1 00:00:01,510 --> 00:00:04,200 On this episode of "expedition files." 2 00:00:04,370 --> 00:00:05,890 At the height of world war ii, 3 00:00:06,030 --> 00:00:09,720 a top-secret us military unit takes on the Nazis 4 00:00:09,890 --> 00:00:13,310 and saves an estimated 30,000 lives 5 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,000 without ever firing a shot. 6 00:00:16,130 --> 00:00:19,620 Armed with inflatable tanks, fake radio transmissions, 7 00:00:19,790 --> 00:00:21,890 and carefully timed sound effects, 8 00:00:22,030 --> 00:00:26,170 they deceive enemy forces with the power of illusion. 9 00:00:26,340 --> 00:00:29,270 For the first time, we declassify the secrets 10 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:31,620 behind the so-called ghost army. 11 00:00:33,100 --> 00:00:36,790 Then, the knights templar were one of the most powerful forces 12 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,170 in the medieval world, until they were accused of 13 00:00:40,340 --> 00:00:44,890 evil, unholy acts and were disbanded in disgrace. 14 00:00:45,030 --> 00:00:47,790 Did the templars deserve their destruction? 15 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:49,720 We reveal the shocking truth. 16 00:00:51,030 --> 00:00:54,060 And... 17 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:58,310 The story of the deadly romance that started a world war. 18 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,100 The heir to the mighty habsburg royal family is found dead 19 00:01:02,270 --> 00:01:04,620 alongside his young mistress. 20 00:01:04,790 --> 00:01:08,170 An assassination or a suicide pact? 21 00:01:08,340 --> 00:01:11,000 We uncover the truth of the bloody affair 22 00:01:11,170 --> 00:01:12,620 that reshaped the world. 23 00:01:16,170 --> 00:01:17,720 In the corridors of time... 24 00:01:20,170 --> 00:01:22,820 Are mysteries that defy explanation. 25 00:01:24,580 --> 00:01:28,200 Now I'm traveling through history itself... 26 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:32,200 On a search for the truth. 27 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:35,680 New evidence. 28 00:01:37,620 --> 00:01:38,790 Shocking answers. 29 00:01:40,790 --> 00:01:41,820 I'm Josh gates... 30 00:01:43,100 --> 00:01:44,100 And these... 31 00:01:46,370 --> 00:01:48,060 Are my "expedition files." 32 00:01:52,930 --> 00:01:55,930 There's an old expression... "three may keep a secret 33 00:01:56,060 --> 00:01:57,620 if two of them are dead." 34 00:01:57,790 --> 00:01:59,550 Founding father Benjamin Franklin said that. 35 00:01:59,580 --> 00:02:02,270 Of course, he also flew a kite in a lightning storm. 36 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:04,000 But hey, Franklin wasn't wrong. 37 00:02:04,130 --> 00:02:06,580 Secrets rarely stay hidden forever. 38 00:02:06,750 --> 00:02:10,060 And tonight, we squint through ciphers and dust off long 39 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,890 buried documents to expose three stories 40 00:02:13,030 --> 00:02:15,270 that were supposed to stay secret. 41 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,310 But now, decades, even centuries later, 42 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,060 we can finally reveal the truth. 43 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:26,170 We begin on June 13th, 1944, normandy, France. 44 00:02:26,340 --> 00:02:28,310 Seven days ago, on these very shores, 45 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:32,100 150,000 allied troops invaded. 46 00:02:33,170 --> 00:02:36,890 It's considered the greatest military operation in history, 47 00:02:37,030 --> 00:02:39,000 because this is Omaha beach, 48 00:02:39,170 --> 00:02:41,890 and that fateful event was d-day. 49 00:02:42,030 --> 00:02:44,480 We're one week on from the allied assault. 50 00:02:44,650 --> 00:02:48,000 More than 75,000 Americans led the charge. 51 00:02:48,130 --> 00:02:49,790 But today, a very different group 52 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:52,060 of us soldiers has arrived. 53 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:53,680 They wear standard uniforms, 54 00:02:53,860 --> 00:02:56,000 but they don't wage war with bullets. 55 00:02:56,170 --> 00:02:57,370 They do it with fabric, 56 00:02:57,550 --> 00:02:59,820 paint, and a whole lot of deception. 57 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,170 They are a unit so strange, so implausible, 58 00:03:03,340 --> 00:03:05,480 it sounds more like fiction than history. 59 00:03:05,650 --> 00:03:08,820 But they will play a huge part in the conflicts to come, 60 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,890 helping to secure victory, while barely firing a shot. 61 00:03:13,030 --> 00:03:15,890 After the war, their deeds will remain secretive, with 62 00:03:16,030 --> 00:03:19,890 many of the men taking their incredible tale to the grave. 63 00:03:20,030 --> 00:03:22,200 But three-quarters of a century on, 64 00:03:22,370 --> 00:03:25,890 the story will be declassified, and the world will finally 65 00:03:26,030 --> 00:03:29,580 come to know the unlikely heroes of the ghost army. 66 00:03:38,580 --> 00:03:43,100 Let's rewind a year and a half to when 21-year-old John jarvie 67 00:03:43,270 --> 00:03:47,510 and 18-year-olds Bernie bluestein and art Kane arrive 68 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:50,370 at the us army base at fort Meade in Maryland. 69 00:03:50,550 --> 00:03:51,890 Whatcha sketching there? 70 00:03:52,030 --> 00:03:55,370 The three men, along with approximately 1,100 others, 71 00:03:55,550 --> 00:03:58,370 are looking to join a new unit soon to be called 72 00:03:58,550 --> 00:04:01,480 the 23rd headquarters special troops. 73 00:04:01,650 --> 00:04:05,370 But the men of the 23rd aren't your garden-variety soldiers. 74 00:04:05,550 --> 00:04:08,580 They're photographers, painters, sound engineers, 75 00:04:08,750 --> 00:04:11,410 even fashion designers, recruited from schools 76 00:04:11,580 --> 00:04:12,930 across the country. 77 00:04:13,060 --> 00:04:15,680 So why are a bunch of artists going to war? 78 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,580 Their skills in visual art, construction, sound, 79 00:04:20,750 --> 00:04:23,580 and fabrication make them uniquely suited for 80 00:04:23,750 --> 00:04:27,930 a new kind of warfare built on illusion and misdirection. 81 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,000 It turns out the 23rd is being trained to carry out 82 00:04:32,170 --> 00:04:36,200 the first mass deception in modern military history. 83 00:04:36,370 --> 00:04:38,720 They'll pretend they're a division 30 times 84 00:04:38,890 --> 00:04:42,100 their actual size, erecting bogus airfields, 85 00:04:42,270 --> 00:04:44,680 fabricating fake planes and tanks, 86 00:04:44,860 --> 00:04:48,580 sending phony radio messages, and so much more. 87 00:04:48,750 --> 00:04:52,680 Their job is to be everything except who they really are. 88 00:04:52,860 --> 00:04:55,720 And because no one, not even their foreign allies, 89 00:04:55,890 --> 00:04:59,000 will know their true identity, the tales that emerge 90 00:04:59,170 --> 00:05:04,000 will remain more hearsay mystery than battlefield history. 91 00:05:04,170 --> 00:05:07,170 One of their most notable missions, operation Brittany, 92 00:05:07,340 --> 00:05:08,930 takes place here in the forests 93 00:05:09,060 --> 00:05:12,200 of northern France. It's July 1944. 94 00:05:12,370 --> 00:05:15,790 This German unit is on the lookout for American forces. 95 00:05:19,510 --> 00:05:21,890 Fearing an allied attack, they're trying to decide 96 00:05:22,030 --> 00:05:25,170 if they should move out or hold their position. 97 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,890 Having spotted what looks like a division of American tanks, 98 00:05:36,030 --> 00:05:38,510 the Germans decide to hunker down and stay put. 99 00:05:39,510 --> 00:05:42,510 But the attack they're waiting for never arrives. 