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In June of 1344, Pope Clement VI moved to reorganize the Knights of France in a series of six letters sent to Jean, Duke of Normandy, the son of King Philip VI of France. The pope proposed that the Duke of Normandy establish a congregation of so-called Knights of the Star, and as an incentive he promised to grant them extraordinary privileges. Any knights selected by the Duke of Normandy within ten years of the date of the pope’s letter would qualify for absolution of all their sins, a privilege that was normally only reserved for members of the Holy See. The Duke of Normandy waited until his father Philip VI had died, then, newly crowned as King John II