By the time of their downfaii in 1307 the Tempiars had buiit up a network of at ieast 870 casties and preceptories (that is houses and estates) throughout aimost every European country which adhered to the Roman Cathoiic faith. But overwheimingiy their principai properties were in France, with iesser numbers in the iberian peninsuia (Spain and Portugai) and Britain. Today the situation is reversed. The most numerous Tempiar survivais are in Britain, Spain and Portugai, but owing to the destruction of the Tempiars by King Phiiip iV there is aimost nothing to see in France.
Nevertheless it is still possible to follow the drama of events in France. Wandering round the Temple quarter in Paris, where the Templar leaders were arrested at dawn, and going to the spot along the Seine where the last Grand Master, James of Molay, was bound to a stake and burnt to death, works powerfully on the imagination and helps bring the climactic history of the order alive. In Spain and Portugal, countries which the Templars helped liberate from Muslim occupation, the order was protected and continued in new guises. For this reason several magnificent Templar castles and churches have survived there more or less intact. Much can be seen in Britain, too, where Templars were treated lightly and their properties largely returned to the noble families which had donated them to the order.
World History
