Trial of the Knights Templar

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The Trial of the Knights Templar was the result of a plan by King Philip IV with the complicity of Pope Clement V in the early 14th century, against the The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, commonly known as the Knights Templar. King Philip, deeply in debt to the Templars from various loans made to him, not the least of which was from the endless financial drain of the wars, ordered a dramatic arrest of all Templars in France on October 13, 1307. The Pope, Clement V, in November 22, 1307, also issued a papal decree, called Pastoralis praceminentiae, ordering all monarchs of the Christian faith to arrest all Templars and confiscate their lands in the name of the Pope and the Church. Though the order went out to England, Iberia, Germany, Italy and Cyrus, the leader, Jacques de Molay, and many other Templars were in France, and, under the orders of the French King, were arrested and under severe torture confessed to the series of horrible crimes of which they were accused. Soon after, in 1307, the Pope sent two Cardinals to interview de Molay and Pairaud, and they recanted their confessions and told the other Templars to do the same.[1] Two other Templars, Pierre de Bologna and Renaud de Provins also tried to convince other Templars to recant their confessions and by early May 1310, close to six hundred did so. After that Pierre de Bologna was never seen again and Renaud de Provins was sentenced to life imprisonment. On 12 May 1310, 54 Templars were burnt at the stake outside Paris. This basically silenced the other Templars. Philip continue to pressure and threaten the Pope to officially disband the Order, and things came to a dramatic end in 1314 with the public execution by burning of the Templar Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, and Geoffroi de Charney, the Preceptor of Normandy.[2]

Contents

[edit] Events in France

Through the course of their 200-year history, the Templars, as an officially endorsed charity of the church, had received massive donations of money, land, businesses and other property, from European nobles who were interested in helping with the Crusades and the fight in the Holy Land. As the Crusades wound down though, and the Crusaders were eventually expelled from the area, European support for the Crusades dwindled, though the Templars were still a massive and wealthy organization, as were the Knights Hospitaller. Further, the Templars, by order of the Pope, were exempt from all taxes, and had many other privileges, such as being able to pass freely through all borders. They were effectively an international banking organization, and had loaned large sums of money to many nobles, including the Kings of both England and France. These debts certainly contributed to Philip's motivations, as he was deeply in debt to the order.[3][4] As an example, in 1299, the Order loaned him the substantial sum of five hundred thousand livres for the dowry of his sister. Philip was also in dire need of funds to meet the endless drain of the Flemish War. He had imposed taxes until some of his subjects were in revolt, and others were on the verge of it. He had debased the coinage, leading to a popular insurrection in Paris. Ironically, Philip was defended during that incident by the Templars, who gave him refuge in their fortress. Philip then constructed a plan to have the Templars arrested, and their wealth confiscated. His ministers and agents such as Guillaume de Nogaret and Enguerrand de Marigny were in support, and collected a list of charges of which were quite similar the list of charges which had earlier been directed by Philip against the uncooperative Pope Boniface VIII. Charges were drawn from the testimony of disgruntled expelled Templars, and sometimes made up entirely. As it was the time of the Inquisition, heresy being one of the charges, was a convenient charge to bring against anyone, as no proof was required — rumor alone was sufficient to justify arrest and trial.[5]

[edit] Arrests charges and subsequent events

Many of the Knights Templar in France were arrested on October 13, 1307 at the orders of King Philip IV of France. Scores of charges were leveled at the Templars, many of them similar charges to those directed at other of Philip's enemies, such as heresy, sodomy and blasphemy.

