The Knights Templar Marathon, France
Marathon # 535
Date: December 10, 2025
My Time: 7:37:10
By Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo
I decided to dedicate my 535th marathon to the Knights Templar and visited (at km 27) one of their estates: The Templar Commandery of “Godcity” (French: La Commanderie des Templiers de la Villedieu) in Elancourt, France. The commandery—founded between 1150 and 1180 by the Knights Templar with a chapel and surrounding agricultural buildings arranged around a central courtyard—served as one of their operational bases.
After finishing the race in the evening, I celebrated the event with my wife Gisèle Diallo, our son Thierry Diallo, and our friends Raihanatou Bah and Aliou Bah who invited us to a delicious Fulani dinner at their home, next to the Templar commandery.
The Rise of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (French: Pauvres Chevaliers du Christ et du Temple de Salomon), mainly known as the Knights Templar, emerged in the early 12th century to defend European pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem.
In 1119, the French knight Hugues de Payens approached King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and proposed creating a religious order for the protection of the pilgrims. King Baldwin agreed to the request and granted the Templars a headquarters in a wing of the royal palace on the Temple Mount, which was located above what was believed to be the ruins of the Temple of Solomon, hence their name.
After getting the official endorsement of Pope Innocent II in 1129, the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ became a favored charity throughout Christendom and grew rapidly in wealth, membership and power. Another major benefit came in 1139, when a papal bull exempted the order from obedience to local laws, meaning that the Templars were not required to pay any taxes and were exempt from all authority except that of the pope. They progressively built a network of nearly 1,000 commanderies and fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land.
The World’s First Modern Bankers
In 1150 the Knights Templar began to issue letters of credit for pilgrims who, before departing for the Holy Land, made a deposit with a local Templar preceptory. Then, if they survive the journey, upon arrival in the Holy Land, they showed the document to claim their funds.
The Knights Templar also lent money to Kings of both England and France to finance the Crusades, and to pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. Other activities included farming, and transporting money and valuables between Palestine and Europe.
The Curse of Friday the 13th
“Dieu n’est pas content, nous avons des ennemis de la foi dans le Royaume” (English: “God is not pleased. We have enemies of the faith in the kingdom.”). These were the first words of the arrest warrant issued by King Philip IV of France. At dawn on Friday, October 13, 1307, the Grand Master Jacques de Molay and other French Templars were arrested under false accusations of heresy.
Under pressure from King Philip IV, Pope Clement V disbanded the Order of the Knights Templar in 1312 and, two years later, the Grand Master Jacques de Molay and another official were declared guilty of being relapsed heretics and sentenced to burn alive at the stake in Paris on March 18, 1314.
The Grand Master remained defiant to the end, calling out from the flames that both Pope Clement V and King Philip IV would soon meet him before God: “God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death.” And the prophecy worked: Pope Clement V—who was based in Avignon, France--died a month later, on April 20, 1314. King Philip IV also died the same year, on November 29 at the age of 46 while hunting, and many misfortunes befell the members of his family.
So it turned out that God was not at all pleased (French: “Dieu n’était pas du tout content”) with what the French King and the French pope inflicted to the Knights Templar, hence the “Curse of Friday the 13th,”—the widespread Western superstition that this date brings bad luck.
My book Running Barefoot for Human Survival is available on Amazon in paperback and e-book format (French edition: Courir pieds nus pour sauver les humains).
Date: December 10, 2025
My Time: 7:37:10
By Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo
I decided to dedicate my 535th marathon to the Knights Templar and visited (at km 27) one of their estates: The Templar Commandery of “Godcity” (French: La Commanderie des Templiers de la Villedieu) in Elancourt, France. The commandery—founded between 1150 and 1180 by the Knights Templar with a chapel and surrounding agricultural buildings arranged around a central courtyard—served as one of their operational bases.
After finishing the race in the evening, I celebrated the event with my wife Gisèle Diallo, our son Thierry Diallo, and our friends Raihanatou Bah and Aliou Bah who invited us to a delicious Fulani dinner at their home, next to the Templar commandery.
The Rise of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (French: Pauvres Chevaliers du Christ et du Temple de Salomon), mainly known as the Knights Templar, emerged in the early 12th century to defend European pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem.
In 1119, the French knight Hugues de Payens approached King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and proposed creating a religious order for the protection of the pilgrims. King Baldwin agreed to the request and granted the Templars a headquarters in a wing of the royal palace on the Temple Mount, which was located above what was believed to be the ruins of the Temple of Solomon, hence their name.
After getting the official endorsement of Pope Innocent II in 1129, the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ became a favored charity throughout Christendom and grew rapidly in wealth, membership and power. Another major benefit came in 1139, when a papal bull exempted the order from obedience to local laws, meaning that the Templars were not required to pay any taxes and were exempt from all authority except that of the pope. They progressively built a network of nearly 1,000 commanderies and fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land.
The World’s First Modern Bankers
In 1150 the Knights Templar began to issue letters of credit for pilgrims who, before departing for the Holy Land, made a deposit with a local Templar preceptory. Then, if they survive the journey, upon arrival in the Holy Land, they showed the document to claim their funds.
The Knights Templar also lent money to Kings of both England and France to finance the Crusades, and to pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. Other activities included farming, and transporting money and valuables between Palestine and Europe.
The Curse of Friday the 13th
“Dieu n’est pas content, nous avons des ennemis de la foi dans le Royaume” (English: “God is not pleased. We have enemies of the faith in the kingdom.”). These were the first words of the arrest warrant issued by King Philip IV of France. At dawn on Friday, October 13, 1307, the Grand Master Jacques de Molay and other French Templars were arrested under false accusations of heresy.
Under pressure from King Philip IV, Pope Clement V disbanded the Order of the Knights Templar in 1312 and, two years later, the Grand Master Jacques de Molay and another official were declared guilty of being relapsed heretics and sentenced to burn alive at the stake in Paris on March 18, 1314.
The Grand Master remained defiant to the end, calling out from the flames that both Pope Clement V and King Philip IV would soon meet him before God: “God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death.” And the prophecy worked: Pope Clement V—who was based in Avignon, France--died a month later, on April 20, 1314. King Philip IV also died the same year, on November 29 at the age of 46 while hunting, and many misfortunes befell the members of his family.
So it turned out that God was not at all pleased (French: “Dieu n’était pas du tout content”) with what the French King and the French pope inflicted to the Knights Templar, hence the “Curse of Friday the 13th,”—the widespread Western superstition that this date brings bad luck.
My book Running Barefoot for Human Survival is available on Amazon in paperback and e-book format (French edition: Courir pieds nus pour sauver les humains).
The statue of a Knight Templar on the roundabout opposite the Templar Commandery of “Godcity” (French: La Commanderie des Templiers de la Villedieu) in Elancourt, France.
Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo’s Knights Templar Marathon Garmin Data
Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo inside the Templar Commandery of “Godcity” during his Knights Templar Marathon
The Templar Commandery of “Godcity” (French: La Commanderie des Templiers de la Villedieu) in Elancourt, France.
The Templar Commandery of “Godcity” (French: La Commanderie des Templiers de la Villedieu) in Elancourt, France.
Satellite View of the Templar Commandery of Villedieu in Elancourt, France. The blue line is a section of Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo’s course during his Knights Templar Marathon.
From left to right: Raihanatou Bah, Gisèle Diallo, Aliou Bah, Sidy Diallo and Thierry Diallo at a delicious Fulani dinner in Elancourt, France