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00:00On this episode of Expedition Files.
00:03At the height of World War II, a top-secret U.S. military unit takes on the Nazis
00:09and saves an estimated 30,000 lives without ever firing a shot.
00:15Armed with inflatable tanks, fake radio transmissions, and carefully timed sound effects,
00:22they deceive enemy forces with the power of illusion.
00:25For the first time, we declassify the secrets behind the so-called Ghost Army.
00:32Then, the Knights Templar were one of the most powerful forces in the medieval world,
00:38until they were accused of evil, unholy acts and were disbanded in disgrace.
00:44Did the Templars deserve their destruction?
00:47We reveal the shocking truth.
00:50And...
00:53The story of the deadly romance that started a world war.
00:58The heir to the mighty Habsburg royal family is found dead alongside his young mistress.
01:04An assassination or a suicide pact?
01:07We uncover the truth of the bloody affair that reshaped the world.
01:15In the corridors of time
01:19are mysteries that defy explanation.
01:23Now, I'm traveling through history itself
01:29on a search for the truth.
01:34New evidence.
01:37Shocking answers.
01:52There's an old expression.
01:54Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead.
01:57Founding father Benjamin Franklin said that.
02:00Of course, he also flew a kite in a lightning storm.
02:02But hey, Franklin wasn't wrong.
02:04Secrets rarely stay hidden forever.
02:06And tonight, we squint through ciphers and dust off long buried documents
02:11to expose three stories that were supposed to stay secret.
02:15But now, decades, even centuries later, we can finally reveal the truth.
02:20We begin on June 13th, 1944.
02:24Normandy, France.
02:26Seven days ago, on these very shores,
02:28a hundred and fifty thousand Allied troops invaded.
02:32It's considered the greatest military operation in history
02:36because this is Omaha Beach.
02:39And that fateful event was D-Day.
02:41We're one week on from the Allied assault.
02:44More than 75,000 Americans led the charge.
02:48But today, a very different group of U.S. soldiers has arrived.
02:52They wear standard uniforms, but they don't wage war with bullets.
02:55They do it with fabric, paint, and a whole lot of deception.
02:59They are a unit so strange, so implausible,
03:03it sounds more like fiction than history.
03:05But they'll play a huge part in the conflicts to come,
03:08helping to secure victory while barely firing a shot.
03:12After the war, their deeds will remain secretive,
03:16with many of the men taking their incredible tale to the grave.
03:19But three-quarters of a century on,
03:22the story will be declassified,
03:24and the world will finally come to know
03:26the unlikely heroes of the Ghost Army.
03:38Let's rewind a year and a half
03:40to when 21-year-old John Jarvie
03:43and 18-year-olds Bernie Blustein
03:45and Art Kane
03:46arrive at the U.S. Army base
03:49at Fort Meade in Maryland.
03:50What's your sketch in there?
03:51The three men, along with approximately 1,100 others,
03:55are looking to join a new unit,
03:57soon to be called the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops.
04:01But the men of the 23rd
04:03aren't your garden-variety soldiers.
04:05They're photographers, painters, sound engineers,
04:08even fashion designers,
04:10recruited from schools across the country.
04:12So why are a bunch of artists going to war?
04:17Their skills in visual art,
04:19construction, sound, and fabrication
04:21make them uniquely suited for a new kind of warfare
04:25built on illusion and misdirection.
04:28It turns out the 23rd is being trained
04:31to carry out the first mass deception
04:33in modern military history.
04:36They'll pretend they're a division
04:3730 times their actual size,
04:40erecting bogus airfields,
04:42fabricating fake planes and tanks,
04:45sending phony radio messages,
04:46and so much more.
04:48Their job is to be everything
04:50except who they really are.
04:52And because no one,
04:54not even their foreign allies,
04:56will know their true identity,
04:57the tales that emerge will remain
04:59more hearsay mystery
05:01than battlefield history.
05:03One of their most notable missions,
05:06Operation Brittany,
05:07takes place here in the forests
05:09of northern France.
05:10It's July 1944.
05:12This German unit is on the lookout
05:14for American forces.
05:19Fearing an Allied attack,
05:21they're trying to decide
05:22if they should move out
05:23or hold their position.
05:25Sie sind Amerikaner.
05:26Ja.
05:27Sie sind guter Wofnitz.
05:30Ja.
05:32Having spotted what looks like
05:34a division of American tanks,
05:35the Germans decide to hunker down
05:37and stay put.
05:39But the attack they're waiting for
05:41never arrives.
05:42The tanks they saw
05:44were actually dozens
05:45of large rubber inflatables,
05:47painstakingly detailed
05:48by artists like Kane and Blustein
05:51to look like the real thing.
05:53Meanwhile,
05:54the actual soldiers,
05:55all 11,000 of them,
05:56are already on their way
05:58past the German defenses.
06:00The Nazis have been fooled
06:01by the Ghost Army.
06:06Over the coming months,
06:07their heroic deceits continue.
06:10Kane and Blustein
06:11paint wooden logs
06:12to mimic aircraft parts.
06:14They sew uniforms
06:15with fake insignias.
06:17They craft rubber tubes
06:18into artillery barrels,
06:20using all their artistry
06:21to pull off remarkable ruses.
06:24The Ghost Army's daring deceptions
06:26will successfully confuse the enemy
06:28across 17 battles.
06:30What makes their success
06:32so remarkable
06:33is the risk they take.
06:35Armed with only
06:36standard infantry weapons
06:37and backed by a minimal
06:39security detail,
06:40they operate largely exposed.
