The Temple Quarter of Paris in 1734, After the Turgot Plan
The walled enclosure of the Temple in Paris as it still stood in 1734, engraved by Hoffbauer in 1882 from the Turgot plan. The great tower at its centre was the Templars' treasury, and for much of the thirteenth century it held the French royal treasure as well.
The order's banking grew out of its logistics. A house that had to move men, arms and money to the Levant every year ended up with a network of fortified strongholds, a standard of accounting and a reputation for not losing things — and kings used it. Philip II Augustus and his successors kept the crown's cash in the Paris Temple; a pilgrim could deposit funds in London and draw them in Acre; the order lent, held deposits and managed revenues for laymen who had no other secure institution. The tower survived until 1808. See finance, trust and power in the Templars' banking network.
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