At the start of the 14th century, the Knights Templar were a famous military-religious order—but also a tempting target. They had property, political influence, and, in France, a king who needed leverage. On 13 October 1307, King Philip IV (“the Fair”) ordered a coordinated mass arrest of Templars in his realm, including the Grand Master Jacques de Molay. The operation worked because it was secret, simultaneous, and backed by royal administration: arrests at dawn, assets sealed, brothers isolate