There were five initial charges lodged against the Templars. The first was the renouncement of Christ and spitting on the cross during initiation into the Order. The second was the stripping of the man to be initiated and the thrice kissing of that man by the preceptor on the navel, posteriors and the mouth. The third was telling the neophyte (novice) that unnatural lust was lawful and indulged in commonly. The fourth was that the cord worn by the neophyte day and night was consecrated by wrapping it around an idol in the form of a human head with a great beard, and that this idol was adored in all chapters. The fifth was that the priests of the order did not consecrate the host in celebrating Mass. Many of these charges were made against Boniface before his capture, escape and eventual death shortly thereafter in 1308. They were also accomplished using the same agents of the King of France, not by accident, since many of these and similar charges had worked in the past on prior enemies of the King.[6] On August 12, 1308, the charges would be increased and would become more outrageous, one specifically stated that the Templars worshipped idols, specifically made of a cat and a head, the latter having three faces. The lists of articles 86 to 127[3] would add many other charges.[7][8] While tortured, some Templars "confessed" to these crimes. Pope Clement V interceded and directed that actual trials take place; however, Philip sought to thwart this effort, and had several Templars burned at the stake as heretics to prevent them from participating in the trials. The actions taken by Philip would eventually lead to the complete disbanding of the Order on March 22, 1312.[9] The property of the Templars was ordered by Pope Clement V to the Hospitallers but Philip IV confiscated a huge sum from them in "compensation" for the "costs" of the proceedings against the Templars.[10]

Templar Peter (Pierre) of Bologna, had been trained as a lawyer and had been the Templar representative to the papal court in Rome. On April 23, 1310, Peter, with others, went before the commission and demanded what amounts to full disclosure of their accusers and all the information and evidence gathered in the case. They also requested a ban on witnesses conversing with one another, and that all proceedings should be kept secret until they had been sent to the Pope.[11] In May 1310, the Archbishop of Sens, Philippe de Marigny, took over the trial of the Templars from the original commission. Two days after this change, 54 Templars were burned outside of Paris. When the commission again asked to see Peter of Bologna, they were told that he had "suddenly returned to his former confession, then broken out of jail and fled." Whatever the truth, he was never seen or heard from again.[12]

[edit] Interrogations

It is irrational to accept the reasoning of Michelet,[13] who argued that the uniformity of denial in a series of depositions taken by the Bishop of Elne does not suggest the statements were agreed upon in advance, and the variations in those who admitted guilt are an evidence of their truthfulness. If the Templars were innocent, denials of their charges read to them seriatim (one after another; in a series) would be necessarily identical; if they were guilty, the confessions would be likewise uniform. Thus the identity of the one group and the diversity of the other both concur to disprove the accusations. The proof that the Templar priests did not mutilate the words of consecration in the mass is furnished in the Cypriot proceedings by ecclesiastics who had long dwelt with them in the East.[14] At one point in the Inquisition (Geoffroi) de Charney is questioned about the enforcement of penalties of some tortured Templars and their Initiation Ceremonies. The record of the depositions state: "One, indeed, deposed that he had been offered the choice between renouncing Christ, spitting on the cross, and the indecent kiss, and he selected the spitting". In fact, the evidence as to the enforcement of the sacrilege is hopelessly contradictory. The "confessions" were full of contradictions. In many cases the neophyte was excused after a slight resistance; in others he was thrust into a dark dungeon until he yielded. Egidio, Preceptor of San Gemignano of Florence stated that he had known two recalcitrant neophytes carried in chains to Rome, where they perished in prison, and Niccolo Eegino, Preceptor of Grosseto, said that recusants were slain, or sent to distant parts, like Sardinia, where they ended their days. Geoffroi de Charney, Preceptor of Normandy, swore that he enforced it upon the first neophyte whom he received, but that he never did so afterwards, and Gui Dauphin, one of the high officers of the Order, said virtually the same thing; Gaucher de Liancourt, Preceptor of Keims, on the other hand, testified that he had required it in all cases, for if he had not he would have been imprisoned for life, and Hugues de Pairaud, the Visitor of France, declared that it was obligatory on him.[15]

[edit] Death of Templar leaders

On October 24, 1307, Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master of the Temple, was questioned about accusations surrounding his inception into the order. At the time, the accusations surrounding the ritual reception into the order were the only charges levied.[16] The accusations stemmed from the initiation ceremony being held privately and at night.[17] Over the next few months, the number of charges would swell to 127, although many of those charges repeat themselves or are nearly identical.

According to historian Barbara Frale, a dialogue between de Molay and Pope Clement took place in which Clement wanted to see the Templar Rule book and wanted to know if the Templars did in fact worship some sort of idol. With the numerous rumors about Templar initiation, the Pope had to know exactly what it was the Templars were doing to be gaining such attention.[18]

Eventually King Philip's Inquisitors succeeded in making Jacques de Molay confess to the charges. As he was the Grand Master, all of the Templars would thus be considered guilty.[19] De Molay and de Charney, later recanted his confession, were convicted for being relapsed heretics, for which the punishment was being burned at the stake.