06:43One operation will come
06:44at a terrible price
06:46when the 23rd find themselves
06:48in the crosshairs
06:49in Boussinville, France.
06:51It's March 1945,
06:53and the war is nearing its end.
06:55The Ghost Army impersonates
06:57the 80th Infantry Division,
06:59dipping into their bag of tricks,
07:01inflatable tanks,
07:02to divert German forces
07:04away from the real 80th's movements.
07:07The Germans take the bait,
07:09and the real 80th report
07:10very light resistance
07:12to their new position.
07:13Commanders celebrate
07:14another success.
07:18But it turns out
07:20the Ghost Army has drawn
07:21the Germans too close
07:22to their position.
07:25Out of nowhere,
07:26a German artillery opens fire.
07:29Leaving there
07:30the heavily armed
07:3180th Infantry.
07:33The 23rd scrambles
07:35in every direction,
07:36desperate to escape
07:38the sudden barrage.
07:39The cost is heavy.
07:41Kane, Bluestine,
07:42and Jarvie escape,
07:44but two men are killed
07:45and 15 more are wounded.
07:47For a unit built on a lie,
07:49the consequences
07:50have never been more real.
07:53Despite the casualties,
07:55Operation Boussinville
07:56is largely a success.
07:58The real 80th division
08:00escapes detection.
08:02By now,
08:03the Allies have the Germans
08:05on the run.
08:06But to finish the fight,
08:07they need to move
08:08the 30th and 79th divisions,
08:1140,000 troops,
08:12across Germany's Rhine River.
08:16The problem?
08:17That kind of movement
08:18is hard to hide.
08:19And after Operation Boussinville,
08:22there's real risk
08:23the Germans have figured out
08:24the 23rd isn't
08:26a true combat unit.
08:27And if so,
08:28the Allied forces
08:29are walking
08:30into a deadly fight.
08:31Victory or defeat
08:33could all depend
08:34on the Ghost Army.
08:41In World War II,
08:42the 23rd Headquarters
08:44Special Troops,
08:45a secret American unit
08:46nicknamed
08:47the Ghost Army,
08:48has been thwarting
08:49the Nazis
08:50with theatrical
08:51military illusions.
08:53Now,
08:53after surviving
08:54an actual enemy attack,
08:56they face their
08:57most daunting mission yet,
08:58deceive the Germans
09:00while 40,000
09:01Allied troops
09:02slip across
09:03the Rhine River.
09:04The Ghost Army
09:06attempts the impossible,
09:07simulating a force
09:08of 40,000
09:10using diversion tactics
09:11first honed
09:12during Operation Boussinville,
09:14now deployed
09:15in a new mission
09:16known as
09:16Operation Wiersin.
09:18It's a highly
09:19sophisticated ruse,
09:21carefully designed
09:22to convince the Germans
09:23that the real
09:2430th and 79th Divisions
09:26aren't going anywhere.
09:28On the front lines,
09:30artists like
09:31Bernie Bluestine
09:32and Art Kane
09:33set up their
09:33usual inflatable tanks
09:35and fake artillery.
09:37Nearby,
09:38sound effects artists
09:39get to work
09:40blasting fake
09:41infantry noises
09:42from specially designed
09:43speakers.
09:44Meanwhile,
09:45radio operators
09:46establish fake
09:47communication networks
09:49known as
09:50Spoof Radio,
09:51designed to mimic
09:52the equipment
09:53and broadcast frequencies
09:54used by the real
09:5630th and 79th Divisions.
09:58Amazingly,
09:59it works.
10:00thanks to the efforts
10:02of Bluestine,
10:03Kane,
10:04Jarvie,
10:04and many others,
10:05the Germans
10:06take the bait.
10:09Thinking they are
10:10a much bigger division,
10:12the Germans
10:12attack the 23rd.
10:15And while the Germans
10:17are distracted,
10:18the real
10:1830th and 79th
10:20Allied Divisions
10:21cross the Rhine River
10:2210 miles north
10:23with almost
10:24no resistance.
10:26The Ghost Army
10:27has helped win
10:28a critical victory,
10:30but at enormous
10:31personal risk.
10:32German artillery
10:33directed at the 23rd
10:35crashes dangerously close,
10:37damaging equipment
10:38as shells land
10:39within 400 yards.
10:41Miraculously,
10:42no one is killed.
10:43A narrow escape
10:45that underscores
10:46just how exposed
10:47the Ghost Army
10:48truly was,
10:49and how much
10:50they risked
10:51to protect others.
10:52Two months later,
10:54the Germans surrender.
10:55The war in Europe
10:56is over.
10:57But then,
10:58the mystery
10:59really begins,
11:00because seemingly,
11:01living up to its name,
11:02the Ghost Army
11:03vanishes.
11:05They didn't march home
11:06to medals,
11:07ticker tape parades,
11:09or cheering crowds.
11:10Just a quiet return
11:11to civilian life,
11:13their wartime exploits
11:14kept under wraps.
11:16In fact,
11:16the unit wasn't
11:17technically declassified
11:19until 1996.
11:20But even then,
11:21their stories remained
11:22buried in the archives.
11:24In 2005,
11:25historian Rick Byer
11:27learns of the Ghost Army
11:28and their stunning successes,
11:30and makes it his mission
11:31to share their heroics
11:33with the world.
11:34I came to the Ghost Army story
11:3620 years ago.
11:38When I started digging
11:39into this,
11:40I thought,
11:40oh my God,
11:41this might be
11:42one of the best stories
11:44of all time.