100 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:45,370 The tanks they saw were actually dozens of 101 00:05:45,550 --> 00:05:49,060 large rubber inflatables, painstakingly detailed by 102 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:53,270 artists like Kane and bluestein to look like the real thing. 103 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:56,680 Meanwhile, the actual soldiers, all 11,000 of them, 104 00:05:56,860 --> 00:06:00,270 are already on their way past the German defenses. 105 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,060 The Nazis have been fooled by the ghost army. 106 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,930 Over the coming months, their heroic deceits continue. 107 00:06:10,060 --> 00:06:12,310 Kane and bluestein paint wooden logs 108 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:14,170 to mimic aircraft parts. 109 00:06:14,340 --> 00:06:17,000 They sew uniforms with fake insignias. 110 00:06:17,170 --> 00:06:19,890 They craft rubber tubes into artillery barrels, 111 00:06:20,030 --> 00:06:24,510 using all their artistry to pull off remarkable ruses. 112 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,680 The ghost army's daring deceptions will successfully 113 00:06:27,860 --> 00:06:31,170 confuse the enemy across 17 battles. 114 00:06:31,340 --> 00:06:33,480 What makes their success so remarkable is 115 00:06:33,650 --> 00:06:35,270 the risk they take. 116 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,680 Armed with only standard infantry weapons and backed 117 00:06:38,860 --> 00:06:43,370 by a minimal security detail, they operate largely exposed. 118 00:06:43,550 --> 00:06:46,270 One operation will come at a terrible price 119 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,200 when the 23rd find themselves in the crosshairs 120 00:06:49,370 --> 00:06:51,580 in bouzonville, France. 121 00:06:51,750 --> 00:06:55,890 It's march 1945, and the war is nearing its end. 122 00:06:56,030 --> 00:06:59,480 The ghost army impersonates the 80th infantry division, 123 00:06:59,650 --> 00:07:02,930 dipping into their bag of tricks, inflatable tanks to 124 00:07:03,060 --> 00:07:07,680 divert German forces away from the real 80th's movements. 125 00:07:07,860 --> 00:07:11,100 The Germans take the bait, and the real 80th report very 126 00:07:11,270 --> 00:07:13,510 light resistance to their new position. 127 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:15,510 Commanders celebrate another success. 128 00:07:19,170 --> 00:07:21,820 But it turns out the ghost army has drawn the Germans 129 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:23,890 too close to their position. 130 00:07:26,030 --> 00:07:28,680 Out of nowhere, a German artillery opens fire, 131 00:07:29,890 --> 00:07:34,410 leaving there the heavily armed 80th infantry. 132 00:07:34,580 --> 00:07:37,890 The 23rd scrambles in every direction, desperate to escape 133 00:07:38,030 --> 00:07:41,100 the sudden barrage. The cost is heavy. 134 00:07:41,270 --> 00:07:43,680 Kane, bluestein, and jarvie escape, 135 00:07:43,860 --> 00:07:47,410 but two men are killed and 15 more are wounded. 136 00:07:47,580 --> 00:07:49,410 For a unit built on a lie, 137 00:07:49,580 --> 00:07:52,100 the consequences have never been more real. 138 00:07:53,790 --> 00:07:56,820 Despite the casualties, operation bouzonville is 139 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:58,680 largely a success. 140 00:07:58,860 --> 00:08:01,370 The real 80th division escapes detection. 141 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,310 By now, the allies have the Germans on the run. 142 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:08,270 But to finish the fight, they need to move 143 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:12,580 the 30th and 79th divisions, 40,000 troops, 144 00:08:12,750 --> 00:08:14,410 across Germany's rhine river. 145 00:08:16,820 --> 00:08:17,820 The problem? 146 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,100 That kind of movement is hard to hide. 147 00:08:20,270 --> 00:08:23,200 And after operation bouzonville, there's real risk 148 00:08:23,370 --> 00:08:26,370 the Germans have figured out the 23rd isn't a true 149 00:08:26,550 --> 00:08:27,680 combat unit. 150 00:08:27,860 --> 00:08:30,580 And if so, the allied forces are walking into 151 00:08:30,750 --> 00:08:32,000 a deadly fight. 152 00:08:32,130 --> 00:08:35,510 Victory or defeat could all depend on the ghost army. 153 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:47,100 In world war ii, the 23rd headquarters special troops, 154 00:08:47,270 --> 00:08:50,410 a secret American unit nicknamed the ghost army, 155 00:08:50,580 --> 00:08:51,960 has been thwarting the Nazis 156 00:08:52,100 --> 00:08:54,960 with theatrical military illusions. 157 00:08:55,100 --> 00:08:58,000 Now, after surviving an actual enemy attack, 158 00:08:58,130 --> 00:09:00,510 they face their most daunting mission yet, 159 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:04,410 deceive the Germans while 40,000 allied troops 160 00:09:04,580 --> 00:09:06,860 slip across the rhine river. 161 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,410 The ghost army attempts the impossible, 162 00:09:09,580 --> 00:09:13,200 simulating a force of 40,000 using diversion tactics 163 00:09:13,370 --> 00:09:15,890 first honed during operation bouzonville, 164 00:09:16,030 --> 00:09:20,510 now deployed in a new mission known as operation viersen. 165 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:24,000 It's a highly sophisticated ruse, carefully designed to 166 00:09:24,170 --> 00:09:28,000 convince the Germans that the real 30th and 79th divisions 167 00:09:28,170 --> 00:09:29,310 aren't going anywhere. 168 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:33,890 On the front lines, artists like Bernie bluestein 169 00:09:34,030 --> 00:09:37,170 and art Kane set up their usual inflatable tanks 170 00:09:37,340 --> 00:09:38,480 and fake artillery. 171 00:09:39,370 --> 00:09:42,100 Nearby, sound effects artists get to work blasting 172 00:09:42,270 --> 00:09:45,860 fake infantry noises from specially designed speakers. 173 00:09:46,890 --> 00:09:49,200 Meanwhile, radio operators establish 174 00:09:49,370 --> 00:09:53,200 fake communication networks, known as spoof radio, 175 00:09:53,370 --> 00:09:57,000 designed to mimic the equipment and broadcast frequencies 176 00:09:57,170 --> 00:09:59,860 used by the real 30th and 79th divisions. 177 00:10:00,860 --> 00:10:02,890 Amazingly, it works. 178 00:10:03,030 --> 00:10:05,580 Thanks to the efforts of bluestein, Kane, 179 00:10:05,750 --> 00:10:08,790 jarvie, and many others, the Germans take the bait. 180 00:10:11,620 --> 00:10:13,480 Thinking they are a much bigger division, 181 00:10:13,650 --> 00:10:16,170 the Germans attack the 23rd. 182 00:10:17,930 --> 00:10:19,750 And while the Germans are distracted, 183 00:10:19,930 --> 00:10:22,580 the real 30th and 79th allied divisions 184 00:10:22,750 --> 00:10:28,000 cross the rhine river 10 miles north with almost no resistance. 185 00:10:28,170 --> 00:10:31,620 The ghost army has helped win a critical victory, 186 00:10:31,790 --> 00:10:34,200 but at enormous personal risk. 187 00:10:34,370 --> 00:10:38,200 German artillery directed at the 23rd crashes dangerously 188 00:10:38,370 --> 00:10:43,100 close, damaging equipment as shells land within 400 yards. 189 00:10:43,270 --> 00:10:47,060 Miraculously, no one is killed, a narrow escape that 190 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:51,200 underscores just how exposed the ghost army truly was 191 00:10:51,370 --> 00:10:54,510 and how much they risked to protect others. 192 00:10:54,680 --> 00:10:57,410 Two months later, the Germans surrender. 