Chapter 30

Lakshmi and Jerome approached the Prior, in order not to lose a word of what he was saying, since he spoke softly and with a heavy accent.

“I assume that you already know the history of the Order of the Temple and its destruction due to the greed and envy of King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V. Indeed, the French king, deeply in debt to the Order, found that the simplest way to get out of his debts was to destroy his creditor, and on Friday, October 13, 1304, Grand Master Jacques de Molay along with sixty other prominent Templars were arrested and subjected to a mock trial that led to the bonfire.

“At the foot of the fire the Master de Molay cursed his captors, who died mysteriously shortly after.

“When the king's henchmen pounced on the order's headquarters in Paris with the order of seizing the treasure accumulated by the Templars during their centuries of existence, they were surprised that it had disappeared, to the despair of the heavily indebted king.