11:45It's like,
11:45well, wait a minute.
11:46You're saying that
11:47the U.S. Army
11:48had a unit
11:49that had blow-up tanks,
11:51that they went out
11:52and used them
11:53on the front lines
11:54against the Germans
11:56multiple times,
11:58fooled the enemy,
11:59they were never found out,
12:00and then it was all
12:02hushed up after the war.
12:03And I have talked
12:05to so many people
12:06who were in the Army
12:07in World War II
12:08and who didn't know
12:10anything about this.
12:11Many soldiers were told
12:12to keep this secret,
12:13and many, many did.
12:15The government wanted
12:16to protect
12:16their military intelligence,
12:18so the Ghost Army's
12:19successes stayed secret
12:21for over 50 years.
12:23But behind the smoke
12:24and mirrors
12:25was something
12:25far more lasting.
12:26The Ghost Army's
12:28disguises and deception
12:29shielded real soldiers,
12:31diverted enemy fire,
12:33and saved an estimated
12:3430,000 lives.
12:37I believe that
12:38what they did,
12:40using creativity
12:41on the battlefield
12:42to save lives,
12:43was so striking.
12:45If you can avoid
12:46the head-on attack
12:48and actually make
12:50the enemy think
12:50that it's coming
12:51from someplace else
12:52and get behind them,
12:53you can save lives
12:54in both armies.
12:55I started engaging
12:56with a lot of the veterans
12:58who were in the unit,
13:00and the longer
13:01I spent on this,
13:03the more it started
13:04turning into a quest
13:06to see these guys
13:08honored the way
13:09they should be.
13:11Bayer launched
13:12a grassroots crusade
13:13to secure these men
13:14the recognition
13:15they richly deserve.
13:17On March 21, 2024,
13:20history finally caught up
13:21with the Ghost Army.
13:22Inside the U.S. Capitol,
13:25the secretive unit
13:25was awarded
13:26the Congressional Gold Medal,
13:28one of the nation's
13:29highest honors.
13:30Only seven were still alive
13:32to receive the long-overdue
13:34commendation,
13:35including Bernie Blustein.
13:38I think for me,
13:39the most meaningful moment
13:41of that day
13:42was when the three veterans
13:45who attended the ceremony
13:46were there in chairs,
13:47and kneeling in front of them
13:50are the chairman
13:52of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
13:53the commander
13:54of the U.S. Army,
13:56the secretary
13:57of the U.S. Army,
13:58and they are kneeling
13:59on the ground
14:00so that they can be face-to-face
14:02with these veterans,
14:03and I thought
14:04that respect
14:05that they showed there
14:07was just extraordinary.
14:10While the methods
14:11of the Ghost Army
14:12might sound antiquated today,
14:14the techniques
14:15they pioneered
14:15are actually still deployed
14:17in modern conflicts.
14:19In Ukraine,
14:20inflatable tanks,
14:21fake missile launchers,
14:22and decoy radar arrays
14:24have been deployed
14:25to trick Russian drones
14:26into wasting firepower
14:27on phantoms.
14:29The lesson
14:29of the 23rd endures.
14:31If you're trying
14:32to win a war,
14:33make the enemy
14:34chase ghosts.
14:41From the story
14:42of one secretive organization
14:44to another
14:45roughly 650 years earlier.
14:48It's 1307.
14:49I'm deep inside
14:50a dungeon in Paris.
14:53The man being tortured
14:55is Jacques de Molay,
14:56the leader
14:57of the Knights Templar,
14:59the legendary
14:59elite Christian military order.
15:02But now,
15:03the king of France himself
15:04has leveled
15:05a shocking accusation
15:07against God's holy warriors.
15:09He claims
15:10they're evil,
15:11corrupt,
15:12and guilty
15:12of devil worship
15:13and obscene acts.
15:16De Molay
15:16will confess to it all.
15:18And that stunning pronouncement
15:20will prove
15:20a death sentence
15:21for him
15:22and the Templars.
15:23But is the confession
15:25genuine?
15:26Are the Knights
15:26truly unholy?
15:28Centuries from now,
15:29the discovery
15:30of secret documents
15:31will finally reveal
15:33the truth
15:33behind the violent downfall
15:35of the Knights Templar.
15:47Just over 200 years earlier,
15:50in the year 1099,
15:52Christian armies
15:53from Europe
15:53seized the city
15:54of Jerusalem
15:55from Muslim control
15:56at the end
15:57of the first crusade.
15:59But as faithful Europeans
16:00make pilgrimages
16:02to visit sacred sites
16:03in the Holy Land,
16:04they're easy targets
16:05for bandits,
16:07raiders,
16:07and hostile armies.
16:10That's where
16:11these guys come in.
16:12This fearsome strike force
16:14of Knights
16:14is established
16:15in 1119,
16:16sworn to God,
16:18armed to the teeth,
16:19and tasked
16:20with one mission,
16:21protecting Christian pilgrims.
16:23That red cross
16:24on their cloaks
16:25is a symbol
16:26of their willingness
16:27to die for the cause.
16:29Their headquarters
16:30is the former site
16:31of Jerusalem's
16:32holy Temple of Solomon,
16:34giving rise
16:35to a name
16:36that will echo
16:36through history,
16:38the Knights Templar.
16:43They quickly earn
16:44a reputation
16:45for fighting
16:46as hard as they pray,
16:48ready to do battle
16:49to protect Christians
16:50anytime, anywhere.
