Grand Master of the Templar Order

The title of Grand Master is one of the highest ranks of the Templar Order. Originally, it was the organization's supreme head, but changes over the centuries led to this status being superseded by newly-created authorities such as the Guardians and the General of the Cross. Since the establishment of the Order's major branches, the title has designated the Order's Rite leaders, each corresponding to a specific geographic region, where they serve as the highest authority.Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide – Chapter 5
Before the 1st millennium CE, when the Order of the Ancients was a prominent group, their equivalent rank was known under different names depending on the region. The Anglo-Saxon branch used the title of Grand Maegester, which was also synonymous with the "Father of Understanding", or simply "The Father", a term adopted from the similarly-named title within the ruling triumvirate of Isu society in which the Father of Understanding ruled alongside the Mother of Wisdom and the Sacred Voice.Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – The Poor Fellow-Soldier The newly-formed and risingAssassin's Creed: Valhalla – Layla Hassan's personal files: "Session Report: SHastings" Templars copied the phrasing and over time, the spelling evolved until it reached its form of "Master".
Having previously borne more public faces, most Grand Masters were better known than their Assassin counterparts called Mentors. However, as the Templars slipped into the shadows following their presumed public defeat in the 14th century, their leaders' identities eventually fell from the public consciousness. Over the same time, they had also undergone a change in command structure. By the 17th century, the Templars were no longer ruled by a single Grand Master or independent leaders but instead by two councils of the Order's most prestigious members, the Inner Sanctum and the Council of Elders. The Sanctum was in charge of creating a globalized plan for the Order, ensuring the Rites' members' cooperation, and preventing any corruption of the Templar ideals, while the Council maintained an advisory role meant to maintain the Order's integrity according to the Templar Code. While still in charge of their respective and autonomous Rites, Grand Masters were nevertheless accountable to the Inner Sanctum and their inquisitor, the feared Black Crosses. Furthermore, the Inner Sanctum was in charge of promoting the Grand Masters, keeping their numbers under strict control.
While it was commonly assumed that all Templar leaders were drawn from the stock of Western nobility, due to the prominence of the front-organization that was the Knights Templar during the Middle Ages, the truth was that as the Order developed, diversified, and relocated, many different people of various ethnic backgrounds and cultural heritages had assumed the mantle of Grand Master throughout the Templars' longevity.
==Structure==
===Purpose===
In commentaries written by the 9th century king Alfred of Wessex,Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – The Poor Fellow-Soldier who hated his involuntary inheriting of the position Grand Maegester of the Order of the Ancients from his late older brother Æthelred IAssassin's Creed: Valhalla – Geirmund's Saga — Chapter 17Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Database: Aelfred and sought to destroy the Order for its Isu veneration,Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Breaking the Order he believed that a Grand Master's primary purpose was to be representative of a universal order welcoming members from all walks of life, united by a common desire to seek the betterment of humanity and world peace. A central value was the establishment of a strict opposition to the Ancients' Isu paganism, which Alfred viewed as heretical to his staunch belief in Christianity. This remained central to the Order well into the 21st century, when the then-Black Cross Juhani Otso Berg began investigating the modern Templars' corruption,Assassin's Creed: TemplarsAssassin's Creed: Uprising uncovered the existence of the Instruments of the First Will cult who sought to restore the Isu as humanity's rulers,Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Fate of Atlantis: Fields of Elysium – Modern day and successfully purged them after collaborating with the Assassins. Much like Alfred, the Templars believed the Instruments' adoration of the Isu to be "blasphemy" against humanity.
