selected
Agents of King Philip IV of France launched a raid on the Knights Templar at dawn, arresting many members, subsequently torturing them into giving false confessions and burning them at the stake.
Related Wikipedia articles
Philip IV of France
King of France from 1285 to 1314
Philip IV, called Philip the Fair, was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre and Count of Champagne as Philip I from 1284 to 1305. Although Philip was known to be handsome, hence the epithet le Bel, his…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Knights Templar
Catholic military order, 1118 to 1312
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the most important military orders in Western Christianity. They were founded in 1118 to defend pilgrims on their way to…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)