 In today's video we'll be delving into the top 10 most fascinating facts about the Knights Templar. Starting with number 10, the Knights Templars invented the banking system. They set up a system where pilgrims could deposit funds at a location in their city of origin in exchange for a letter of credit that could be redeemed once they reached their destination in Jerusalem. The letters of credit could be exchanged for the item's value in gold or precious materials, creating an early form of checks and pioneering the first formal banking system. This enhanced safety for travelers and created immense wealth for the Templars. At number 9, the Templars likely used encrypted communications. To prevent the letters of credit from being counterfeited or to keep them from being redeemed if they were stolen, the Templars almost certainly used some kind of cipher system to encode them. None of these letters of credit have survived over the centuries but encrypted communication predates the Templars by centuries and substitution ciphers were in wide use by their time. Number 8, one of the most defining features of a Knight Templar was the white mantles that they wore. All knights in the order were required by oath to wear a white circote emblazoned with a red cross at all waking hours of the day and they were even forbidden from eating or talking unless wearing it. Even when riding into battle the knights would proudly don their white mantles over their chainmail and would outfit their horses with white comparisons that also displayed the Templar Red Cross. Number 7, they never surrendered. The Knight's Templar had a very strict set of rules for warfare. One of the most important rules was that a Knight's Templar could never surrender while the Red Cross flag still flew over the battlefield. As part of their oath all Templars agreed to lay down their lives for the order should the need arise. When paired with their excellent training and heavy armaments this uncompromising devotion and willingness to fight till their last breath made Knight's Templar one of the most fearsome adversaries anybody could face on the battlefield. Moving on to number 6, the Templars were destroyed because the French King borrowed too much from them thanks to his costly war against England. Instead of paying the Templars back the King devised a plan to cancel his debt. Philip fabricated accusations of heresy leading to their mass arrest, torture and execution on a date infamous for the Templar tragedy. Friday the 13th. This leads us to number 5, the Templars were arrested on Friday the 13th to prevent the Templars an organization based in France from learning of King Philip's plans to arrest them and fleeing his territory with their wealth. The King secretly ordered his soldiers to simultaneously capture Templars across the country on the morning of Friday the 13th of October 1307. Number 4, they were caught because of their long beards. Although never technically required by Templar law the monastic lifestyle of the knights often meant that they would end up growing huge bushy beards. After it became popular a large beard turned into one defining characteristic of a Templars appearance. Their beards made them easy targets when King Philip and others initiated their arrests. Number 3, the leaders of the Templars were tortured and burned at the stake. King Philip extracted confessions from a number of the captured Templars including the last surviving grandmaster Jacques de Molay through torture. Many of them were burned at the stake for the horrific punishment for heresy and the denial of Christ. Pope Clement V died just a month later and according to one account while his body was on display in a cathedral lightning from a thunderstorm set the church on fire and burned it to the ground. King Philip IV died from a stroke during a hunt later that same year. His sons died without male heirs thereby ending Philip's patriarchal dynasty. At number 2, the Templars grandmaster cursed his accusers and it came true. While the flames were growing around him when he was being executed Jacques de Molay supposedly shouted out a curse on those who had falsely condemned him specifically the King and the Pope. He called for them to meet him before God within a year of his execution. And number 1, the bulk of the Templar wealth might still exist in a hidden treasure chamber. Although a vast majority of the Templars were killed or imprisoned by the French King the order had outposts across Europe so many of them survived the initial arrest. Because of the night's Templar secrecy many believe that King Philip's plot to arrest them and seize their wealth might not have been completely successful. It's possible that the Templars held stashes of gold, gems and other valuables in hidden caches around France and Europe. Click here to watch the next video. Also please smash the subscribe button and if you made it this far click on the like button.