===Training===
The Templar Order requires that any member trained to become a Grand Master is prepared to make difficult decisions and confident in their own leadership abilities before being promoted. To uphold the Templar belief of killing for efficiency instead of emotional grounds, they are expected to be resourceful to further the Templars' ideals in pursuit of the greater good, even if such sacrifices had been made to a promoted Grand Master in the past, the expectation would be to rise above it in the name of the Order.Assassin's Creed: Forsaken – 9 Oct 1757 The strongest minds among the Order are meant to bear the responsibility of the peoples' will for freedom and responsibility,Assassin's Creed: Unity novel – 12 April 1778 therefore, they seek to take the mantle of leadership in society and expect the people to fall in line in the belief that "mankind was built to serve".Assassin's Creed III – Lee's Last Stand Additionally, the principles of combat, stratagem, languages, philosophy both current and classics to the Isu and history of the Order are part of their training.Assassin's Creed: Unity (novel)Assassin's Creed: Forsaken - 18 June 1747 While the Order doesn't have a specific code against killing innocents as the Assassins, their teachings itself doesn't encourage it either,Assassin's Creed: Forsaken - 14 July 1747 viewing the exercise of military and state power as a position requiring the discipline of both its soldiers and the people they govern and therefor seen as an expected consequence of that, causing some disagreement among Templars on how to lead.Assassin's Creed: Forsaken – 7 June 1753 
The training itself is supervised by another Grand Master when it is a chosen Templar being trained, or it is a birthright in a Templar lineage that ruled a Rite.Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – An Apple a Day After the Inner Sanctum's founding, promotions to Grand Master came under their control.Assassin's Creed: Templars Oddly, even with their years of combat study in either the military or official Templar training, most Grand Masters lose direct fights with Assassins,Assassin's Creed – Assassination II (Robert de Sablé)Assassin's Creed Brotherhood – Pax RomanaAssassin's Creed: Unity – The Temple with only a few having fought them and escaped.Assassin's Creed: LineageAssassin's Creed II – Play AlongAssassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – A Man They Call the Sage
The most skilled of Grand Masters should be equal to an Assassin Mentor in combat, though neither tends to meet each other in battle as a matter of precaution for their own organizations' structures lest either or both of them be defeated. Only two instances of this are recorded to have happened and both prove how dangerous it is when leaders fight as the loser's respective faction was near-totally dismantled, with the Italian Assassins' Mentor Ezio Auditore having already removed Grand Master Cesare Borgia's allies before killing him during the siege of Viana in 1507, while Grand Master Haytham Kenway's defeating and crippling of the Colonial Assassins' Mentor Achilles Davenport during a purge at the end of the Seven Years' WarAssassin's Creed: Rogue – Non Nobis Domine ended with a final attack on the Davenport Homestead and Achilles being forced into solitary exile.Assassin's Creed III – Database: Davenport Homestead
Although using any Pieces of Eden they have on their person grants them various powers to gain a combat advantage, in truth, it is only temporary, prolonging a fight and giving Assassins time to either outlast the effects and kill them outrightAssassin's Creed: Syndicate – A Night to Remember or sever their connection to the artifact before defeating them.Assassin's Creed II – In Bocca al Lupo In light of this, some Grand Masters have simply chosen to flee rather than fight, though this also only protracts the inevitable.Assassin's Creed: Revelations – End of the RoadAssassin's Creed III – Chasing Lee Because so many Grand Masters have died in combat, a successful assassination of one is also rareAssassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Ever a SplinterAssassin's Creed (film) as is the thwarting of an attempt.Assassin's Creed – Acquisition
===Authority===
A Grand Master controls a specific geographic region and their Rite is named after it. They had the authority to appoint lieutenants as their second-in-command and main advisor.Assassin's Creed: Unity novel – 5 October 1789Assassin's Creed: Unity – A Cautious Alliance While Master Templars have led Rites without a Grand Master, they are still subordinate to one should the position be filled internally or a foreign Grand Master visit them.Assassin's Creed: Templars – Assassin's Creed: Templars – Volume 1: Black CrossAssassin's Creed: Fragments – The Witches of the Moors – Chapter 21: Pierre de Lancre Despite holding the highest attainable rank within their Rite, a Grand Master is not all-powerful and is dependent on the support of their fellow Templars and other Rites. Nevertheless, their duties are essential to the Templars' proper functioning as a whole, so Grand Masters may elect to have bodyguards to protect them, as were the cases with Frederick Weatherall for the de la Serre family, and El Tiburón for Laureano de Torres y Ayala.Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag With the Grand Master themselves being the ruling authority for their own Rite's plans, all members required their superior's approval to enact any changes.Assassin's Creed II – Birds of a FeatherAssassin's Creed III – The Braddock Expedition (memory)Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Mister Walpole, I Presume? The written orders of the Grand Master were signed by the ruling Grand Master and were sealed with a red wax Templar cross.Assassin's Creed: Unity (novel) – 2 April 1791 The subordinate Templar ranks answering to the entire leadership are Seneschals, Advisor, Commanders, Preceptors, Knights, Warriors, Clerics, and finally, the Disciples.Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Multiplayer – 
