I know, you’re thinking, “Dude, it’s Toooooooooooosday!”
Seriously.
On this day seven hundred and two years ago, the original “Friday the 13th” occurred as King Philip IV of France moved to arrest and destroy the Knights Templar.
I’ll confess to being a Knights Templar nerd: I love the goofy stories and myths that people have developed about them, each one more wild and preposterous than the last, mainly because of what the stories tell about the cultural context and beliefs of the storytellers and the times in which they are popular. They provide one of the uber touchstones for many of the weirdest foundational conspiracy theories in American history, wrapped as they are within a felt need and fervent desire for the existence of long-hidden secret knowledge and a grand explanation for the otherwise pungent randomness of historical vicissitude.
Contra Fox Mulder, sometimes the truth just isn’t out there.
Here’s a great roundup from the 700th anniversary focusing on the release by the Vatican of many of their long secret documents pertaining to the Templars.
Categories: conspiracy theories and American politicsTags: Knights Templar