Quote:
On Friday, October 13, 1307, hundreds of Knights Templar in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of King Philip, later to be tortured into admitting heresy in the Order. Over 100 charges were issued against them, the majority of them identical charges to what had been earlier issued against the inconvenient Pope Boniface VIII. The dominant view is that Philip, who seized the treasury and broke up the monastic banking system, was jealous of the Templars' wealth and power, frustrated by his debt to them, and sought to control their financial resources for himself, by bringing blatantly false information against them at the Tours assembly in 1308; it is also likely that, under the influence of his advisors, he actually believed many of the false charges to be true.
The best part about the Templars is this. The last Grand Master of the Knights, Jacques de Molay, is said to have laid a curse as they were burning him at the stake. Once again, Wikipedia.
Quote:
It is said that Jacques de Molay cursed Philippe le Bel and his descent from his execution pyre. And, indeed, the rapid succession of the last direct Capetian kings of France between 1314 and 1328, the three sons of Philippe IV, led many to believe that the dynasty had been cursed – thus the name of "The Accursed Kings" (Les Rois Maudits). Also, de Molay apparently challenged the King and the Pope to meet him before the judgment of God before the year was over, although this story is recorded in no contemporaneous accounts of Molay's execution. Philip and Clement V in fact both died in 1314. Interestingly, the 300 year old Capetian dynasty collapsed during the next 14 years.
Awsome, no? So, here's to you Knights. May you rest in eternal peace.
