The downfall of the Templars--The cause thereof--The Grand Master
comes to Europe at the request of the pope--He is imprisoned, with
all the Templars in France, by command of king Philip--They are
put to the torture, and confessions of the guilt of heresy and
idolatry are extracted from them--Edward II., king of England,
stands up in defence of the Templars, but afterwards persecutes
them at the instance of the pope--The imprisonment of the Master of
the Temple and all his brethren in England--Their examination upon
eighty-seven horrible and ridiculous articles of accusation before
foreign inquisitors appointed by the pope--The curious evidence
adduced as to the mode of admission into the order, and of the
customs and observances of the fraternity--The Templars in France
having revoked their rack-extorted confessions, are treated as
relapsed heretics, and burnt at the stake--Solitary confinement of
the Templars in England in separate dungeons--Torture--Confessions
and recantations--The Master of the Temple at London dies in the
Tower--The Grand Master is burnt at the stake--The abolition of the
order and disposal of its property.
En cel an qu’ai dist or endroit,
Et ne sait a tort ou a droit,
Furent li Templiers, sans doutance,
Tous pris par le royaume de France.
Au mois d’Octobre, au point du jor,
Et un vendredi fu le jor.
_Chron. MS._
It now only remains for us to relate the miserable and cruel fate of
the surviving brethren of the order of the Temple, and to tell of the
ingratitude they encountered at the hands of their fellow-Christians in
the West. After the loss of all the christian territory in Palestine,
and the destruction of every serious hope of recovering and retaining
the Holy City, the services of the Templars ceased to be required, and
men began to regard with an eye of covetousness their vast wealth and
immense possessions. The clergy regarded with jealousy and indignation
their removal from the ordinary ecclesiastical jurisdiction, their
exemption from tithe, and the privilege they possessed of celebrating
divine service during interdict; and their hostility to the order
was manifested in repeated acts of injustice, which drew forth many
severe bulls from the Roman pontiffs.[144] The Templars, moreover,
became unpopular with the European sovereigns and their nobles. The
revenues of the former were somewhat diminished through the immunities
conceded to the order by their predecessors, and the paternal estates
of the latter had been diminished by the grant of many thousand
manors, lordships, and fair estates to the fraternity by their pious
and enthusiastic ancestors. Considerable dislike also began to be
manifested to the annual transmission of large sums of money, the
revenues of the Templars, from the European states, to be expended in a
distant warfare in which Christendom now took comparatively no interest.
Shortly after the fall of Acre, and the total loss of Palestine,
Edward I., king of England, seized and sequestered to his own use
the monies which had been accumulated by the Templars, to forward to
their brethren in Cyprus, alleging that the property of the order
had been granted to it by the kings of England, his predecessors,
and their subjects, for the defence of the Holy Land, and that since
the loss thereof, no better use could, be made of the money than by
appropriating it to the maintenance of the poor. At the earnest request
of the pope, however, the king afterwards permitted their revenues to
be transmitted to them in the island of Cyprus in the usual manner.
King Edward had previously manifested a strong desire to lay hands
on the property of the Templars. On his return from his victorious
campaign in Wales, finding himself unable to disburse the arrears of
pay due to his soldiers, he went with Sir Robert Waleran and some armed
followers to the Temple, and calling for the treasurer, he pretended
that he wanted to see his mother’s jewels, which were there kept.
Having been admitted to the house, he deliberately broke open the
coffers of the Templars, and carried away ten thousand pounds with him
to Windsor Castle. His son, Edward II, on his accession to the throne,
committed a similar act of injustice. He went with his favourite,
Piers Gaveston, to the Temple, and took away with him fifty thousand
pounds of silver, with a quantity of gold, jewels, and precious stones,
belonging to the bishop of Chester. The impunity with which these acts
of violence were committed, manifests that the Templars then no longer
enjoyed the power and respect which they possessed in ancient times.
As the enthusiasm, too, in favour of the holy war diminished,
large numbers of the fraternity remained at home in their western
preceptories, and took an active part in the politics of Europe. They
interfered in the quarrels of christian princes, and even drew their
swords against their fellow-Christians. Thus we find the members of the
order taking part in the war between the houses of Anjou and Aragon,
and aiding the king of England in his warfare against the king of
Scotland. In the battle of Falkirk, fought on the 22nd of July, A. D.
