Even the most diligent historians are unable to fully comprehend some parts of the past, despite their greatest attempts to unearth and record its mysteries. It is in these mysterious spaces that conjecture turns into a need as well as a temptation. Novelists, including myself, try to fill in the blanks left by the imperfect histories by creating stories that span the gaps between what is known and what is not.
In that sense, Conspiracy Suisse is based on the inherent ambiguity of historical events rather than being merely imaginative. Elsewhere on the website I provided a summary of Swiss history as recited by common sources and also offered a general view of the historical events that are the subject matter of the story. Below, I shall take a look at Swiss history from the speculative perspective of the fictional Grand Master of the modern-day Knights Templar, the main protagonist of the novel, though not in as much detail as he himself provides in the book. Nevertheless, I hope his views play some role in giving life to the silent echoes of our past as he crosses the unexplored waters of history.
The Beginning of Swiss History
In the very first chapter of the book the Grand Master makes the claims that his organization, the historical Knights Templar, helped form Switzerland at the end of the 13th century and then went on to provide the seed capital for the founding of its largest private bank, the fictional SWB, centuries later.
The first significant event in the formation of Switzerland was the so-called Oath of the Ruetli on August 1st, 1291 when the “Forest Cantons” of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden gathered on a meadow and swore an oath of mutual defense and cooperation against external threats. He suggests that the then Grand Master Thibaud (or Theobald) Gaudin traveled from the Middle East to Europe after the fall of Acre on May 28th, 1291, and attended that gathering, together with brethren who had already settled in Swiss villages.
Most Templar experts agree that from the time it became clear to the Knights Templar that they would not be able to hang on to Jerusalem, they started making plans to create a nation of their own. After all, the Order was already like a state within a state, with no tax obligation but a large standing army that could move freely through all European borders. The consensus is though that the target region was Southern France where the Templars had established strong ties with Cathars during the Albigensian Crusade, which caused their focus to shift from where they had started in the Champagne region, to the region around Languedoc.
Grand Master Grimavi suggests that while King Philip IV may have acted out of fear that part of his kingdom might be taken away, the plans were different. With 200 years of military experience, the Templar Brothers had chosen to live among the peaceful peasants in self-governing free states up in the Alps with virtually no influence from the governing Habsburg Kingdom, on a land that would be ideal for setting up defenses when the day came for fighting it. And from the time of the arrests in France onwards, secrecy became their priority, as this was of utmost importance to live in the Alps unnoticed and without being prosecuted. Grand Master Jacques de Molay had indeed given up his freedom and later his life to protect his organization’s future by making Philippe believe that he had seized the Order
The Move Up North
The Grand Master explains that the cargo arriving from the Middle East and destined to be used in the South was unloaded at Montpellier and then taken North, through Avignon, Grenoble, the old St. Bernhard Pass, all the way to Sion. Slowly, the Order moved financial assets, especially gold coins that the Order was using for trade as well as ledgers which had been consolidated through nearly 300 castles within Europe, from Languedoc and Montpellier to Sion, where Tourbillon Castle would become their headquarters.
By 1307, the transfer of the management of the Order from Languedoc to Sion was completed. After March 18th, 1314, when Grand Master Jacques de Molay was burnt at the stake, all hope for the Grand Master rejoicing in the new nation was lost. The Pope died only a month later. And Philippe died in a hunting accident before the end of the year. It was time to move on and a new Grand Master was chosen.
Grand Master Grimavi then makes the bold suggestion that the wars with the Habsburgs may have been intentionally instigated by the Brotherhood when they felt they were ready to rid the territory of their influence. The period of wars with the Habsburgs would last for almost two hundred years ending up in the expansion of Switzerland. More than all others, the union with the city of Lucerne in 1332 was most important, because after thirty years of concealed management in Sion, the Order’s headquarters could be transferred to Lucerne and, thus, to within the territory of Switzerland.
Swiss Mercenary Forces
The Grand Master makes the case that from the time the Knights Templar join forces with Swiss peasants, they become a formidable force – without whose support these peaceful folks could not have fought armies with pitchforks – able to defeat the mighty Habsburg army first at the battle of Morgarten in 1315 and then decisively at the battle of Sempach in 1386. Immediately after these successes the Swiss gained more autonomy within the Holy Roman Empire and established the Swiss mercenary forces, which were notable for their service in foreign armies, particularly the military forces of the Kings of France, during the Early Modern era of European history, which spanned from the Late Middle Ages to the Renaissance.
