Story Highlights
- historical event: Already a month after de Molay was burned, the pope died, sparking rumors that the Grand Master cursed the abolishers of the Templars just before he was executed. There are some reports that de Molay indeed stated that God will avenge his death at the execution.
French King Philip IV the Fair died suddenly on this day. He is considered responsible for the abolition of the famous Order of the Knights Templar, because he ordered the arrest of the Templars in his kingdom, and also influenced the then Pope Clement V to terminate their entire Order. How did one French king manage to influence the pope to that extent? Namely, the birth name of Pope Clement V was Raymond Bertrand de Got, and by nationality he was French. He was the pope who moved the papal seat from Rome to Avignon (the so-called Avignon Captivity). Since Avignon was located in France, French King Philip IV had a significant influence on the pope.
It is believed that the king’s attack on the Templars was caused by the fact that he owed them a lot of money. Unable to repay the debt, he decided to destroy them, accusing them of heresy and all sorts of crimes and abominations. The last Grand Master of the Templars – the famous Jacques de Molay – was tortured and burned at the stake – in the center of Paris, in March 1314.
Already a month after de Molay was burned, the pope died, sparking rumors that the Grand Master cursed the abolishers of the Templars just before he was executed. There are some reports that de Molay indeed stated that God will avenge his death at the execution. King Philip IV also died on this day, at the age of only 46 years, only eight months after de Molay’s execution. He suffered a stroke while hunting. Furthermore, all three of the king’s sons died in a short time after that (for this reason, they are called the Accursed Kings – French: Maudits Les Rois). That ended the direct male line of King Philip IV the Fair.
