Examination of the captive Knights--Different kinds of
Torture--Causes of Confession--What Confessions were made--Templars
brought before the Pope--Their Declarations--Papal
Commission--Molay brought before it--Ponsard de Gisi--Defenders of
the Order--Act of Accusation--Heads of Defence--Witnesses against
the Order--Fifty-four Templars committed to the flames at
Paris--Remarkable words of Aymeric de Villars-le-Duc--Templars
burnt in other Places--Further Examinations--The Head worshipped by
the Templars--John de Pollincourt--Peter de la Palu.
The charge of conducting the inquiry against the society was committed
by Philip, without asking or waiting for the Pope's approbation, to
Imbert, who lost no time in proceeding to action. He wrote to all the
inquisitors of his order, directing them to proceed against the
Templars, as he had already done himself; and, in case of ascertaining
the truth of the charges, to communicate it to the Minorite Friars, or
some other order, that the people might take no offence at the
procedure; and to send the declarations as soon as possible to the king
and himself. They were to use no cruelty towards the prisoners; but, if
necessary, they might employ the torture. On the 19th October, six days
after their seizure, Imbert commenced his examinations at the Temple of
Paris. One hundred and forty prisoners were examined; when, by promises
and by the aid of the torture, confessions in abundance were procured.
Thirty-six of the knights expired under the gentle method employed to
extract the truth from them. The zealous Imbert then proceeded to
Bayeux, Metz, Toul, and Verdun; in all which places examinations were
held and confessions extorted in the same way. It was, however,
carefully stated in each deposition, that the witness had spoken without
any constraint.
As our readers fortunately cannot be supposed familiarly acquainted with
the mild and gentle modes employed by the brethren of St. Dominic, for
eliciting the truth, we will present a slight sketch of some of them,
that they may be able to form some idea of the value of rack-extorted
testimony.
Sometimes the patient was stripped naked, his hands were tied behind his
back, heavy weights were fastened to his feet, and the cord which
confined his hands passed over a pulley. At a given signal he was
hoisted into the air, where he hung suspended by his arms, which were
thus drawn out of their natural position: then suddenly the cord would
be let run, but checked before the patient reached the ground, and thus
a tremendous shock given to his frame. Another mode of torture was to
fasten the feet of the patient on an instrument, which prevented his
drawing them back; they were then rubbed with some unctious substance,
and set before a flaming fire; a board was occasionally placed between
his feet and the fire, and withdrawn again, in order to increase his
pain by intervals of cessation. The heel of the patient was at times
enclosed in an iron heel, which could be tightened at pleasure, and thus
caused excruciating pain. What was regarded as a very gentle mode, and
only indulged to those who had not strength to undergo the preceding
tortures, was to place round sticks between their fingers, and compress
them till the bones of the fingers were cracked. The teeth of the
Templars were occasionally drawn, their feet roasted, weights suspended
from all parts of their bodies; and thus they gave their testimony
without constraint!
What is understood as testimony or confession, by inquisitors, is an
affirmative answer to such questions as they ask. They usually assume
the guilt of the accused; and no witnesses for the defence are heard. It
is useless to prove the absurdity and unreasonableness of the charges;
for that would be impugning the sense and judgment of those who gave ear
to them; and promises are always held out that, if full and free
confession is made, the criminal will be gently dealt with. The accused
is, moreover, always confined in a solitary cell; he has none to console
and cheer him; he feels abandoned by the whole world; conscious
innocence is of no avail; his only hope is in the mercy of his judge.
The Templars, we must recollect, were seized towards the commencement of
winter; and at that season a dungeon of the middle ages must have been
cheerless beyond description. They were barely allowed the necessaries
of life; they were stripped of the habit of the order, and denied the
consolations of religion, for they were treated as heretics; and they
were shown a real or pretended letter of their Master, in which he
confessed the crimes of the order, and exhorted them to do the same.
Enthusiasts in religion or politics are supported by the consciousness
of rectitude, and bear up against privations or torture in firm reliance
on the favour of the Divinity, or the praise and esteem of a grateful
and admiring posterity. But the great majority of the Templars were far
from being such characters; they were illiterate knights, who had long
lived in luxury and indulged in arrogance; they knew themselves to be
objects of dislike to many, and felt that their power was gone. Need we
then be surprised that, beguiled by the hopes held out, numbers of them
readily acknowledged all the charges made against their order? and must
we not so much the more admire the constancy of those who, unseduced by
flattering hopes, and undismayed by menaces and torture, yielded up
their breath rather than confess a falsehood?
