Some Say the Image on the Shroud of Turin is Jacques deMolay

This page is best understood by first reading the page about Understanding the nature of the Shroud of Turin's images.

Authors Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas in their book The Second Messiah claim that the image on the shroud is that of Jacques deMolay, the last Grand Master of the Order of the Knights Templar.

In 1307, deMolay was charged with heresy by king Philip IV of France. According to the Knight and Lomas, deMolay was tortured at the direction of the Chief Inquisitor of France, William Imbert afer about seven years of imprisonment. They contend that his arms and legs were nailed in a manner similar to crucifixion, possibly to a large wooden door. Then deMolay was laid on a length of linen cloth on a soft bed. The cloth was then pulled over his head and body and deMolay was left to recover from his wounds. The use of a burial shroud is defended by suggesting that the Knights Templar used shrouds in ceremonies. It is all highly speculative and moot.

The late Dr. Alan D. Adler, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at Western Connecticut University, in an article, The Nature of the Body Images on the Shroud of Turin, comments:

In “The Second Messiah”, Knight and Lomas assign the image on the Shroud to deMolay, as a way of coping with the radiocarbon dating problem. Their mechanism mixes supported contact for the dorsal image and a diffusional process for the frontal image. Neither will VP-8 correctly, nor register with contact blood images correctly. However, they do admit that they do not seem to have gotten it all just right and appeal to literature mechanisms as a fallback position. Note, they accept the validity of the reported radiocarbon date.

Adler's reference to "VP-8 correctly" refers to the ability to plot the relative lighter and darker areas seen in the images and produce a three-dimensional isometric drawing of the body.

The deMolay speculation is moot because 1) the Shroud of Turin is much older than the carbon 14 date; 2) the image proposed will not produce a 3D image, will not VP-8 correctly; 3) is based on speculative chemistry that is simply incorrect.

Jacques eMolay was burned at the stake on March 19, 1314 together with Geoffroy de Charney, Templar preceptor of Normandy (not the same Geoffroy de Charney who came into the possession of the Shroud in the mid-1350, though he may have been related).