Discovered: Salzburg researchers on the trail of the Knights Templar
It quickly sounds like something out of a film, and not like something out of a sober research report from Salzburg’s Paris-Lodron University. Daniele Mattiangeli from the Department of International Law, European Law and Fundamentals has been dealing with the violent dissolution of the powerful Knights Templar in the Middle Ages for a long time.
The Italian scientist, who brought this research work to Salzburg, identified bones of the 9th Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Arnau de Torroja, three years ago together with the bioarchaeologist Jan Cemper-Kiesslich from the Salzburg forensic medicine department. The mortal claims had been discovered in a tomb in the church of San Fermo near Verona.
A similar investigation is now under way. This was triggered by Austrian police officers who are privately interested in the history of the Templars and have already made several exciting discoveries – also in Styria. The police couple from Salzburg discovered skeletons in the course of their renewed private research at the Commanderie d’Ozon in Châtellerault in western France. There are indications that it is the 18th Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Guillaume de Sonnac. Samples have been collected and are now being examined.
The site itself is already film-worthy. Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the most influential women of the Middle Ages, is said to have founded the building complex in Châtellerault. This Templar base served as a hostel and hospital for pilgrims in the Holy Land. Châtellerault is halfway between Paris and Bordeaux. The name Guillaume de Sonnac was found in old correspondence. The French nobleman was first master of the Templar order province of Aquitaine, later he became the 18th grand master. He died in a battle in Egypt in 1250 during a crusade. “Guillaume de Sonnac was very popular in Ozone,” says Mattiangeli. “That’s why people have been pushing for his mortal testimonies to be taken home to bury him here.”
The brutal dissolution of the Templar order by King Philip IV in the 14th century was an unprecedented act: in a single day, all Templars throughout France were arrested on charges of heresy. Many knights, including the Grand Master, were executed.
The Knights Templar was the first order of chivalry, originally founded in Jerusalem in 1118 to protect pilgrims. To this day, the rise and fall fascinates many people – many novels (including Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code) and films have dealt with it.