At Paris the knights who confessed acknowledged the denial of Christ
(this was the point which the inquisitors were most anxious to
establish), but in an uncertain, contradictory manner, as what was said
on one examination was retracted on another, or was enlarged or
diminished. It was also confessed that an idol was adored in their
chapters. At Nimes, in November, 1307, forty-five knights confessed the
guilt of the order. They afterwards retracted; but in 1311 the torture
made them revert to their original declaration. At Troyes two knights
confessed everything that was required of them. At Pont de l'Arche seven
confessed. These and six others were again examined at Caen; they
terminated their declarations by imploring the mercy of the Church, and
entreating with tears to be spared the torture. Those examined at
Carcassonne all deposed to the worship of the image; but some of them
afterwards retracted that admission, and died maintaining the innocence
of the order. Six Templars at Bigorre[97] and seven at Cahors confessed;
but several of them afterwards retracted.
[Footnote 97: In the church of the romantic hamlet of Gavarnic, a few
leagues from Bareges, on the road to Spain, in the heart of the Hautes
Pyrenees, are shown twelve skulls, which are said to have been those of
Templars who were beheaded in that place. The tradition is, in all
probability, incorrect; but the Templars had possessions in Bigorre.]
Philip and his creatures were at this stage of their career, when the
pope began to testify some little dissatisfaction at the irregularity of
the proceedings. The king instantly wrote to upbraid him with his
lukewarmness in the cause of religion. He stated that the bishops, who
were his (the king's) helpers in the government of the Church, were the
fittest persons to carry on the business, on account of their local
knowledge; and added that neither he nor they could comply with the
desires of the pope: "he acted," he said, "as the servant of God, and
must render to God his account." Clement could not venture to impede the
pious labours of such a zealous servant of the Lord; he cancelled the
bull which he had prepared on the subject, only requiring that each
bishop's inquisitors should be confirmed by a provincial council, and
that the examination of the heads of the order should be reserved for
himself. Philip then condescended to offer to put the captives into the
hands of the papal judges, and to devote the goods of the order to the
profit of the Holy Land. The clergy declined taking charge of the
knights, and the king and pope managed the property of the order in
common.
In the beginning of the year 1308, we are told[98], the Master of the
Templars, the preceptor of Cyprus, the visiter of France, and the
great-priors of Aquitaine and Normandy, were brought before the pope at
Chinon, where they voluntarily, and without the application of any
torture, confessed the truth of the enormities laid to the charge of the
order. They abjured their errors, and the cardinals implored the king in
their favour.
[Footnote 98: This is mentioned in a private letter from Clement to
Philip, of the 30th December, 1308.]
M. Raynouard[99], we know not on what authority, positively denies that
the Master and his companions were ever brought before the pope. He says
that, in the month of August following, they were on their way to
Poitiers, in order to be examined by the pontiff in person; but that,
under pretext of some of them being sick, they were detained at Chinon,
instead of being brought on to Poitiers, where the pope remained, and
were finally conducted back to Paris without having seen him. He does
not give the date of this occurrence, but it would seem to have been in
the following autumn.
[Footnote 99: Monumens Historiques, &c. p. 46.]
The proceedings against the Templars were so manifestly contrary to the
interest of the pope, that Philip deemed it necessary to keep a strict
eye over him. Having, in May, 1308, convoked an assembly of the states
at Tours, and obtained from them a declaration of his right to punish
notorious heretics without asking the consent of the pope, and in which
he was called upon to act with rigour against the Templars, he proceeded
with it himself to Poitiers, and presented it to Clement. During the
negociations which took place at that time, the pope attempted to make
his escape to Bordeaux, but his baggage and his treasures were stopped
by the king's orders at the gate of the town, and Clement remained in
effect a prisoner.
While the supreme pontiff was thus in his power, Philip, who still
remained at Poitiers, by way of removing all his scruples, had, on the
29th and 30th June, and 1st July, seventy-two of the Templars, who had
confessed, brought before Clement and examined. As was to be expected,
the greater part repeated their former declarations of the impiety,
idolatry, and licentiousness of the order. From these depositions it
appears clearly that the torture had been employed to extract the former
confessions.
