13 OCT 1307

Yep, it was a Friday if you missed it.

It was on this date, October 13, 1307 — and presumably on a Friday — that King Philip IV ("the Fair") of France arrested all of the Templar Knights. The leaders were tortured into confessing impiety and sodomy in their houses and, although the method is not conducive to extracting truth, it is clear that the practices were rampant. The methods were standard: "The feet of the accused were oiled and fired, splinters were driven under their toe- and finger-nails, weights were tied to their genital organs, and so on," says McCabe. "Some underwent torture six or seven times. A large number, including the Grand Master [Jacques DeMolay] and three other leading Masters, confessed and were burned alive."