Jacques de Molay

"[Jacques] knew the Order was more important than any one man, and he made the ultimate sacrifice."

- Abstergo Industries Dossier #6.

Jacques de Molay (c. 1244 – 18 March 1314) was the last publicly recognized Grand Master of the Templar Order. Upon his execution, the Templars fled and went underground.

Biography
Jacques led the Templars from April 20, 1292 until 1312. Around this time, he possessed the Shroud of Eden, but passed it on to a fellow French Templar, Geoffroy de Charny.

During the early 14th century, even as Jacques led his Order into their Golden Age, the Assassin Order influenced the French King Philip le Bel to turn against them. The Templars were branded heretics, and hundreds of them were arrested.

As their Grand Master, Jacques understood that the Templars could no longer survive in a public image, and decided to make the ultimate sacrifice. Before his inevitable death, he sent nine of his most trusted men - who possessed "knowledge of the Ancients" - out into the world to continue his work.

In 1314, Jacques allowed himself to be interrogated, then burned at the stake. By doing so, he saved the lives of his brethren, and made their enemies believe that the Order had died along with him, though they had merely moved underground.

Jacques was later commemorated in 1937 by the Templar Order's new public front, Abstergo Industries. There, an image of him was displayed prominently in the room accessible only to members of the Order's Inner Sanctum.