Pierre de Broel said that he had been stripped and put to the torture,
but that he had said neither more nor less on that account. He added
that those who tortured him were all drunk.
Guillaume de Haymes had not been tortured, but he had been kept a month
in solitary confinement on bread and water before he made any
confession.
Gerard de St. Martial, who confessed to having denied Christ, and
spitten _beside_ the cross, said that he had been cruelly tortured,
being at first ashamed to acknowledge these facts, although they were
true.
Deodat Jafet had been tortured, but it was the inspiration of God and
the blessed Virgin Mary, and not the rack, which had made him confess.
He acknowledged every crime imputed to the order. Speaking of the idol,
he said, "I was alone in a chamber with the person who received me: he
drew out of a box a head, or idol, which appeared to me to have three
faces, and said, _Thou shouldst adore it as thy Saviour and that of the
order of the Temple_. We then bent our two knees, and I cried, _Blessed
be he who will save my soul_, and I worshipped it." Yet Jafet afterwards
retracted this deposition, and stood forth as one of the defenders of
the order.
Iter de Rochefort, though he said he had confessed, had been tortured
repeatedly, with a view to extracting more from him. He declared that,
having been received in the unlawful way, he had confessed himself to
the patriarch of Jerusalem, who had wept bitterly at hearing of such
wickedness. As Raynouard very justly observes, the patriarch, who could
hardly be a friend to the Templars, was not very likely to content
himself with shedding a few useless tears had the knowledge of such a
heresy come to his ears.
Pierre de Conders had confessed at the sight of the rack.
Raymond de Stephani had been severely tortured at Carcassonne. Being
asked why he did not then tell the truth, he replied, "Because I did not
recollect it; but I prayed the senechal to allow me to confer with my
companions, and when I had deliberated with them I recollected."
Who can give credit to depositions like these, most of which were
subsequently revoked? Yet it was by these that the pope declared himself
to be perfectly satisfied of the guilt of the order, and justified the
rigorous measures which he authorized against it. Philip, we are to
observe, was all this time at Poitiers: the prisoners were examined
before the cardinals, and only those who had not retracted their former
rack-extorted confessions were produced in the large concourse of
nobles, clergy, and people assembled on this occasion[100].
[Footnote 100: Raynouard, p. 253.]
Clement and Philip now arranged the convocation of an oecumenic
council at Vienne, to pronounce the abolition of the order. The pope
also appointed a commission to take at Paris a juridical information
against it; and, on the 1st August, he authorised the bishops and his
delegates to proceed in their inquiries. On the 12th August by the bull
_Faciens misericordiam_, after asserting the guilt of the order, he
called upon all princes and prelates throughout the Christian world to
assist him in making inquiry into this affair.
The commission appointed by the pope was composed of the archbishop of
Narbonne, the bishops of Bayeux, Mende, and Limoges; Matthew of Naples,
archdeacon of Rouen, notary of the Holy See; John of Mantua, archdeacon
of Trent; John of Montlaur, archdeacon of Maguelone; and William Agelin,
provost of Aix, which last was prevented by business from giving
attendance. They entered on their functions on the 7th August, 1309, and
ordered that the brethren of the Temple should be cited before them on
the first day of business after the festival of St. Martin, in
November. The citations were to be published in presence of the people
and clergy in the cathedrals, churches, and schools, in the principal
houses of the order, and in the prisons in which the knights were
confined. No one appearing, new citations were issued; and at length the
Bishop of Paris was called on by the commission to go himself to the
prison where the Master and the heads of the order were confined, and
notify it to them. Having done so, he caused the same notification to be
made throughout his diocese. The following circumstance, which occurred
at this time, would seem to indicate that impediments were thrown in the
way of those who were disposed to defend the order by the royal
ministers. The commissioners were informed that the governor of the
Chatelet had arrested and imprisoned some persons who were presumed to
have come to defend the order. The governor being summoned before them,
declared that, by order of the ministers, he had arrested seven persons
who were denounced as being Templars in a lay habit, who had come to
Paris with money in order to procure advocates and defenders for the
accused. He acknowledged that he had put them to the torture, but said
that he did not believe them to be Templars.
On Wednesday, Nov. 26, the commission sat, and Molay, the Master of the
Temple, was brought before it. He was asked if he would defend the
order, or speak for himself. He replied by expressing his surprise that
the Church should proceed with such precipitation in this case, when the
sentence relative to the Emperor Frederic had been suspended for
thirty-two years. Though he had neither knowledge nor talent sufficient
to defend the order, he should consider himself vile in his own eyes,
and in those of others, if he hesitated to do so; but being the
prisoner of the king and the pope, and without money, he asked for aid
and counsel.
