by David Scott
I quickly reached my destination of our carpenter’s workshop. He was just setting out his stall, ready no doubt for another busy and profitable day. After exchanging the usual pleasantries, I moved onto the real reason for my unannounced visit, and enquired as to how the Grand Master’s order was progressing. Putting to one side the work in hand, he took me around to the back room where stood six of the extra large barrels that he had been commissioned to build. They were exactly as the Grand Master had specified, standing some five feet high and reinforced by six steel bands around them for extra strength and ease of identification.
Happy with all that I had seen, I thanked the carpenter for his diligence and fine work and bade him good morning before briskly walking back to the security of the Templar preceptory. Once within the safety of its walls, I headed directly for the Master’s office, where I knew that even at this early an hour, Giles and the Grand Master would already be at work. I was admitted into the room without any delay and reported that I had now inspected the first batch of our specially commissioned barrels and I was pleased to say that they were more than suitable for our purposes.
Our Grand Master stood, looked at Giles and myself and without saying anything, he simply handed over to me the scrolls of instruction I had prepared for him over the last few days which now bore both his signature and his seal. With a wave of his right arm and with a grim smile, he gestured that I should get on with what was now expected of me.
Within the hour two despatch riders had been fully briefed as to their mission and left the walls of the preceptory, one heading west and the other east. Later that day, two more despatch riders left the security of the preceptory walls, this time one heading north and the other south.
To avoid arousing the suspicions of King Philip’s agents who we knew would be watching, they were garbed in the usual Knight Templar clothes. For we were gambling on the fact that by being dressed in our highly visible and distinctive garbs, that to any of Philip’s agents our despatch riders would have the appearance of simply carrying out our business as usual. Whilst the facts of the matter could not be more different.
There was no turning back now; everything had now been set in motion. We were now all in the hands of God.
Chapter 8
Robert knocked on the door that led into the office where William would interrogate the two ex-Templars, and was given permission to enter. William was glad that he had chosen to interrogate the two prisoners before eating his breakfast, for even after they had been cleaned up, shaved and put into fresh clothes, their emaciated faces and bodies still repulsed him.
For this reason, he had Robert sit them down as far away from his desk as he felt practicable and then dismissed Robert so that only the three of them remained in the room – so only these three would know the truth of what was said and what went on here today. Once alone William explained the choices that the King had instructed him to offer to them, and he was confident which option they would both take.
Under normal circumstances William would enjoy the teasing and bartering such meetings would entertain him with. Like a cat playing with a mouse, there was never any doubt about the final outcome, but it was always just when the cat would decide he wanted to end matters. Today, it would be as quickly as possible.
William put it to the two prisoners in the most candid of tones: sign this confession and the King will grant you a full pardon, provide you with a small estate in which to live in any part of the country you wish to choose, together with a comfortable income for the rest of your days. Finally, the King has instructed that he would allow you to stay here in the Chateau to recover your strength and that from the moment that you sign your confessions, you will be treated as the personal guests of King Philip IV. The alternative will be to throw you back into the cells you have just come from – we would simply throw away the key and you can rot and die in prison.
Without either looking up from his desk or waiting for any kind of an answer, William proceeded to read the prepared confessions to the two prisoners, as he assumed they were both illiterate, but more importantly he did not want to get any closer to them than he now was.
I, Sequin Balenx , loyal squire to the Templar Knight known as Julien of Florian, do hereby confess that whilst in his service, I witnessed the following acts of heresy being committed by the Knight Templars.
1.That the Master of the Temple, and all of his Knights, swore allegiance to a false idol head which was covered in an old skin, embalmed, and having two carbuncles for eyes, bright as the brightness of heaven and which carried all the hopes of those who placed their trust in it as it being their Sovereign God, whom they loved with all their heart.
2. They burnt the bodies of the deceased brethren, and making the ashes into powder, which they then administered to the younger brethren in their food and drink, to make them hold fast their faith and idolatry.
3. They cooked and roasted infants and anointed their idols with the fat.
4. They celebrated hidden rites and mysteries, to which young and tender virgins were introduced.
5. And a variety of abominations too horrible to be named.
All of the above I swear by Almighty God to be a true account of the heresy I witnessed whilst in the service of that Holy Order.
The confession of the ex-monk Rosso was, other than his name and profession, identical to that of the squire Balenx, and as such William saw no need to read out the full confession again. Being in no mind to wait for their answer, he moved quickly from behind the desk, and forced himself forward to where the two prisoners were sat. They willingly made their mark, and, just as quickly, William returned to the safety of his desk and called for Robert to have these two repulsive individuals removed from his presence.
Once he was alone, William reviewed the testimonies which now lay signed on his desk, and when satisfied that the ink was dry, rolled and sealed the two scrolls. William allowed himself a smile of satisfaction at a job well done, for he knew only too well that these documents contained the means which would bring about the total destruction and downfall of one of the most feared fighting organisations within the known Christian world.
