Just saw a documentary on NAT GEO earlier today re the Templars- WI Jacques de Molay had ordered his Templars to draw swords & fight French royal agents before the mass arrest in 1307, instead of quietly giving in ?
They'd still be massacred? They may have been good knights, but with the whole weight of the Catholic Church and the French Crown coming after them, I can't see what they could accomplish.
Just saw a documentary on NAT GEO earlier today re the Templars- WI Jacques de Molay had ordered his Templars to draw swords & fight French royal agents before the mass arrest in 1307, instead of quietly giving in ?
It would just make their situation even worse... Pope Clemens V was a puppet and virtual prisoner of Philipe IV... So Templars fighting the French King would have worsened their situation and cut off their remaining links with the Papacy... However this scenario could work only in one case... If Pope manages to slip away from Philipe's grasp and relocate with the Curia somewhere else (HRE perhaps?) and then sanction the resistanse of the Templars against French Crown... (Remember Clemens V succumbed to the pressure of Philipe IV and withdrew his support from Templars but in secret he exonerated them from all accusations as the Manuscript of Chinon indicates)