Message #371

[Forms of Things Unknown]

Relics
Other legends of modern invention say that the Holy Grail, or Sangreal, was found by the Order and taken to Scotland during the suppression of the order in 1307, and that it remains buried beneath Rosslyn Chapel. Other more recent discoveries say the Holy Grail was taken to Northern Spain, and protected by the Knights Templar there.[5]
Some sources claim that the Templars discovered secrets of the Masons, builders of both the original and second temples at the Temple Mount, along with knowledge that the Ark had been moved to Ethiopia before the destruction of the first temple.[6] Allusion to this is made in engravings on the Cathedral at Chartres, great influence over the building of which was had by Bernard of Clairvaux, the Order's patron. Further links to both the search by the order for the Ark and to its discovery of ancient secrets of building are supposedly suggested by the existence of the monolithic Church of St. George in Lalibela, Ethiopia, which stands to this day but whose construction is incorrectly attributed to the Knights Templar.
Some scholars, such as Hugh J. Schonfield, and fringe researchers argue that the Knights Templar may have found the Copper Scroll treasure of the Qumran Essenes in the tunnels beneath the Temple Mount. They suggest that this might explain one of the charges of heresy which were later brought against the knights by the Medieval Inquisition.
[edit] Mysterious deaths of the Order's enemies
The last Grand Master of the Templar Order, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake in 1314, by order of King Philip IV of France, who had also pressured Pope Clement V to disband the Order. Legend has it that de Molay issued his dying curse against the King and Pope Clement V, saying that he would meet them before God before the year was out. Pope Clement died only a month later, and King Philip died later that year in a hunting accident.
Succession to the throne of France passed rapidly through Philip's sons. Louis X the Quarreller lasted for only two years, leaving a pregnant wife who gave birth to the next king, John I the Posthumous, but the baby lived for only five days before succumbing, probably to poison. The throne then went to another of Philip IV's sons, Philip V the Tall, who was crowned at the age of 23, but died at 29. Since he had no sons, the throne then went to his brother, Charles IV the Fair, who himself died six years later without a male heir, and thereby ended the Capetian Dynasty.
Many believed that the dynasty had been cursed. A series of 20th century novels called Les Rois Maudits (The Accursed Kings) expanded on this story.
[edit] Friday the 13th
Many modern stories claim that when King Philip IV had many Templars simultaneously arrested on October 13, 1307, that started the legend of the unlucky Friday the 13th. However, closer examination shows that though the number 13 was indeed considered historically unlucky, the actual association of Friday and 13 seems to be an invention from the early 1900s.[7][8]