193 00:10:57,580 --> 00:10:59,680 The war in Europe is over. 194 00:10:59,860 --> 00:11:03,200 But then the mystery really begins, because, seemingly 195 00:11:03,370 --> 00:11:06,310 living up to its name, the ghost army vanishes. 196 00:11:07,310 --> 00:11:10,510 They didn't march home to medals, ticker tape parades, 197 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:13,620 or cheering crowds, just a quiet return to 198 00:11:13,790 --> 00:11:18,000 civilian life, their wartime exploits kept under wraps. 199 00:11:18,170 --> 00:11:22,580 In fact, the unit wasn't technically declassified until 1996. 200 00:11:22,750 --> 00:11:24,890 But even then, their stories remained buried 201 00:11:25,030 --> 00:11:26,216 in the archives. 202 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:30,270 In 2005, historian Rick beyer learns of the ghost army 203 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:33,510 and their stunning successes, and makes it his mission to 204 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:36,370 share their heroics with the world. 205 00:11:36,550 --> 00:11:39,860 I came to the ghost army story 20 years ago. 206 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,370 When I started digging into this, I thought, my god, 207 00:11:43,550 --> 00:11:46,890 this might be one of the best stories of all time. 208 00:11:47,030 --> 00:11:49,000 I said, "well, wait a minute. You're saying that" 209 00:11:49,170 --> 00:11:53,000 "the U.S. army had a unit that had blow-up tanks, 210 00:11:53,130 --> 00:11:57,100 "that they went out and used them on the front lines against 211 00:11:57,270 --> 00:12:01,000 "the Germans multiple times, fooled the enemy, 212 00:12:01,170 --> 00:12:04,270 "they were never found out, and then it was all hushed up 213 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:05,696 after the war?" 214 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:09,270 And I have talked to so many people who were in the army 215 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:13,270 in world war ii and who didn't know anything about this. 216 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:15,200 Many soldiers were told to keep this secret, 217 00:12:15,340 --> 00:12:17,000 and many, many did. 218 00:12:17,170 --> 00:12:20,100 The government wanted to protect their military intelligence, 219 00:12:20,270 --> 00:12:23,060 so the ghost army's successes stayed secret 220 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:25,000 for over 50 years. 221 00:12:25,170 --> 00:12:27,370 But behind the smoke and mirrors was something 222 00:12:27,550 --> 00:12:28,890 far more lasting. 223 00:12:29,030 --> 00:12:32,580 The ghost army's disguises and deception shielded real 224 00:12:32,750 --> 00:12:36,170 soldiers, diverted enemy fire, and saved an estimated 225 00:12:36,340 --> 00:12:38,100 30,000 lives. 226 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:43,310 I believe that what they did, using creativity 227 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,620 on the battlefield to save lives, was so striking. 228 00:12:47,790 --> 00:12:51,680 If you can avoid the head-on attack and actually make 229 00:12:51,860 --> 00:12:53,940 the enemy think that it's coming from someplace else 230 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:55,750 and get behind them, you can save lives 231 00:12:55,930 --> 00:12:57,480 in both armies. 232 00:12:57,650 --> 00:13:00,270 I started engaging with a lot of the veterans 233 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:02,680 who were in the unit. 234 00:13:02,860 --> 00:13:07,000 And the longer I spent on this, the more it started turning 235 00:13:07,170 --> 00:13:12,860 into a quest to see these guys honored the way they should be. 236 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,370 Beyer launched a grassroots crusade to secure these men 237 00:13:16,550 --> 00:13:19,100 the recognition they richly deserve. 238 00:13:19,270 --> 00:13:23,410 On march 21st, 2024, history finally caught up with 239 00:13:23,580 --> 00:13:26,580 the ghost army. Inside the U.S. capitol, 240 00:13:26,750 --> 00:13:29,790 the secretive unit was awarded the congressional gold medal, 241 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:32,790 one of the nation's highest honors. 242 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:34,890 Only seven were still alive to receive 243 00:13:35,030 --> 00:13:39,000 the long-overdue commendation, including Bernie bluestein. 244 00:13:40,370 --> 00:13:43,170 I think for me, the most meaningful, 245 00:13:43,340 --> 00:13:46,860 moment of that day was when the three veterans 246 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:50,000 who attended the ceremony were there in chairs. 247 00:13:50,170 --> 00:13:53,680 And kneeling in front of them are the chairman of 248 00:13:53,860 --> 00:13:57,790 the joint chiefs of staff, the commander of the U.S. army, 249 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,000 the secretary of the U.S. army. 250 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:02,960 And they are kneeling on the ground so that they can be 251 00:14:03,100 --> 00:14:05,510 face to face with these veterans. 252 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:10,100 And I thought that respect that they showed there was 253 00:14:10,270 --> 00:14:12,580 just extraordinary. 254 00:14:12,750 --> 00:14:13,936 While the methods of the ghost army 255 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,000 might sound antiquated today. 256 00:14:16,170 --> 00:14:19,370 The techniques they pioneered are actually still deployed 257 00:14:19,550 --> 00:14:20,750 in modern conflicts. 258 00:14:20,930 --> 00:14:24,000 In Ukraine, inflatable tanks, fake missile launchers, 259 00:14:24,170 --> 00:14:26,790 and decoy radar arrays have been deployed 260 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:30,960 to trick Russian drones into wasting firepower on phantoms. 261 00:14:31,100 --> 00:14:33,270 The lesson of the 23rd endures. 262 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,790 If you're trying to win a war, make the enemy chase ghosts. 263 00:14:43,370 --> 00:14:46,960 From the story of one secretive organization to another 264 00:14:47,100 --> 00:14:51,410 roughly 650 years earlier. It's 1307. 265 00:14:51,580 --> 00:14:53,960 I'm deep inside a dungeon in Paris. 266 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,270 The man being tortured is Jacques de molay, the leader of 267 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,000 the knights templar, the legendary elite 268 00:15:02,170 --> 00:15:04,000 Christian military order. 269 00:15:04,170 --> 00:15:08,060 But now the king of France himself has leveled a shocking 270 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,370 accusation against god's holy warriors. 271 00:15:11,550 --> 00:15:14,750 He claims they're evil, corrupt, and guilty of 272 00:15:14,930 --> 00:15:17,620 devil worship and obscene acts. 273 00:15:17,790 --> 00:15:21,000 De molay will confess to it all, and that stunning 274 00:15:21,170 --> 00:15:23,510 pronouncement will prove a death sentence for 275 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:27,960 him and the templars. But is the confession genuine? 276 00:15:28,100 --> 00:15:30,170 Are the knights truly unholy? 277 00:15:30,340 --> 00:15:32,410 Centuries from now, the discovery 278 00:15:32,580 --> 00:15:35,790 of secret documents will finally reveal the truth 279 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,890 behind the violent downfall of the knights templar. 280 00:15:49,750 --> 00:15:53,890 Just over 200 years earlier, in the year 1099, 281 00:15:54,030 --> 00:15:57,410 Christian armies from Europe seize the city of Jerusalem 282 00:15:57,580 --> 00:16:01,100 from Muslim control at the end of the first crusade. 283 00:16:01,270 --> 00:16:04,480 But as faithful Europeans make pilgrimages to visit 284 00:16:04,650 --> 00:16:07,960 sacred sites in the holy land, they're easy targets for 285 00:16:08,100 --> 00:16:10,620 bandits, raiders, and hostile armies. 