Friday the 13th
Jacques Demolay and the Knights Templar
by Anthony Peña
Both the number 13 and the day of the week Friday have had varied "reputations" throughout the centuries - sometimes considered to be holy and other times considered unholy. In the Western world, the superstition linking Friday the 13th with being unlucky is primarily associated with the final Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques Demolay, and the date of Friday, October the 13th, 1307 AD (Old Style - OS).
In 1099 AD the Roman Catholic Church - via the now infamous bloody religious wars of the Christian Crusades - regained control over the holy city of Jerusalem. However, the lands surrounding Jerusalem were still in the hands of the Moslems. A warrior order of the Roman Catholic Church eventually banded together that was allegedly for the purpose of protecting Christian travelers on their way to the holy city of Jerusalem. The warrior order was officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church in 1118 AD, and they were then provided with a headquarters building located on Mount Moriah. This building was located on a site traditionally thought to be the former Temple of King Solomon. Thus, the warrior order became known as the Knights of the Temple, or the Knights Templar.
To make a very long (but incredibly interesting) story short, Jacques Demolay became the Grand Master of the Knights Templar in around 1293 AD During the two hundred years of their existence within the Roman Catholic Church, the Knights Templar had grown into a rather rich and powerful political force to be reckoned with. During Demolay's stay in office as Grand Master, the Templars had increasingly grown in disfavor with the current pope, Pope Clement V, and with the King of France, Phillip the Fair.
In 1307 AD the pope and the king arranged for the Templars to meet with them for a "friendly convocation" in Paris, France. Jacques Demolay was arrested on Friday, October the 13th, 1307 AD (OS). Seven years later, in 1314 AD, Jacques DeMolay was burned at the stake for the crime of church heresy. Legend continues on that before Demolay died, he predicted to the king and pope that he would meet them both in heaven within the next year. Fact is....the king and the pope did die in the year 1314 AD.
As for the "heresy" surrounding the Knights Templar - I'd love to share the details with you. However it's long, complicated, controversial, and I'm quite sure it would totally blow your mind. However, I will say that the "heresy" of the Templars was likely related to what might be called the integration or marriage of the "archetypal feminine" with the masculine Christian Trinity. (Was that vague and shrouded or what?) Oh yeah... the rather fantastical theories - purporting the Templars to be some sort of secret Satanists and/or worshippers of an idol named Baphomet - are based on hoax and distorted conjecture.
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