AREY. IT.]

ST. JOHN OT JERUSALEM.

259

to make him suspect the ’frightful truth, thoughabundant ill-will certainly met his ears; but havingnever had a personal interview with the haplessMolay, he might exert his prudence in the elevateddignity he was now clothed with, to avoid one; andbe desirous of removing from that dangerous po-sition as fast as he could, well aware that his ownorder was exposed to envy, as well as that of theguiltless Templars. Things were already runninghigh, not perhaps publicly, but in the minds of thePontifical and French Courts; for they capturedMolay a very few weeks afterwards, of a Friday onthe 13th of October, 1307, although his Holinessdid not declare it till the year after; but it wasequal to the capture (caperetur) in 1307. So wehave two clear documentary proofs that Sir Fulk wasGrand Master of the Hospital early in 1307. 1 InFrance he soon got what he wanted. A greatcrusade was impossible; but to gather a body ofresolute individuals was easy. He might be in thegreater hurry to return, that the courts had agloomy aspect—though he knew that while theHospitallers kept at a distance, and clear of in-ordinate show, their merit to Christendom and theHoly Land would be avowed; but that to be near

1 Seb. Paoli: Osservazioni. ii., 526.—Appendix, lxxxii,

and lxxxiii.

S 2