The arrest of the Templars in 1307, the suppression of the order in 1312 and the execution of Jacques the Molay in 1314 saw the end of the order in the eyes of academic historians. Nevertheless, the order did not cease to exist. Given the number of knights who escaped, who remained at large or who were acquitted, it would be surprising if it had.
Although King Philip's seizure and destruction of Jacques the Molay and the French Templars was quite efficient, there is no record of hid finding the Templar treasure in Paris of the secret archives of the order or its fleet, based mainly at La Rochelle in Brittany. Much evidence and some tradition points to the removal of the treasure and most of the archives on ships, with refugee Templars taking these to Portugal and to the west and east coasts of Scotland, where they were welcomed.
There is documented history for the Templars in Scotland. Following the foundation of the order in c.1119, Hugh de Payens came to England in 1128. King David of Scotland invited him to come north of the border and probably gave him land at Balantrodoch, to the south of Edinburgh. This is now known as Temple, and is where one of the order's two Scottish preceptories was founded, the other being Maryculter on the River Dee to the south-west of Aberdeen. The order also had posessions in Lothian, Falkirk and Glasgow.
Only two Templars were arrested in Scotland, Walter Clifton and William Middleton, a native of Northumberland, born near Newcastle.
In Portugal, the Templars took the name of the Knights of Christ. Columbus's father-in-law was a member of this order and it was with nautical charts inherited from this relative that Columbus undertook his voyage of discovery.
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