1298, seven years after the fall of Acre, perished both the Master of
the Temple at London, and his vicegerent the Preceptor of Scotland. All
these circumstances, together with the loss of the Holy Land, and the
extinction of the enthusiasm of the crusades, diminished the popularity
of the Templars. The rolls of the English parliament about this time
begin to teem with complaints and petitions from the fraternity, of the
infringement of their charters, franchises, liberties, and privileges,
in all parts of the realm.[145]
At the period of the fall of Acre, Philip the Fair, son of St. Louis,
occupied the throne of France. He was a needy and avaricious monarch,
and had at different periods resorted to the most violent expedients
to replenish his exhausted exchequer. On the death of pope Benedict
XI., (A. D. 1304,) he succeeded, through the intrigues of the French
Cardinal Dupré, in raising the archbishop of Bordeaux, a creature
of his own, to the pontifical chair. The new pope removed the holy
see from Rome to France; he summoned all the cardinals to Lyons, and
was there consecrated, (A. D. 1305,) by the name of Clement V., in
the presence of king Philip and his nobles. Of the ten new cardinals
then created, _nine_ were Frenchmen, and in all his acts the new pope
manifested himself the obedient slave of the French monarch. The
character of this pontiff has been painted by the Romish ecclesiastical
historians in the darkest colours.
On the 6th of June, A. D. 1306, a few months after his coronation, he
addressed letters from Bordeaux to the Grand Masters of the Temple and
Hospital at Limisso, in the island of Cyprus, expressing his earnest
desire to consult them with regard to the measures necessary to be
taken for the recovery of the Holy Land. He tells them that they are
the persons best qualified to give advice upon the subject, and to
conduct and manage the enterprise, both from their great military
experience and the interest they had in the success of the expedition.
“We order you,” says he, “to come hither without delay, with as much
secrecy as possible, and with a very little retinue, since you will
find on this side the sea a sufficient number of your knights to attend
upon you.” The Grand Master of the Hospital declined obeying this
summons; but the Grand Master of the Temple forthwith accepted it, and
unhesitatingly placed himself in the power of the pope and the king of
France. He landed in France, attended by sixty of his knights, at the
commencement of the year 1307, and deposited the treasure of the order,
which he had brought with him from Cyprus, in the Temple at Paris. He
was received with distinction by the king, and then took his departure
for Poictiers to have an interview with the pope.
The secret agents of the French king immediately circulated various
dark rumours and odious reports concerning the Templars. According
to some writers, Squin de Florian, a citizen of Bezieres, who had
been condemned to death or perpetual imprisonment in one of the
royal castles for his iniquities, was brought before king Philip,
and received a free pardon, and was well rewarded, in return for
an accusation on oath, charging the Templars with heresy, and with
the commission of the most horrible crimes. According to others,
Nosso de Florentin, an apostate Templar, who had been condemned by
the Grand Preceptor and chapter of France to perpetual imprisonment
for impiety and crime, made in his dungeon a voluntary confession
of the sins and abominations charged against the order. Be this as
it may, upon the strength of an information sworn to by a condemned
criminal, king Philip, on the 14th of September, despatched secret
letters to all the baillis of the different provinces in France,
accusing the Templars of infidelity; of mocking the sacred image of
the Saviour; of sacrificing to idols; and of abandoning themselves to
impure practices and unnatural crimes! “We being charged,” says he,
“with the maintenance of the faith; after having conferred with the
pope, the prelates, and the barons of the kingdom, at the instance
of the inquisitor, from the informations already laid, from violent
suspicions, from probable conjectures, from legitimate presumptions,
conceived against the enemies of heaven and earth! and because the
matter is important, and it is expedient to prove the just like gold in
the furnace, by a rigorous examination, have decreed that the members
of the order who are our subjects shall be arrested and detained to be
judged by the church, and that all their real and personal property
shall be seized into our hands!” &c. The baillis and seneschals were
required accurately to inform themselves, with great secrecy, and
without exciting suspicion, of the number of the houses of the Temple
within their respective jurisdictions; to provide an armed force
sufficient to overcome all resistance, and on the 13th of October to
surprise the Templars in their preceptories, and make them prisoners.
The inquisition is then directed to assemble to examine the guilty,
and to employ TORTURE if it be necessary. “Before proceeding with the
inquiry,” says Philip, “you are to inform them (the Templars) that the
pope and ourselves have been convinced, by irreproachable testimony, of
the errors and abominations which accompany their vows and profession;
you are to promise them _pardon_ and _favour_ if they CONFESS the
truth, but if not, you are to acquaint them that they will be condemned
to death.”
