Jacques DeMolay was born in Vitrey, Department of Haute Saone, France, in the year 1244. Little is known of his family or his early boyhood, but in 1265, at the age of 21, he became a member of the Order of Knights Templars.

     The Order of Knights Templars had been officially sanctioned and recognized by the Pope and Church Council in 1128. Their original name was "Poor Soldiers in Christ," and their purpose was to guard the road between Jerusalem and Acre, the Jerusalem port on the Mediterranean .

     The Knights Templars grew larger and stronger with headquarters set up in England, Spain, France and Germany, and soon the valor of the soldiers in Palestine was backed and sustained by a vast systematized organization in the homelands. The Order had participated fearlessly in numerous crusades, and its name was a byword for heroism when in 1298 DeMolay was elected Grand Master.

     In 1305, Philip the Fair, King of France, mindful of the immense power he would have if he could unite the Orders of Templars and Hospitallers with himself in titular control, set about to do so. Philip realized that he must destroy the Orders to prevent any rise in power of the Papacy, since the Orders were accountable only to the Church. On September 14, 1307, Philip issued secret writs for the arrest of all Templars. It was the beginning of seven years of old, damp cells and in human tortures for DeMolay and his fellow Knights.

     While the bells in the Cathedral of Notre Dame tolled at sunset on March 18, 1314, Jacques DeMolay and his companion were burned at the stake on a small island in the River Seine, fearless to the end.