A Grand Master's power can extend beyond their own Rite, as their higher rank allows them to have influence over other Rites' members, including Master Templars.Assassin's Creed IIIAssassin's Creed: RogueAssassin's Creed II: Discovery To extend their reach further without breaking their own duties, Grand Masters could appoint agents to investigate the Order's operations elsewhere, as the British Rite's Grand Master Reginald Birch did in charging John Harrison with finding Isu sites and artifactsAssassin's Creed: Rogue – War Letters and Haytham Kenway ordering Shay Cormac to recover the Precursor box.Assassin's Creed: Rogue – Non Nobis Domine Other tasks include collecting fundsAssassin's Creed: Unity – Database: Charles Gabriel Sivert and backing either local rebels or established governments by providing needed manpower, arms, medical supplies, and food in exchange for a Rite's intelligence and support.Assassin's Creed: Rogue – The Naval Campaign If needed, sending a prominent Templar member to support specific campaigns can also be done,Assassin's Creed: Rogue – The Battle of Labrador (memory)Assassin's Creed: Rogue – The Battle of Quiberon Bay (memory)Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – A Fool's Errand including the killing of known traitors within other Rites. A Grand Master would also notify the visited Rite of the arrival of their own Templar agents sent to assist, should such an agent visit without notification, safety could be less quarented during infighting despite Templar hospitality and the Rite could in turn request assistance of the agent on their own missions.Assassin's Creed: Forsaken – 17 July 1747 Regardless, correspondence with the Grand Master would be sent for updates on these missions with the agent and the Templar requesting the assistance.
However, this does not mean a Grand Master can neglect their own Rite's goals to actively participate in the duties of other Templars. A prominent example of this was the Italian Rite's Grand Master Rodrigo Borgia, who was so influential over the other European Templars that the Order became blinded by greed and personal ambition above the Templar principles; for this reason, modern Templars regard this era as a "Dark Age of the Order".Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia – Chapter 2Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Abstergo Files: "File.0.13\Hst_LibidoDominand" In stark contrast, Reginald Birch, despite his fanatical obsession with the Isu, did not neglect his duties as Grand Master in England, appointing Haytham to lead the search for the Grand Temple while he focused on the Rite's more local goals.Assassin's Creed III – A Deadly Performance Abusing Templar time and resources on personal matters is both a neglect of Templar duties nor official Templar policy, so is the sudden abandonment of leadership duties, even if leaving it for the second-in-command, if it compromise the missions of the Rite while leaving it to have to make decisions without the Grand Master.Assassin's Creed: Forsaken – 4 August 1755
The Grand Master would also occasionally meet with other Rites' Templars to discuss domestic and global politics, and the Order's own conditions, while also communicating through their various businesses and organizations such as Templar fleets, like the one commanded by Shay Cormac. An advantage of being Grand Master is a personal network that functions as their eyes and ears everywhere, and they get regular updates from agents, especially Templars directly under their command.Assassin's Creed III – Alternate Methods Visiting Grand Masters must notify a Rite of their arrival in advance by using the local Templars within their own Rite that are associated with the host and often participated in the host's local plans in exchange for support, even if the Grand Master position is a birthright.Assassin's Creed: Unity (novel) – 11 February 1788Assassin's Creed: Unity (novel) – 20 March 1788
Other responsibilities of the Grand Master include overseeing new members' initiation,Assassin's Creed: Rogue – Scars exiling those who have either directly or indirectly betrayed the Order,Assassin's Creed: Unity and witnessing or participating in the executions of offenders who broke Templar principles.Assassin's Creed III – The Foam and the Flames Having killed a Grand Master for revenge is treasonous andAssassin's Creed: Unity novel – 20 January 1793 the promotion of wanting peace with the Assassins is considered treasonous and grounds for any member's execution, be it a ruling Grand Master or one in training, and the imprisoning of any Templar suspected of being allied with them,Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines – Intercept (Limassol Cathedral Square) with basic courtesies for visiting Templars being revoked to execute offenders for violating Templar principles. The sanctioning of the faction in question by other Rites, ranges from their network of spies to simple correspondence no longer answering to be given bounties on theses Templars.Assassin's Creed: Unity novel – 10 November 1793Assassin's Creed: Unity novel – 8 July 1789 With only strategic temporary truce with Assassins being permitted. 