16:54The Templars
16:55become the Vatican's
16:56shock troops,
16:57leading charges
16:58in subsequent crusades,
17:00securing territory
17:01across the Holy Land,
17:02and amassing
17:03incredible wealth
17:04along the way.
17:06Over time,
17:07the order explodes
17:08in size and influence,
17:10controlling land
17:11and fortresses
17:13from Ireland
17:13to Syria
17:14to North Africa.
17:16And with that,
17:17they build
17:17a sophisticated
17:18financial empire too.
17:20Think of it
17:21as God's ATM service,
17:23a banking system
17:24that allows
17:25Christian nobles
17:25to deposit funds
17:26in Paris, France,
17:27and safely
17:28withdraw them
17:29in the Holy Land,
17:30for a fee,
17:31of course.
17:32The Templars
17:33also transport gold
17:34and issue
17:35letters of credit,
17:37heralding in
17:37the medieval world's
17:38version of Visa
17:39or MasterCard.
17:40Even kings
17:41borrow money
17:42from them,
17:43making the Knights
17:43an essential part
17:44of commerce
17:45and diplomacy.
17:46Their estimated
17:48fortune and
17:48property holdings
17:49balloon to
17:50what would be
17:51billions of dollars
17:52today.
17:53By the mid-1200s,
17:55the Templars
17:56are both feared
17:56and envied,
17:58but their glory days
17:59are numbered.
18:00Muslim armies
18:01wage war
18:02to claw back
18:02the territory
18:03lost in the
18:04First Crusade.
18:05One by one,
18:07Christian strongholds
18:08fall,
18:09forcing even
18:10the fearsome
18:10Knights Templar
18:11into retreat.
18:14In 1291,
18:15the Knights
18:16suffer a crushing
18:17defeat in the
18:18port city of Acre,
18:20their final
18:20stronghold
18:21in the Holy Land.
18:32Despite their
18:33setbacks,
18:34the Knights Templar
18:35remain one of the
18:36wealthiest and most
18:37powerful orders
18:38in the world.
18:39With overflowing
18:40treasuries
18:41and an army's
18:42worth,
18:42of weapons
18:43and armor,
18:43yet they serve
18:44no king,
18:45pledging allegiance
18:46only to the Pope.
18:48The Templars'
18:49power and
18:50independence
18:51makes Europe's
18:52monarchs uneasy,
18:53not to mention
18:54their secrecy.
18:55Rumors begin
18:56to spread
18:57that the Templars
18:57fled Jerusalem
18:58carrying sacred
19:00relics,
19:01perhaps even
19:01the Holy Grail
19:02or the Ark
19:03of the Covenant.
19:04Before long,
19:05critics begin
19:06to whisper,
19:06have the Knights
19:07Templar strayed
19:08from serving God
19:09to serving
19:10their own ambitions?
19:18In the late
19:191200s,
19:20as Christianity's
19:21dominance in Europe
19:22begins to wane,
19:24the Knights Templar
19:25still wield immense
19:26wealth and influence.
19:28Some start to question
19:29where their true
19:30loyalties lie
19:31and if the order
19:32remains devoted
19:33to its sacred
19:34Christian mission.
19:35one of their
19:37most notable critics
19:38just happens to be
19:39among the most
19:40powerful men alive,
19:41Philip IV,
19:43King of France.
19:44He's known as
19:45a religious reformer
19:47and a self-styled
19:48defender of the
19:49Christian faith.
19:50Philip's relationship
19:52with the Templars
19:52is complicated.
19:54On one hand,
19:55he's indebted to them,
19:56having borrowed heavily
19:57to fund wars
19:58against England
19:59and others.
20:00But on the other,
20:01he's deeply suspicious
20:03of their secrecy,
20:04their armies,
20:05their wealth,
20:06and of course,
20:07their allegiance
20:07to the Pope
20:08instead of him.
20:10The king raises
20:11troubling questions
20:13about the Templars'
20:14secretive rights,
20:15saying they don't behave
20:16like true Christians.
20:18He claims that
20:19new recruits
20:20are asked
20:20to deny Christ
20:21and spit on the cross
20:23during their initiation.
20:25The famously
20:26tight-lipped Templars
20:28fail to deny
20:29the charge,
20:30and before long,
20:31suspicion explodes
20:32across medieval France.
20:34The public begins
20:35to spread wild rumors
20:37that the Templars
20:38worship a severed head
20:40and that they engage
20:41in obscene sexual acts.
20:43All of this
20:44leads to the most
20:45dreaded charge
20:46against them,
20:47heresy.
20:48Backed by the power
20:50of his own
20:51whisper campaign,
20:52Philip makes a move
20:53against the order
20:54in October of 1307,
20:56on Friday the 13th,
20:58a moment later cited
20:59in a popular
21:00but unsubstantiated theory
21:02about the date's
21:03dark origins.
21:05In coordinated raids
21:06at dawn,
21:07the king's forces
21:08arrest thousands
21:09of Templars
21:10across France.
21:14Incredibly,
21:15many of the knights
21:16confess to heresy,
21:17seemingly confirming
21:18the king's accusations
21:20about corruption
21:21within the Templar ranks.
21:24Of course,
21:25the admissions
21:25usually come
21:26after extreme torture,
21:28like that endured
21:29by the Templars' leader,
21:31Jacques de Molay,
21:32stretched on the rack
21:33until he breaks
21:34and confesses
21:35to betraying
21:36his Christian faith.
21:38I confess!
21:43King Philip IV
21:44even pressures
21:45Pope Clement V
21:46to endorse
21:47the arrests
21:48and torture,
21:49claiming a moral duty
21:51to root out heresy.