The cardinals dallied with their duty until March 19, 1314, when, on a scaffold in front of Notre Dame, de Molay, Geoffroi de Charney, Master of Normandy, Ilugues de Peraud, Visitor of France, and Godefroi de Gonneville, Master of Aquitaine, were brought forth from the jail in which for nearly seven years they had lain, to receive the sentence agreed upon by the cardinals, in conjunction with the Archbishop of Sens and some other prelates whom they had called in. Considering the offences the culprits had confessed to and confirmed, the penance imposed was in accordance with rule—that of perpetual imprisonment. The affair was supposed to be concluded when, to the dismay of the prelates and wonderment of the assembled crowd, de Molay and Geoffroi de Charney arose. They had been guilty, they said, not of the crimes imputed to them, but of basely betraying their Order to save their own lives. It was pure and holy; the charges were fictitious and the confessions false. Hastily the cardinals delivered them to the Prevot of Paris, and retired to deliberate on this unexpected contingency, but they were saved all trouble. 'When the news was carried to Philippe he was furious. A short consultation with his council was all that was required. The canons pronounced that a relapsed heretic was to be burned without a hearing; the facts were notorious and no formal judgment by the papal commission need be waited for. That same day, by sunset, a pile was erected on a small island in the Seine, the Isle des Juifs, near the palace garden.[20] There de Molay and de Charney were slowly burned to death, refusing all offers of pardon for retraction, and bearing their torment with a composure that won them the reputation of martyrs among the people, who reverently collected their ashes as relics' [21] Note: The day varies by one day, not unusual for the chronicles of the middle ages

[edit] Trial timeline in France

1307, September 14 Philip dispatches secret orders to prepare for the arrest of the Templars
1307, October 13 Templars arrested in France
1307, October 14 Guillaume de Nogaret lists original accusations against Templars.
1307, October 19 Hearings in Paris begin.
1307, October 24 Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Temple, confesses for the first time.
1307, October 25 Jacques de Molay repeats his confession before the members of the University of Paris.
1307, October 27 Pope Clement V expresses indignation at the arrests to Philip.
1307, November 9 Confession of Hugues de Pairaud.
1307, November 22 de Molay retracts his confession before the cardinal sent by the pope.
1308, Feb Clement V suspends the inquisitors involved in the Templar affair.
1308, August 17–20 Chinon parchment shows pardons for leadership of the Templars, including Jacques de Molay and Huges de Pairaud.
1310, March 14 127 Articles of accusation read to the Templars who are prepared to defend their order.
1310, April 7 Defense of the order led by Pierre de Bologna and Renaud de Provins.
1310, May 12 54 Templars are burned at the stake.
1310, December 17 Remaining defenders were told that Peter of Bologna and Renaud de Provins had returned to their confessions and that Peter of Bologna had fled.
1312, March 22 The Order of the Knights Templar is officially suppressed.
1313, March 21 Hospitallers agree to pay Philip IV 200,000 livres tournois compensation
1314, March 18 Jacques de Molay and Geoffroi de Charney are burned at the stake as relapsed heretics.
1314, April 20 Death of Pope Clement V.
1314, November 29 Death of Philip IV.

