Friday the Thirteenth

Ever wonder why Friday the 13th is considered to be so unlucky? Well, I was watching The History Channel some years back and they were talking about the Knights Templar and the show gave me an answer to that question (though this quote isn't from The History Channel, it still rings true):

The whole superstition regarding the unluckiness of Friday the thirteenth arose when, on Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the simultaneous arrest and imprisonment of all the available Knights Templar, and the confiscation of all their worldly goods. Because of this unwarranted persecution of the Knights Templar, all down the ages, Friday the thirteenth has been considered an unlucky day ever since.

Many, many Knights Templar were tortured into confessing such misdeeds as heresy, treason, worshiping an idol; all capital offenses. 

Many executions were carried out: many Knights Templar were burnt at the stake, including the elderly leader of the Order, Grand Master Jacques de Molay. As he was burnt at the stake, he faced the Notre Dame Cathedral, his hands folded in prayer. He said:

"God knows who has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death."

Pope Clement, who was instrumental in disbanding the Knights Templar, died only a month later, and King Philip, who ordered the capture, persecution and death of the Knights Templar, died mysteriously in a hunting accident before the end of the year.

How did this come about, that these Knights Templar, these proud knights in armour, responsible for guarding pilgrims to the Holy Land and the most respected knights in the land, with their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience rigorously adhered to and their sacred mission of protecting the pilgrims in the most holy of all places on earth--how did these perfect, gentle knights manage to offend not only their sovereign king but the pope, as well? And to the degree that the infamous persecution has its own unlucky aura surrounding that day, or indeed any Friday the thirteenth, for the next 700 years?

Even though the original vows included a vow of poverty, and the individual knights adhered to the rule as far as personal expenditures, they, as an organization, had become extremely wealthy over time, forming the first international banking system of any kind, and accruing wealth and estates through pious gifts of landowners wishing to finance the Crusades. King Philip was deeply in debt to the Knights Templar:proper name, the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon ...

And Pope Clement owed his position to King Philip's influence, primarily.

That's one way to cancel the debt--kill all the persons you are indebted to and confiscate their wealth.

So, happy "Sucks to be a Templar Day" to all!!!