The last Grand Master of the Knights Templar was one Jacques de Molay, and it was on an island on the River Seine that he was executed. On the Pont Neur Bridge, which overlooks the island, there is a plaque that reads
'At this location, Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was burned on 18 March 1314.
Molay was born either in the French village of Rahon or Molay in 1244. Around the middle of the thirteenth century, Molay became a templar knight after he had fought in Syria and was Grand Master of the Order by 1298. You could call the Templars astute businessmen, for not only did they own large areas of land, but they also owned farms and vineyards and built churches and castles. They had large fleets of ships and at one time they owned the island of Cyprus.
By the end of the century, the order was in decline due to Saladin and his forces taking control in the Middle East. 1306 saw Philip IV expel all the Jewish population and at the same time he was probably responsible for the false, but nonetheless damaging, rumours regarding the Order and because of this it was Molay who asked Pope Clement V to investigate. A year later the king had the French Templar Knights, including Molay, arrested. Under torture, he confessed the rumours of blasphemy to be true but argued others' accusations were not. Initially, the pope intervened on behalf of the Templars and encouraged by Molay they all retracted their confessions. Six years later a commission of three Cardinals condemned Molay an order of life imprisonment was placed on him but he stood by his original statement, Phillip IV called him a 'relapsed heretic' and ordered his death at the stake.
By the end of the century, the order was in decline due to Saladin and his forces taking control in the Middle East. 1306 saw Philip IV expel all the Jewish population and at the same time he was probably responsible for the false, but nonetheless damaging, rumours regarding the Order and because of this it was Molay who asked Pope Clement V to investigate. A year later the king had the French Templar Knights, including Molay, arrested. Under torture, he confessed the rumours of blasphemy to be true but argued others' accusations were not. Initially, the pope intervened on behalf of the Templars and encouraged by Molay they all retracted their confessions. Six years later a commission of three Cardinals condemned Molay an order of life imprisonment was placed on him but he stood by his original statement, Phillip IV called him a 'relapsed heretic' and ordered his death at the stake.
In the book, The Second Messiah: Templars, the Turin Shroud and the Great Secret of Freemasonry, the author suggests that Morlay was crucified and that the image on the famous Shroud of Turin is that of Molay, but I believe tests have proved that origins of the shroud predate Molay.
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