The commissioners desired him to reflect on his offer, and to consider
the confessions respecting himself and the order which he had made. They
agreed, however, to give him time; and, that he might not be ignorant of
what was alleged against him, had the documents containing their powers
read to him in the vulgar language.
During the reading of the letters which recited his confession made to
the cardinals at Chinon, he crossed himself repeatedly, and gave other
signs of indignation and surprise, and said, that, were it not for the
respect due to the envoys of the pope, he should express himself
differently. They said they were not come there to receive challenges.
He replied that he spoke not of cartels, he only wished they acted in
this case as the Saracens and Tartars did, who cut off the head and cut
the body in two of those who were found to be guilty.
Two circumstances are worthy of note in this examination; one, that
William Plasian was present at it, and, as the commissioners expressly
declared, without being invited by them; the other, that the
confessions, which were imputed to Molay, and which he evidently
intimated to be false, were inserted in the bull _Faciens
misericordiam_, which bears the date of the 12th August, although the
festival of the Assumption, that is the 16th of August, is given as the
day on which they were made[101]. It was there declared that the heads
of the order had confessed and been absolved; yet here we find the
Master treated as a heretic who was still unreconciled.
[Footnote 101: Raynouard, 61. This circumstance was first remarked by
Fleury, _Hist. Eccles._, lib. xci. Yet it seems hardly credible that the
pope and his secretaries could have made so gross a mistake.]
The following day (Nov. 27), Ponsard de Gisi, prior of Payens, appeared
before the commission. On being asked if he would defend the order, he
replied, "Yes; the imputations cast on us of denying Christ, of spitting
on the cross, of authorising infamous crimes, and all such accusations,
are false. If I, myself, or other knights, have made confessions before
the bishop of Paris, or elsewhere, we have betrayed the truth--we have
yielded to fear, to danger, to violence. We were tortured by Flexien de
Beziers, prior of Montfaucon, and the monk William Robert, our enemies.
Several of the prisoners had agreed among themselves to make these
confessions, in order to escape death, and because thirty-six knights
had died at Paris, and a great number in other places, under the
torture. As for me, I am ready to defend the order in my own name, and
in the names of those who will make common cause with me, if I am
assigned out of the goods of the order as much as will defray the
needful expense. I require to be granted the counsel of Raynaud of
Orleans and of Peter of Bologna, priests of the order." He was asked if
he had been tortured. He replied that he had, three months before he
made his confession.
Next day the Master was brought up again. He demanded to be brought
before the pope, appealed to the valour and charity of the Templars, and
their zeal in adorning churches, in proof of their piety, and made an
orthodox confession of his own faith. Nogaret, who was present, then
observed, that it was related in the chronicles of St. Denis that the
Master of the order had done homage to Saladin; and that the sultan had
ascribed their ill fortune to their secret vices and impiety. Molay
declared that he had never heard of such calumnies; and gave an
instance of the prudence and good faith of a former Master, when himself
and some other young men wanted him to break a truce. Molay concluded by
praying the chancellor and the commissioners to procure him the favour
of hearing mass, and being attended by his chaplains.
Orders having been given that all the Templars who were desirous to
undertake the defence of the order should be conveyed to Paris, they
were brought thither strongly guarded. The commission then renewed its
sittings. As the prisoners were successively brought before it, they,
with few exceptions, declared their readiness to defend their
order--_till death_, cried some; _till the end_, cried others; _because
I wish to save my soul_, added one. Bertrand de St. Paul declared that
he never did, and never would, confess the guilt of the order, because
it was not true; and that he believed that God would work a miracle if
the body of Christ was administered to those who confessed and those who
denied. Seven of those who had been examined before the pope, and had
confessed, now declared that they had lied, and revoked what they then
said. John de Valgelle maintained that he had made no confession on that
occasion. "I was tortured so much, and held so long before a burning
fire," said Bernard de Vado, "that the flesh of my heels was burnt, and
these two bones (which he showed) came off."
In the course of these examinations, a Templar, named Laurent de Beaune,
showed a letter with the seals of Philip de Voet and John Jainville, the
persons set by the pope and king over the prisoners, addressed to the
Templars confined at Sens, inviting them to confess what was required,
and declaring that the pope had given orders that those who did not
persevere in their confessions should be committed to the flames.
