80 THE ORIGINS OF FREEMASONRY FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO THE MIDDLE AGES
falls into the framework of the struggle, ongoing at the time, between
the king and the feudal authorities. The Temple was in fact a sovereign
entity of great power; its domains, great in number, with their own
legal, political, and social armatures, formed autonomous enclaves
inside the territory ruled by the crown. At the end of the thirteenth cen-
tury, the Templars owned almost a third of Paris, a vast part of the city
that escaped royal jurisdiction and authority. The jurist Guillaume de
Nogaret was especially concerned with defense of the French monarchy.
His purpose was the pursuit of national unity under the sole authority
of the king. It is not possible to take seriously the accusations of heresy
lodged against the Templars. It should certainly be acknowledged, how-
ever, that without the destruction, or at least the weakening, of the Holy
Land's Latin states, whose great strength derived not only from their
ties to the top feudal families, but also from their wealth, immense
domains, perpetuity and mysterious prestige, and divine character that
had no equal on earth, the French kingdom—that is, French unity—
never would have prevailed. In short, it is acceptable that the destruc-
tion of the Order was legitimized by reasons of state; it was only the
means used to accomplish this destruction that were iniquitous.