286 00:16:12,170 --> 00:16:14,100 That's where these guys come in. 287 00:16:14,270 --> 00:16:18,580 This fearsome strike force of knights is established in 1119. 288 00:16:18,750 --> 00:16:19,890 Sworn to god, 289 00:16:20,030 --> 00:16:23,200 armed to the teeth, and tasked with one mission, 290 00:16:23,370 --> 00:16:25,480 protecting Christian pilgrims. 291 00:16:25,650 --> 00:16:28,100 That red cross on their cloaks is a symbol of 292 00:16:28,270 --> 00:16:30,100 their willingness to die for the cause. 293 00:16:31,370 --> 00:16:34,580 Their headquarters is the former site of Jerusalem's 294 00:16:34,750 --> 00:16:38,060 holy temple of Solomon, giving rise to a name that will 295 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:41,370 echo through history, the knights templar. 296 00:16:45,370 --> 00:16:48,000 They quickly earn a reputation for fighting 297 00:16:48,170 --> 00:16:50,890 as hard as they pray, ready to do battle 298 00:16:51,030 --> 00:16:53,820 to protect christians anytime, anywhere. 299 00:16:56,270 --> 00:16:59,100 The templars become the Vatican's shock troops, 300 00:16:59,270 --> 00:17:01,790 leading charges in subsequent crusades, 301 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:04,480 securing territory across the holy land, 302 00:17:04,650 --> 00:17:07,310 and amassing incredible wealth along the way. 303 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:12,580 Over time, the order explodes in size and influence, 304 00:17:12,750 --> 00:17:15,170 controlling land and fortresses 305 00:17:15,340 --> 00:17:18,200 from Ireland to Syria to north Africa. 306 00:17:18,370 --> 00:17:20,510 And with that, they build a sophisticated 307 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:22,580 financial empire, too. 308 00:17:22,750 --> 00:17:26,170 Think of it as god's atm service, a banking system that 309 00:17:26,340 --> 00:17:30,000 allows Christian nobles to deposit funds in Paris, France, 310 00:17:30,170 --> 00:17:32,370 and safely withdraw them in the holy land, 311 00:17:32,550 --> 00:17:34,580 for a fee, of course. 312 00:17:34,750 --> 00:17:38,750 The templars also transport gold and issue letters of credit, 313 00:17:38,930 --> 00:17:40,860 heralding in the medieval world's version of 314 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:42,580 visa or master card. 315 00:17:42,750 --> 00:17:45,370 Even kings borrow money from them, making the knights 316 00:17:45,550 --> 00:17:48,890 an essential part of commerce and diplomacy. 317 00:17:49,030 --> 00:17:51,680 Their estimated fortune and property holdings 318 00:17:51,860 --> 00:17:54,480 balloon to what would be billions of dollars today. 319 00:17:55,620 --> 00:17:58,890 By the mid 1200s, the templars are both feared 320 00:17:59,030 --> 00:18:02,200 and envied, but their glory days are numbered. 321 00:18:02,370 --> 00:18:05,890 Muslim armies wage war to claw back the territory lost 322 00:18:06,030 --> 00:18:07,680 in the first crusade. 323 00:18:07,860 --> 00:18:10,960 One by one, Christian strongholds fall, 324 00:18:11,100 --> 00:18:14,200 forcing even the fearsome knights templar into retreat. 325 00:18:16,060 --> 00:18:19,960 In 1291, the knights suffer a crushing defeat 326 00:18:20,100 --> 00:18:21,890 in the port city of acre, 327 00:18:22,030 --> 00:18:24,170 their final stronghold in the holy land. 328 00:18:34,370 --> 00:18:37,270 Despite their setbacks, the knights templar remain one 329 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:41,000 of the wealthiest and most powerful orders in the world, 330 00:18:41,170 --> 00:18:44,170 with overflowing treasuries and an army's worth of 331 00:18:44,340 --> 00:18:45,750 weapons and armor. 332 00:18:45,930 --> 00:18:47,580 Yet they serve no king, 333 00:18:47,750 --> 00:18:49,790 pledging allegiance only to the pope. 334 00:18:50,790 --> 00:18:53,890 The templars' power and independence makes Europe's 335 00:18:54,030 --> 00:18:57,480 monarchs uneasy, not to mention their secrecy. 336 00:18:57,650 --> 00:19:00,860 Rumors begin to spread that the templars fled Jerusalem 337 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:04,310 carrying sacred relics, perhaps even the holy grail 338 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,060 or the ark of the covenant. 339 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:08,510 Before long, critics begin to whisper, 340 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,000 "have the knights templar strayed from serving 341 00:19:11,130 --> 00:19:13,370 god to serving their own ambitions?" 342 00:19:23,370 --> 00:19:26,000 In the late 1200s, as christianity's dominance 343 00:19:26,130 --> 00:19:29,440 in Europe begins to wane, the knights templar still wield 344 00:19:29,620 --> 00:19:31,890 immense wealth and influence. 345 00:19:32,030 --> 00:19:34,550 Some start to question where their true loyalties lie 346 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:40,000 and if the order remains devoted to its sacred Christian mission. 347 00:19:40,130 --> 00:19:42,860 One of their most notable critics just happens to be 348 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,130 among the most powerful men alive, 349 00:19:45,310 --> 00:19:48,240 Philip iv, king of France. 350 00:19:48,410 --> 00:19:51,680 He's known as a religious reformer and a self-styled 351 00:19:51,860 --> 00:19:53,480 defender of the Christian faith. 352 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:58,060 Philip's relationship with the templars is complicated. 353 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,270 On one hand, he's indebted to them, having borrowed heavily 354 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:04,170 to fund wars against England and others. 355 00:20:04,340 --> 00:20:06,680 But on the other, he's deeply suspicious of 356 00:20:06,860 --> 00:20:10,340 their secrecy, their armies, their wealth, and of course, 357 00:20:10,510 --> 00:20:12,650 their allegiance to the pope instead of him. 358 00:20:14,550 --> 00:20:17,550 The king raises troubling questions about the templars' 359 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,650 secretive rights, saying they don't behave like 360 00:20:20,820 --> 00:20:22,130 true christians. 361 00:20:22,310 --> 00:20:25,550 He claims that new recruits are asked to deny Christ 362 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,170 and spit on the cross during their initiation. 363 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,580 The famously tight-lipped templars fail to deny 364 00:20:32,750 --> 00:20:36,680 the charge, and, before long, suspicion explodes across 365 00:20:36,860 --> 00:20:38,240 medieval France. 366 00:20:38,410 --> 00:20:41,960 The public begins to spread wild rumors that the templars 367 00:20:42,100 --> 00:20:45,750 worship a severed head and that they engage in obscene 368 00:20:45,930 --> 00:20:47,270 sexual acts. 369 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:50,650 All of this leads to the most dreaded charge against them... 370 00:20:50,820 --> 00:20:52,580 Heresy. 371 00:20:52,750 --> 00:20:55,650 Backed by the power of his own whisper campaign, 372 00:20:55,820 --> 00:20:59,960 Philip makes a move against the order in October of 1307, 373 00:21:00,170 --> 00:21:04,170 on Friday the 13th, a moment later cited in a popular 374 00:21:04,340 --> 00:21:08,790 but unsubstantiated theory about the date's dark origins. 375 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:12,790 In coordinated raids at dawn, the king's forces arrest 376 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:15,370 thousands of templars across France. 377 00:21:17,860 --> 00:21:21,170 Incredibly, many of the knights confess to heresy, 378 00:21:21,340 --> 00:21:24,680 seemingly confirming the king's accusations about corruption 379 00:21:24,860 --> 00:21:26,480 within the templar ranks. 