21:53The growing
21:54political intensity
21:55forces the pope
21:56to issue
21:56a stunning papal decree,
21:58ordering all
21:59Christian monarchs
22:00to arrest
22:01the Templars
22:02and seize
22:03their assets.
22:04Let's pause
22:05for a second.
22:06Does King Philip
22:07really believe
22:08the Templars
22:09are an evil organization
22:10that worships the devil?
22:12Or does he have
22:13a different agenda?
22:15Well,
22:15if you're suspicious
22:16of Philip,
22:16you wouldn't be alone.
22:17At the time,
22:18King Edward II
22:19of England
22:20writes that the charges
22:21against the Templars
22:22sound like,
22:23quote,
22:24detestable slander.
22:25Edward initially refuses
22:27to arrest the Templars
22:28in England,
22:29but under extreme pressure,
22:30he caves in 1308.
22:33Whatever the motive,
22:34the consequences
22:35are severe.
22:36On May 12, 1310,
22:3954 Templars
22:40who had all recanted
22:41their confessions
22:42are nevertheless
22:43burned at the stake
22:45in Paris
22:45as an unmistakable
22:47warning to others.
22:49From Scotland
22:50to Sicily,
22:51knights are rounded up,
22:52their lands are seized,
22:54their orders dissolved.
22:56Some receive life sentences.
22:58A lucky few
22:59are quietly pardoned
23:00and absorbed
23:01into other religious orders.
23:04But in France,
23:06in particular,
23:07the persecution
23:08is unyielding.
23:09Despite his confession
23:10having been obtained
23:11under torture,
23:13Templar leader
23:13Jacques de Molay
23:15is burned at the stake
23:16in March 1314.
23:19Did the Templars
23:21somehow deserve
23:22their terrible fate?
23:23Were they truly heretics?
23:25Or were the French king's motives
23:27something far less righteous?
23:29In his book,
23:30The Knight's Templar Absolution,
23:32historian A.A. Grishan
23:34unpacks a history-changing discovery.
23:38In September of 2001,
23:41Barbara Frawley,
23:43who was working
23:45at the Vatican archives,
23:47found a document
23:48that was clearly misfiled.
23:50And that document
23:51had to do directly
23:53with the top officials
23:54of the Knights Templar order.
23:57This document
23:58is now known
23:59as the Chinon parchment.
24:01When the document
24:03first appeared,
24:04you literally
24:05could not find it.
24:06Even when Barbara published it,
24:08it was in a super-obscure
24:09Italian book.
24:10What happened then
24:11is that she allowed me
24:13to use her transcription
24:14and I made my own translation
24:16and I published
24:16the accessible text.
24:19The document records
24:20the outcome of an inquiry
24:22Pope Clement V ordered
24:23in 1308
24:25at Chinon Castle in France
24:26regarding the leaders
24:28of the Knights Templar,
24:29including Jacques de Molay.
24:31The document proves
24:32the Pope launched
24:33his own investigation
24:34separate from King Philip's.
24:36and it will come
24:37to a very different conclusion.
24:40The Chinon parchment
24:41presents evidence
24:42that Pope Clement V
24:44absolved the highly positioned
24:47members of the Knights Templar order
24:49in 1308
24:51after they had been arrested
24:53in 1307
24:54by the King of France.
24:56The Pope
24:57never actually intended
24:59for them
25:00to be burnt at the stake.
25:02That was not his desire at all.
25:03It really shows
25:04that the Pope
25:05did not believe
25:06in the fact
25:07that this actually
25:08was a real heresy.
25:11After all,
25:12the Pope investigated,
25:13interrogated,
25:14and ultimately
25:15he forgave them.
25:17But if King Philip
25:18was truly
25:18the Church's
25:19great defender,
25:20why didn't
25:21the Pope's absolution
25:22change his mind?
25:23Thanks to the Chinon parchment,
25:25we now understand.
25:26The persecution
25:27of the Templars
25:28wasn't spiritual.
25:29It was completely political.
25:31King Philip's motivation
25:33for taking down
25:34the Knights Templar
25:35was twofold.
25:37As a rather devout king,
25:39he would attempt
25:40to root out heresy.
25:42It was also important
25:43that the Kingdom of France
25:45was in need of money.
25:48The Knights Templar
25:49were perhaps
25:50the most powerful
25:51and wealthy organization
25:53in Europe
25:54outside of the actual
25:55Catholic Church.
25:56and the King of France
25:58wanted to actually
26:00intercept this wealth
26:01and to use it
26:03for his purposes
26:03to restore
26:05the situation
26:06in his kingdom.
26:08So, according to Grishan,
26:10the King wanted
26:10to steal
26:11the Templar's treasure
26:12to bail out
26:13his own country
26:14and make himself
26:15look like a hero
26:16while doing it.
26:17King Philip
26:19was prepared
26:20to use
26:21every resource
26:21he had
26:22in the Kingdom
26:23of France
26:24in order to achieve
26:25this objective
26:27to actually
26:28get all of the wealth
26:30the Knights Templar
26:31in France possessed.
26:33It is said
26:34that absolute power
26:36corrupts absolutely.
26:37Thanks to the discovery
26:38of the Chinon parchment,
26:40we now know
26:41the Knights Templar
26:42weren't brought down
26:43for betraying their faith.
26:44They were destroyed
26:45by the absolute corruption
26:47of a king.
26:56The date is
26:57January 29th, 1889.
