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This week in Christian history: Willow Creek Community Church opens, Knights Templar arrested, Henry Martyn dies

By Michael Gryboski, Editor Twitter

Knights Templar arrested – Oct. 13, 1307

A group of Knights Templar being burned at the stake.
A group of Knights Templar being burned at the stake. | Public Domain

This week marks the anniversary of when hundreds of members of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, commonly known as the Knights Templar, were arrested.

Happening on Friday the 13th—and believed by many to be the origin of that superstition—arrest orders came from King Philip IV of France, who claimed that members of the powerful Knights Templar order engaged in a variety of blasphemous and immoral activities.

Approximately 600 Knights Templar, including Grand Master Jacques of Molay, were rounded up. About 50 were burned at the stake after being forced to confess through extreme torture.  

Pope Clement V, who had been elected mostly through King Phillip’s influence, eventually issued a papal bull that called for more arrests. He officially dissolved the order later on.

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