As soon as Philip had issued these orders, he wrote to the principal
sovereigns of Europe, urging them to follow his example, and sent a
confidential agent, named Bernard Peletin, with a letter to the young
king, Edward the Second, who had just then ascended the throne of
England, representing in frightful colours the pretended sins of the
Templars. On the 22nd of September, (A. D. 1306,) king Edward replied
to this letter, observing that he had considered of the matters
mentioned therein, and had listened to the statements of that discreet
man, Master Bernard Peletin; that he had caused the latter to unfold
the charges before himself, and many prelates, earls, and barons of
his kingdom, and others of his council; but that they appeared so
astonishing as to be beyond belief; that such abominable and execrable
deeds had never before been heard of by the king, and the aforesaid
prelates, earls, and barons, and it was therefore hardly to be expected
that an easy credence could be given to them. The English monarch,
however, informs king Philip, that by the advice of his council he had
ordered the seneschal of Agen, from whose lips the rumours were said to
have proceeded, to be summoned to his presence, that through him he
might be further informed concerning the premises; and he states that,
at the fitting time, after due inquiry, he will take such steps as will
redound to the praise of God, and the honour and preservation of the
catholic faith.[146]
On the night of the 13th of October, all the Templars in the French
dominions were simultaneously arrested. Monks were appointed to preach
against them in the public places of Paris, and in the gardens of the
Palais Royal; and advantage was taken of the folly, the superstition,
and the credulity of the age, to propagate the most horrible and
extravagant charges against them. They were accused of worshipping an
idol covered with an old skin, embalmed, having the appearance of a
piece of polished oil-cloth. “In this idol,” we are assured, “there
were two carbuncles for eyes, bright as the brightness of heaven, and
it is certain that all the hope of the Templars was placed in it; it
was their sovereign god, and they trusted in it with all their heart.”
They are accused of burning the bodies of the deceased brethren, and
making the ashes into a powder, which they administered to the younger
brethren in their food and drink, to make them hold fast their faith
and idolatry; of cooking and roasting infants, and anointing their
idols with the fat; of celebrating hidden rites and mysteries, to
which young and tender virgins were introduced, and of a variety of
abominations too absurd and horrible to be named. Guillaume Paradin, in
his history of Savoy, seriously repeats these monstrous accusations,
and declares that the Templars had “un lieu creux ou cave en terre,
fort obscur, en laquelle ils avoient un image en forme d’un homme, sur
lequel ils avoient appliqué la peau d’un corps humain, et mis deux
clairs et luisans escarboucles au lieu des deux yeux. A cette horrible
statue etoient contraints de sacrifier ceux qui vouloient etre de leur
damnable religion, lesquels avant toutes ceremonies ils contragnoient
de renier Jesus Christ, et fouler la croix avec les pieds, et apres ce
maudit sacre auquel assistoient femmes et filles (seduites pour etre
de ce secte) ils estegnoient les lampes et lumieres qu’ils avoient
en cett cave.... Et s’il advenoit que d’un Templier et d’un pucelle
nasquit un fils, ils se rangoient tous en un rond, et se jettoient
cet enfant de main en main, et ne cessoient de le jetter jusqu’a ce
qu’il fu mort entre leurs mains; etant mort ils se rotissoient (chose
execrable) et de la graisse ils en ognoient leur grand statue!” The
character of the charges preferred against the Templars proves that
their enemies had no serious crimes to allege against the order. Their
very virtues, indeed, were turned against them, for we are told that,
“to conceal the iniquity of their lives, they made much almsgiving,
constantly frequented church, comported themselves with edification,
frequently partook of the holy sacrament, and manifested always much
modesty and gentleness of deportment in the house, as well as in
public.”
During twelve days of severe imprisonment, the Templars remained
constant in the denial of the horrible crimes imputed to the
fraternity. The king’s promises of pardon extracted from them no
confession of guilt, and they were therefore handed over to the tender
mercies of the brethren of St. Dominic, who were the most refined
and expert torturers of the day. On the 19th of October, the grand
inquisitor proceeded with his myrmidons to the Temple at Paris, and a
hundred and forty Templars were one after another put to the torture.
