During King Phillip’s reign, the Kingdom was going through many difficulties. King Phillip failed to establish a countrywide basis for taxation which added to the difficulties. The money circulating in the kingdom suddenly depreciated by two thirds which led to numerous riots.[1]
The king often looked for different ways to save the crown from bankruptcy. One of these were the ”forced loans.” Individual merchants were usually asked to loan a sum to the french crown. They usually ended up gifting a small amount to the crown knowing the sum will never be repaid. King Phillip, in his request usually stated that the needs of the kingdom led him to spend without count and number. He usually appealed to them to make the loan out of the love and loyalty they had to the kingdom. King Phillip also forcefully seized the assets of the Italians in france named the Lombards. During this period, there were numerous arrests of Lombards and individuals were being heavily fined, as they were subject to seizures.[ibid]
Modern historians have attributed the arrest of the Templars to these financial problems that they were facing. The Templars were very wealthy, and wise with their allotted money. They were involved in the royal financial administration. The fact that they were bankers mean’t they possessed large liquid wealth. Further, as landowners they possesed fixed and movable properties in every region of France from Normandy to Provence. Philip’s financial interests behind the arrests are highlighted in the Order for the Arrests of the Templar in his instructions to his officials where he is quoted as saying, ”seize their movable and immovable goods and hold the seizures under strict supervision…without any diminution or damage of any sort…make inventories of all movable assets in each place.” In addition, in his letter to the masters of theology at the University of Paris, Philip is quoted again stating ”We enquire whether the goods which the said Templars possessed be confiscated for the profit of the prince in whose jurisdiction they are situated, or should rather be used for that of the Church or the Holy Land? If…these goods were assigned to the business of the Holy Land, to whom should their distribution, regulation and administration belong? Is it to the Church, or the princes, particularly in the kingdom of France?” All these quotes are evidence that the Knights Templars could have been victims of the financial problems facing the Kingdom at that time. The fact that careful inventories were kept despite protests from the church are proof of King Philip’s motives.[2]
By Ernest Mwesigye
[1] Malcolm Barber, The Trial of the Templars, 2nd ed. (New York, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), April 12, 2010, accessed February 07, 2018, page 60, http://books1.scholarsportal.info/viewdoc.html?id=249582
2. Singhal, Chetan. “AN ENQUIRY INTO THE CHARGES AND MOTIVATIONS OF THE CAPETIAN MONARCHY BEHIND INSTITUTING THE FALL OF THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE.” THE CONCORD REVIEW
Middle Riddles 