After the Inner Sanctum's founding, the Black Crosses kept the Grand Masters' powers under check as part of their duty to keep the various Rites free of corruption. If a Grand Master was found guilty of breaking the Order's principles, the Black Cross held the authority to execute them on the spot. During an ongoing investigation, all Templars, including the Grand Master, were obliged to assist the Black Cross by providing them with any information or resources they demanded, but were otherwise forbidden from interfering with the investigation or even speaking of their interactions with the Black Cross. As of the 21st century, the Inner Sanctum also strictly regulates the number of Grand Masters worldwide, all of whom became answerable to Guardians and the General of the Cross.Assassin's Creed: Unity – Database: 10. Reconnaissance Memo
===Accession===
A Templar aiming to become the Grand Master must quickly recruit members within the group before initiating a coup,Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Castello Crasher and would ideally also contact other Rites to convince them that the action is necessary, though the latter step is more of a courtesy since not all successors did so. A Grand Master being the ruling authority, excessive undermining and questioning by their subordinates threatens their own legitimacy, as would failing to maintain their support.Assassin's Creed: Unity (novel) – 21 January 1788 Conversely, should a competitor fail to attract sufficient backing they will only facilitate their own end if their target learn of their intentions and orders their death.Assassin's Creed: Underworld
As the Order prefers internal stability, to outright murder a competitor willing to negotiate peace and join their competing faction by diplomacy and negotiation, would damage the standing of the rising competition within the Order in general. 
This likewise applies to defending incumbents,Assassin's Creed: Unity – High Society a Grand Master with their legitimacy under threat can be forced by their own subordinates to meetings, should the Templar with birthright fail their education or the actions of the ruling Grand Master cause reason for ascension, any direct subordinate could forward themselves as a candidate for next Grand Master. In the event of death/murder of a Grand Master, the Templar with birthright will inherit the title, inaction afterwards by said Templar could lose their title to any competitor, therefor setting an example by stepping up within a Rite in crisis and campaigning for support could preserve the inheritance of the title. By calling a special meeting, a Templar council, to consolidate their power among the prominent Templar families and allies of the previous Grand Master, inaction itself can make defence of the inheritance difficult under such a special meeting.Assassin's Creed: Unity novel – 4 July 1789Assassin's Creed: Unity novel – 20 Aug 1789
In the event of a Grand Master's untimely death, a successor may be appointed as a Rite's de facto leader until a new Grand Master is officially elected.Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles There have also been several instances of a Grand Master being chosen by a Rite for their own qualities as leaders, such as Ahmet becoming Grand Master of the Byzantine Rite while the long-time Templar Manuel Palaiologos was demoted to second-in-command, and Crawford Starrick's rise in the British Rite until he was appointed Grand Master. The transition between Grand Masters under the Inner Sanctum were controlled by preparing the future Grand Master for the position.