The ability to supply soldiers with demonstrated combat skills to many armies as hired forces would have a significant impact on later Swiss history. Switzerland would be peaceful throughout wars that devastated most of Europe since all of the major European countries relied on Swiss mercenaries and would not allow Switzerland to fall into the hands of one of their rivals. As a result, Switzerland was able to keep its neutrality in turbulent times. One of the main pillars upon which Switzerland’s success would eventually be built was the Treaty of Paris, which was signed in 1761 and further cemented Switzerland’s status as a neutral nation.
One of the oldest military organizations still in existence is the Pontifical Swiss Guard, which was founded in 1506 under Pope Julius II selected due to the successes of the Swiss mercenary forces. Within the borders of the Vatican City State, the Pope and the Apostolic Palace are guarded by the Pontifical Swiss Guard, an honor guard and military force under the control of the Holy See.
The Continuation
In the novel, factual information about the Knights Templar – to get all readers up to speed about the backstory – is provided by Professor Danilo Albero. He first explains how the Knights Templar may have gotten rich and then how this may have impacted the development of Switzerland:
When the Knights Templar were officially approved and endorsed by the Church at the Council of Troyes, they became a favored charity throughout Christendom, receiving money, land, businesses, and noble-born sons from families eager to help with the fight in the Holy Lands. A few years later, the Pope even exempted them from obedience to local laws, which meant they could pass freely through all borders, were not required to pay any taxes, and were exempt from all authority except that of the Pope.
But apart from the donations and exemptions, the Knights Templar established an early version of what we might call international global banking. After the capture of Jerusalem, European pilgrims wanted to travel to the Holy Lands, leaving their estates for safekeeping. So, the Knights Templar invented trust funds. If a nobleman wished to join the crusades, this would mean an absence of years from his home. For this reason, he would place all of his wealth and businesses under the control of the Templars, to safeguard them until his return. And if he died, those assets remained in their possession. In a short time, they became excellent property managers.
The route to Jerusalem was full of dangers. Pilgrims were mugged in curved corners, stolen from, raped… They needed some means to keep their money safe until they reached their destination. So, the Knights Templar established a system much like the travelers’ checks. Pilgrims would deposit their money at one of the Knights Templar castles or strongholds, which could be found all over Europe, and, in return, receive an encrypted deed. This document could only be read by the Templars, using a decryption device, after which the deposited money would be paid out. Like a traveler’s cheque. The Templars were able to build such perfect mechanisms, that it was impossible to decrypt a letter encoded with one of their encryption devices.
Over time the Templars’ involvement in banking and safekeeping activities grew. They would offer safe deposit boxes, property management services, and money and tax collection services. Since monks themselves were sworn to poverty but had the strength of a large and trusted international infrastructure behind them, nobles would use them as a kind of bank and notary. So, while the members were poor monks, the organization, what they called the ‘Order,’ was rich beyond imagination. They seemingly amassed such a fortune with their banking operations, that they built up a Europe-wide, cross-border empire, that even included a huge fleet of ships, to carry pilgrims to the Holy Lands straight from Italy. It was the first International Corporation. They owned large tracts of land both in Europe and the Middle East, built churches and castles, were involved in manufacturing, import and export, had their own fleet of ships, and for a time even owned the entire island of Cyprus.
Upon the question of Judge Jana Erb, Professor Albero explains how they may have preserved their assets all the way until the 19th century:
If they did, it must have been not due to some treasure they possessed but rather know-how. They were foremost experts in warfare, which was very important in those days. They were banking experts. They were experts in property management and therefore also good farmers. They could build complex mechanical devices. If anything, then this must have helped them.
Indeed, it turns out that in every field where the Swiss excel today the Templars brought in some sort of expertise.
The Founding of SWB
In the novel Grand Master Grimavi states that 80% of the capital – a huge sum in every respect – for the founding of the fictional Swiss bank SWB was provided by the Knights Templar. While SWB is not Credit Suisse, the events surrounding its creation were inspired by those that led to the formation of Credit Suisse, when a massive amount of money was raised within just 3 days upon the call for financing by its founder, at a time when the telephone had not been invented yet and even the telegram had been in limited use for just 5 years. It was concluded by the Banking Expert that given the circumstances, it is more likely that one group close to the Swiss State at the time might have put down the seed capital rather than several smaller investors. This conclusion may be considered as one of the historical conspiracies put forward in the novel if one were to accept the similarity of the fictionalized events with the beginnings of Credit Suisse.
Even though I am Swiss and actually read quite many history books I had not thought of the early days of the Swiss Confederation. This was new to me.