Geoffroi de Charney, also known as Guy d'Auvergne, (died 11 or 18 March 1314) was preceptor of Normandy for the Knights Templar. In 1307 de Charny was arrested, along with the entire Order of Knights Templar in France, and in 1314 was burned at the stake. Early life Not much is known about de Charney's early life. He was accepted into the Order of Knights Templar at a young age by Amaury de la Roche, Preceptor of France. Present at the ceremony was Jean le Franceys, the preceptor of Pédenac. Persecution of the Templars The Order of the Templars was originally created to protect pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem. The Templars' mission was then expanded to fight in the Crusades. The persecution of the Templars began in France as a plan by King Philip IV, with the complicity of Pope Clement V. On 13 October 1307, the King ordered an arrest of all Templars in France. On 22 November 1307 Clement V, under pressure from the King, issued the papal decree Pastoralis praceminentiae that ordered all Christian monarchs to arrest any Templars and confiscate their lands in the name of the Pope and the Church. Though the order went out to England, Iberia, Germany, Italy and Cyprus, Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay, Geoffrey de Charney and many other Templars were in France, and under the orders of the French king, were arrested and tortured until they confessed to the crimes of which they were accused. In 1307, the Pope sent two cardinals to interview Jacques de Molay and Hugues de Pairaud, who recanted their confessions and told the other Templars to do the same. Two other Templars, Pierre de Bologna and Renaud de Provins, also tried to convince other Templars to recant their confessions and by early May 1310, close to six hundred did so. Pierre de Bologna was never seen again and Renaud de Provins was later sentenced to life imprisonment. Initial charges Geoffroi de Charney and the other Templars in France were arrested on 13 October 1307. Many charges were leveled against them; they were notably similar to those directed at other enemies of Philip, such as heresy, sodomy and blasphemy. There were initially five charges lodged against the Templars: The first was renouncing Christ and spitting on the cross during initiation into the Order. The second was that the initiate was allegedly stripped and thrice