September 14: Regional officials in France receive a secret letter to arrest all "Templars" on Sunday 13 October. The allegations were: forsaking and insulting the Roman Catholic Religion, denouncing Jesus Christ, immoral behaviour and sodomy.
Most Knights of the Order were subjugated and/or fled, either to England or Scotland, or to Spain and Portugal. Non-Paris based Templars thereafter became clandestine until the 18th century. In secret, new brothers were invested and thus carried on the traditions ensuring the Order would still survive.
First members of the Templar brethren to be burnt at the stake.
Church champions the Templars and fights against their convictions.
Templar properties in France transferred to Order of Malta.
After 7 years of sham trials and convictions, Jacques de Molay and Geoffroy de Charmay are sentenced to death. Jacques de Molay pronounces that
“Clement V and Philippe le Bel will follow us in the course of the year”. Both were indeed dead within seven months of the Grand Master's murder.
Larmenius de Jerusalem, a Palestinian, recorded a charter outlining a number of changes to the Rule and Statutes, stating that the Order must adapt to Western living conditions.
This verbal Charter was to be transferred to every Grand Master and his successors thereafter.
Arnauld de Brayne became Grand Master and replaced the seat of the Order to France.
Robert de Lenoncourt, archbishop of Reims, was appointed Grand Master. He would attempt to seek rapprochement with Rome and the Pope.
With support of the Duke of Orleans, Philippe, cousin of Louis XIV, an International chapter was held in Versailles. Here, on the basis of the Rule and the Statutes of 1128, the new statutes were drawn up, in Latin alongside a written version of the Charter of Transmission. The Order would then again receive official recognition, but due to the death of Louis XIV he had to observe regency, since Louis XV was underage.
Baron Karl von Hunt established the Strict Observation of the Temple Order (SOT for short).
After the turbulent French revolution, Chevillon, ruler of the Order, summoned a Chapter of faithful brothers, with the purpose of electing a new Grand Master. Bernard Raymond Fabré Pallaprat subsequently became the 46th Grand Master of the Order of the Temple under the protection of French Emporer (Napoleon Bonaparte) rather than the Vatican, who could not be seen to acknowledge the Order's survival following dissolution.