What Happened To The Knights Templar On Friday The 13th?

The Knights Templar was a Catholic military order founded in 1119 AD to protect Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. They grew in power and wealth over the next two centuries until they were seen as a threat by King Philip IV of France.

On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip ordered the mass arrest of all Templars in France on charges of heresy. This marked the beginning of the end for the once-powerful Knights Templar.

Background on the Knights Templar

The Knights Templar was formed in 1119 AD, shortly after the First Crusade captured Jerusalem. Their original purpose was to protect European pilgrims traveling along the dangerous roads to Jerusalem. The Templars started with just nine knights but grew rapidly into an elite military order numbering in the thousands. They followed a strict religious rule and took monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

In addition to providing military defense for pilgrims, the Knights Templar also developed into an important financial organization. Since pilgrims needed a safe way to transfer funds for their long journeys, the Templars provided this service. Nobles and royals also used the Templars to safely store and transfer money. The Templars thus amassed significant wealth from the fees charged on their banking services. They also acquired vast tracts of land through donations from grateful noble families.

By the late 12th and early 13th centuries, the Knights Templar had become an influential international organization with both military might and financial power. They answered only to the Pope and operated autonomously across Europe and the Middle East. Their secretive initiation ceremonies, blood red cross emblem, and oaths of loyalty added to their mystique and rumors of hidden knowledge.

King Philip IV Covets the Templars’ Wealth

As the Templars grew in influence, they also grew arrogant and came into conflict with secular rulers. In France, King Philip IV was deeply in debt after years of war with England and needed funds to solidify his political power. As he saw it, the Temple Knights with all their wealth yet exempt from taxes and royal oversight posed a threat to his authority.

King Philip first tried asking the Templars for a loan but was turned down. Some historians believe the Templars’ refusal to help Philip is what sealed their fate. Unable to openly take their wealth by force, Philip turned to subterfuge. He devised a plan to destroy the Knights Templar by accusing them of heresy, outlawing the order, and seizing their assets.

The Surprise Raids on Friday the 13th

On the dawn of Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip ordered the simultaneous arrest of all Templars across France. He had given orders to his bailiffs and sheriffs in utmost secrecy, wanting to catch the Templars by total surprise. At daybreak, soldiers raided Templar properties and arrested members including the Order’s Grand Master Jacques de Molay. De Molay and other leaders were imprisoned and tortured until they confessed to false charges.

The arrests sent shockwaves through European nobility who had family members among the knights. Rumors circulated that the Templars had been wrongly accused and that Philip had fabricated the charges out of greed. But Philip used the confessions gained under torture to pressure Pope Clement V to officially disband the Order. In 1312, under King Philip’s influence, the Pope abolished the Order at the Council of Vienne.

Persecution and Execution of Remaining Templars

After the Pope disbanded the Templars, King Philip launched inquisition trials to purge any remaining members in France and seize their property. Templars who maintained their innocence were branded as relapsed heretics and burned at the stake. Dozens of Templar knights were executed in this manner over the next several years including Jacques de Molay. De Molay was burned at the stake in Paris in 1314, defiantly proclaiming his innocence to the end.

Across Europe, rulers followed King Philip’s lead and arrested Templars in their own territories. Some monarchs put the Templar leadership on trial and executed them as heretics. Most secular rulers, however, found them innocent of the charged offenses. But with the Order disbanded and its leaders killed, remaining members were left impoverished or forced to join other military orders. By the mid-14th century, the Knights Templar were essentially extinct after their brutal purge.

Theories on Motives and Secrecy

The dramatic manner in which the Knights Templar were simultaneously arrested and executed under secret orders from the King gave rise to many theories about their hidden knowledge and suppression. Academics continue to debate King Philip’s true motives and whether the Templars really held secret information that posed a threat.

Many believe that Philip simply wanted the Order’s wealth, influence, and tax revenues and justified his avarice by accusing them of heresy. The charges were merely a pretext that lent Philip political leverage with the Pope. In this view, Philip fabricated the heresy evidence through forced confessions under torture.

Others argue the arrests on Friday the 13th were orchestrated to seize Templars before they knew what was happening and could escape or retaliate. The element of surprise precluded Templars from marshaling any defense and allowed Philip to swiftly eliminate them. This theory suggests Philip genuinely feared the Templars’ power and believed the heresy allegations.

Some speculate that the Templars did possess secret wisdom or relics from Solomon’s Temple that could threaten Church doctrine if revealed. The rapid elimination and executions were thus meant to permanently conceal this damaging knowledge. Versions of this theory inspired fictional tales of Templars guarding the Holy Grail or similar biblical treasures. Most historians, however, dismiss legends around Templar secrets as unsubstantiated myths.

Lasting Legacy and Mystique

While the Knights Templar were dismantled after the Friday the 13th raids, fascination around them lives on. Their dramatic demise immortalized the Templars as a legendary order with hidden knowledge that was ruthlessly suppressed. The circumstances of their rapid persecutions fueled mythos around Friday the 13th and its connotations of betrayal.

Their possessions and wealth were also never fully accounted for, leaving ample room for speculation. The Catholic Church is still asked to open its secret archives to see if any forbidden Templar texts remain tucked away. But whether their abrupt end concealed anything nefarious remains shrouded in the same secrecy that marked their 1307 downfall. The mystique around what they knew and why they were eliminated so swiftly continues to intrigue historians and conspiracy theorists alike.

Friday the 13th, 1307 marked a pivotal shift in power dynamics in medieval Europe. By destroying the autonomous Templars, King Philip reasserted royal dominance independent of Church control. But it came at a moral price still debated over seven centuries later. The shadowy purge orchestrated on that fateful Friday permanently stained King Philip’s legacy and ensured the Knights Templar’s legend would endure.