27:00I'm at the Meierling,
27:01a secluded hunting lodge
27:03deep in the wilderness
27:04of Austria.
27:05And that there
27:06is Crown Prince Rudolf,
27:08heir to the Habsburg family,
27:10rulers of the
27:11Austro-Hungarian Empire.
27:12On the surface,
27:14he has everything.
27:15Power,
27:15privilege,
27:16a throne soon to be his.
27:18But behind closed doors,
27:20he's consumed
27:21by a dangerous affair
27:22with his 17-year-old mistress,
27:25Baroness Mary Vetsera.
27:28In the morning,
27:30both Rudolf and Mary
27:31will be dead.
27:32Their shocking fate
27:34will ignite
27:34a royal scandal,
27:36change the line
27:37of succession,
27:38and ultimately
27:38help light the fuse
27:40of World War I.
27:41130 years from now,
27:44remarkable documents
27:45will be discovered
27:46that uncover the truth
27:47behind a mystery
27:48that reshaped history.
28:01This is the story
28:02of the end
28:03of not just the prince
28:04and his lover's lives,
28:06but that of the entire
28:07Habsburg dynasty.
28:08First gaining power
28:10in the 11th century,
28:12the Habsburgs control
28:13much of Central Europe
28:14for the better part
28:15of 900 years.
28:17In 1889,
28:19their empire stretches
28:20from the borders
28:21of Switzerland
28:21to Romania,
28:23encompassing 50 million people.
28:25And heir to it all
28:26is Crown Prince Rudolf.
28:28He's married to
28:29Princess Stephanie
28:30of Belgium,
28:31but he's also having
28:32an affair
28:33that will cost him
28:34his life.
28:38It's just after 6 a.m.
28:41Crown Prince Rudolf
28:42has spent the night
28:42with his mistress.
28:44He appears dressed
28:45in his hunting clothes
28:46and instructs his valet
28:47to ready breakfast
28:48by 7.30 a.m.
28:51Then,
28:52the prince disappears
28:53into his bedroom.
28:58Moments later,
29:02two gunshots
29:03echo through the house.
29:05When the valet
29:06goes to investigate,
29:07he finds the prince's
29:09bedroom door locked.
29:11He knows Rudolf
29:12is inside
29:13with his mistress,
29:14Mary Vetsera,
29:15and the prince
29:16had given strict orders
29:17that they were not
29:18to be disturbed
29:19under any circumstances.
29:21The valet assumes
29:22there must be
29:23another explanation,
29:24perhaps a firearm
29:25accidentally discharging
29:27as it's being prepared
29:28for a later hunt.
29:31By the time breakfast
29:32is laid out,
29:33the staff become concerned
29:35by the prince's absence.
29:37The valet pounds
29:38at the door.
29:39Silence.
29:40At 8.30 a.m.,
29:42his unease
29:43turns into alarm.
29:44He calls for two members
29:45of the royal hunting party
29:47and together
29:47they force the door open,
29:49bracing for whatever
29:51they might find
29:51on the other side.
29:58At the Mayerling hunting lodge
30:00in rural Austria,
30:02unease grows
30:03as Prince Rudolf
30:04fails to answer
30:05repeated knocks
30:06on his locked door.
30:07When the servants
30:08finally force their way inside,
30:12the room is dark
30:14and eerily still.
30:16On one side of the bed,
30:18Rudolf's young mistress,
30:20Mary Vetsera,
30:21lies lifeless,
30:22a single bullet wound
30:24visible at her left temple.
30:26Beside her,
30:27Crown Prince Rudolf
30:28is slumped forward,
30:30dead.
30:31Between them
30:31rests a revolver.
30:33As the valet
30:34studies the scene,
30:35two unsettling details
30:37catch his eye.
30:38Blood at the prince's mouth
30:40and an empty water glass
30:42on the nightstand.
30:43To him,
30:44it suggests
30:45a chilling possibility.
30:47Poison.
30:50So,
30:51what was this?
30:53Murder?
30:53Suicide?
30:55The truth
30:55is difficult to discern.
30:57But with the heir
30:58to the throne dead
30:59under suspicious circumstances,
31:01you better believe
31:01fingers are about
31:02to start pointing
31:03in all directions.
31:05When the royal doctor
31:07conducts a brief autopsy,
31:09the truth
31:09finally comes into focus.
31:11Rudolf was not poisoned at all.
31:14He had been shot in the head,
31:15a fatal wound
31:16the valet failed to notice
31:18because of the darkness
31:19in the room
31:19and the position of the body.
31:21The prince's head wound
31:23is then wrapped in a bandage
31:24and his body
31:25is taken to Vienna.
31:27Mary, however,
31:28receives no autopsy.
31:30Though her relationship
31:31with the prince
31:32was an open secret
31:33among the nobility,
31:34it was carefully shielded
31:36from the public.
31:37Her body is quietly smuggled
31:38out of the lodge
31:39and buried in haste
31:41before questions
31:42can be asked.
31:44So,
31:45did Mary shoot
31:46and kill
31:46the crown prince
31:47before taking
31:48her own life?
31:49If so,
31:50why?
31:53At the time,
31:54the story
31:54was easy to accept.
31:56Rumors swirled
31:57that the teenage baroness
31:58had been infatuated
31:59with Rudolf
32:00long before
32:01they ever met.
32:02She collected
32:03postcards of him
32:04like treasures
32:05and would stroll
32:06the paths
32:07of the Prater,
32:08Vienna's grand public park,
32:10hoping to catch
32:11a glimpse of his carriage
32:12passing by.
