Timeline (The Knights Resurgent)

Timeline
King Philip IV of France (1268-1315) already heavily in debt to the Knights Templar requested a further loan. The Knights Templar begrudgingly accepted this request, they were in his charge. On Friday the 13th, in October 1307, Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and 60 of his senior knights declared their independence from the king and country.

November 12, 1307 The Bitter Battle of Amiens. Battle hardened Knights defeated the French army in a series of battles. February 5, 1308 The new year brought more difficulties for the independent Templar Kingdom. England claimed Amiens was ceded to them years ago, by the French king. In June 1309, A siege of the Templar lands was stopped before it started, through papal intervention. However, many small skirmishes continued for a year. A commission was appointed to draw up an arrangement that would be acceptable to all sides. However, this did not resolve all the issues, and thus a series of revolts broke out. Near the end of 1312 a majority of Templar knights and their leaders tired of war finally took up residence in the mountainous regions provided by the pope.

Popes and Plagues
1315-1320 Bad weather and crop failures result in famines across Europe. Unsanitary conditions and malnutrition increase the death rate. Weather disasters increase crop infestation. A mixture of war, famine and plague ran rampant reducing the population by less then half. After the death of Pope Clement V a young cardinal from Italy who took the name Romanus II was elected. During this time, neither king, pope nor peasant could escape the plague and Pope Romanus II fell to plague in October of 1318. The papal seat entered into a state of Interregnum or Sede vacante, Latin for "the seat being vacant” and the leadership of the Catholic Church remained that way for many years. Changes were to come but it seemed to take forever. Fear, horror, and death was known well by all, and many people feared the biblical apocalypse was upon them. France, Germany, and England disunified.

Prestor John
legendary, often considered a mythical Christian leader who, according to medieval sources, arrived in Rome in May of 1320. The details of John’s story vary and are often considered to be literary invention. There are few historical records from this time, and the few records that do exist are debated and disputed by modern historians. The sparse information gleaned from official sources; often from church records suggest the figure Prestor John is more a representation to unite the people. Many tales and poems relating the story suggest he appears leading a vast army of knights and healers in their goal to unite the lands and lead people out of the darkness. Although the themes, events and characters of the legend varied widely from text to text, there is one accepted version chronicled by the “Writing of Rome and Avignon.”