[edit] Events in England and Scotland

In 1307, the Templar Order in England was rich in possessions but few in members. At the time of the arrest of the Templars in France, Edward II doubted the accusations against the Order and summoned Guienne de Dene, his seneschal in Agen to give his account of the matter, after which he was still unconvinced and on October 30 sent letters to the Pope, the Kings of Portugal, Castile, Aragon and Naples defending the Order of the Templars and encouraging them to do the same.[22][23] He then wrote again to the Pope on Decemner 10 in which he states: "...he is unable to credit the horrible charges against the Knights Templar who everywhere bear a good name in England".[24] He also requests more proof of the accusations. He noted that the financial and other dealings between the English Monarchy and the Templars had always been straightforward and honest and fought with King Richard in the defense of the Holy Land[25][26] and well as giving financial support to Kings Richard, John and Henry III. On December 14, he received the Order from the Pope to arrest the Templars. Despite the Pope's Order, Edward went about the arresting of the Templars in a very different way than Philip. Many Templars were allowed to stay on their property, received allowances and remained in relative comfort until brought before the pontifical inquiries in 1309. On September 13, 1309, two Inquisitors were brought to England and allowed to question the Templars but in the presence of English prelates and as of November 1309, none of the Templars would confess to the charges. At that time torture was rarely used in England, the legal system in England was well-formed and used regular jurors as opposed to the "professional witness, accusers and jurors" frequently used by Philip as tools to enforce his will.[27] In December, the Pope put pressure on England and other countries to allow the Inquisitors to use "their" methods, namely "torture", and relunctant approval was given by the King of England. The conditions that the Templars were living in were radically changed and, as with continued pressure by the Pope and Inquisition on the King and local prelates, the inevitable result was obtained. The English Templars were sent to the Count of Ponthieu which did not adhere to English Law. Various confessions, different in many ways, were nonetheless obtained and the Templars were either executed or sent to prison for life.[28]

In 1312 by the Papal Bull "Ad Providam" all assets of the Order of the Temple were given to Knights Hospitaller or Order of St. John except for Spain where they were succeeded by the Order of Montesa the Order of Calatrava, from which its first recruits were drawn, and Portugal where they became the Order of Christ and it has been claimed that in Scotland the Order combined with the Hospitallers and continued as The Order of St John and the Temple until the Reformation, though there is no evidence to that effect. When Sir James Sandilands, Preceptor of the Order converted to Protestantism in 1553, the Order is thought to have ceased.[29]

[edit] The Chinon Parchment

The Chinon Parchment, found in September 2001 by Barbara Frale in the Vatican Archives, indicates that Pope Clement V had absolved the Knights Templar on August 17–20, 1308, including Jacques de Molay.[30][31] Three cardinals, acting on behalf of the Catholic Church, held a public inquiry whereby they conducted a public questioning of the Templars in which they signed a document admitting to their crimes. At the same time a private confession was heard and they received absolution for their sins.[32] [33][34][35][36][37] There is another Chinon Parchment in existence that has been well known to historians [38][39][40] published by Étienne Baluze in 1693,[41] and by Pierre Dupuy in 1751.[42] This other Chinon Parchment is dated Chinon 20 August 1308 and was addressed to Philip IV of France, stating that absolution had been granted to all those Templars that had confessed to heresy "and restored them to the Sacraments and to the unity of the Church".