32:14Mary's mother,
32:15a wealthy widow
32:16from an influential
32:17merchant family,
32:18supposedly had
32:19grand ambitions
32:20for her daughter.
32:21With both money
32:23and social clout,
32:24she made sure
32:25Mary moved effortlessly
32:27through the upper echelons
32:28of Viennese high society.
32:30It was at one of these
32:32glittering court functions
32:33in the autumn of 1888
32:35that Mary first met
32:36the prince.
32:38Rudolf,
32:38whose marriage
32:39was reportedly rocky,
32:41was more than willing
32:41to make the acquaintance
32:43of the young baroness.
32:45Some royal insiders
32:46see Mary
32:47as little more
32:48than a temptress
32:49trying to lead
32:50the crown prince astray.
32:52By January 13,
32:551889,
32:56Mary was all in,
32:57writing to a friend
32:58that she and the prince
32:59had, quote,
33:00lost their heads
33:01and now belonged
33:03to each other,
33:04body and soul.
33:05That's only about
33:06two weeks
33:07before they both
33:08wind up dead.
33:11As news of their
33:12demise spreads,
33:13even Mary's mother
33:14wonders if her
33:15daughter's obsession
33:16had spiraled
33:17into a murder-suicide.
33:19Did Rudolf
33:20try to end the affair,
33:21only for Mary
33:22to shoot him
33:23and then herself?
33:26Rumors circulate
33:27of suicide notes
33:28left behind
33:29at the scene,
33:30yet the royal family
33:31remains tight-lipped.
33:33The truth of what
33:34happened in that room
33:35is murky,
33:36but one thing
33:37is clear.
33:38The palace
33:39is determined
33:40to protect
33:40the prince's reputation
33:41at all costs,
33:43and that begins
33:44with writing Mary
33:46out of the story.
33:47An imperial cover-up
33:49is in full swing,
33:51clumsy and rushed.
33:52First,
33:53they say the prince
33:54had a heart attack,
33:55then it was
33:55a hunting accident.
33:56Finally,
33:57changing their story
33:58for the third time
33:59in just two days,
34:01the palace
34:01settles on this.
34:03Rudolf died
34:03by suicide,
34:05alone,
34:05the result
34:06of temporary insanity,
34:08a version seemingly
34:09crafted to secure him
34:10a proper church burial.
34:14But whispers spread
34:15of something
34:16far more sinister,
34:18assassination.
34:19Tensions across Europe
34:21are running high,
34:22nationalism is
34:23on the rise,
34:24and plenty of players
34:25are looking for an edge
34:27to tilt the balance
34:28of power.
34:29Did a foreign government
34:30murder Rudolf?
34:32Suspicion turns
34:33toward Germany,
34:34then France.
34:36But the most chilling
34:37theory of all?
34:38That someone within
34:39Rudolf's own family
34:40wanted him out
34:41of the picture.
34:44Rudolf had allegedly
34:46butted heads
34:46with his father,
34:47Emperor Franz Josef,
34:49a strict conservative
34:50who prized loyalty
34:51and order
34:52above all else.
34:54In contrast,
34:56Rudolf was outspoken
34:57in his support
34:58for liberal reform,
34:59even voicing sympathy
35:00for Hungarian independence,
35:02and at times
35:03questioning the very power
35:05of the monarchy
35:06he was born into.
35:08Had he lived
35:09to become emperor,
35:10he could have upended
35:11the entire Habsburg order.
35:14And it wasn't just
35:16his political leanings.
35:17Rudolf's personal life
35:19also presented
35:20big problems
35:21for the imperial dynasty.
35:23Rudolf had been married
35:24to his wife,
35:25Princess Stephanie,
35:26for seven years,
35:27but he was cold
35:28and distant.
35:29He drank heavily,
35:31cheated openly
35:32with prostitutes
35:33and mistresses,
35:34and suffered
35:35from chronic illness,
35:36including gonorrhea,
35:38which he passed
35:39to his wife.
35:39The infection
35:40left her infertile
35:42and destroyed
35:43any hope
35:43of producing
35:44a male heir.
35:46Add it all up,
35:47and one theory
35:48begins to take shape.
35:49Was the Habsburg Empire
35:51looking to protect
35:52its future
35:53by killing
35:54one of their own?
36:02What led
36:02to the gruesome deaths
36:03of Crown Prince Rudolf
36:05and his mistress Mary?
36:06Some believe
36:07Rudolf's own family,
36:09threatened by his
36:09personal problems
36:10and political leanings,
36:12had them killed.
36:13Others believe
36:14a foreign power
36:15plotted their deaths.
36:16No matter who
36:17pulled the trigger,
36:18though,
36:18one thing is clear.
36:19The fallout
36:20was immediate
36:21and far-reaching.
36:23Rudolf's death
36:24shatters
36:25the Habsburg succession line.
36:27With no direct heir,
36:29the crown passes
36:30first to his uncle,
36:31Archduke Karl Ludwig,
36:32and then to Karl's son,
36:35Rudolf's cousin,
36:36Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
36:38But Franz is no Rudolf.
36:41Where Rudolf favored reform,
36:43Franz is rigid,
36:44autocratic,
36:45and determined
36:46to preserve imperial power
36:48at all costs.
36:49Then, in 1914,
36:52history takes
36:53a dramatic turn.
36:54Franz Ferdinand
36:55is assassinated
36:56in Sarajevo
36:57by a Serbian nationalist.
