Larmenius Charter

The ***Larmenius Charter*** or *Carta Transmissionis*
("Charter of Transmission") is a manuscript purportedly created by
Johannes Marcus Larmenius (Fr.: Jean-Marc Larmenius) in February 1324,
giving in Latin a list of 22 successive Grand Masters of the Knights Templar after Jacques de Molay, ending in 1804, the name of Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat
 appearing last on the list (who revealed the existence of the Charter
in 1804). The document is written in a supposed devised ancient Knights Templar Codex. Actually in Freemason custody, the document is kept at the Mark Masons Hall in London
 Based on analysis of the deciphered code as well as of the
circumstances of the finding of the charter, most researchers have
concluded that it is a forgery.

An English translation of the Larmenius Charter was published in 1830.

## Contents:

In the document, Larmenius, then a very aged man in his 70s, states that the Grand Mastership of the Knights Templar
 Order was verbally transmitted to him ten years earlier (March, 1314)
by the imprisoned Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights
 Templar. Larmenius was a Palestinian-born Christian who became a member
 of The Order of the Temple during the waning years of the Crusades. He
was later the Templar Preceptor on the island domain of Cyprus after the
 Templar exodus from the mainland of the Holy Land to Cyprus after the
fall of Acre in 1295. In this position, Larmenius was left in charge as
Templar Seneschal (second highest rank in the Order) of the large
remaining "exited" Templar forces in the Mediterranean in 1305 when de
Molay was tricked into coming to Paris for meetings with Philip IV of France and the Pope Clement V.

In the document, Larmenius states he has become too aged to continue
with the rigorous requirements of the Office of Grand Master, and
"transfers" his Grand Mastership of the Templar Order to Franciscus
Theobaldus, the Prior of the Templar Priory still remaining at
Alexandria, Egypt.
 With this declarative Charter, Larmenius protects the Order for
perpetuity by continuing the legitimate line of Grand Masters of the
Templar Order, which continues the "Second Phase" of the Order through
the "Dark Period" through to its semi-private unveiling at the Convent
General of the Order at Versailles in 1705 by Philippe, Duke of Orléans,
 elected Grand Master of the Templar Order, and later also Regent of France.

## History:

The Charter has long been suspected to be a forgery - it was
suggested it was the work of a Jesuit named Father Bonani, who assisted Philippe II, Duke of Orléans in 1705 to fabricate the document,
 to re-establish the 'Societé d’Aloyau' ("Society of the Sirloin"), who
claimed to be a continuation of the Knights Templar, and also an attempt
 to gain recognition with the Order of Christ
 in Portugal. This Order was dissolved in 1792 during the French
Revolution by the death of its Grand Master, the Duke Timoléon de Cossé
Brissac, massacred at Versailles. An item of his furniture was bought by
 Brother Ledru, the son of Cossé Brissac's physician, whereupon he
discovered the Charter of Larmenius hidden inside it, and showed it to
Fabré-Palaprat in 1804. Peter Partner believes the document was fabricated by Ledru.

## The Code:

While the charter actually is written in some code, a number of
researchers have claimed that the codex, once deciphered, appears to be a
 more modern, scholarly Latin, and not ecclesiastical Latin used during
the period of its supposed origin.