380 00:21:28,170 --> 00:21:30,270 Of course, the admissions usually come 381 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,240 after extreme torture, like that endured 382 00:21:33,410 --> 00:21:35,750 by the templars leader Jacques de molay, 383 00:21:35,930 --> 00:21:39,000 stretched on the rack until he breaks and confesses 384 00:21:39,130 --> 00:21:42,270 to betraying his Christian faith. 385 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:45,000 I confess. 386 00:21:47,170 --> 00:21:51,340 King Philip iv even pressures pope clement v to endorse 387 00:21:51,510 --> 00:21:54,860 the arrests and torture, claiming a moral duty 388 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:56,890 to root out heresy. 389 00:21:57,030 --> 00:22:00,270 The growing political intensity forces the pope to issue 390 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:04,440 a stunning papal decree, ordering all Christian monarchs 391 00:22:04,620 --> 00:22:07,680 to arrest the templars and seize their assets. 392 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:10,130 Let's pause for a second. 393 00:22:10,310 --> 00:22:13,480 Does king Philip really believe the templars are an evil 394 00:22:13,650 --> 00:22:15,960 organization that worships the devil? 395 00:22:16,100 --> 00:22:18,480 Or does he have a different agenda? 396 00:22:18,650 --> 00:22:21,370 Well, if you're suspicious of Philip, you wouldn't be alone. 397 00:22:21,550 --> 00:22:24,960 At the time, king Edward ii of England writes that the charges 398 00:22:25,100 --> 00:22:27,370 against the templars sound like, quote, 399 00:22:27,550 --> 00:22:29,240 "detestable slander." 400 00:22:29,410 --> 00:22:32,550 Edward initially refuses to arrest the templars in England, 401 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,480 but under extreme pressure, he caves in 1308. 402 00:22:37,060 --> 00:22:40,100 Whatever the motive, the consequences are severe. 403 00:22:40,270 --> 00:22:45,170 On may 12, 1310, 54 templars who had all recanted 404 00:22:45,340 --> 00:22:48,370 their confessions are nevertheless burned at the stake 405 00:22:48,550 --> 00:22:52,680 in Paris, as an unmistakable warning to others. 406 00:22:52,860 --> 00:22:56,130 From Scotland to sicily, knights are rounded up, 407 00:22:56,310 --> 00:22:59,860 their lands are seized, their orders dissolved. 408 00:23:00,060 --> 00:23:01,860 Some receive life sentences. 409 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,860 A lucky few are quietly pardoned and absorbed 410 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:06,510 into other religious orders. 411 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:13,130 But in France in particular, the persecution is unyielding. 412 00:23:13,310 --> 00:23:16,440 Despite his confession having been obtained under torture, 413 00:23:16,620 --> 00:23:19,790 templar leader Jacques de molay is burned at the stake 414 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,680 in march 1314. 415 00:23:23,860 --> 00:23:27,100 Did the templars somehow deserve their terrible fate? 416 00:23:27,270 --> 00:23:29,170 Were they truly heretics? 417 00:23:29,340 --> 00:23:31,790 Or were the French king's motives something far 418 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:33,240 less righteous? 419 00:23:33,410 --> 00:23:35,680 In his book, "the knights templar absolution," 420 00:23:35,860 --> 00:23:40,100 historian a. A. Grishin unpacks a history-changing discovery. 421 00:23:42,130 --> 00:23:44,340 In September of 2001, 422 00:23:44,510 --> 00:23:50,650 Barbara frale, who was working at the Vatican archives, 423 00:23:50,820 --> 00:23:53,650 found a document that was clearly misfiled 424 00:23:53,820 --> 00:23:57,100 and that document had to do directly with 425 00:23:57,270 --> 00:24:00,240 the top officials of the knights templar order. 426 00:24:01,270 --> 00:24:04,480 This document is now known as the chin on parchment. 427 00:24:05,550 --> 00:24:07,960 When the document first appeared, 428 00:24:08,100 --> 00:24:10,060 you literally could not find it. 429 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,000 Even when Barbara published it, it was in a super obscure 430 00:24:13,130 --> 00:24:14,240 Italian book. 431 00:24:14,410 --> 00:24:16,750 What happened then is that she allowed me to use 432 00:24:16,930 --> 00:24:19,650 her transcription, and I made my own translation, 433 00:24:19,820 --> 00:24:22,890 and I published the accessible text. 434 00:24:23,030 --> 00:24:25,270 The document records the outcome of an inquiry 435 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:30,480 pope clement v ordered in 1308 at chin on castle in France 436 00:24:30,650 --> 00:24:32,890 regarding the leaders of the knights templar, 437 00:24:33,030 --> 00:24:34,890 including Jacques de molay. 438 00:24:35,030 --> 00:24:38,480 The document proves the pope launched his own investigation 439 00:24:38,650 --> 00:24:41,750 separate from king Philip's, and it will come to a very 440 00:24:41,930 --> 00:24:43,680 different conclusion. 441 00:24:43,860 --> 00:24:48,680 The chin on parchment presents evidence that pope clement v 442 00:24:48,860 --> 00:24:51,370 absolved the highly-positioned members 443 00:24:51,550 --> 00:24:53,240 of the knights templar order 444 00:24:53,410 --> 00:24:57,680 in 1308 after they had been arrested in 1307 445 00:24:57,860 --> 00:25:00,060 by the king of France. 446 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:04,680 The pope never actually intended for them to be burned 447 00:25:04,860 --> 00:25:07,370 at the stake. That was not his desire at all. 448 00:25:07,550 --> 00:25:10,440 It really shows that the pope did not believe in the fact 449 00:25:10,620 --> 00:25:13,890 that this actually was a real heresy. 450 00:25:15,130 --> 00:25:18,060 After all, the pope investigated, interrogated, 451 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,550 and ultimately, he forgave them. 452 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:22,680 But if king Philip was truly the church's 453 00:25:22,860 --> 00:25:25,890 great defender, why didn't the pope's absolution 454 00:25:26,030 --> 00:25:27,270 change his mind? 455 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,370 Thanks to the chin on parchment, we now understand. 456 00:25:30,550 --> 00:25:33,240 The persecution of the templars wasn't spiritual. 457 00:25:33,410 --> 00:25:35,790 It was completely political. 458 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:39,170 King Philip's motivation for taking down the knights templar 459 00:25:39,340 --> 00:25:41,130 was twofold. 460 00:25:41,310 --> 00:25:44,000 As a rather devout king, he would attempt to 461 00:25:44,130 --> 00:25:46,270 root out heresy. 462 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:50,000 It was also important that the kingdom of France was 463 00:25:50,170 --> 00:25:51,790 in need of money. 464 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,130 The knights templar were perhaps the most powerful 465 00:25:55,310 --> 00:25:57,580 and wealthy organization in Europe 466 00:25:57,750 --> 00:25:59,890 outside of the actual catholic church. 467 00:26:00,100 --> 00:26:04,680 And the king of France wanted to actually intercept 468 00:26:04,860 --> 00:26:08,890 this wealth and to use it for his purposes to restore 469 00:26:09,030 --> 00:26:10,550 the situation in his kingdom. 470 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,890 So, according to grishin, the king wanted to steal 471 00:26:15,030 --> 00:26:17,680 the templars' treasure to bail out his own country 472 00:26:17,860 --> 00:26:21,000 and make himself look like a hero while doing it. 473 00:26:21,130 --> 00:26:22,890 King Philip... 474 00:26:23,030 --> 00:26:25,480 Was prepared to use every resource he had 475 00:26:25,650 --> 00:26:31,340 in the kingdom of France in order to achieve this objective, 476 00:26:31,510 --> 00:26:33,790 to actually get all of the wealth 477 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:35,790 the knights templar in France possessed. 