Philip de Voet, on being interrogated, said that he did not believe that
he had sent that letter; his seal had often lain in the hands of his
secretary; he had always advised the prisoners to speak the truth.
Jainville was not examined, neither was John Carpini, the bearer of the
letter. De Beaune was one of the first afterwards committed to the
flames; the supposition is natural, that the letter was a stratagem of
the king and his ministers.
The Master having been again brought before the commissioners, and
having renewed his demand of being sent to the pope, they promised to
write to the pope on the subject, but there is no proof of their having
done so.
On the 28th March all the Templars who had expressed their willingness
to defend the order were assembled in the garden of the bishop's palace.
Their number was 546. The Master was not among them. The articles of
accusation were then read over to them in Latin; the commissioners
ordered that they should be read again to them in the vulgar tongue, but
the knights all cried out that it was enough, they did not desire that
such abominations, which were false and not to be named, should be
repeated in the vulgar language. Again, they complained of the
deprivation of their religious habits and the sacraments of the church,
and desired that the Master and the heads of the order should be called
thither also. But this reasonable request was not complied with. In vain
the Master demanded to be brought before the pope; in vain the knights
required to be permitted to enjoy the presence of their chief. Neither
the one nor the other suited the interest or the designs of the king.
The number of the Templars in Paris soon amounted to near 900. The
commissioners were desirous that they should appoint agents to manage
their defence; but this they declined to do, some alleging that they
could not do so without the consent of their chief, others insisting on
defending the order in person. At length, after a great deal of argument
and deliberation, seventy-five Templars were chosen to draw up the
defence of the order; and the priests of the order, Raynaud de Pruino
and Peter of Bologna, and the knights, William de Chambonnet and
Bertrand de Sartiges, were appointed to be present at the deposition of
the witnesses.
The act of accusation against the Templars, drawn up in the name of the
pope, ran thus. At the time of their reception they were made to deny
God, Christ, the Virgin, &c.; in particular to declare that Christ was
not the true God, but a false prophet, who had been crucified for his
own crimes, and not for the redemption of the world. They spat and
trampled on the cross, especially on Good Friday. They worshipped a cat
which sometimes appeared in their chapters. Their priests, when
celebrating mass, did not pronounce the words of consecration. They
believed that their Master could absolve them from their sins. They were
told at their reception that they might abandon themselves to all kinds
of licentiousness. They had idols in all their provinces, some with
three faces, some with one. They worshipped these idols in their
chapters, believed that they could save them, regarded them as the
givers of wealth to the order, and of fertility to the earth; they
touched them with cords which they afterwards tied round their own
bodies. Those who at the time of their reception would not comply with
these practices were put to death or imprisoned. All this, it was
stated, took place _according to the statutes of the order_; it was a
general and ancient custom, and there was no other mode of reception.
The act of accusation stated farther that the Templars stopped at no
means of enriching the order[102].
[Footnote 102: All these crimes had been acknowledged by various members
of the order. Yet what can be more improbable than the worship of the
cat for instance? This charge, by the way, had already been made against
the sect of the Cathari, who were said to have derived their name _a
catta:_--rather their name gave origin to the invention.]
The Templars, in their reply, asserted that all these imputations were
false, and that if any of them had confessed them, they had done so
under terror and violence, thirty-six having expired by torture at Paris
and several others elsewhere. The forms of law had been violated with
respect to them; to obtain from them false depositions letters of the
king had been shown them declaring that the order had been condemned
irrevocably, and offering life, liberty, and pensions, to those who
would depose falsely. "All these facts, said they, are so public and so
notorious that there are no means or pretexts for disavowing them." The
heads of accusation were nothing but falsehoods and absurdities, and the
bull contained nothing but horrible, detestable, and iniquitous
falsehoods. Their order was pure, and if their statutes were consulted
they would be found to be the same for all Templars and for all
countries. Their belief was that of the Church; parents brought their
children, brothers each other, uncles their nephews, into the order,
because it was pure and holy. When in captivity to the infidels, the
Templars died sooner than renounce their religion. They declared their
readiness to defend their innocence in every way, and against every
person except the pope and the king, demanded to be brought personally
before the general council, required that those who had quitted the
order and deposed against it should be kept in close custody till their
truth or falsehood should be ascertained, and that no layman should be
present to intimidate the accused when under examination. The knights,
they maintained, had been struck with such terror, that the false
confessions made by some were less matter of surprise than the courage
of those who maintained the truth was of admiration. Inquire, said they,
of those who were present at the last moments of the knights who died in
prison; let their confessions be revealed, and it will be seen if the
accusations are true. Is it not strange, asked they in conclusion, that
more credit should be given to the lies of those who yielded to tortures
or to promises than to the asseverations of those who, in defence of the
truth, have died with the palm of martyrdom--of the sound majority of
those knights who have suffered and still suffer so much for conscience'
sake?