Days and weeks were consumed in the examination, and thirty-six
Templars perished in the hands of their tormentors, maintaining, with
unshaken constancy to the very last, the entire innocence of their
order! Many of them lost the use of their feet from the application
of the torture of fire, which was inflicted in the following
manner:--their legs were fastened in an iron frame, and the soles of
their feet were greased over with fat or butter; they were then placed
before the fire, and a screen was drawn backwards and forwards, so as
to moderate and regulate the heat. Such was the agony produced by this
roasting operation, that the victim often went raving mad. Brother
Bernarde de Vado, on subsequently revoking a confession of guilt,
wrung from him by this description of torment, says to the commissary
of police, before whom he was brought to be examined, “They held me
so long before a fierce fire that the flesh was burnt off my heels,
two pieces of bone came away, which I present to you.”[147] Another
Templar, on publicly revoking his confession, declared that four of his
teeth were drawn out, and that he confessed himself guilty to save the
remainder. Others of the fraternity deposed to the infliction on them
of the most revolting and indecent torments;[148] and, in addition to
all this, it appears that forged letters from the Grand Master were
shown to the prisoners, exhorting them to confess themselves guilty!
Many of the Templars were accordingly compelled to acknowledge whatever
was required of them, and to plead guilty to the commission of crimes
which, in the previous interrogatories, they had positively denied.
These violent proceedings excited the astonishment of Europe. On the
20th of November, the king of England summoned the seneschal of Agen
to his presence, and examined him concerning the truth of the horrible
charges preferred against the Templars; and on the 4th of December,
the English monarch wrote letters to the kings of Portugal, Castile,
Aragon, and Sicily, to the following effect:--“To the magnificent
prince the Lord Dionysius, by the grace of God the illustrious king
of Portugal, his very dear friend, Edward, by the same grace king of
England, &c. Health and prosperity. It is fit and proper, inasmuch as
it conduceth to the honour of God and the exaltation of the faith,
that we should prosecute with benevolence those who come recommended
to us by strenuous labours and incessant exertions in defence of the
Catholic faith, and for the destruction of the enemies of the cross of
Christ. Verily, a certain clerk (Bernard Peletin,) drawing nigh unto
our presence, applied himself, with all his might, to the destruction
of the order of the brethren of the Temple of Jerusalem. He dared to
publish before us and our council certain horrible and detestable
enormities repugnant to the Catholic faith, to the prejudice of the
aforesaid brothers, endeavouring to persuade us, through his own
allegations, as well as through certain letters which he had caused to
be addressed to us for that purpose, that by reason of the premises,
and without a due examination of the matter, we ought to imprison all
the brethren of the aforesaid order abiding in our dominions. But,
considering that the order, which hath been renowned for its religion
and its honour, and in times long since passed away was instituted,
as we have learned, by the Catholic Fathers, exhibits, and hath from
the period of its first foundation exhibited, a becoming devotion to
God and his holy church, and also, up to this time, hath afforded
succour and protection to the Catholic faith in parts beyond sea, it
appeared to us that a ready belief in an accusation of this kind,
hitherto altogether unheard of against the fraternity, was scarcely to
be expected. We affectionately ask, and require of your royal majesty,
that ye, with due diligence, consider of the premises, and turn a
deaf ear to the slanders of ill-natured men, who are animated, as we
believe, not with a zeal of rectitude, but with a spirit of _cupidity_
and envy, permitting no injury unadvisedly to be done to the persons or
property of the brethren of the aforesaid order, dwelling within your
kingdom, until they have been legally convicted of the crimes laid to
their charge, or it shall happen to be otherwise ordered concerning
them in these parts.”
A few days after the transmission of this letter, king Edward wrote
to the pope, expressing his disbelief of the horrible and detestable
rumours spread abroad concerning the Templars. He represents them
to his holiness as universally respected by all men in his dominions
for the purity of their faith and morals. He expresses great sympathy
for the affliction and distress suffered by the Master and brethren,
by reason of the scandal circulated concerning them; and he strongly
urges the holy pontiff to clear, by some fair course of inquiry,
the character of the order from the unjust and infamous aspersions
cast against it.[149] On the 22nd of November, however, a fortnight
previously, the pope had issued the following bull to king Edward.
“Clement, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his very dear
son in Christ, Edward, the illustrious king of England, health and
apostolical blessing.