478 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:41,270 It is said that "absolute power corrupts absolutely." 479 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:43,750 Thanks to the discovery of the chin on parchment, 480 00:26:43,930 --> 00:26:46,680 we now know the knights templar weren't brought down for 481 00:26:46,860 --> 00:26:48,270 betraying their faith. 482 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:49,480 They were destroyed by 483 00:26:49,650 --> 00:26:51,750 the absolute corruption of a king. 484 00:27:00,270 --> 00:27:03,790 The date is January 29th, 1889. 485 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:07,000 I'm at the mayerling, a secluded hunting lodge deep 486 00:27:07,130 --> 00:27:09,030 in the wilderness of Austria. 487 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,340 And that there is crown prince Rudolf, 488 00:27:11,510 --> 00:27:13,340 heir to the habsburg family, 489 00:27:13,510 --> 00:27:16,550 rulers of the austro-Hungarian empire. 490 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:18,680 On the surface, he has everything. 491 00:27:18,860 --> 00:27:22,100 Power, privilege, a throne soon to be his. 492 00:27:22,270 --> 00:27:26,580 But behind closed doors, he's consumed by a dangerous affair 493 00:27:26,750 --> 00:27:30,440 with his 17-year-old mistress, baroness Mary vetsera. 494 00:27:32,750 --> 00:27:36,440 In the morning, both Rudolf and Mary will be dead. 495 00:27:36,620 --> 00:27:39,580 Their shocking fate will ignite a royal scandal, 496 00:27:39,750 --> 00:27:42,680 change the line of succession, and ultimately help 497 00:27:42,860 --> 00:27:45,440 light the fuse of world war I. 498 00:27:45,620 --> 00:27:49,000 130 years from now, remarkable documents will be 499 00:27:49,130 --> 00:27:52,170 discovered that uncover the truth behind a mystery 500 00:27:52,340 --> 00:27:54,270 that reshaped history. 501 00:28:05,030 --> 00:28:07,860 This is the story of the end of not just the prince 502 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:12,790 and his lover's lives, but that of the entire habsburg dynasty. 503 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,270 First gaining power in the 11th century, 504 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:17,790 the habsburgs control much of central Europe 505 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:21,170 for the better part of 900 years. 506 00:28:21,340 --> 00:28:25,440 In 1889, their empire stretches from the borders of Switzerland 507 00:28:25,620 --> 00:28:29,240 to Romania, encompassing 50 million people. 508 00:28:29,410 --> 00:28:32,270 And heir to it all is crown prince Rudolf. 509 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,030 He's married to Princess Stephanie of Belgium, 510 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:38,130 but he's also having an affair that will cost him his life. 511 00:28:42,170 --> 00:28:44,100 It's just after 6 am, 512 00:28:44,270 --> 00:28:47,680 crown prince Rudolf has spent the night with his mistress. 513 00:28:47,860 --> 00:28:49,890 He appears dressed in his hunting clothes 514 00:28:50,030 --> 00:28:53,680 and instructs his valet to ready breakfast by 7:30am. 515 00:28:55,340 --> 00:28:57,650 Then the prince disappears into his bedroom. 516 00:29:02,340 --> 00:29:04,000 Moments later... 517 00:29:06,310 --> 00:29:09,100 Two gunshots echo through the house. 518 00:29:09,270 --> 00:29:11,170 When the valet goes to investigate, 519 00:29:11,340 --> 00:29:13,680 he finds the prince's bedroom door locked. 520 00:29:15,170 --> 00:29:18,890 He knows Rudolf is inside with his mistress, Mary vetsera, 521 00:29:19,030 --> 00:29:21,030 and the prince had given strict orders that 522 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:24,860 they were not to be disturbed under any circumstances. 523 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,170 The valet assumes there must be another explanation, 524 00:29:28,340 --> 00:29:30,890 perhaps a firearm accidentally discharging 525 00:29:31,030 --> 00:29:32,960 as it's being prepared for a later hunt. 526 00:29:35,270 --> 00:29:38,680 By the time breakfast is laid out, the staff become concerned 527 00:29:38,860 --> 00:29:40,370 by the prince's absence. 528 00:29:40,550 --> 00:29:43,060 The valet pounds at the door. Silence. 529 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:48,170 At 8:30 am, his unease turns into alarm. 530 00:29:48,340 --> 00:29:50,790 He calls for two members of the royal hunting party 531 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,030 and together they force the door open, bracing for 532 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:56,550 whatever they might find on the other side. 533 00:30:04,890 --> 00:30:08,270 At the mayerling hunting lodge in rural Austria, unease grows 534 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:11,340 as prince Rudolf fails to answer repeated knocks 535 00:30:11,510 --> 00:30:13,270 on his locked door. 536 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:16,100 When the servants finally force their way inside... 537 00:30:18,580 --> 00:30:21,000 The room is dark and eerily still. 538 00:30:22,370 --> 00:30:25,130 On one side of the bed, Rudolf's young mistress, 539 00:30:25,310 --> 00:30:29,750 Mary vetsera, lies lifeless, a single bullet wound visible 540 00:30:29,930 --> 00:30:31,440 at her left temple. 541 00:30:31,620 --> 00:30:36,000 Beside her, crown prince Rudolf is slumped forward dead. 542 00:30:36,130 --> 00:30:38,890 Between them rests a revolver. 543 00:30:39,030 --> 00:30:40,750 As the valet studies the scene, 544 00:30:40,930 --> 00:30:43,130 two unsettling details catch his eye. 545 00:30:44,170 --> 00:30:47,790 Blood at the prince's mouth and an empty water glass 546 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:49,270 on the nightstand. 547 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:54,030 To him, it suggests a chilling possibility... Poison. 548 00:30:56,170 --> 00:30:59,270 So, what was this? Murder? 549 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:00,317 Suicide? 550 00:31:00,341 --> 00:31:02,580 The truth is difficult to discern. 551 00:31:02,750 --> 00:31:04,480 But would the heir to the throne dead under 552 00:31:04,650 --> 00:31:07,550 suspicious circumstances, you better believe fingers are 553 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:09,790 about to start pointing in all directions. 554 00:31:11,550 --> 00:31:14,370 When the royal doctor conducts a brief autopsy, 555 00:31:14,550 --> 00:31:17,000 the truth finally comes into focus. 556 00:31:17,170 --> 00:31:19,170 Rudolf was not poisoned at all. 557 00:31:19,340 --> 00:31:22,650 He had been shot in the head, a fatal wound the valet failed 558 00:31:22,820 --> 00:31:25,170 to notice because of the darkness in the room 559 00:31:25,340 --> 00:31:27,030 and the position of the body. 560 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,240 The prince's head wound is then wrapped in a bandage and his 561 00:31:30,410 --> 00:31:32,440 body is taken to Vienna. 562 00:31:32,620 --> 00:31:35,480 Mary, however, receives no autopsy. 563 00:31:35,650 --> 00:31:38,440 Though her relationship with the prince was an open secret 564 00:31:38,620 --> 00:31:41,030 among the nobility, it was carefully shielded 565 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:42,456 from the public. 566 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:45,890 Her body is quietly smuggled out of the lodge and buried 567 00:31:46,030 --> 00:31:48,270 in haste before questions can be asked. 568 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:53,580 So did Mary shoot and kill the crown prince before taking 569 00:31:53,750 --> 00:31:56,370 her own life? If so, why? 570 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,440 At the time, the story was easy to accept. 