On the 11th April, 1310, the hearing of the witnesses against the order
commenced. Only twenty-one were produced, two of whom did not belong to
the order, the others being principally those who had persisted in their
declarations before the pope. As might be expected, all the crimes laid
to the charge of the order in the papal bull were again deposed to by
these men; but the commission had only got as far as the examination of
the thirteenth witness when the impatience of the king manifested itself
in a barbarous and illegal act, which had apparently long been
meditated.
The Archbishop of Sens, whose suffragan the Bishop of Paris was, had
died about Easter, 1309, and the pope had reserved the nomination to
himself. Philip wrote to him requiring of him to nominate Philip de
Marigny, Bishop of Cambray, brother to Enquerrand, his prime minister,
alleging that his youth was no just impediment, and that his acts would
prove how much he was beyond his age. The pope, though very reluctant,
was obliged to consent, and in April, 1310, Marigny was installed. No
time was now lost in proceeding to operation. On Sunday, May 10, the
four defenders of the order learned that the provincial council of Sens
was convoked at Paris in order to proceed against the knights
individually. They took alarm, and applied to the commission, which,
though it did not sit on Sundays, assembled, and Peter of Bologna
informed them of what he had heard. He begged that they would suffer him
to read an appeal which he had drawn up. This they declined doing, but
said that, if he had any defence of the order to give in, they would
receive it. He forthwith laid down a written paper, stating the danger
which the prisoners were in dread of, appealing to the holy see, and
entreating the commission to stop the proceedings of the archbishop and
his suffragans. The defenders of the order then retired, and the further
consideration of the affair was put off till after vespers, when they
re-appeared and gave in an address to the Archbishop of Sens, containing
an appeal to the pope. The commissioners, however, declined interfering
for the present.
It is to be noticed that the defenders of the order prayed on this
occasion of the commission to nominate one or more of its notaries to
draw up their act of defence, because they could find no notary who
would act for them, owing probably to fear of the royal displeasure, or
to the want of funds by the accused.
On Monday and Tuesday two more of the witnesses were heard. One of them
named Humbert de Puy declared that, having refused to acknowledge the
crimes laid to the charge of the order, he had been tortured three times
and kept for thirty-six weeks on bread and water in the bottom of an
infected tower, by order of John de Jainville.
While thus engaged, the commissioners learned to their dismay that the
council was about to commit to the flames fifty-four of the knights who
had stepped forth as the defenders of the order. They instantly sent one
of their notaries and one of the keepers of the prison of the Templars
to entreat the archbishop to act with caution, as there were strong
reasons for doubting the truth of the charges; and representing that the
witnesses were so terrified at what they had heard of the intentions of
the council, that they were incapable of giving their evidence; that
moreover the Templars had delivered in an appeal to the pope.
The archbishop, who was paying the price of his elevation to a hard
creditor, was not to be stopped by these considerations. He was making
short work of the business. On the Monday he had a number of those who
had undertaken the defence of the order brought before the council, and
he interrogated them once more himself. Those of them who, having
confessed, had afterwards retracted, and now persisted in their
retractation, were declared to be _relapsed heretics_, and were
delivered over to the secular arm and condemned to the flames; those
who, had not confessed, and would not, were sentenced to imprisonment as
_unreconciled_ Templars; those who persisted in their confession of the
enormities laid to the charge of the order were set at liberty, and
called _reconciled_ Templars.
