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Posted by Murrisk on March 30, 2002 at 18:09:36:
On March 19, 1314, just before Easter, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques Molay, was burned at the stake convicted of witchcraft. As he burned, he proclaimed his innocence, called down a curse on king Philip IV and his descendents to the 13th generation, and summoned the king and pope Clement V to meet him before God’s judgement seat within a year. The pope died a month later; the king died 7 months later. The 13th generation is said to have been Louis 16th beheaded during the French revolution. Philip’s three sons succeeded to the throne but each died without leaving a male heir. Eventually, Philip of Valois succeeded in spite of opposition from another contender, Edward III of England. Their dispute eventually led to the Hundred Year’s War – the longest so far in Europe – and also gave rise to the War of the Roses in England. Edward III was the grandson of Edward I or “Longshanks”, the enemy of William Wallace in the film Braveheart. His father, Edward II, was a homosexual. He is said to have been murdered by having a red-hot poker inserted into his rectum so there would be external signs of violence on the body. Hence the pun “Edward’s end”. The 100 Year’s War encompassed the church schism; the era of three popes; the Black Death; the last crusade; the start of the black slave trade; the rise and fall of Joan of Arc; the fall of Constantinople and the Byzantium empire; and the invention of printing by Gutenburg. The legacy of the Knights Templar is still present. After suppression the property of the Knights Templar passed to the Knights Hospitalers of St. John. Today, the order is known as the Knights of Malta/St. John’s Ambulance Brigade. The influential Freemasons also claim descent from the Knights Templars and their rituals include reference to Jacques Molay. Some believe the Templars are still secretly in existence, still guarding the Holy Grail and other secrets they acquired in the Holy Land. And the fabled Templar treasure ? It seems to have gone missing and there have been a number of English and American television programs in recent years dealing with today’s quest for the treasure throughout Europe including Ireland.
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