Now at open war with his ungrateful son Giuseppe Conte, M5S founder Beppe Grillo is back with one of his riddles that would put even the authors of the Settimana Enigmistica to shame. In a photo together with the late Gianroberto Casaleggio, the now former guarantor announced for tomorrow, Tuesday 3 December, at 11.03 a ‘delicate message‘ on his social channels.

Why 11.03? Simple: to confuse the ideas. And it works, because everyone has already launched into conspiracy hypotheses, esoteric symbolism and Templar chronologies.

The announcement is just the latest chapter in the real war that animates the Movement: a challenge to prove who is the purest among the pure, who is the true heir to the holy grail of Grillism.

The execution of the Grand Master of the Templars

11.03, then. On 10 and 11 March 2022, the members voted on the new Statute, but there are those who bet that the time chosen by Beppe is not such a trivial reference and point to the history of the Templar Order. On 11 March 1314, Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Order, was executed at the stake in Paris, accused of heresy. Before his death, according to legend, he cast a curse on King Philip IV and Pope Clement V, who died shortly afterwards. This episode has remained ingrained in the collective imagination as the culmination of treason against the Templar Order, and some believe his words symbolically sealed the fate of the French monarchy. When Louis XVI was beheaded during the French Revolution, the executioner is said to have whispered the words to the sovereign: “Jacques de Molay, you have been avenged!“. And down came the guillotine.

A dramatic end, but one that is reminiscent of the Movement’s situation: for years, time has been spent cutting off internal heads, accusing each other of more or less serious betrayals. And like the Templars, the Movement seems to be a sect that fights more against itself than against real enemies.

The War of Secession

Then there are those who point to the parallel with11 March 1861, the date on which the Southern Confederacy of the United States adopted its Constitution. A historic event that marked an irreparable rift and the beginning of a civil war. Sound familiar? The civil war of the five stars (without the stripes, unlike America) sees on one side the ‘nostalgics’ who want to return to the original purity of the ‘vaffa’, and on the other side Conte’s ‘progressives’ who try to stay relevant (or who perhaps still dream of bringing Giuseppi back to Palazzo Chigi).

No more politics, only theatre

What is the truth? We will find out tomorrow, or maybe not. In any case, the affair has now moved beyond the political dimension and taken on that – very much in keeping with Grillo – of the theatrical spectacle.