with Boniface and demand his removal from office. As for Nogaret – I doubt it. He is a man of faith and of the law. Moreover, were he to conceive such a plot without the endorsement of his monarch, he would be forced to commit – or have someone commit – a devious abhorrent form of murder, and I do not see him as a poisoner. However …’ Arnaud de Viancourt accentuated his pause with a slight nervous gesture of his hand ‘… a zealous follower might interpret and carry out their desires.’
‘It wouldn’t be the first time,’ avowed Leone, feeling a frisson of horror at the idea.
‘Hmm …’
‘Should we stay close to the Pope, then, in order to safeguard his life? I would willingly defend it with my own.’
As he spoke, the Knight was certain that the prior had been leading up to something else. The palpable sorrow in the man’s eyes as he stared at Leone told him he had not been mistaken.
‘My friend, my brother, you must know how difficult, nay, impossible it is to prevent this horror, and do we still have time?Of course Benoît’s life is our first priority. As we speak, two of our brave brothers are at his side, protecting him with their constant vigilance, tracking the would-be poisoners. However, if … If he were to pass away … In our grief we must not forget the future …’
Leone finished the sentence for him, pronouncing the painful words he knew nevertheless to be true:
‘… which we must already begin forging if we are to prevent the destruction of Christendom.’
These words applied equally to the sacred mission to which he had committed himself body and soul, and about which Arnaud de Viancourt knew nothing. About which no one must know.
‘The future, indeed. Benoît’s succession – if our desperate attempts of the last few weeks to prevent it fail.’
‘Are we hoping that an intervention on our part might influence events?’
‘Hope? There is always hope, brother. Hope is our main strength. But hope is not enough in this instance. We must be certain that King Philip IV’s plan fails. If his counsellors succeed, as I fear they will, in electing a puppet pope to the Vatican, they will be free to attack those whom they cannot control as they would wish – that is to say, the Order of the Knights Templar and our own, since we are considered to be the Pope’s personal guard, a wealthy guard – and you know as well as I do of the King’s need for money.’
‘In which case the Templars are first in the line of fire,’ observed Leone. ‘Their extreme power has become their failing. The wealth that passes through their hands incites greed in others. Their system of depositing and transferring funds from one side of the world to the other has greatly facilitated this. Crusaders and pilgrims to the Holy Land need no longer livein fear of being robbed. Additionally, they receive a stream of donations and alms from all over Christendom.’
‘We benefit from it as much as they, and I must remind you that we are almost certainly as wealthy,’ corrected Arnaud de Viancourt.
‘True, but the Templars are censured for their arrogance, their privileges, their wealth, even for being idle and uncharitable, whereas we are spared such criticism. There is no better way to fuel a fire than with jealousy and envy.’
‘That is no reason to think, or more precisely to make others think, that this money has yielded such profits that they are now sitting on a veritable fortune. Have you ever asked yourself, Francesco, why Philip the Fair withdrew the administration of the royal finances from the Paris Templars in 1295 and entrusted it to the Italian moneylenders?’
‘It was simpler for him to cancel his debt to the moneylenders by arresting them and confiscating their assets. The same strategy would have proved more risky if used against the Templars.’
‘Precisely. And yet strangely enough two years ago the King granted the same Templars the right to collect taxes. Is it not a
‘It wouldn’t be the first time,’ avowed Leone, feeling a frisson of horror at the idea.
‘Hmm …’
‘Should we stay close to the Pope, then, in order to safeguard his life? I would willingly defend it with my own.’
As he spoke, the Knight was certain that the prior had been leading up to something else. The palpable sorrow in the man’s eyes as he stared at Leone told him he had not been mistaken.
‘My friend, my brother, you must know how difficult, nay, impossible it is to prevent this horror, and do we still have time?Of course Benoît’s life is our first priority. As we speak, two of our brave brothers are at his side, protecting him with their constant vigilance, tracking the would-be poisoners. However, if … If he were to pass away … In our grief we must not forget the future …’
Leone finished the sentence for him, pronouncing the painful words he knew nevertheless to be true:
‘… which we must already begin forging if we are to prevent the destruction of Christendom.’
These words applied equally to the sacred mission to which he had committed himself body and soul, and about which Arnaud de Viancourt knew nothing. About which no one must know.
‘The future, indeed. Benoît’s succession – if our desperate attempts of the last few weeks to prevent it fail.’
‘Are we hoping that an intervention on our part might influence events?’
‘Hope? There is always hope, brother. Hope is our main strength. But hope is not enough in this instance. We must be certain that King Philip IV’s plan fails. If his counsellors succeed, as I fear they will, in electing a puppet pope to the Vatican, they will be free to attack those whom they cannot control as they would wish – that is to say, the Order of the Knights Templar and our own, since we are considered to be the Pope’s personal guard, a wealthy guard – and you know as well as I do of the King’s need for money.’
‘In which case the Templars are first in the line of fire,’ observed Leone. ‘Their extreme power has become their failing. The wealth that passes through their hands incites greed in others. Their system of depositing and transferring funds from one side of the world to the other has greatly facilitated this. Crusaders and pilgrims to the Holy Land need no longer livein fear of being robbed. Additionally, they receive a stream of donations and alms from all over Christendom.’
‘We benefit from it as much as they, and I must remind you that we are almost certainly as wealthy,’ corrected Arnaud de Viancourt.
‘True, but the Templars are censured for their arrogance, their privileges, their wealth, even for being idle and uncharitable, whereas we are spared such criticism. There is no better way to fuel a fire than with jealousy and envy.’
‘That is no reason to think, or more precisely to make others think, that this money has yielded such profits that they are now sitting on a veritable fortune. Have you ever asked yourself, Francesco, why Philip the Fair withdrew the administration of the royal finances from the Paris Templars in 1295 and entrusted it to the Italian moneylenders?’
‘It was simpler for him to cancel his debt to the moneylenders by arresting them and confiscating their assets. The same strategy would have proved more risky if used against the Templars.’
‘Precisely. And yet strangely enough two years ago the King granted the same Templars the right to collect taxes. Is it not a
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