Hugues de Pairaud
Hugues de Pairaud was a tall French Knights Templar, last Visitor of the Order in France.
Life
He came from a noble family from the area of Burgundy ( Lyonnais, Beaujolais, Forez ) and came across his uncle Humbert de Pairaud, who was temporarily General Visitor of France and England to 1263 in Lyon to the Order. He had never been in Palestine or in the Orient ( outre mer). 1280 to 1284 he was commander of Épailly at Courban in Burgundy and then the Bailiwick of Bures, also in the north of the Côte- d'Or. It was relatively late, he ( mentioned in 1293 as champions of France, the last time in 1300 ) a higher office, and in 1294 or 1295 he is mentioned as General Visitor of France, from May 1294 from England, so the provinces on this side of the sea ( deca mer, France and England ), that is representative of the Grand Master in these provinces, and thus practically second in ranking after the Grand Master Jacques de Molay. Many admissions Templars were not carried out later by Pairaud and by the Grand Master, he led meetings of Templars and inspected their offices.
There is a letter from Pierre de Castillon, probably written in December 1304 in Torres, who reported it, Hugues de Pairaud would be dismissed as Visitor of France, and was appointed master of France. A little later, however, it is again mentioned as a Visitor. In February 1307 he is mentioned as a Visitor, in June ( letter of De Molay on June 7, 1307 ) he is mentioned again as a champion of France, and not as a Visitor. In the later case files, particularly in the final judgment in 1314, he is again mentioned as a Visitor. After Demurger can from it but no profound conflict between Pairaud and the Grand Master Molay conclude, perhaps because Pairaud had a special closeness to the French king.
According to a Templar de Faur from the Limousin in the interrogations of the Templars in 1311 Pairaud had been his rival candidate ( in Cyprus ) and Molay elected only by skilful manipulation of the election of the Grand Master de Molay in 1292. After Barbara Frale who thought this was credible, Pairaud was already head of a pro- French party and Molay representative of a party who was arrested the traditional aims of the Order in the Orient. This is disputed by Demurger as untenable, he considers it even impossible that Pairaud was ever rival candidate at that time, as he was then much too small and came from the Western District. Also, the conflict of the French king with the pope at that time was not in the foreground, but the defense but further progress of the Saracens after the fall of Acre from 1291. Pairaud later had excellent relations with the French king, he in his fight against Pope Boniface VIII supported. receives in August 1303 and therefore special privileges from the king Pairaud was officially charged with tasks in tax receipts and payments for the royal administration. Therefore, it is guesswork been expressed, he would secretly been with the French king in the elimination of the Templars in the covenant. Rumored to before the arrest of the Templars in September 1307 with his knowledge a hoard of coins by his nephew Hugues de Chalons been ( a Templar ) brought to safety (see also the Templar treasure ).
He was arrested in 1307 with about 15 other Templars in Poitiers, where they were staying there at the end because the Pope, and was brought to the hole and later to Paris. The official charges were the same as for others in the Templar processes (homosexuality, heresy, etc.) usually pressed and the witnesses under torture, but also Pairaud confessed on November 9, 1307. During a hearing before the Cardinals in 1308, he withdrew again in the meantime, then later to confess again. In the final sentence of life imprisonment in the case against the top Templar in March 1314 in Paris, he was silent as well Godefroi de Gonneville ( Order Master of Aquitaine ), in contrast to Jacques de Molay and the master of Normandy Geoffroy de Charnay, both therefore were immediately burned at the direct order of the king. Pairaud was still 1321 and probably the judgment following to end of his life in prison.