Grand Master of the Templar Order

The title of Grand Master was the highest rank attainable within the Templar Order and granted the bearer full control over its members and their operations.

Having previously born a more public face, more Grand Masters of the Templar Order were better known than their Assassin counterparts. As the Templars slipped into the shadows, the identities of the leaders eventually fell from the public consciousness. While it is commonly assumed that all Templar leaders were drawn from the stock of Western nobility, due to the prominence of the Knights Templar front organization during the Middle Ages, the truth is that as the Order developed, diversified and relocated, many different people, of various racial backgrounds and cultural heritages, have assumed the mantle of Grand Master throughout the Templars' long history.

Middle Ages
After two years without a Grand Master, Robert de Sable entered the order of the Knights Templar and reigned as their Grand Master during 1191. During his reign, he sought the Pieces of Eden, particularly the Apple of Eden. After having lost the apple, he launched an attack to Masyaf, the stronghold of the Assassins. During the Battle of Arsuf, he was killed by his rival, Altair.

After the death of Robert, Armand Bouchart took the title of Grand Master. He and the Templars retreated to Cyprus after Robert's death. However, Altaïr pursued him and in the Templar Archive, they fought each other. Altaïr won the fight, and the Templars lost another leader.

During the early 14th century, the French King Philip le Bel was unknowingly influenced by the Assassins, and conspired against the Templars. The Templars were branded heretics and hundreds of them were arrested, and the last official Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, understood that the Order would not survive as a public organization. He allowed himself to be burned at the stake, saving the lives of his brethren and making his enemies believe that the Templars were finished, though in reality the Order continued to exist - underground. Before his death, Molay sent nine of his most trusted men out into the world to continue his work.

Renaissance
By 1476, the Templars in Europe were eventually led by Rodrigo Borgia, a cardinal under Pope Sixtus IV. Operating from Rome, Rodrigo's primary objective was to unite Italy under the Templar banner; however, the Italian Templars strayed far from the main Templar ideology, using the Order as a way to achieve and sustain power for themselves. Despite facing complications from the Assassins, mainly Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Rodrigo managed to bribe the other cardinals, and was named Pope in 1492, taking on the name Alexander VI.

Rodrigo secured the power of the Church for the Templars, and from the Vatican he oversaw the progress of the other Templars in Europe, including England and Spain. however, by 1500, Rodrigo's resolve had weakened, and control over the order fell to his son Cesare Borgia, who acted as the de facto Grand Master.

After he killed his own father in August 1503, Cesare became the official Grand Master of the Order, though without his father's power in the Church, Cesare could not maintain the same influence in Europe that his father had. Cesare was imprisoned, and upon escaping, fled to his brother-in-law John III of Navarre in Navarre, Spain. He was ultimately killed during the Siege of Viana in 1507 by Ezio Auditore, destabilizing the Templars in Europe and causing them to temporarily withdraw.

By the 20th century, the title of Grand Master was no longer existent, after the "Founders" created Abstergo Industries in 1937, which from that point on served as the front for the Templar Order. Its highest-ranking employees were joint leaders of the Order.