Michael J Bird

The Dark Side of the Sun

The Dark Side of the Sun Chronology

To celebrate the "Silver Jubilee" of The Dark Side of the Sun Dr Marianne Gilchrist (a fan of the series and something of a 'Templar' expert) thought she would have a go at a chronology to see how the back-story could be dovetailed into real world events. It works out quite well! I think Michael Bird would have been chuffed.
Real World history	Year	Dark Side canon	Templar Chess Pope Nicholas IV Pope from February 22, 1288 to April 4, 1292 Pope Boniface VIII Pope from 1294 to 1303 Pope Boniface VIII Pope from 1294 to 1303 Stamp honouring Guillaume De Villaret Pope Benedict XI Pope from 1303 to 1304 Foulques de Villaret (by Goyet) Pope Clement V Pope from 1305 – April 20, 1314 Knight Phillipe IV Knight Templars before Pope & King Knight The Grand Masters Of Rhodes Martyrdom of Templars Knights hospitaller Model Knight Model Knight Knight De Molay Martyrdom Pope John XXII Pope from 1316 to 1334 Tibalt de Montrefort Hélion de Villeneuve (c. 1270 – 1346) Sultan Mehmed by Gentile Bellini Sultan of the Ottoman Empire 1444 - 1446, and later from 1451 to 1481. Queen Caterina Cornaro Ottoman Janissaries And Defending Knights Of St John Siege Of Rhodes 1522 Ismini Christoyannis Raoul Lavalliere
	circa 1275 - 80	Approximate birthdate of Tibalt de Montrefort (assuming that, at the time of his first death, he is the age he appears in 1983: late 30s - early 40s at most).
Death of Philippe III and accession of Philippe IV as King of France. Jean de Villiers is elected Grand Master of the Hospitallers.	1285
May: Fall of Acre to the Mamluk Turks, with massive Templar losses (including Grand Master Guillaume de Beaujeu, mortally wounded on 18 May), and the final collapse of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem; Cyprus becomes the front-line Crusader state and HQ of both the Templars and Hospitallers. Thibaud Gaudin elected Grand Master of the Templars. (See Malcolm Barber on the earlier history of the Order.)	1291
February: Pope Nicholas IV suggests amalgamating the Templars and Hospitallers. March/April: Nicholas IV dies. Before 20 April: Thibaud Gaudin dies. Jacques de Molay, a Burgundian (thus not a subject of the French king), is elected Grand Master of the Templars.	1292
Death of Hospitaller Grand Master Jean de Villiers. Election of Odo de Pins.	1293 - 94
24 Dec: Election of Benedetto Caetani as Pope Boniface VIII, after abdication of Celestine V.	1294
Feud begins between Philippe IV and Pope Boniface VIII over control of the clergy (including their eligibility to pay tax to the state) in France. Death of Hospitaller Master Odo de Pins. Election of Guilhem del Vilaret (Guillaume de Villaret), who attempted to relocate Hospitaller HQ in the West. The Hospitallers are already divided into linguistic units, or 'tongues': Provence, Auvergne, France, Spain, Italy, England and Germany. The first 3 dominate.	1295
The Mongol leader the Ilkhan Ghazan (only recently converted to Islam) asks for Henri II of Cyprus and the Grand Masters of the Hospital and Temple to help him in his campaign against the Mamluks in the Holy Land. By the time their men arrive, he has withdrawn to Iran. First mention of the Hospitallers having an Admiral.	1299
May: The Mongol forces of the Ilkhan Ghazan are driven out of Palestine by the Mamluks. November: Abortive attempt by the Templars and Amaury de Lusignan (King Henri's brother) to retake Tortosa. They are able to leave a garrison of 120 Templars holding the island of Ruad (Arwad) off the coast. Guilhem del Vilaret tries to hold a Hospitaller General Chapter in Avignon, but the Order (including his nephew Folco) resists, and insists that all such meetings be held at HQ in Limassol. Del Vilaret is forced to come to Cyprus after this.	1300
October: Fall of Ruad (Arwad) to the Mamluks; the Templars lose 120 fighting men - a substantial portion of the new fighting men they gained after Acre - under Marshal Barthélemy de Quincy. Those not slain in battle die of starvation in Egyptian prisons.	1302 or 1303	It is unlikely that Tibalt joins the Templars before the early 1300s: the order does not usually accept underage oblates, as recruits of knightly rank are expected to be fighting men, ready for battle. Most join in their mid-20s. Even allowing for his remarkable powers of survival, it is more likely that he joins after the Ruad disaster.
Summer: Pope Boniface plans to excommunicate Philippe IV. Meanwhile, Philippe's chief minister Guillaume de Nogaret, prepares to charge the Pope with murder, idolatry, simony, sodomy and heresy. 7 Sept: De Nogaret and the Colonna family attack and capture Pope Boniface at Anagni. They beat him up and threaten to execute him. 11 Oct: The Pope, who is in his 80s, dies from the stress of the attack. Pope Benedict XI is elected to succeed him.	1303