===Reforms===
The first major reforms of the Templar Order were done by the French knight and Grand Master Hugues de Payens and his Templar colleague Bernard de Clairvaux in the 12th century. To secure an alliance with the church, Bernard sent nine trusted men to the Holy Land in search of Solomon's Temple. After the Templars returned nine years later, the Order was reformed when Payens and Bernard co-created the Latin Rule and gained the church's support. For their efforts turning the Templar Order into a public organization, it was officially recognized as the Order of Knights Templars during the in 1129. This marked the beginning of a Golden Age for the Order that lasted almost two centuries, during which the Templars influenced countless kings, popes, and men of science.Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Abstergo Files: "File.0.02\Hst_Beginning"
During another major reform, while being lead by the Inner Sanctum, the Templars already were supportive of the ideals that emerged during the Age of Enlightenment, in which intellectuals such as Isaac Newton, Baruch Spinoza, John Locke, and Francis Bacon represented a new emerging society of science and technology. After François-Thomas Germain joined the Parisian Rite and became Grand Master François de la Serre's lieutenant,Assassin's Creed: Unity – A Cautious Alliance he explored the Temple in Paris and found the Codex Pater Intellectus, a controversial manifesto written by the last publicly acknowledged Grand Master Jacques de Molay that advocated for abolishing the monarchy to create a capitalist society and consumerism. However, de la Serre expelled Germain for espousing ideals from de Molay's heretical work,Assassin's Creed: Unity – Hoarders but was oblivious to Germain recruiting followers.Assassin's Creed: Unity – Le Roi Est MortAssassin's Creed: Unity – Rise of the Assassin The reformed Rite aimed to bring about de Molay's proposed changes for society and with critical support from the other Rites collectively known as the Outer Temple, gradually redirected the entire Templar Order to adopt this policy under the leadership of the Inner Sanctum.
==History==
===Order of the Ancients===
Before the Templar Order was created, the Order of the Ancients used various titles to denote their diverse branch leaders around the world. In 44 BCE, when the Roman Hidden One Aya the Ancient Lucius Septimius if Gaius Julius Caesar was the King of the Order, Septimius corrected her, stating that Caesar was the "Father of Understanding". Following the Hidden Ones' assassination of Caesar,Assassin's Creed: Origins – Fall of an Empire, Rise of Another his adoptive son Octavian succeeded him as leader of the Order.Assassin's Creed: Origins – The Hidden Ones – Sic Semper Tyrannis
In the 9th century CE, the Order's Anglo-Saxon branch based in Great Britain, the organization was headed by a Grand Maegester, who was also known by the title of "The Father".Assassin's Creed: Valhalla During the 9th century, the position was held by members of the House of Wessex, beginning with King Æthelwulf. After his death, King Ælla of Northumbria, another high-ranking Order member, was expected to succeed him as Grand Maegester, but due to his own demise at the hands of the Great Heathen Army, the title passed down to Æthelwulf's son Æthelred I.
In 871, Æthelred died from wounds sustained during the Battle of Meretun, and his younger brother Alfred succeeded him as both King of Wessex and Grand Maegester of the Order. Unlike his father and brother, however, Alfred was against the Order's beliefs and secretly sought to bring about its collapse. Working under the pseudonym of a "Poor Fellow-Soldier of Christ", Alfred manipulated the Viking Eivor Varinsdottir into helping him achieve his goal, rendering the Order in Great Britain extinct and the title of Grand Maegester obsolete by 878. Alfred subsequently set about rebuilding the Order into a new organization that more closely followed his Christian beliefs and became its first Grand Master.
