The burning of Jacques de Molay
Jacques de Molay, final Grand Master of the Templar order, was burnt in Paris on 18 March 1314. A curse on the king is said to have come from his pyre.
Jacques de Molay, the Templar order's last Grand Master, was executed by burning for heresy on 18 March 1314, together with a fellow leader, Geoffroi de Charney. The place was the Île aux Juifs, an island in Paris. Stephen Dafoe, drawing on a chronicle, says the two were brought that day before Notre Dame to hear the decision of three cardinals. On learning they would stay in prison for life, they interrupted in protest and retracted their earlier confessions.
The curse is a later story: from the pyre, Molay is said to have laid a curse on Philip IV and his heirs, rulers of France. Wikipedia suggests the tale merges the words of another Templar with Molay's own. It reports an eyewitness who said Molay showed no fear and told the crowd that God would take vengeance for their deaths. The chronicler Ferreto of Vicenza told another variation, set instead around a Neapolitan Templar who stood before Clement V and denounced his injustice.
"However, the story of the shouted curse appears to be a combination of words by a different Templar and those of Molay. An eyewitness to the execution stated that Molay had shown no sign of fear and had told those present that God would avenge their deaths.[36] Another variation on this story was told by the contemporary chronicler Ferreto of Vicenza, who applied the idea to a Neapolitan Templar brought before Clement V, whom he denounced for his injustice."
- Île aux Juifs, Wikipedia
- 1314: Jacques de Molay, last Templar Grand Master, Executed Today
- Templar Tuesday: DeMolay's Curse (Stephen Dafoe), Michael Spradlin (guest post)