Friday the 13th: How a Bankrupt King Destroyed the Knights Templar

On Friday the 13th, October 1307, the Knights Templar were destroyed in a single coordinated operation across France.

Hundreds of Templar knights were arrested at dawn. Their property was seized. Their leaders were tortured. And within a few years, the most powerful military and financial institution in medieval Europe was erased.

The official story says the Knights Templar were heretics.

This investigation shows something very different.

In this episode of Hidden Forces in History, we uncover how the Knights Templar became Europe’s first international banking system — and how a bankrupt king used fabricated heresy charges to eliminate his creditors in what may be the largest sovereign debt default of the Middle Ages.

We examine:

• How the Knights Templar became the bankers of kings and popes  

• Why King Philip IV of France was deeply indebted to the Templars  

• How heresy accusations were engineered as political weapons  

• The role of torture, propaganda, and legal theater  

• Why Friday the 13th still carries a legacy of power and fear  

This wasn’t religious persecution.

It was financial warfare — disguised as morality.

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