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On October 13, 1307, French King Philip IV has Grand Master Jacques de Molay and Knights Templar arrested and charged with idolatry and corruption. From the article:
"Plan and the arrest
On 14 September 1307 all bailiffs and seneschals[b] in the kingdom of France were sent secret orders from King Philip IV ordering preparations to be made for the arrest and imprisonment of all members of the Order of Templars; the actual arrests were to be executed a month later.[25] At dawn on October 13, 1307, the soldiers of King Philip IV then captured all Templars found in France.[26] Clement V, initially incensed at this flagrant disregard for his authority nonetheless relented and on November 22, 1307, issued a papal decree, ordering all monarchs of the Christian faith to arrest all Templars and confiscate their lands in the name of the Pope and the Church.[27] The order went out to England, Iberia, Germany, Italy and Cyprus. The leader, Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay, and Hughes de Pairaud, a Templar, referred to in various documents as "the visitor of France", and was the collector of all of the royal revenues of France owing to the Order, as well as many other Templars in France were arrested.[28]
Philip used his ministers and agents Guillaume de Nogaret and Enguerrand de Marigny who collected a list of charges against the Templars. Other witnesses were said to have been made up of expelled Templar members, previously removed for their misdeeds. Under the orders of the French king, they were arrested and severely tortured.[29]
Soon after, in 1307, the Pope sent two Cardinals to interview Jacques de Molay and Hugues de Pairaud.[28] At that time they recanted their confessions and told the other Templars to do the same.[30]
The specific charge of heresy
Several significant changes in legal procedures had been made by 1230 that affected later trials, especially those of the Templars.[31] No longer did a witness need fear reprisals if his accusations were proved untrue.[31] Instead, a new system relying on the testimony of witnesses, judicial latitudes[c] and the inquisitorial procedure began to dominate criminal trials in most of Europe.[31] In France, the issuance of Cupientes in 1229 by Louis IX of France, Philip's grandfather, gave the kings of France the duty to eliminate heresy in his kingdom.[32] Additionally, from 1230 on, the inquisitors in northern Italy had been given special powers by Pope Honorius III which allowed them to examine even the exempted and protected orders of the Hospitallers, Cistercians and Templars, but only in cases where heresy was suspected.[33] When the Albigensian Crusade was over, these special powers were never revoked but simply forgotten.[33] So Philip's royal lawyers concentrated their charges to this one vulnerable exception, that of heresy, to an otherwise untouchable order, one which answered only to the pope.[33]
Charges against the Templars
The initial charge against the Templars was heresy; more specifically "when professing, the brothers were required to deny Christ, to spit on the Cross, and to place three 'obscene kisses' on the lower spine, the navel and the mouth; they were obliged to indulge in carnal relations with other members of the order, if requested; and finally they wore a small belt which had been consecrated by touching a strange idol, which looked like a human head with a long beard."[34] On August 12, 1308, the charges would be increased stating that the Templars worshipped idols, specifically made of a cat and a head, the latter having three faces.[35] The lists of articles 86 to 127[3] would add many other charges. It should be noted that none of these "idols" were ever produced.[36][37]
The inquisitional trials
Of the various trials held in France, the first, and one of the larger trials, ran from 19 October to 24 November 1307 and was held in Paris. A total of 138 prisoners gave a full testimony and almost all admitted guilt to one or more charges.[38] Since torture was used to elicit these confessions, the reliability of their testimony before this and other inquisitional tribunals remains an open question.[39] What is known is these earlier confessions contradicted later testimony before the 1310 papal commissions in Paris.[39] Another important trial that was held at Poitiers between 28 June and 2 July 1308 where at least 54 Templars testified before the pope and his commission of cardinals.[40] Here too a considerable number of defendants confessed to one or more of the charges.[41] When asked if their statements were freely given many said that, while they had been tortured or threatened, restricted to bread and water and other forms of harsh treatments had been imposed on them, their confessions were not the results of any torture.[42] But in 1310 at least three said they had lied in front of the Pope and now wished to defend the order.[42]
Templar Peter (Pierre) of Bologna was trained as a canon lawyer and was 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 were sent to the Pope. In May 1310, the Archbishop of Sens, Philippe de Marigny, took over the trial of the Templars from the original commission. De Marigny conducted the proceedings against the Templars until his death in 1316.[43] 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 their participation in the trials.[44] Two days after this change, 54 Templars were burned outside of Paris. When the papal commission met on November 3, 1310, they found the Templars had no defenders and adjourned until December 27.[45] At this time the prisoners insisted that Peter de Bologna and Renaud de Provins again defend them but were told the two priests had appeared before the commission of the Archbishop of Sens and that both de Pruno and de Bologna were found guilty and had been imprisoned.[45] Peter de Bologna, however, had managed to escape his confinement.[45]
Recantation and death of Templar leaders in France
Eventually King Philip's Inquisitors succeeded in making Jacques de Molay confess to the charges.[46] On 18 March 1314, de Molay and de Charney, recanted their confessions, stating they were innocent of the charges and they were only guilty of betraying their Order by confessing under duress to something they had not done. They were immediately found guilty of being relapsed heretics, for which the punishment was death. This effectively silenced the other Templars. Philip continued 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 leader Jacques de Molay, and Geoffroi de Charney.[30]"
