ABSTRACT
One pits the Knights Templars' enemies against their friends: the king, Marigny, and Nogaret against the queen, the constable, and Marigny's son. Historians still find useful information about the Templars in Les Monumens historiques relatifs a la condamnation des chevaliers du Temple et a l'abolition de leur ordre, which Francois Just Marie Raynouard wrote and published in 1813. Napoleon Bonaparte was in Milan when he heard of the success of Raynouard's play; he was informed by newspapers and by his first chamberlain, Monsieur de Remusat. Raynouard used new materials from the Vatican Archives, then in Paris, and he extended his inquiry to all European countries. To Raynouard, theatre and history complemented each other as valuable instruments for the nation's instruction. Censorship was exercised by the Bureau des Theatres dependant of the Police. The number of performances is one criterion: there were thirty-eight in 1805, despite two long interruptions caused by Talma's illness.
