What Happened to Templar Treasure?
The question of what happened to the wealth of the Knights Templar after their suppression in 1312 is one of the most enduring mysteries of medieval history. The Templars were one of the wealthiest institutions in medieval Christendom, with vast estates across Europe and a sophisticated banking system. After the suppression, the Order’s wealth should, by the terms of the bull Ad providam, have been transferred to the Knights Hospitaller. In practice, however, much of the wealth was simply confiscated by the various secular rulers, especially in France and England. The question of whether the Templars hid a substantial treasure before the suppression has been a major theme of the modern mythology of the Order.
This article examines the question of Templar treasure. It is a companion to The Trial and Suppression of the Knights Templar and to Templar Mythology, Symbolism and Hidden Knowledge.
The Wealth of the Templars
The Templars were one of the wealthiest institutions in medieval Christendom. By the early fourteenth century, the Order held vast estates in France, England, the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Germany, Hungary, and the Eastern Mediterranean. The Order also held substantial cash reserves and a large collection of precious objects, including gold and silver vessels, jeweled relics, and royal regalia deposited by kings and nobles for safekeeping.
The Order’s banking system was, in many ways, the most valuable part of the Templars’ wealth. The system held deposits from kings, nobles, and pilgrims, and it generated substantial income for the Order. The story of the banking system. See Templar Banking and the Temple in London.
The Order’s wealth was concentrated in three main areas:
- Land: The Templars held vast estates across Europe, including farms, vineyards, forests, and urban properties.
- Cash: The Order held large cash reserves in its treasury in Paris and in the Temple in London.
- Precious objects: The Order held a large collection of precious objects, including gold and silver vessels, jeweled relics, and royal regalia.
For the Order’s structure and estates, see The Preceptories and Commanderies.
The Bull Ad Providam
The Order’s wealth should, by the terms of the bull Ad providam, have been transferred to the Knights Hospitaller. The bull Ad providam, issued by Pope Clement V on March 22, 1312, the same day as Vox in Excelso, transferred the Order’s assets to the Hospitallers in trust for the defense of the Holy Land.
In practice, however, the transfer was largely a fiction. In France, the crown simply kept the assets. In England, the crown also took most of the assets, although some did pass to the Hospitallers. The Hospitallers received, in practice, a much smaller share of the Templar assets than the bulls had envisioned.
The story of the suppression. See The Trial and Suppression of the Knights Templar.
What Happened in France
In France, the suppression of the Templars was the occasion for a massive confiscation of wealth by the crown. King Philip IV of France had, in fact, planned the suppression partly as a way to seize the Order’s French assets.
The crown seized the Order’s treasury in Paris, which was said to contain a vast amount of gold and silver. The crown also seized the Order’s many commanderies across France, including their lands, buildings, and movable property. The total value of the seized property was enormous, and it helped to fill the chronically empty coffers of the French crown.
Some of the wealth was eventually transferred to the Hospitallers, but most of it was kept by the crown. The Hospitallers were, in effect, frozen out of the French assets, and they received only a small fraction of the property that the bulls had promised.
For the political background, see Who Was Philip IV of France?.
What Happened in England
In England, the suppression of the Templars followed a similar pattern, but with significant differences. The English Templars were arrested in January 1308, and the trial dragged on for several years. The English Templars were treated relatively leniently, with most brothers eventually being pensioned off.
The English Templar estates were largely confiscated by the crown, although some did pass to the Hospitallers. The Temple in London was not immediately transferred to the Hospitallers. It was, instead, eventually divided between the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, two of the four Inns of Court that still occupy the site today. The story. See Temple Church in London.
What Happened in Iberia
In the Iberian Peninsula, the suppression of the Templars took a different course. The Portuguese branch of the Order was simply transformed into a new order, the Order of Christ, which inherited the Portuguese Templars’ properties. The story. See The Order of Christ in Portugal.
In Aragon and Castile, the Templars’ properties were mostly transferred to other military orders, including the Order of Montesa (in Aragon) and the Order of Calatrava (in Castile).
The Legends of Hidden Treasure
Almost as soon as the suppression was announced, legends began to circulate that the Templars had hidden their treasure before the arrests. The most famous such legend involves the Temple in Paris, which was said to have been the repository of a vast treasure that the Templars had managed to hide before the arrests.
The legends of hidden treasure have been a major element of the modern Templar mythology. The most popular modern claims include:
- The treasure of the Temple in Paris: According to the legend, the Templars hid a vast treasure in the underground chambers of the Temple in Paris before the arrests. The treasure was allegedly never found.
- The treasure of the Temple in London: According to the legend, the Templars hid a vast treasure in the underground chambers of the Temple in London before the arrests.
- The treasure of the Temple in Jerusalem: According to another legend, the Templars had discovered a vast treasure beneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and they had hidden it before the suppression.
- The treasure of Gisors: According to the legend, the Templars had hidden a treasure in a cave near Gisors in Normandy, possibly in connection with a famous “treasure pit” that was excavated in the 1960s and 1970s.
Most of these legends are not supported by historical evidence. The idea that the Templars could have hidden a vast treasure in the days or weeks before the arrests, given the speed and completeness of the arrests, is implausible. The treasure of the Order was, in fact, seized by the crown.
The Modern Mythology
The question of what happened to Templar treasure is one of the major themes of the modern Templar mythology. The mythology includes the idea that the treasure was hidden in secret locations across Europe, and that it has been searched for, often unsuccessfully, by treasure hunters for centuries.
The mythology. See Templar Mythology, Symbolism and Hidden Knowledge.
Conclusion
The question of what happened to Templar treasure is one of the most enduring mysteries of medieval history. The most likely answer is that most of the wealth was simply confiscated by the secular rulers of the various countries, especially in France and England. The legends of hidden treasure are not supported by historical evidence, but they have been a major element of the modern mythology of the Order.