He allowed himself a few more moments to wallow in his masterful achievement, though these reflections on his success brought into sharp focus just how hungry he had become, and so he called for his breakfast and summoned Robert to join him. Over the meal William told Robert that these two prisoners had served the King well, and outlined their reward for their duty and it was now up to him to ensure that they fully recovered whilst under his care.
Because William knew that he would need to stay over for one further night and in addition to that it would take another few days for him to return to Fontainebleau, he prepared a note for the King informing him that the required confessions were now in his possession and sent a despatch rider to deliver the good news to the King.
I was concerned by the fact that, at this point in time I had no way of gauging the speed of progress being made across our preceptories, so I had to assume that they were all working at the same pace as our carpenter here in Paris. The contents and instructions within the notes dispatched to all the Masters of preceptories across the lands held by King Philip were identical.
For they instructed the Master of each Knight Templar preceptory to immediately command his carpenters to stop any work they were currently engaged in, and to commission the building of 24 barrels to be made exactly to the dimensions they found enclosed.
The instruction then directed that, when built, the barrels were to be brought to the wine cellar entrance of their Temple, in batches of no more than six and no more frequently than every two days. Once within the sanctuary of the Temple walls and away from any danger of being seen by King Philip’s agents or spies, they were to be transferred not to the wine cellar, but to the treasury.
Finally, the instructions also commanded the Master to ensure that an inventory of his treasury, the gold coins
, deeds of titles, precious stones, loan notes etc, etc were to be catalogued and entered into a new ledger. This ledger, which contained the current inventory, was then to be sent by despatch rider to the Grand Master in Paris, as soon as the audit was completed. The receiving of these ledgers, together with the progress of my local carpenter, would allow me to reasonably though not completely accurately, gauge the readiness of all of our preceptories.
To each Master it was stressed, within these instructions, that to all outside appearances it was business as usual, for the success of this operation depended upon King Philip’s agents and spies believing that there was no increase, panic or change in our day-to-day activities.
Given the progress here in Paris, I had estimated that this part of the operation, if everything went smoothly, would take up to four weeks to complete before the second phase of the operation could be actioned. Without knowing the timeframe that King Philip was working to, and as the long hot days of August would soon be shortening to welcome the arrival of September, I could only pray that we worked quickly, and that the hand of God would continue to shield and protect us from our enemy.
Whilst I was organising the affairs within the Temple walls of Paris, Jon had ridden to La Rochelle with a set of instructions for the Admiral of our fleet, Thibaud de Montbazin, from the Grand Master.
Admiral Thibaud de Montbazin was commanded to make available the fastest ship currently moored in the port to Jon Sinclair, for he was on a special mission in the name of the Grand Master. Jon had been instructed not to discuss with the Admiral the whereabouts of the final destination of his trip and that, for security reasons, this information could only be shared with the captain of the vessel chosen, and then only once they were out of port and underway.
With my work in Paris now reaching the completion of the first phase, it was time for me to take the short journey to collect the Holy relics which had been placed in our charge for safe keeping. Normally, such a journey would be undertaken in total secrecy; however, the current extraordinary circumstances convinced me that those vows of secrecy had to be breached and shared amongst the two people I knew I could trust.
I had deliberately waited for Jon to have left Paris to fulfil his part of the plan, before I revealed the secret location of the Holy relics to Giles and the Grand Master. Although our Grand Master was aware that his Holy Order were the guardians of these priceless and irreplaceable objects, even he was not privy to their location – until now. There followed some moments of silence as the information was absorbed and digested before the Grand Master asked how I intended to retrieve these Holy relics given our current predicament.
Although the whole journey would take at best six days, at worst eight days, to complete, much discussion, disagreement and concern had been shared amongst the Grand Master, Giles and myself over how this could be organised in order to ensure the security of so valuable a cargo, yet at the same time to not arouse the suspicion of those watching our every move.
The final choice was one of reason and, in everybody’s mind, not only the most efficient, but the one most likely to cause Philip’s agents and spies not to believe anything other than what their eyes told them was happening. For our success depended on our public actions continuing to fuel King Philip’s mind of avarice and his forthcoming success.
Although day had just broken the dark hold of night, this late-August morning was bright and held the promise of yet another of its long hot days, when Giles climbed into his coach. I had to dash from my morning prayers to join him in order that our journey would get underway without any undue delay. Giles had his normal vanguard of four Templar Knights and the same number bringing up the rear.
We left the Paris preceptory by the south gate, knowing that even at this early hour our movements would be relayed almost immediately to the King, but once out of sight of Paris, the coach would turn east and head towards its intended destination, our preceptory at Saint-Dizier.