36:59Austrians and Hungarians
37:01demand blood
37:02for such a dastardly
37:03royal murder
37:04and declare war
37:05on Serbia.
37:06The declaration
37:07forces many European nations
37:09to take sides.
37:11Within months,
37:12the tangled web
37:13of alliances
37:13sparks the inferno,
37:15which becomes
37:16World War I.
37:17It also ultimately
37:19spells the end
37:20of the entire
37:21Habsburg dynasty.
37:23After the war,
37:24the family loses
37:25its empire
37:25and falls into ruin.
37:28So,
37:28who pushed the domino
37:30that started it all?
37:31Who was ultimately
37:32responsible for Rudolf
37:34and Mary's deaths?
37:35In the 1930s,
37:36Rudolf's wife,
37:37Princess Stephanie,
37:38publishes her memoirs.
37:40She points the finger
37:41at her husband,
37:42citing an undated letter
37:43he left for her
37:44before he died,
37:45which read like
37:46a suicide note.
37:47If true,
37:48was Mary a willing
37:49participant
37:50or a hapless victim?
37:52Historian Lucy Coatman,
37:54who has spent years
37:55investigating the case,
37:56is writing a new book
37:57on Mary Vetsera,
37:59driven by a shocking discovery,
38:01a bundle of 125-year-old letters
38:05written by Mary herself,
38:07hidden away
38:07in a Vienna bank vault.
38:11Mary's letters
38:12were discovered in 2015
38:13in the Schuller Bank
38:15in Vienna.
38:16We do know
38:17that Mary's mother
38:18had an account
38:19at this specific bank.
38:20What they found
38:22in this box
38:22was Mary's letters
38:24to her mother,
38:25her sister,
38:25and her brother
38:26just before her death.
38:28When we look
38:29at the letters,
38:29there's no doubt
38:30about the fact
38:31that this is
38:32Mary's handwriting.
38:33And so,
38:34with the finding
38:34of these letters,
38:35we really get
38:36the full picture
38:36of everything
38:37that she said
38:38to her family.
38:39For the first time
38:40in well over a century,
38:42historians can understand
38:44what happened
38:44behind closed doors
38:46at the Mayerling Lodge
38:47in the words
38:48of Mary herself.
38:50The letter addressed
38:51to her mother reads,
38:52Dear Mother,
38:53forgive me
38:54for what I have done.
38:55I could not resist love.
38:57In agreement with him,
38:58I wish to be buried
38:59next to him
39:00in the Allen Cemetery.
39:02I am happier in death
39:03than in life.
39:04You're Mary.
39:06In Mary's farewell notes
39:08where she repeatedly states
39:09that she's dying
39:10out of love for him,
39:11in this very childlike manner,
39:13we can really clearly see
39:15that she was just
39:16a young girl
39:17who had great emotions,
39:18felt a great love,
39:20if we can put it like that,
39:21and that she was manipulated
39:22by Rudolph
39:23to her untimely death.
39:26Lucy believes
39:27that Crown Prince Rudolph
39:28pushed Mary
39:29into dying alongside him.
39:31Indeed,
39:32it seems he even
39:32pulled the trigger.
39:33The bullet that killed Mary
39:35entered behind her left temple,
39:37but she was right-handed,
39:39making it unlikely
39:39that she positioned
39:41the gun that way.
39:42The conclusion?
39:43In the early hours
39:44of January 30th
39:45at the Mayerling Lodge,
39:47Rudolph shot Mary,
39:48then,
39:48sometime later,
39:49turned the gun
39:50on himself.
39:51If that's the case,
39:53then what drove
39:53the Crown Prince
39:54to suicide?
39:56We know from contemporaries
39:58that he was always
39:59very anxious,
40:00he was quite interested
40:01in death,
40:02for example,
40:02and then I think
40:03his psychology
40:04was impacted later on
40:05by various other things,
40:07such as the disintegration
40:08of his marriage,
40:09the fact that he couldn't
40:09produce an heir to the throne,
40:11and he just became
40:12more and more erratic
40:13and restless.
40:15So Rudolph had already
40:16approached another woman,
40:17his long-term mistress,
40:18to offer the suicide pact to her.
40:21She thought it was
40:22a joke at first,
40:23realized he was serious,
40:24went to the police.
40:26They said,
40:26we can't get involved
40:27in imperial affairs.
40:29When no one intervened,
40:31Rudolph turned his attention
40:32to the impressionable,
40:33lovesick,
40:3417-year-old Mary.
40:37It wasn't out of love
40:39on his part.
40:40He was just too scared
40:41to die alone,
40:42and he manipulated
40:43a young girl
40:44to die alongside him.
40:45Mary absolutely
40:46didn't commit suicide,
40:47and the record
40:48should be corrected,
40:49and we need to tell people
40:51that Rudolph was the one
40:53who committed this act,
40:54that he murdered Mary.
40:56He was the one
40:56that pulled the trigger.
40:57She did not do this herself.
41:00It's a breathtaking conclusion.
41:02Analysis of the prince's
41:03mental state,
41:04combined with Mary's own words,
41:06have reached out
41:07across time
41:08to answer the question
41:09of what happened
41:10to these star-crossed lovers.
41:12But the legacy
41:13of this story
41:14isn't just a tragic tale
41:15of two lives cut short.
41:17It's the first tremor
41:18in an earthquake
41:19that would topple crowns,
41:21redraw borders,
41:22and reshape the world
41:24as we know it.
41:25I'm Josh Gates,
41:26and I'll see you
41:27on the next expedition.
41:28on the next expedition.
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