===Middle Ages===
The first publicly known Grand Master of the Templar Order was the French knight Hugues de Payens. When he and his colleague Bernard de Clairvaux realized they needed the protection of the Church for their endeavors, they transformed the Templars into the publicly recognized military and monastic Order of the Knights Templar, trusted with the protection of pilgrims to the Holy Land, with Hugues becoming its first Grand Master in 1129.Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia
After two years without a Grand Master following Gerard de Ridefort's death, Robert de Sablé joined the Templar Order and reigned as the Grand Master of the Knights Templar during the year 1191. During his reign, he sought an Apple of Eden, intending to use it to achieve the Order's goal of establishing a New World Order. After losing the Apple, he launched an attack on the Levantine Assassins' stronghold of Masyaf to recover it, but was defeated. Later on, during the Battle of Arsuf, he was killed by his rival, the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad.Assassin's CreedAssassin's Creed: The Essential Guide
After Robert's death, Armand Bouchart took on the mantle of Grand Master as he and the Templars retreated to Cyprus. However, Altaïr pursued him and the two fought in the Templar Archive after the Assassin foiled the Grand Master's plans, resulting in Altaïr's victory and the Templars losing another leader.Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines
During the early 14th century, the French Assassins influenced King Philip IV into conspiring against the Templars, whom he branded as heretics and had hundreds ordered arrested. Grand Master Jacques de Molay, understanding that the Order would not survive as a public organization, allowed himself to be captured burned at the stake, saving the lives of his brethren and making his enemies believe that the Templars were finished, though in reality, the Order continued to exist underground.Assassin's Creed: Unity – The Tragedy of Jacques de Molay
===Renaissance===
In 1476, the Italian Rite came under the leadership of the Spanish-born Rodrigo Borgia, originally a cardinal under Pope Sixtus IV. Operating from Rome, Rodrigo's primary objective was to unite Italy under the Templar banner,Assassin's Creed II however, the Italian Templars strayed far from the main Templar ideology and used the Order as a way to achieve and sustain power for themselves. Despite facing complications from the Italian Assassins, mainly Ezio Auditore, Rodrigo managed to bribe the other cardinals and was appointed Pope during the convened after Pope Innocent III's death, taking on the name Alexander VI.
Rodrigo then secured the church's power for the Templars and oversaw the progress of the other Templars in Europe, including England and Spain, form the Pope's seat in the Vatican. However, by 1500, his resolve had weakened and control over the order fell to his son Cesare, who gathered supporters and assumed the Rite's de facto leadership. With his elder brother Juan providing funds, the French Army general Octavian de Valois offering military support,Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – The Plan and his executioner Micheletto Corella ensuring that puppetsAssassin's Creed: Brotherhood and generalsAssassin's Creed: Ascendance obeyed him, Cesare led the Templars to untold power over Italy, though this was all for personal ambition above Templar principles. When Rodrigo refused to fund Cesare's unauthorized campaigns following both Juan'sAssassin's Creed: Brotherhood – In and Out and Octavian's assassinations,Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Au Revoir Cesare killed him in a blind rage and became the uncontested Grand Master.Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood novel However, without his father's power in the church, he could not maintain the same influence in Europe that his father had. With Pope Julius II's ascension in December, he ordered Cesare's arrest and imprisonmentAssassin's Creed: Brotherhood – All Roads Lead To... in the Castillo de la Mota, but Cesare escaped two years later and fled to his Navarrese brother-in-law King John III in Spain. Ezio ultimately killed the Grand Master during Cesare's siege of Viana in 1507, destabilizing the Templars in Europe and causing them to temporarily withdraw.Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Circa 1509, the Ottoman Prince Ahmet became the Byzantine Rite's Grand Master and sought to acquire the Masyaf Keys and open the library of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, believing the knowledge inside could lead the Order into a new era. However, Ezio also opposed his efforts with assistance from the Ottoman Assassins, successfully driving the Templars out of the Empire while Ahmet's brother Selim I killed personally killed him for betraying his country.
===Colonial era===
During the time of colonial expansion by the major European empires, the Cuban governor Laureano de Torres y Ayala assumed the role of the Caribbean Templars' Grand Master. Operating out of Havana, he sought the fabled Observatory in order to spy upon and thus bend the leaders of the European colonial empires to Templar will, ensuring peace through order. Before he could succeed in his goal, the pirate-turned-Assassin Edward Kenway killed him in 1722.
In Britain, the local Rite's Grand Master was Reginald Birch, an Englishman who used the pretext of business to cover his affiliations. He was responsible for the Templars' growing influence in the British colonies by sending over Haytham Kenway to lead them. Upon his arrival, Haytham gathered his co-conspirators whom Birch had recommended and became the first Grand Master of the newly-founded Colonial Rite.
