The Templars' credit

The Templars, a papal order, run the first international letters of credit from 1119. Philip IV destroys them in 1307 while owing them money — and the banking function does not die. It consolidates upward.

In plain words

The Knights Templar, a papal order, run an early international system of letters of credit; France's Philip IV destroys them in 1307 while in their debt, and the banking does not die, it moves up. A chain of custody of trust: every bank needs an earlier one behind it, and a chain has a first link.

The mechanism

THE CHAIN OF CUSTODY OF TRUST — every bank needs a prior bank to charter it, and a chain has a first link

How it was checked

• EvidenceT5 INDEPENDENT SECULAR; Status: COMMITTED; a capture
• Letter eraTHE CAPTURE 313 to 1302
• Plate — Temple Church, London · photo Christine Matthews, Geograph Britain and Ireland · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Graves_of_Knights_Templar,_Temple_Church,_London_EC4_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3168614.jpg
• SourcesSECULAR RECORD