01/13/2023
We're tempted to post this every Friday the 13th since almost none of the popular lore is correct. See below...
Despite common belief, on Friday 13th, 1307 (two years after charges of heresy were brought by a disgruntled ousted Templar), King Phillip IV of France ordered the arrest of Jacques de Molay and scores of French Templars and not the entire Templar order. The arrest warrant started with the phrase, “Dieu n'est pas content, nous avons des ennemis de la foi dans le Royaume" ["God is not pleased. We have enemies of the faith in the kingdom"]. Over subsequent months, those captured were coerced into providing false confessions to match the King of France’s demands. It is not until November 22, 1307 that Pope Clement V (a new Pope residing in France, not Rome) issued a papal bull Pastoralis praeeminentiae which instructed all Catholic monarchs in Europe to arrest the Templars and seize their assets – note, not only is it not a “13th” but it was a Wednesday! – with most of the monarchs slowly complying (a notable exception is Portugal who refused to persecute any Templars and simply changed the name of the Order to the “Order of Christ” which still exists). Under the inquisition of the Church, virtually no Templar was convicted, with most either being absorbed into other Catholic Orders or simply pensioned off and allowed to retire peacefully. In 1308 the Pope formally absolved the Order but in 1312 he disbanded it due to the mounting scandal and the political pressure he was facing.
The only real persecution was of the Grand Master Jacques de Molay and the initial cadre in France who were arrested with him. Although they were cruelly tortured and eventually roasted alive, not burned at the stake as is repeated incorrectly, this was a small portion of the total Templars in Europe. Furthermore, they were not killed by the King of France until March 19th, 1314 (a Tuesday) when, growing frustrated with the Pope’s refusal to condemn them to death, the King ordered that they be roasted over a smokeless fire one at a time starting with the Grand Master to ensure maximum suffering. At this time, Jacques de Molay was about 70 years old.
It is our hope that although the martyrdom of those noble Templars is remembered, the record has been somewhat corrected.