I always preferred travelling in this coach, as against my own carriage, for the ride was far more comfortable and being enclosed shielded me from any exposure to the weather. Although we were alone in the carriage, Giles and I were careful to speak quietly when discussing how everything was progressing, relying on the noise of the horses and the coach to muffle any conversation and prevent what was being said from being overheard.
It was about an hour into our journey when it was deemed safe enough to turn east, and pick up the main tracks that would lead us to our first overnight stop. Over the centuries, the Holy Order had been bequeathed or had had donated to it much land, many estates and villages, which meant that no matter in which direction of travel I went, I could be assured of finding either a Knight Templar property, or a Cistercian Abbey, within a day’s travel.
This network was invaluable when it came to the timely deliverance of important communiqués, for the despatch bags could be exchanged every 12 hours or so to a fresh horse and rider and so halving the normal journey time. It also proved to be extremely useful on a journey such as this, for we knew that each evening we could depend upon safe, secure and comfortable accommodation amongst our brethren and companions.
It was late morning of the third day, when we approached the Chateau of Saint-Dizier. Since we had set off at first light our convoy had been travelling along the road which hugged the banks of the river Marne. However, as we neared our destination, the river Marne veered away to our left as it began to form a large horseshoe curve on its south-easterly journey.
The Chateau itself was constructed on the land that occupied the ground formed by this bend in the river Marne, and was thus offered a natural defence not only to to the rear, but also to both sides of the Chateau – for there was insufficient land between the bend of the river and the defensive walls for a large number of attackers to gather. It was only the open ground at the front of the Chateau which offered any would-be invader the opportunity to mount any type of a meaningful assault on the building.
It was a magnificent Chateau whose high walls dominated the otherwise flat countryside and I had always enjoyed my visits to this particular place. The main entrance into the Chateau was sandwiched between two enormous turrets, and it led into the expanse of the Chateau grounds.
Our coach made straight for the quarters of Master Pons le Blanc, who, as our party came to a halt, had made a timely appearance at the top of the steps which led into his home. For obvious reasons, our visit was unannounced, and by the expressions on the face of Master Pons, which displayed an array of emotions from the initial warmth of his greeting to that being quickly replaced by his confused and somewhat bemused mind, for no doubt this unscheduled visit by Giles and myself, so quickly after him receiving the latest set of instructions from the Grand Master, surely could only be bad news for him.
Nevertheless he quickly put such thoughts out of his mind and offered Giles and myself a warm welcome and bade that we join him in his office before the midday meal which would shortly be served. Master Pons’ office was typically functional, but the views from his windows gave way to the most spectacular backdrop of the free flowing river Marne and the green rolling countryside that covered the land for as far as the eye could see.
Master Pons asked Giles and myself to sit, and after his steward had delivered a tray of fruit and wine by way of refreshment, engaged us in a conversation, the subject matter of which had clearly been on his mind. We had been given permission by the Grand Master to be open and earnest with Master Pons and to answer any of his questions fully, and this we did.
Although Master Pons heard our replies, I was not convinced that he fully understood what was happening. And why should he? For, if I was to be honest, I was not sure that even we, the very architects of the plan, fully knew what the outcome would be. However, we were determined that we must continue to be the masters of our own destiny, to serve the Church, to protect its Holy relics and to be true to our oath.
Our deep conversation was int
errupted by the distinctive sound of the bell which was calling my fellow Monks from their labour in the fields and workshops to the midday meal, and so Master Pons suggested we reconvene after the meal. Giles requested that at that time the carpenter be sent for as we had need of his services, and with that we followed Master Pons to the dining room.
Our surprise presence in the dining room was greeted with a most warm welcome, for I had many good and old friends amongst the Monks who resided here and to them this unexpected visit was an opportunity to catch up on what news and gossip lay outside of the walls in which they served.
Protocol demanded that Giles and I sat at the head of the table and that it was my privilege to both give and return thanks for our food. The mood around the long dining table was one of warmth and cheerfulness – and why not? For the crops had been extremely bountiful this season. For only Giles and myself were aware of what was shortly going to irrevocably change the lives of every person in this room, and as each day passed, that change became one day closer. So I gave thanks to God for allowing His children to enjoy each day whilst they could.
Whilst Master Pons and Giles retired back to his office to continue their conversation, I made my excuses to visit the wine cellars. It had been some many years since I last visited these cellars, but other than there being more barrels and clay pots than I seemed to remember, the cellar was as dark and cold as always.
However, my purpose here was not to assess the wine holdings – it was far more important, for behind the clutter of barrels and shelves which covered the far wall, lay a secret room and within that room were stored the Holy relics. Knowledge of this room, let alone its contents, were known to only two living individuals, both of us sworn to secrecy never to reveal the location, or the contents, of this room to anybody in the world. Further, this knowledge was always to be passed on orally and never to be written down.