Pope Benedict lifts excommunication on Philippe and the Colonnas, but not on de Nogaret, who keeps up the pressure to try Pope Boniface posthumously. The posthumous process continues for several years, in parallel with the trial of the Templars. Rhodes is dominated by the Moresco brothers, Genoese corsairs under the overlordship of the Byzantine Emperor. 7 July: Pope Benedict dies. Raymond Bertrand de Got, Archbishop of Bordeaux, is elected as Clement V to succeed him, and is crowned on 14 November.	1304
Folco del Vilaret (Foulques de Villaret) is elected to succeed his uncle Guilhem as Grand Master of the Hospitallers.	1305
April: Amaury de Lusignan (apparently with Templar support) stages a coup against his brother, King Henri II of Cyprus, who goes into exile. May: The Morescos' uncle, Vignolo dei Vignoli, who holds the manor of Lardos on Rhodes, approaches del Vilaret to get his support for taking over at least part (if not all) of Rhodes for himself. They make a pact: the Hospital is to rule the island, plus Kos and Leros, while Vignolo keeps Lardos and another manor, and has extensive rights over the other islands. June: Initial Hospitaller attack on Rhodes (2 galleys and 4 other ships) is not immediately successful; they begin to besiege Rhodes city. July: Philippe IV expels the Jews from France, to seize their assets. October: Jacques de Molay, with Raimbaut de Caromb, the Preceptor of Cyprus, travels from Cyprus to France to enlist support for a new Crusade. Folco del Vilaret goes to see the Pope for the same reason, either at the same time or very early next spring. He remains in the West until 1310.	1306	Tibalt is still a Templar, so cannot be involved in any of the early Hospitaller attempts on Rhodes.
March: Folco del Vilaret sends envoys to Emperor Andronikos II, asking to be granted Rhodes as a Byzantine fief, but is rebuffed. April: Andronikos fails to raise siege of Rhodes city. June: Pope excommunicates the Emperor. Sept: Pope grants Rhodes to the Hospitallers, and sends money to help them with conquest. 14 Sept: Philippe IV of France, plotting with de Nogaret, sends out secret orders to prepare for the Templar arrests. 12 Oct: Jacques de Molay is pall-bearer at the funeral of the King's sister-in-law. 13 Oct: The Templars in France are arrested. The King claims he is acting at the request of the Inquisitor in France, but he has not even asked the Pope's permission at this time. The charges largely recycle those against Pope Boniface. About 2 dozen escape, but most are recaptured. 22 Nov: The Papal Bull Pastoralis Præeminentiæ is issued against the Templars. The hearings carried out throughout France over the next few years involve horrific tortures, on mainly middle-aged to elderly men (a higher proportion of younger knights were in Cyprus), to extract 'confessions'.	1307	Oct: David (using 19C books in the museum library) claims that Brother Tibalt and some companions flee to the East to escape arrest in France: however, the sailing season ends in autumn, and will not begin again until spring. He would therefore be unable to reach Cyprus ahead of the arrest warrant for the Templars, so would be captured immediately on arrival in any case. He also cannot be on Rhodes before 1310, because del Vilaret, whom we know is responsible for setting him up there, does not return to the East until then. The Agnès affair, whatever happened, must predate 1307, and probably predates his entry into the order. Given his age at this time (late 20s-30), there is a strong likelihood he is already on the front-line in Cyprus, not in France.
6 May: The Papal arrest warrant for the Templars (written in Nov 1307) arrives in Cyprus. 12 May: Balian d'Ibelin goes to Limassol, to call on the Templars to surrender. 27 May: The Marshal of the Templars, Ayme d'Osiliers, appears before the Regent Amaury at Nicosia. 29 May-1 June: The Templars are besieged at Limassol, and forced to surrender. They are then placed under house arrest (under guard) at Khirokitia and Yermasoyia. (There are 83 knights, mostly young, and 35 sergeants and serving brothers.) Another Byzantine relief expedition to Rhodes fails. 12 Aug: Papal Bull Faciens misericordiam sets out the heresy charges against Templars. The Pope leaves Poitiers. Hearings at Chinon: Jacques de Molay and other leading Templars receive absolution for confessing to heresy, idol-worship, denying Christ, encouraging sodomy, & c. This is the much-hyped Chinon Parchment. (The confessions are later retracted as made under duress; therefore, absolution is also withdrawn.)	1308	Wherever Tibalt had been beforehand, the chances are he would have been swept up in the arrests on Cyprus.
March: The Pope moves to Avignon, more or less permanently. 15 Aug: The city of Rhodes comes under Hospitaller control. They start annexing the other islands in the