"Plan and the arrest
On 14 September 1307 all bailiffs and seneschals[b] in the kingdom of France were sent secret orders from King Philip IV ordering preparations to be made for the arrest and imprisonment of all members of the Order of Templars; the actual arrests were to be executed a month later.[25] At dawn on October 13, 1307, the soldiers of King Philip IV then captured all Templars found in France.[26] Clement V, initially incensed at this flagrant disregard for his authority nonetheless relented and on November 22, 1307, issued a papal decree, ordering all monarchs of the Christian faith to arrest all Templars and confiscate their lands in the name of the Pope and the Church.[27] The order went out to England, Iberia, Germany, Italy and Cyprus. The leader, Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay, and Hughes de Pairaud, a Templar, referred to in various documents as "the visitor of France", and was the collector of all of the royal revenues of France owing to the Order, as well as many other Templars in France were arrested.[28]
Philip used his ministers and agents Guillaume de Nogaret and Enguerrand de Marigny who collected a list of charges against the Templars. Other witnesses were said to have been made up of expelled Templar members, previously removed for their misdeeds. Under the orders of the French king, they were arrested and severely tortured.[29]
Soon after, in 1307, the Pope sent two Cardinals to interview Jacques de Molay and Hugues de Pairaud.[28] At that time they recanted their confessions and told the other Templars to do the same.[30]
The specific charge of heresy
Several significant changes in legal procedures had been made by 1230 that affected later trials, especially those of the Templars.[31] No longer did a witness need fear reprisals if his accusations were proved untrue.[31] Instead, a new system relying on the testimony of witnesses, judicial latitudes[c] and the inquisitorial procedure began to dominate criminal trials in most of Europe.[31] In France, the issuance of Cupientes in 1229 by Louis IX of France, Philip's grandfather, gave the kings of France the duty to eliminate heresy in his kingdom.[32] Additionally, from 1230 on, the inquisitors in northern Italy had been given special powers by Pope Honorius III which allowed them to examine even the exempted and protected orders of the Hospitallers, Cistercians and Templars, but only in cases where heresy was suspected.[33] When the Albigensian Crusade was over, these special powers were never revoked but simply forgotten.[33] So Philip's royal lawyers concentrated their charges to this one vulnerable exception, that of heresy, to an otherwise untouchable order, one which answered only to the pope.[33]
Charges against the Templars
The initial charge against the Templars was heresy; more specifically "when professing, the brothers were required to deny Christ, to spit on the Cross, and to place three 'obscene kisses' on the lower spine, the navel and the mouth; they were obliged to indulge in carnal relations with other members of the order, if requested; and finally they wore a small belt which had been consecrated by touching a strange idol, which looked like a human head with a long beard."[34] On August 12, 1308, the charges would be increased stating that the Templars worshipped idols, specifically made of a cat and a head, the latter having three faces.[35] The lists of articles 86 to 127[3] would add many other charges. It should be noted that none of these "idols" were ever produced.[36][37]
The inquisitional trials
Of the various trials held in France, the first, and one of the larger trials, ran from 19 October to 24 November 1307 and was held in Paris. A total of 138 prisoners gave a full testimony and almost all admitted guilt to one or more charges.[38] Since torture was used to elicit these confessions, the reliability of their testimony before this and other inquisitional tribunals remains an open question.[39] What is known is these earlier confessions contradicted later testimony before the 1310 papal commissions in Paris.[39] Another important trial that was held at Poitiers between 28 June and 2 July 1308 where at least 54 Templars testified before the pope and his commission of cardinals.[40] Here too a considerable number of defendants confessed to one or more of the charges.[41] When asked if their statements were freely given many said that, while they had been tortured or threatened, restricted to bread and water and other forms of harsh treatments had been imposed on them, their confessions were not the results of any torture.[42] But in 1310 at least three said they had lied in front of the Pope and now wished to defend the order.[42]
Templar Peter (Pierre) of Bologna was trained as a canon lawyer and was 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 were sent to the Pope. In May 1310, the Archbishop of Sens, Philippe de Marigny, took over the trial of the Templars from the original commission. De Marigny conducted the proceedings against the Templars until his death in 1316.[43] 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 their participation in the trials.[44] Two days after this change, 54 Templars were burned outside of Paris. When the papal commission met on November 3, 1310, they found the Templars had no defenders and adjourned until December 27.[45] At this time the prisoners insisted that Peter de Bologna and Renaud de Provins again defend them but were told the two priests had appeared before the commission of the Archbishop of Sens and that both de Pruno and de Bologna were found guilty and had been imprisoned.[45] Peter de Bologna, however, had managed to escape his confinement.[45]
Recantation and death of Templar leaders in France
Eventually King Philip's Inquisitors succeeded in making Jacques de Molay confess to the charges.[46] On 18 March 1314, de Molay and de Charney, recanted their confessions, stating they were innocent of the charges and they were only guilty of betraying their Order by confessing under duress to something they had not done. They were immediately found guilty of being relapsed heretics, for which the punishment was death. This effectively silenced the other Templars. Philip continued 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 leader Jacques de Molay, and Geoffroi de Charney.[30]"
Trials of the Knights Templar - Wikipedia
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