During the Seven Years' War, the Colonial Rite grew in power, acquiring such influence that they soon posed a serious threat to the Colonial Assassins under Achilles Davenport. At the time, the Assassins were more preoccupied with investigating Pieces of Eden and largely ignored the organization's new leadership, an error that proved fatal. Shortly after founding the Colonial Rite, Haytham led it in an assault against the Assassins. Aided by the Assassin turncoat Shay Cormac and led on the field by Haytham himself, the Templars removed key figures in the Brotherhood, greatly reducing the Assassins' presence. This cumulated in an attack on the Davenport Homestead in 1763, where the remaining Assassins were killed and Achilles was exiled on the condition that he never revive the Brotherhood, thus effectively exterminating the Colonial branch.
In 1781, the title of Grand Master was bestowed upon Charles Lee, following Haytham's death during the siege of Fort George at the hands of his son, the Assassin Connor. Lee, as the only Templar conspirator left from Haytham's rule, attempted to flee back to England by ship after his initial plan to kill Connor failed.Assassin's Creed III – Laid to Rest He was unsuccessful however, and Connor assassinated him inside the tavern Last Drink in 1782.
In the lead up to the French Revolution, the French Rite's Grand Master François de la Serre was unaware that his entire inner circle except Chrétien LafrenièreAssassin's Creed: Unity – The Estates GeneralAssassin's Creed: Unity – The Prophet had pledged allegiance to the recently-exiled François-Thomas Germain, who had successfully petitioned the American, Italian, and Spanish Rites for support following his banishment. After Germain had de la Serre assassinated in a coup and began purging all French Templars opposing him, Chrétien and François' daughter Élise—who had been presumed the heir apparent—petitioned other Rites for aid, but they only lent their sympathies, believing there was no need for intervention since the Rite ran smoothly under Germain. The other Rites eventually began sanctioning her faction following campaigns by the British Rite's Carroll family after a feud with Élise for Haytham Kenway's letters, which suggested collaborating with the Assassins to end their war, a view the Carrolls said would have been grounds for execution for treason had Haytham not already been killed. Élise expressed these views in letters to her father and influenced him to meet the French Mentor Mirabeau during the Estates-General of 1789, where they established a truce between both Orders in France with intent of peace between both and working towards a peaceful revolution to implement
Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide – Chapter 4 for the good of the country and for a more democratic political organization.Assassin's Creed: Infographics - C2
In Europe, François de la Serre had risen to the position of Grand Master of the Parisian Rite. However, he was ultimately deposed in a coup orchestrated by François-Thomas Germain, who usurped the position following de la Serre's death. Germain's ascension was opposed by de la Serre's daughter Élise, who worked with her lover, the French Assassin Arno Dorian, to hunt the Grand Master and his allies, eventually succeeding in killing Germain in 1794.
===Early modern era===
In 1862, the British Templar Cavanagh sought to overthrow Crawford Starrick with an Apple of Eden he found. Without any significant support, however, his plans were ultimately fruitless. Starrick soon learned of Cavanagh's intentions and ordered his death.Assassin's Creed: Underworld Within six years, he expanded the Templars' reach using the networks and profits from the British Empire's colonies to impact every corner of industrialized London, from the highest official to the lowest criminal.Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Somewhere That's Green He was opposed by the few remaining Assassins, namely, Henry Green, and the Frye twins Jacob and Evie,Assassin's Creed: Syndicate who killed Starrick during his quest for a Shroud of Eden, freeing London from Templar influence.Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – A Night to Remember
In 1925, Assassins killed the Chinese Rite's Grand Master Sun Yat-sen. He was succeeded by Stirling Fessenden, who hoped to recruit Chiang Kai-shek into the Order and have him become the new Grand Master. However, Chiang ultimately rejected Fessenden's offer and ended his alliance with the Templars after they helped him gain control of Shanghai.
By 1927, Thaddeus Gift had become the Grand Master of the British Rite, although he was a corrupt leader who used the Templars' connections to embezzle money for his personal gain. In retaliation for breaking the Order's principles, Gift was later assassinated by the Black Cross Albert Bolden.