571 00:32:01,620 --> 00:32:04,790 Rumors swirled that the teenage baroness had been infatuated 572 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:07,170 with Rudolf long before they ever met. 573 00:32:08,270 --> 00:32:11,680 She collected postcards of him like treasures and would stroll 574 00:32:11,860 --> 00:32:15,480 the paths of the prater, Vienna's grand public park, 575 00:32:15,650 --> 00:32:18,270 hoping to catch a glimpse of his carriage passing by. 576 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:21,480 Mary's mother, a wealthy widow 577 00:32:21,650 --> 00:32:24,680 from an influential merchant family, supposedly had 578 00:32:24,860 --> 00:32:27,370 grand ambitions for her daughter. 579 00:32:27,550 --> 00:32:31,370 With both money and social clout, she made sure Mary moved 580 00:32:31,550 --> 00:32:34,240 effortlessly through the upper echelons of viennese 581 00:32:34,410 --> 00:32:36,000 high society. 582 00:32:36,130 --> 00:32:38,750 It was at one of these glittering court functions 583 00:32:38,930 --> 00:32:43,240 in the Autumn of 1888 that Mary first met the prince. 584 00:32:43,410 --> 00:32:46,000 Rudolf, whose marriage was reportedly rocky, 585 00:32:46,130 --> 00:32:47,340 was more than willing to make 586 00:32:47,510 --> 00:32:49,370 the acquaintance of the young baroness. 587 00:32:50,750 --> 00:32:54,650 Some royal insiders see Mary as little more than a temptress 588 00:32:54,820 --> 00:32:56,960 trying to lead the crown prince astray. 589 00:32:58,370 --> 00:33:04,030 By January 13, 1889, Mary was all in, writing to a friend 590 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:07,680 that she and the prince had, quote, "lost their heads and now 591 00:33:07,860 --> 00:33:10,890 belonged to each other, body and soul." 592 00:33:11,030 --> 00:33:14,340 That's only about two weeks before they both wind up dead. 593 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:19,790 As news of their demise spreads, even Mary's mother 594 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:22,680 wonders if her daughter's obsession had spiraled 595 00:33:22,860 --> 00:33:24,680 into a murder-suicide. 596 00:33:24,860 --> 00:33:28,060 Did Rudolf try to end the affair, only for Mary to 597 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:30,340 shoot him and then herself? 598 00:33:31,790 --> 00:33:35,750 Rumors circulate of suicide notes left behind the scene, 599 00:33:35,930 --> 00:33:38,790 yet the royal family remains tight-lipped. 600 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:41,860 The truth of what happened in that room is murky, 601 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:43,860 but one thing is clear. 602 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:47,370 The palace is determined to protect the prince's reputation 603 00:33:47,550 --> 00:33:49,030 at all costs. 604 00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:52,270 And that begins with writing Mary out of the story. 605 00:33:53,340 --> 00:33:56,060 An imperial cover-up is in full swing, 606 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,000 clumsy and rushed. 607 00:33:58,130 --> 00:34:00,036 First, they say the prince had a heart attack. 608 00:34:00,060 --> 00:34:02,100 Then it was a hunting accident. 609 00:34:02,270 --> 00:34:04,580 Finally, changing their story for the third time 610 00:34:04,750 --> 00:34:08,100 in just two days, the palace settles on this. 611 00:34:08,270 --> 00:34:11,100 Rudolf died by suicide alone, 612 00:34:11,270 --> 00:34:13,550 the result of temporary insanity, 613 00:34:13,720 --> 00:34:16,100 a version seemingly crafted to secure him 614 00:34:16,270 --> 00:34:17,580 a proper church burial. 615 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:23,480 But whispers spread of something far more sinister... 616 00:34:23,650 --> 00:34:25,170 assassination. 617 00:34:25,340 --> 00:34:27,790 Tensions across Europe are running high. 618 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:29,750 Nationalism is on the rise. 619 00:34:29,930 --> 00:34:32,680 And plenty of players are looking for an edge to tilt 620 00:34:32,860 --> 00:34:34,680 the balance of power. 621 00:34:34,860 --> 00:34:37,750 Did a foreign government murder Rudolf? 622 00:34:37,930 --> 00:34:41,270 Suspicion turns toward Germany, then France. 623 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:43,580 But the most chilling theory of all? 624 00:34:43,750 --> 00:34:46,170 That someone within Rudolf's own family 625 00:34:46,340 --> 00:34:47,650 wanted him out of the picture. 626 00:34:50,100 --> 00:34:52,790 Rudolf had allegedly butted heads with his father, 627 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:55,890 emperor Franz Joseph, a strict conservative 628 00:34:56,030 --> 00:34:59,000 who prized loyalty and order above all else. 629 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:03,580 In contrast, Rudolf was outspoken in his support 630 00:35:03,750 --> 00:35:06,480 for liberal reform, even voicing sympathy for 631 00:35:06,650 --> 00:35:09,790 Hungarian independence, and at times questioning 632 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:12,960 the very power of the monarchy he was born into. 633 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:17,030 Had he lived to become emperor, he could have upended 634 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:18,790 the entire habsburg order. 635 00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:23,030 And it wasn't just his political leanings. 636 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:26,170 Rudolf's personal life also presented big problems 637 00:35:26,340 --> 00:35:28,370 for the imperial dynasty. 638 00:35:28,550 --> 00:35:31,370 Rudolf had been married to his wife, Princess Stephanie, 639 00:35:31,550 --> 00:35:35,000 for seven years, but he was cold and distant. 640 00:35:35,170 --> 00:35:39,370 He drank heavily, cheated openly with prostitutes and mistresses, 641 00:35:39,550 --> 00:35:42,030 and suffered from chronic illness, 642 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:45,370 including gonorrhea, which he passed to his wife. 643 00:35:45,550 --> 00:35:48,060 The infection left her infertile and destroyed 644 00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:50,580 any hope of producing a male heir. 645 00:35:51,890 --> 00:35:55,270 Add it all up, and one theory begins to take shape. 646 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:58,580 Was the habsburg empire looking to protect its future 647 00:35:58,750 --> 00:36:00,370 by killing one of their own? 648 00:36:09,270 --> 00:36:12,060 What led to the gruesome deaths of crown prince Rudolf 649 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:14,000 and his mistress Mary? 650 00:36:14,170 --> 00:36:16,480 Some believe Rudolf's own family, threatened by 651 00:36:16,650 --> 00:36:19,000 his personal problems and political leanings, 652 00:36:19,170 --> 00:36:20,370 had him killed. 653 00:36:20,550 --> 00:36:23,650 Others believe a foreign power plotted their deaths. 654 00:36:23,820 --> 00:36:25,460 No matter who pulled the trigger, though, 655 00:36:25,550 --> 00:36:26,680 one thing is clear. 656 00:36:26,860 --> 00:36:29,340 The fallout was immediate and far-reaching. 657 00:36:30,790 --> 00:36:34,440 Rudolf's death shatters the habsburg succession line. 658 00:36:34,620 --> 00:36:37,370 With no direct heir, the crown passes first to 659 00:36:37,550 --> 00:36:42,000 his uncle, archduke Karl Ludwig, and then to Karl's son, 660 00:36:42,170 --> 00:36:44,750 Rudolf's cousin, archduke Franz ferdinand. 661 00:36:46,170 --> 00:36:48,370 But Franz is no Rudolf. 662 00:36:48,550 --> 00:36:51,680 Where Rudolf favored reform, Franz is rigid, 663 00:36:51,860 --> 00:36:55,370 autocratic, and determined to preserve imperial power 664 00:36:55,550 --> 00:36:57,000 at all costs. 