“Presiding, though unworthy, on the throne of pastoral pre-eminence,
by the disposition of him who disposeth all things, we fervently seek
after this one thing above all others; we with ardent wishes aspire
to this, that shaking off the sleep of negligence, whilst watching
over the Lord’s flock, by removing that which is hurtful, and taking
care of such things as are profitable, we may be able, by the divine
assistance, to bring souls to God. In truth, a long time ago, about
the period of our first promotion to the summit of the apostolical
dignity, there came to our ears a light rumour to the effect that the
Templars, though fighting ostensibly under the guise of religion, have
hitherto been secretly living in perfidious apostasy, and in detestable
heretical depravity. But, considering that their order, in times long
since passed away, shone forth with the grace of much nobility and
honour, and that they were for a length of time held in vast reverence
by the faithful, and that we had then heard of no suspicion concerning
the premises, or of evil report against them; and also, that from the
beginning of their religion, they have publicly borne the cross of
Christ, exposing their bodies and goods against the enemies of the
faith, for the acquisition, retention, and defence of the Holy Land,
consecrated by the precious blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
we were unwilling to yield a ready belief to the accusation....”
The holy pontiff then states, that afterwards, however, the same
dreadful intelligence was conveyed to the king of France, who, animated
by a lively zeal in the cause of religion, took immediate steps to
ascertain its truth. He describes the various confessions of the guilt
of idolatry and heresy made by the Templars in France, and requires the
king forthwith to cause all the Templars in his dominions to be taken
into custody on the same day. He directs him to hold them, in the name
of the pope, at the disposition of the Holy See, and to commit all
their real and personal property to the hands of certain trustworthy
persons, to be faithfully preserved until the holy pontiff shall give
further directions concerning it. King Edward received this bull
immediately after he had despatched his letter to the pope, exhorting
his holiness not to give ear to the accusations against the order.
The young king was now either convinced of the guilt of the Templars,
on the high authority of the sovereign pontiff, or hoped to turn the
proceedings against them to a profitable account, as he yielded a ready
and prompt compliance with the pontifical commands. An order in council
was made for the arrest of the Templars, and the seizure of their
property. Inventories were directed to be taken of their goods and
chattels, and provision was made for the sowing and tilling of their
lands during the period of their imprisonment.
On the 26th of December the king wrote to the pope, informing his
holiness that he would carry his commands into execution in the best
and speediest way that he could; and on the 8th of January, A. D. 1308,
the Templars were suddenly arrested in all parts of England, and their
property was seized into the king’s hands. Brother William de la More
was at this period Master of the Temple, or Preceptor of England. He
succeeded the Master Brian le Jay, who was slain, as before mentioned,
in the battle of Falkirk, and was taken prisoner, together with all
his brethren of the Temple at London, and committed to close custody in
Canterbury Castle. He was afterwards liberated on bail at the instance
of the bishop of Durham.[150]
On the 12th of August, the pope addressed the bull _faciens
misericordiam_ to the English bishops as follows:--“Clement, bishop,
servant of the servants of God, to the venerable brethren the
archbishop of Canterbury, and his suffragans, health and apostolical
benediction. The Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, using mercy with
his servant, would have us taken up into the eminent mirror of the
apostleship, to this end, that being, though unworthy, his vicar upon
earth, we may, as far as human frailty will permit in all our actions
and proceedings, follow his footsteps.” He describes the rumours
which had been spread abroad in France against the Templars, and his
unwillingness to believe them, “because it was not likely, nor did seem
credible, that such religious men, who continually shed their blood
for the name of Christ, and were thought to expose their persons to
danger of death for his sake; and who often showed many and great signs
of devotion, as well in the divine offices as in fasting and other
observances, should be so unmindful of their salvation as to perpetrate
such things; we were unwilling to give ear to the insinuations and
impeachments against them, being taught so to do by the example of
the same Lord of ours, and the writings of canonical doctrine. But
afterwards, our most dear son in Christ, Philip, the illustrious king
of the French, to whom the same crimes had been made known, _not
from motives of avarice_, (since he does not design to apply or to
appropriate to himself any portion of the estates of the Templars,
nay, has washed his hands of them!) but inflamed with zeal for the
orthodox faith, following the renowned footsteps of his ancestors,
getting what information he properly could upon the premises, gave
us much instruction in the matter by his messengers and letters.” The
holy pontiff then gives a long account of the various confessions made
in France, and of the absolution granted to such of the Templars as
were truly contrite and penitent; he expresses his conviction of the
guilt of the order, and makes provision for the trial of the fraternity
in England. King Edward in the mean time, had begun to make free with
their property, and the pope, on the 4th of October, wrote to him to
the following effect:
“Your conduct begins again to afford us no slight cause of affliction,
inasmuch as it hath been brought to our knowledge from the report of
several barons, that in contempt of the Holy See, and without fear of
offending the divine Majesty, you have, of your own sole authority,
distributed to different persons the property which belonged formerly
to the order of the Temple in your dominions, which you had got into
your hands at our command, and which ought to have remained at our
disposition.... We have therefore ordained that certain fit and proper
persons shall be sent into your kingdom, and to all parts of the world
where the Templars are known to have had property, to take possession
of the same conjointly with certain prelates specially deputed to that
end, and to make an inquisition concerning the execrable excesses
which the members of the order are said to have committed.”[151] To
this letter of the supreme pontiff, king Edward sent the following
short and pithy reply:--“As to the goods of the Templars, we have done
nothing with them up to the present time, nor do we intend to do with
them aught but what we have a right to do, and what we know will be
acceptable to the Most High.”
