Friday the 13th

The union of day and date has also been traced back to King Philip IV of France
arresting hundreds of Knights Templar on Friday 13 October 1307.
The Catholic crusaders were apprehended - under pressure from Pope Clement V
- over allegations made by an excommunicated former member that new recruits
to the order were being forced to spit on the cross, deny Christ and engage in
homosexual acts during initiation ceremonies.

The claims - seemingly entirely without foundation - were a convenient pretext

for Philip to persecute the wealthy order and waive debts he owed them
following war with England.

Charged with moral and financial corruption and worshipping false idols - often
following confessions obtained under torture - many of the knights were later
burnt at the stake in Paris.

The order's Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, faced the flames in front of Notre
Dame Cathedral and is said to have cried out a curse on those who had so gravely
wronged them: "God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will
occur to those who have condemned us to death."

The events initiated by the holy warriors' arrest, according to tradition, ensured
every subsequent Friday the 13th meant bad luck to one and all, De Molay's hex
ringing out through the ages.

There will be two Friday the 13ths in 2018: today and another in July. An
irrational fear of the day is known as paraskevidekatriaphobia.