The next morning the fifty-four Templars who had been declared relapsed
were taken from their prison, placed in carts, and conducted to the
place of execution, where they beheld the piles prepared, and the
executioners standing with flaming torches in their hands. An envoy from
the court was present, who proclaimed liberty and the royal favour for
those who would even then retract their declarations and confess the
guilt of the order. The friends and relatives of the unhappy victims
crowded round them, with tears and prayers, imploring of them to make
the required acknowledgment and save their lives. In vain. These gallant
knights, who, yielding to the anguish of torture, and worn down by
solitude and privations, had confessed to the truth of the most absurd
charges, now that they beheld the certain limit of their sufferings,
disdained to purchase by falsehood a prolongation of life to be spent in
infamy and contempt. With one voice they re-asserted their own innocence
and that of their order. They called on God, the Virgin, and all the
saints to aid and support them, raised the hymn of death, and expired
amidst the tears and commiseration of the by-standers.
Felons convicted on the clearest evidence will, as is well known, die
asserting their innocence; but this is when they have no hope of escape
remaining. Here life and liberty were offered, and the victims were
implored by those whom they most loved to accept of them. May we not
then assert that the men who resisted all solicitations were sincere and
spoke the truth, and were supported by their confidence of being
received as martyrs by that God whom they devoutly adored according to
the doctrines of their church?
On Wednesday, Aymeric de Villars-le-Duc, aged about fifty years, was
brought before the commissioners. He was quite pallid, and seemed
terrified beyond measure. On the articles to which he was to depose
being explained to him, he asseverated in the strongest manner his
resolution to speak the truth; then striking his breast with his
clenched hands, he bent his knees, and stretching his hands towards the
altar, spake these memorable words:--
"I persist in maintaining that the errors imputed to the Templars are
absolutely false, though I have confessed some of them myself, overcome
by the tortures which G. de Marcillac and Hugh de Celle, the king's
knights, ordered to be inflicted on me. I have seen the fifty-four
knights led in carts to be committed to the flames because they would
not make the confessions which were required of them. I have heard that
they were burnt; and I doubt if I could, like them, have had the noble
constancy to brave the terrors of the pile. I believe that, if I were
threatened with it, I should depose on oath before the commission, and
before any other persons who should interrogate me, that these same
errors imputed to the order are true. _I would kill God himself if it
was required of me._"
He then earnestly implored the commissioners and the notaries who were
present not to reveal to the king's officers, and to the keepers of the
Templars, the words which had escaped him, lest they should deliver him
also to the flames.
Ought not these simple honest words, the very accents of truth, to
prevail with us against all the confessions procured by torture, or by
promises or threats, and satisfy us as to their value?
The commissioners, whose conduct throughout the whole affair was
regulated by humanity and justice, declared that the evening before one
of the witnesses had come to them and implored of them to keep his
deposition secret, on account of the danger which he ran if it should be
known; and, judging that in their present state of terror it would not
be just to hear the witnesses, they deliberated on proroguing their
session to a future period.
We thus see that even the papal commission could not protect against the
king such of the witnesses as were honest and bold enough to maintain
the innocence of the order. Strict justice was therefore out of the
question, Philip _would_ have the order guilty of the most incredible
crimes, and death awaited the witness who did not depose as he wished.
Meantime his agents were busily engaged in tampering with the prisoners;
and by threats and promises they prevailed on forty-four of them to give
up their design of defending the order.
On the 21st May the commissioners met, in the absence of the Archbishop
of Narbonne and the Archdeacon of Trent, and, declaring their labours
suspended for the present, adjourned to the 3d November.
In the interval the conduct of the council of Sens had been imitated in
other provinces. The Archbishop of Rheims held a council at Senlis, by
whose sentence nine Templars were committed to the flames. Another
council was held at Pont-de-l'Arche by the Archbishop of Rouen, and
several knights were burnt. The Bishop of Carcassonne presided at a
council which delivered many victims to the secular arm. On the 18th
August the Archbishop of Sens held a second council, and burned four
knights. Thibault, Duke of Lorraine, the close friend of King Philip,
put many Templars to death, and seized the property of the order.
On the 3d November three of the papal commissioners met at Paris: they
asked if any one wished to defend the order of the Templars. No one
appearing they adjourned to the 27th December. On resuming their
sittings they called on William de Chambonnet and Bertrand de Sartiges
to give their presence at the hearing of the witnesses. These knights
required the presence of Raynaud de Pruino and Peter of Bologna, but
were informed that these priests had solemnly and voluntarily renounced
the defence of the order, and revoked their retractations; that the
latter had escaped from his prison and fled, and that the former could
not be admitted to defend the order, as he had been degraded at the
council of Sens. The knights reiterated their refusal and retired. The
commissioners then proceeded in their labours without them, and
continued the examination of witnesses till the 26th May, 1311.