===Contemporary era===
In 1937, the "Founders" created Abstergo Industries, which from that point on served as the Templars' public front. Though its highest-ranking employees all held leadership in the Order,Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Abstergo Files there were multiple Grand Masters who still maintained control over their operations. As of 2014, there are three known Grand Masters operating respectively in Cuba, Mexico, and the United States. During this period, the Grand Masters were no longer the Templars' highest rank, instead answerable to the Guardians, who in turn answered to the General of the Cross.
==Known Grand Masters==
===Order of the Ancients===
====Fathers of Understanding====
ACO Julius Caesar render.png|Gaius Julius CaesarRomec. 47 BCE – 44 BCE
====Grand Maegesters====
Wiki noimage.jpg|Æthelwulf, King of WessexEnglanduntil 858
ACV BB - Æthelred.jpg|Æthelred I, King of WessexEnglandc. 865 – 871
ACV Alfred the Great render.png|Alfred the GreatEngland871 – c. 873
===Order of the Knights Templar===
Hugh de Payns.jpg|Hugues de PayensFrench Rite / Levantine RiteKnights Templar1118 – 1136
Wiki noimage.jpg|Gerard de RidefortLevantine RiteKnights Templar1185 – 1189
AC1 Robert render.png|Robert de SabléLevantine RiteKnights Templar1190 – 1191
Bouchart1.png|Armand BouchartLevantine Rite1191 – 1193
Wiki noimage.jpg|Philippe du PlessisAssassin's Creed: Project LegacyLevantine RiteKnights Templar1201 – 1208
ACU De Molay Render.png|Jacques de MolayFrench RiteKnights Templar1292 – 1312
ACB Rodrigo render.png|Rodrigo BorgiaRoman Rite1476 – 1503
ACB Cesare render.png|Cesare BorgiaRoman Rite1500 – 1503 1503 – 1507 
ACR Ahmet v.png|AhmetByzantine Ritec. 1509 – 1512
Wiki noimage.jpg|Alexandre de HautecourtFrench Ritec. 1609
AC4 Laureano Torres render.png|Laureano de Torres y AyalaWest Indies Ritec. 1673 – 1722
Reginald Birch ACIII.png|Reginald BirchBritish Ritec. 1735 – 1757
AC3 Haytham Kenway render.png|Haytham KenwayColonial Rite1754 – 1781
AC3 Charles Lee.png|Charles LeeColonial Rite1781 – 1782
ACU De La Serre Render.png|François de la SerreFrench Rite1768 – 1789
ACU François-Thomas Germain Render.png|François-Thomas GermainFrench Rite (radical faction)1789 – 1794
Wiki noimage.jpg|William M. TweedAssassin's Creed: Last DescendantsAmerican Ritec. 1863
ACS Crawford Starrick Render.png|Crawford StarrickBritish Riteuntil 1868
ACT Thaddeus Gift.png|Thaddeus GiftBritish Riteuntil 1927
Wiki noimage.jpg|Sun Yat-senChinese Riteuntil 1925
ACT Fessenden.jpg|Stirling FessendenChinese Ritebegan 1925
ACM Templar Rikkin.jpg|Alan RikkinAssassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelizationuntil 2016
Wiki noimage.jpg|American Grand MasterAmerican Ritec. 2014
Wiki noimage.jpg|Caribbean Grand MasterWest Indies Ritec. 2014
Wiki noimage.jpg|Mexican Grand MasterMexican Ritec. 2014
==Behind the scenes==
Assassin's Creed material occasionally identifies Assassins, including Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Mario Auditore, Mirabeau, and Mujir as Grand Masters of the Assassin Order.
==References==
hu:A Templomos Rend Nagymestere
pt-br:Grão-Mestre
ru:Великий Магистр Тамплиеров
fr:Grand Maître
Category:Templar ranks
Category:Articles that need updating
Category:Templar Order
Category:Templar Rites
Category:Abstergo Industries