Kabalyero ng Disyerto 15- Friday The 13th and The Knights Templar

Today is Friday the 13^th. Numerologists everywhere are passing out from the tension. Many people of the superstitious sort consider Friday the 13^th to be unlucky. There are people who wear good luck charms all day and some who go so far as to refuse to leave home, lest something unlucky happen to them.

But many don’t know that one legend of the origin of Friday the 13^th as unlucky comes from the persecution of the Knights   Templar in the 14^th Century. On Friday, October 13^th, 1307, King Philip IV of France, in league with Pope Clement V ordered  all Templars to be rounded up and thrown in prison. The Knights were accused of numerous crimes including heresy and treason. For two hundred years the Knights Templar had been the most dominant force in Christendom, but after their defeat at the Siege of Acre and the loss of the Holy Land, their influence began to wane.

Yet they still held enormous power and great amounts of wealth. Pope Clement sought to merge the Knights Templar with the Knights Hospitaller another powerful order at the time. Neither group found such a merger ideal. And despite the loss of the Holy Land, the Templars were still a part of of everyday life in the Middle Ages. Their houses, churches and farms dotted the countryside throughout Europe. It provided employment for thousands of people. They started an international banking system that allowed nobles to deposit funds and valuables for safekeeping. And in what ultimately led to their downfall, they occasionally helped finance wars.


Philip IV borrowed enormous sums of money to finance a war with England. A poor king and an even worse military commander, Philip was easily defeated. He saw a way of both currying favor with the Pope and eliminating his huge debt. On that fateful day of Friday, October 13, 1307 he ordered all Templars arrested and their property seized. The Grandmaster of the order, Jacques DeMolay was thrown in prison along with several other high-ranking members of the order.


Their ‘trial’ was a farce. The Templars were charged with heresy, worshiping false idols and other crimes against the church. Many of them were tortured until they ‘confessed’ to their crimes. Refusing to capitulate, Jacques DeMolay would not confess and Philip ordered him burned at the stake. In 2007 the Vatican issued a proclamation declaring the Templars innocent of their alleged crimes.


The Knights Templar, which had dominated medieval life for two centuries, was no more. Unfortunately for Philip, the Templars had learned of his planned treachery before hand. Many of them escaped and their vast stores of treasure were hidden from the King’s soldiers.


Another legend that has also persisted is that Jacques DeMolay, the last Grandmaster of the Order, cursed both Philip IV and Pope Clement V, as he died. Whether or not you believe in curses, both Philip and Clement died within months of DeMolay’s death.

There were three persons cursed by Jacques de Molay: King Philip IV, his advisor Guillaume de Nogaret, and Pope Clement V. Here is what Jacques de Molay allegedly said:

"Pope Clement! Knight Guillaume de Nogaret! King Philip! I summon you to appear before the year is out before the tribunal of God! Cursed, you will be cursed and so will your families for 13 generations to come!"

Pope Clement V died 40 days after the execution.
Guillaume de Nogaret died a month after the Pope, apparently poisoned.
King Philip of France died before the year was out, on November 29, 1314, of a massive stroke - he was 46.

Philip IV's three sons all reigned and died young without descendants. The confusion surrounding their succession gave way to the Hundred Year War (hence the 13 generations).