The whole number of persons examined before the commission amounted to
231, for the far greater part serving-brethren. Of these about
two-thirds acknowledged the truth of the principal charges against the
order. The denial of Christ and spitting on the cross were very
generally confessed, but many said they had spitten _beside_ it, not
_on_ it, and also that they had denied God with their lips, not with
their hearts.
With respect to the head which the Templars were said to worship, as it
was of some importance to prove this offence, in order to make out the
charge of heresy, it was testified to by a few. Some said it was like
that of a man with a long white beard, others that it was like that of a
woman, and that it was said to be the head of one of the 11,000 virgins.
One witness gave the following account of it, which he said he had had
from a secular knight at Limisso, in Cyprus.
A certain nobleman was passionately in love with a maiden. Being unable,
however, to overcome her repugnance to him, he took her body, when she
was dead, out of her grave, and cut off her head, and while thus engaged
he heard a voice crying--_Keep it safe, whatever looks on it will be
destroyed_. He did as desired, and made the first trial of it on the
Grissons, an Arab tribe, which dwelt in Cyprus and the neighbouring
country, and whenever he uncovered the head and turned it towards any of
their towns, its walls instantly fell down. He next embarked with the
head for Constantinople, being resolved to destroy that city also. On
the way his nurse, out of curiosity, opened the box which contained the
head. Instantly there came on a terrific storm, the ship went to pieces,
and nearly all who were on board perished. The very fish vanished from
that part of the sea.
Another of the witnesses had heard the same story. The common tradition
of the East, he said, was, that in old times, before the two spiritual
orders of knighthood were founded, a head used to rise in a certain
whirlpool named Setalia, the appearance of which was very dangerous for
the ships which happened to be near it. We are to suppose, though it
does not appear that the witnesses said so, that the Templars had
contrived to get possession of this formidable head.
We are to observe that the witnesses who thus deposed had been picked
and culled in all parts of France, by the king's officers, out of those
who had confessed before the different prelates and provincial councils,
and who were, by threats and promises, engaged to persist in what they
had said. The terror they were under was visible in their countenances,
their words, and their actions. Many of them began by saying that they
would not vary from what they had deposed before such a bishop or such a
council; yet even among these some were bold enough to revoke their
confessions, declaring that they had been drawn from them by torture,
and asserted the innocence of the order. Others retracted their
confessions when brought before the commissioners, but shortly
afterwards, having probably in the interval been well menaced or
tortured by the king's officers, returned and retracted their
retraction.
The case of John de Pollencourt, the thirty-seventh witness, is a
remarkable instance. He began in the usual way, by declaring that he
would persist in his confession made before the Bishop of Amiens,
touching the denial of Christ, &c. The commissioners, observing his
paleness and agitation, told him to tell the truth and save his soul,
and not to persist in his confession if it had not been sincere,
assuring him that neither they nor their notaries would reveal any thing
that he said. After a pause he replied:--
"I declare then, on peril of my soul, and on the oath which I have
taken, that, at the time of my reception, I neither denied God nor spat
upon the cross, nor committed any of the indecencies of which we are
accused, and was not required so to do. It is true that I have made
confessions before the inquisitors; but it was through the fear of
death, and because Giles de Rotangi had, with tears, said to me, and
many others who were with me in prison at Montreuil, that we should pay
for it with our lives, if we did not assist by our confessions to
destroy the order. I yielded, and afterwards I wished to confess myself
to the Bishop of Amiens; he referred me to a Minorite friar; I accused
myself of this falsehood, and obtained absolution, on condition that I
would make no more false depositions in this affair. I tell you the
truth; I persist in attesting it before you; come what may of it, I
prefer my soul to my body."
Nothing can bear more plainly the character of truth than this
declaration; yet three days afterwards the witness came back, revoked it
all, spoke of the cat which used to appear in the chapters, and said
that, if the order had not been abolished, he would have quitted it. Had
he not been well menaced and tortured in the _interim_?
The examination of Peter de la Palu, a bachelor in theology of the order
of the preachers, the 201st witness, brought from him these remarkable
words: "I have been present at the examination of several Templars, some
of whom confessed many of the things contained in the said articles, and
some others totally denied them; and for many reasons it appeared to me
that greater credit was to be given to those who denied than to those
who confessed."