665 00:36:57,130 --> 00:37:01,650 Then, in 1914, history takes a dramatic turn. 666 00:37:01,820 --> 00:37:04,890 Franz ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo by 667 00:37:05,030 --> 00:37:06,310 a Serbian nationalist. 668 00:37:07,130 --> 00:37:10,750 Austrians and Hungarians demand blood for such a dastardly 669 00:37:10,930 --> 00:37:14,030 royal murder and declare war on Serbia. 670 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:18,170 The declaration forces many European nations to take sides. 671 00:37:18,340 --> 00:37:22,440 Within months, the tangled web of alliances sparks the inferno, 672 00:37:22,620 --> 00:37:25,340 which becomes world war I. 673 00:37:25,510 --> 00:37:28,240 It also ultimately spells the end of the entire 674 00:37:28,410 --> 00:37:30,000 habsburg dynasty. 675 00:37:30,170 --> 00:37:35,370 After the war, the family loses its empire and falls into ruin. 676 00:37:35,550 --> 00:37:38,480 So, who pushed the domino that started it all? 677 00:37:38,650 --> 00:37:42,480 Who was ultimately responsible for Rudolf and Mary's deaths. 678 00:37:42,650 --> 00:37:45,550 In the 1930s, Rudolf's wife, Princess Stephanie, 679 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:47,100 publishes her memoirs. 680 00:37:47,270 --> 00:37:49,240 She points the finger at her husband, 681 00:37:49,410 --> 00:37:52,580 citing an undated letter he left for her before he died, 682 00:37:52,750 --> 00:37:54,890 which read like a suicide note. 683 00:37:55,030 --> 00:37:57,750 If true, was Mary a willing participant 684 00:37:57,930 --> 00:37:59,340 or a hapless victim? 685 00:37:59,510 --> 00:38:02,000 Historian Lucy coat man, who has spent years 686 00:38:02,170 --> 00:38:04,960 investigating the case, is writing a new book 687 00:38:05,100 --> 00:38:08,750 on Mary vetsera, driven by a shocking discovery... 688 00:38:08,930 --> 00:38:13,550 a bundle of 125-year-old letters written by Mary herself, 689 00:38:13,720 --> 00:38:16,130 hidden away in a Vienna bank vault. 690 00:38:18,580 --> 00:38:22,130 Mary's letters were discovered in 2015 in the schüller bank 691 00:38:22,310 --> 00:38:23,486 in Vienna. 692 00:38:23,510 --> 00:38:26,480 We do know that Mary's mother had an account at this 693 00:38:26,650 --> 00:38:28,006 specific bank. 694 00:38:28,030 --> 00:38:32,170 What they found in this box was Mary's letters to her mother, 695 00:38:32,340 --> 00:38:35,270 her sister, and her brother just before her death. 696 00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:38,480 When we look at the letters, there's no doubt about the fact 697 00:38:38,650 --> 00:38:40,480 that this is Mary's handwriting. 698 00:38:40,650 --> 00:38:43,000 And so with the finding of these letters, we really get 699 00:38:43,170 --> 00:38:45,680 the full picture of everything that she said to her family. 700 00:38:46,890 --> 00:38:49,480 For the first time in well over a century, 701 00:38:49,650 --> 00:38:53,000 historians can understand what happened behind closed doors 702 00:38:53,130 --> 00:38:57,370 at the mayerling lodge, in the words of Mary herself. 703 00:38:57,550 --> 00:39:00,580 The letter addressed to her mother reads, "dear mother", 704 00:39:00,750 --> 00:39:02,860 "forgive me for what I have done. 705 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:04,790 "I could not resist love. 706 00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:07,270 "In agreement with him, I wish to be buried next to him 707 00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:09,000 "in the Allen cemetery. 708 00:39:09,170 --> 00:39:11,550 "I am happier in death than in life. 709 00:39:11,720 --> 00:39:12,930 Your Mary." 710 00:39:13,890 --> 00:39:16,680 In Mary's farewell notes, where she repeatedly states 711 00:39:16,860 --> 00:39:19,790 that she's dying out of love for him in this very childlike 712 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:23,170 manner, we can really clearly see that she was just 713 00:39:23,340 --> 00:39:26,790 a young girl who had great emotions, felt a great love, 714 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:29,680 if we can put it like that, and that she was manipulated 715 00:39:29,860 --> 00:39:32,130 by Rudolf to her untimely death. 716 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:36,890 Lucy believes that crown prince Rudolf pushed Mary 717 00:39:37,030 --> 00:39:38,480 into dying alongside him. 718 00:39:38,650 --> 00:39:41,000 Indeed, it seems he even pulled the trigger. 719 00:39:41,170 --> 00:39:44,370 The bullet that killed Mary entered behind her left temple, 720 00:39:44,550 --> 00:39:47,240 but she was right-handed, making it unlikely that 721 00:39:47,410 --> 00:39:49,340 she positioned the gun that way. 722 00:39:49,510 --> 00:39:50,796 The conclusion? 723 00:39:50,820 --> 00:39:53,790 In the early hours of January 30th at the mayerling lodge, 724 00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:56,890 Rudolf shot Mary, then sometime later turned 725 00:39:57,030 --> 00:39:58,580 the gun on himself. 726 00:39:58,750 --> 00:40:02,650 If that's the case, then what drove the crown prince to suicide? 727 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:05,890 We know from contemporaries that he was always 728 00:40:06,030 --> 00:40:07,036 very anxious. 729 00:40:07,060 --> 00:40:10,000 He was quite interested in death, for example. 730 00:40:10,130 --> 00:40:12,860 And then I think his psychology was impacted later on by 731 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:15,170 various other things, such as the disintegration of 732 00:40:15,340 --> 00:40:17,416 his marriage, the fact that he couldn't produce an heir 733 00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:18,656 to the throne. 734 00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:22,000 And he just became more and more erratic and restless. 735 00:40:22,170 --> 00:40:24,270 So Rudolf had already approached another woman, 736 00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:25,650 his long-term mistress, 737 00:40:25,820 --> 00:40:28,370 to offer the suicide pact to her. 738 00:40:28,550 --> 00:40:31,650 She thought it was a joke at first, realized he was serious, 739 00:40:31,820 --> 00:40:33,000 went to the police. 740 00:40:33,130 --> 00:40:36,270 They said, "we can't get involved in imperial affairs." 741 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:39,370 When no one intervened, Rudolf turned his attention 742 00:40:39,550 --> 00:40:43,000 to the impressionable, lovesick 17-year-old Mary. 743 00:40:44,860 --> 00:40:47,580 It wasn't out of love on his part. 744 00:40:47,750 --> 00:40:50,580 He was just too scared to die alone and he manipulated 745 00:40:50,750 --> 00:40:52,680 a young girl to die alongside him. 746 00:40:52,860 --> 00:40:55,960 Mary absolutely didn't commit suicide and the record should 747 00:40:56,100 --> 00:40:59,580 be corrected and we need to tell people that Rudolf was 748 00:40:59,750 --> 00:41:03,000 the one who committed this act, that he murdered Mary. 749 00:41:03,130 --> 00:41:04,626 He was the one that pulled the trigger. 750 00:41:04,650 --> 00:41:05,890 She did not do this herself. 751 00:41:07,240 --> 00:41:09,170 It's a breathtaking conclusion. 752 00:41:09,340 --> 00:41:11,170 Analysis of the prince's mental state, 753 00:41:11,340 --> 00:41:13,130 combined with Mary's own words, 754 00:41:13,310 --> 00:41:16,750 have reached out across time to answer the question of 755 00:41:16,930 --> 00:41:19,550 what happened to these star-crossed lovers. 756 00:41:19,720 --> 00:41:22,550 But the legacy of this story isn't just a tragic tale 757 00:41:22,720 --> 00:41:24,650 of two lives cut short. 758 00:41:24,820 --> 00:41:26,890 It's the first tremor in an earthquake that 759 00:41:27,030 --> 00:41:29,860 would topple crowns, redraw borders, 760 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:32,750 and reshape the world as we know it. 761 00:41:32,930 --> 00:41:35,960 I'm Josh gates, and I'll see you on the next expedition.