Read The Templars' Last Days for Free Online Page A

of events which had brought the Papacy to this current crisis point.
    To cover all the necessary background information, Matthew took Guy some ten years back in time to the pontificate of Pope Boniface VIII, whose first act when he was elected was to return the Papal Curia to its rightful home in Rome. Pope Boniface VIII was a strong-willed character and had brought to his Papacy his love of both the temporal and the political affairs within Europe, a passion which he had developed whilst a Cardinal serving as the papal legate for Pope Celestine V over many years.
    Unfortunately, this outward approach of the new Pope was interpreted by many of the Monarchs of Europe as Papal interference and not as Papal spiritual guidance, which as a result brought Boniface VIII into conflict with many of the rulers, and none more so than King Philip IV.
    However, it was King Philip's drive for the increased revenue he desperately needed which finally drove an irreconcilable wedge between the two strong institutions, each being led by equally stubborn individuals, both of whom believed that they were God’s representative here on Earth.
    Boniface VIII still had ambitions to raise funds and lead another Crusade to recapture the Holy Lands, whilst King Philip IV was more interested in those funds being retained in his treasury to best serve his personal plans and ambitions to extend the boundaries of France.
    It was King Philip IV who started a series of very spiteful tit-for-tat actions between the two institutions, when he passed a law which would enable him to tax the clergy and thus divert money away from Rome, and thus the Crusades, into his own depleted treasury. This move absolutely infuriated Boniface VIII who issued a Bull threatening to excommunicate King Philip IV if such a tax was ever introduced.
    This Bull was met by King Philip IV forbidding the movement of any assets being transferred outside of the French territory to Rome. To reinforce his determination to accumulate as much money as he could, he went on to expel every one of Pope Boniface's papal legates from all of his lands, for King Philip believed that they had been sent to all Christian lands with the express purpose of raising funds for Boniface's planned crusade to the Holy Lands and in his mind were a major cause of the lack of revenue reaching his treasury.
    Battle lines were now firmly drawn, and Europe watched and waited to see the outcome of this clash between these two titanic personalities. Eventually, an uneasy peace was negotiated as the result of a compromise position which saw King Philip IV able to tax a small portion of Church income. But, both parties knew that this truce would not last too long, for their priorities remained at odds with each other and King Philip's need of finances had not diminished.
    The next five years saw both Philip IV and Boniface VIII rise to the peak of their powers and influence, and in 1302 Philip IV felt strong enough to again directly challenge the power of the Church. It was a small and insignificant dispute between the representatives of the two sides, which provided King Philip IV with the excuse he needed to once more go into battle against Pope Boniface VIII. Seizing this opportunity, he escalated this small argument into open hostilities against the Roman Catholic Church, which finally cumulated in Philip IV sending a large force, aided by the equally disgruntled Italian family of Sciarrillo Colonna, against the virtually defenceless Boniface VIII, who was at this time known to be relaxing at his retreat at Anagani.
    No assault on the Pope was ever to be expected, and this audacious raid on the Pope’s person caught both him and his small personal guard of Knights Templar totally by surprise. This unthinkable attack on the Pope caught the small Templar bodyguard unprepared and they were quickly overpowered by the sheer numbers of the assailants. Pope Boniface VIII was captured and then given the uncompromising option