Salina York Rite
 

 Salina Chapter #18, Askelon Commandery #6

336 S. Santa Fe
  Salina Kansas 67401
    Tracy L. Bloom - Secretary
(785) 452-1684

October 13, 1307
KING PHILIP IV ARRESTS 15,000 KNIGHTS TEMPLAR AT DAWN
On this day in 1307, King Philip IV arrested 15,000 Knights Templar at dawn. As the Templars planned a new Crusade against the infidel, King Philip IV of France was planning his own private crusade against the Templars.He longed to be rid of his massive debts to the Templar order, which had used its wealth to establish a major banking operation. Philip wanted the Templar treasure to finance his continental wars against Edward I of England. When word arrived on Cyprus that the new pope would mount a Crusade, the Knights Templar thought that their time of resto-ration to glory was at hand. Summoned to France, their aging grand master, Jacquesde Molay, went armed with elaborate plans for the rescue of Jerusalem. In Paris, he was humored and hon-ored until the fatal day. At dawn on Friday, the thirteenth of October, 1307, every Templar in France was arrested and put in chains on Philip's orders. Their hideous torture for confessions of heresy began immediately. And ended several years later with the slow roasting to death of Grand Master Jacques deMolay on the steps of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Under Philip's orders Pope Clement V, literally under house arrest at Avignon, dissolved the Order making the Knights who managed to escape fugitives- literally men without country or religion, and forced to develop secret recognition signals and grips which were to become the traditional underpinnings of Freemasonry. The Templar order was founded in Jerusalem in 1118, in the aftermath of the First Crusade. Its name came from the location of its first headquarters on the site of the ancient Temple of Solomon. Helping to fill a desperate need for a standing army in the Holy Land, the Knights of the Temple soon grew in numbers, in wealth, and in political power. They also grew in arrogance, and their Grand Master de Ridfort was a key figure in the mistakes that led to the fall of Jerusalem in 1187. The Latin Christians managed to hold onto a narrow strip of territory along the coast, where the Templars were among the largest owners of the land and fortifications.
(Source: <>i>Copyight 2001, American Mason)

York Rite meetings are held on the Fourth Mondays of each month at 7:30 p.m.