[edit] References

  1. ^ Barbor, Malcolm. The Trial of the Templars (1978) p. 2 par. 1 line 7
  2. ^ Barbor, Malcolm. The Trial of the Templars (1978) p. 2 para 1,3; p. 3 para 1,2
  3. ^ Lea, Henry Charles V. 111, chapter 5
  4. ^ Lea, Henry Charles. A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages V. III , NY: Hamper & Bros, Franklin Sq. 1888 p.252, lines 1-4. Not in copyright
  5. ^ Lea, Henry Charles. A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages. V. III, NY: Hamper & Bros, Franklin Sq. 1888. p.250-257, Not in copyright
  6. ^ Lea, Henry Charles. http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofinquis03leah#page/262/mode/2up Vol. III Chpt. 5 par 2. Not in Copyright
  7. ^ Alain Demurger. Les Templiers, une chevalerie chrétienne au moyen-âge
  8. ^ Malcolm Barbor. The Trial of the Templars(1978)Malcolm Barbor. The Trial of the Templars. 1978 p.178 para 1 p. 179 para. 1.
  9. ^ Malcolm Barber. The Trial of the Templars (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1978) p 3
  10. ^ Malcolm Barber. The Trial of the Templars (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1978) p.3 para 2.
  11. ^ Sharan Newman. The Real History behind the Templars (New York: Berkley Books, 2007) p 259
  12. ^ Sharan Newman. The Real History behind the Templars (New York: Berkley Books, 2007). p 262
  13. ^ Lea, Henry Charles. A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Vol III, NY: Hamper & Bros, Franklin Sq. 1888 p.324. Not in copyright Pg 274, Political Heresy – The State and Michelet (Proces, II. vii.-viii.),
  14. ^ Processus Cypricus (SchottmiiUcr, II. 379, 382, 383). *Procfes, L 404; IL 260, 281, 284, 295, 299, 338, 354, 356, 363, 389, 390, 395,407.—Bini, pp. 468, 488. A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Vol III by Henry Charles Lea, NY: Hamper & Bros, Franklin Sq. 1888 p.324. Not in copyright.
  15. ^ Lea, Henry Charles. A History of the Inquisition of the Middle ages, V. III, NY: Hamper & Bros, Franklin Sq. 1888 p.324. Not in copyright.
  16. ^ Sharan Newman. The Real History behind the Templars (New York: Berkley Books, 2007) p. 265
  17. ^ G. Legman, et al. The Guilt of the Templars (New York; Basic Books, inc. 1966) p. 52
  18. ^ Barbara Frale The Chinon Chart p. 116
  19. ^ Barber The Trial of the Templars 63
  20. ^ A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Vol III by Henry Charles Lea, NY: Hamper & Bros, Franklin Sq. 1888. p.325-6, Not in copyright. (Dr. Lea's references for this are: IV. 141.— Stemler, Contingent zur Geschichte der Templer, pp. 20-1.— Raynouard, pp. 213-4, 233-5.— Wilcke, II. 236, 240.— Anton, Versucb, p. 142.)
  21. ^ Barbor, Malcolm. The Trial of the Templars 1978 p. 241 para 4
  22. ^ Rymer. Syllabus of Rymer's Foedera. http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924007439213#page/n323/mode/2up p.146 not in copyright
  23. ^ Rymer, I, part 4, p. 101-102 Letter to King Diniz of Portugal
  24. ^ Rymer. Syllabus of Rymer's Foedera http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924007439213#page/n323/mode/2up p. 148
  25. ^ http://www.monsalvat.globalfolio.net/eng/dominator/richard1/vinsauf/index002.php p. 2 Chapt 2
  26. ^ L. Landon, the Itinerary of King Richard. 1935 p. 34
  27. ^ Lea, Henry Charles. A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages. V. III, NY: Hamper & Bros, Franklin Sq. 1888. p.250-257, Not in copyright
  28. ^ Barber, Malcolm. The Trial of the Templars. 1978. Chapt 8. Pgs 198-203
  29. ^ Knights Templar: Their Rise and Fall, G.A. Campbell ISBN 0-7661-5658-3 page 335
  30. ^ http://www.inrebus.com/chinon.php (accessed December 8, 2008)
  31. ^ Frale, Barbara. “The Chinon chart Papal absolution to the last Templar, Master Jacques de Molay.” Journal of Medieval History 30 (2004): 109-134.
  32. ^ http://www.inrebus.com/chinon.php
  33. ^ http://templarfellowship.com/article/Our_Library/Templar_References/English_Translation_of_Chinon_Document/18176
  34. ^ http://www.knightstemplar.org/KTnews/ia.htm
  35. ^ http://www.masonicnetwork.org/blog/2009/the-chinon-parchment-were-the-knights-templar-pardoned/
  36. ^ http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Knights_Templar
  37. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1565252/Vatican-paper-set-to-clear-Knights-Templar.html
  38. ^ Charles d' Aigrefeuille, Histoire de la ville de Montpellier, Volume 2, page 193 (Montpellier: J. Martel, 1737-1739).
  39. ^ Sophia Menache, Clement V, page 218, 2002 paperback edition ISBN 0-521-592194 (Cambridge University Press, originally published in 1998).
  40. ^ Germain-François Poullain de Saint-Foix, Oeuvres complettes de M. De Saint-Foix, Historiographe des Ordres du Roi, page 287, Volume 3 (Maestricht: Jean-Edme Dupour & Philippe Roux, Imprimeurs-Libraires, associés, 1778).
  41. ^ Étienne Baluze, Vitae Paparum Avenionensis, 3 Volumes (Paris, 1693).
  42. ^ Pierre Dupuy, Histoire de l'Ordre Militaire des Templiers (Foppens, Brusselles, 1751).

[edit] Sources

[edit] Further reading

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