses throughout Europe, mostly in France, but even in faraway Scotland there were some 100 separate Templar properties.
As the Templars were building this vast treasure, at the same time a religious group was gathering members in the area around Toulouse, now the Languedoc of Southern France.
Today, they are called the Cathars, a name given to them by their adversaries, the hierarchy of the Roman Church. But in the 12th century they were befriended by the local Catholic Congregations, so much so in fact that in the Crusade that shortly followed in 1209 many Catholics died trying to protect them. Evidently their form of religion did not offend the average Catholic, which makes one wonder why the Church itself thought it necessary to completely wipe out what they called the great heresy.
The last stand of the Cathars was at the mountain pog of Montsegur, where on March 16, 1244, many of the surrendering defenders were burnt in a funeral pyre. Two days prior to this event and according to German author Otto Rahn's 1939 book "Crusade Against the Grail"(from information he gleaned from inquisition records), 4 knights descended the steep cliffs of Montsegur on ropes and carried away a great secret. Rahn also claimed that the Grail itself was hidden in the mountain.
Although there is no evidence the Templars fought on either side during this conflict, there is evidence that they did exist alongside, befriended and had relatives within the heretics following.
Legends tell us, as did the earlier Grail romances that the Templars held the secret of the Grail and after Montsegur in 1244, a physical proof had come into the possession of the Templars.
By the end of the 13th century the Knights Templar had become one of the wealthiest organizations in Europe and, as I premise they held documentation as to the secret of the Holy Grail as well as the Grail itself.
In late 1306 Pope Clement V (a pawn of the King of France, Philip IV), ordered the then Grand Master of the Templars, Jacques de Molay, who at the time was at the Cyprus Headquarters, to come back to France "without delay" and not to bring any Knights with him as he already had many in France. The alleged purpose of this visit was to make plans for a new crusade in the Holy Land, but in reality it was part of a plan of Philips to arrest all the Templars in France and end the existence of the order entirely, with the extended purpose of acquiring their immense wealth held in Temple Villeneuve.
But de Molay knew of the plan, the Templars had friends and allies throughout France, in the Church and even in the Court of Philip himself.
In early 1307 the Grand Master left Cyprus bound for France with (according to Templar historian Charles Addison) 60 Knights, 150,000 florins of gold and a great amount of silver and other treasures, The 60 Knights directly a violation of Clements order.
With each Templar Knight known to own at least three horses and having also at least one squire, as well as the sailors and equipment and the Grand Master with his own entourage, it must have been quite an impressive scene.
With the meeting to have been held in Poitiers, it would have been beneficial for the small fleet (I premise 10 vessels) to sail around the Iberian peninsula and land at the Templar controlled port of La Rochelle. In the late 13th century this type of voyage (around the Iberian peninsula) was becoming more popular, as a matter of fact some 117 years earlier Richard the Lionheart had sent his whole British Fleet around the Iberian.
In early September of 1307, Philip issued a secret order for the arrest of all Templars in France to be carried out of October 13, 1307. This order was sent to all of the sheriffs in France, and again there is no way de Molay could not have received word of this event.
It is doubtful he would have even unloaded the ships valuable cargo's at La Rochelle (a possibility only because they basically owned this port), knowing that they would soon have to make an escape.
The end part II