On the 13th of September, A. D. 1309, the king granted letters of safe
conduct “to those discreet men, the abbot of Lagny, in the diocese of
Paris, and Master Sicard de Vaur, canon of Narbonne,” the inquisitors
appointed by the pope to examine the Grand Preceptor and brethren of
the Temple in England; and the same day he wrote to the archbishop of
Canterbury, and the bishops of London and Lincoln, enjoining them to
be personally present with the papal inquisitors, at their respective
sees, as often as such inquisitors, or any one of them, should proceed
with their inquiries against the Templars.[152]
Among the prisoners confined in the Tower were Brother William de la
More, Knight, Grand Preceptor of England, otherwise Master of the
Temple; Brother Himbert Blanke, Knight, Grand Preceptor of Auvergne,
one of the veteran warriors who had fought to the last in defence of
Palestine, had escaped the slaughter at Acre, and had accompanied
the Grand Master from Cyprus to France, whence he crossed over to
England, and was rewarded for his meritorious and memorable services,
in defence of the christian faith, with a dungeon in the Tower. Brother
_Radulph de Barton_, priest of the order of the Temple, custos or
guardian of the Temple church, and prior of London; Brother _Michael
de Baskeville_, Knight, Preceptor of London; Brother _John de Stoke_,
Knight, Treasurer of the Temple at London; together with many other
knights and serving brethren of the same house. There were also in
custody in the Tower the Knights Preceptors of the preceptories of
Ewell in Kent, of Daney and Dokesworth in Cambridgeshire, of Getinges
in Gloucestershire, of Cumbe in Somersetshire, of Schepeley in Surrey,
of Samford and Bistelesham in Oxfordshire, of Garwy in Herefordshire,
of Cressing in Essex, of Pafflet, Huppleden, and other preceptories,
together with several priests and chaplains of the order. A general
scramble appears to have taken place for possession of the goods
and chattels of the imprisoned Templars; and the king, to check the
robberies that were committed, appointed Alan de Goldyngham and John
de Medefeld to inquire into the value of the property that had been
carried off, and to inform him of the names of the parties who had
obtained possession of it. The sheriffs of the different counties were
also directed to summon juries, through whom the truth might he better
obtained.[153]
On the 22nd of September, the archbishop of Canterbury, acting in
obedience to the papal commands, before a single witness had been
examined in England, caused to be published in all churches and
chapels a papal bull, wherein the pope declares himself perfectly
convinced of the guilt of the order, and solemnly denounces the
penalty of excommunication against all persons, of whatever rank,
station, or condition in life, whether clergy or laity, who should
knowingly afford, either publicly or privately, assistance, counsel, or
kindness to the Templars, or should dare to shelter them, or give them
countenance or protection, and also laying under interdict all cities,
castles, lands and places, which should harbour any of the members of
the proscribed order! At the commencement of the month of October, the
inquisitors arrived in England, and immediately published the bull
appointing the commission, enjoining the citation of criminals, and of
witnesses, and denouncing the heaviest ecclesiastical censures against
the disobedient, and against every person who should dare to impede the
inquisitors in the exercise of their functions. Citations were made in
St. Paul’s Cathedral, and in all the churches of the ecclesiastical
province of Canterbury, at the end of high mass, requiring the Templars
to appear before the inquisitors at a certain time and place, and
the articles of accusation were transmitted to the constable of the
Tower, in Latin, French, and English, to be read to all the Templars
imprisoned in that fortress.
On Monday, the 20th of October, after the Templars had been languishing
in the English prisons for more than a year and eight months, the
tribunal constituted by the pope to take the inquisition in the
province of Canterbury assembled in the episcopal hall of London. It
was composed of the bishop of London Dieudonné, abbot of the monastery
of Lagny, in the diocese of Paris, and Sicard de Vaur, canon of
Narbonne, the pope’s chaplain, and hearer of causes in the pontifical
palace. They were assisted by several foreign notaries. After the
reading of the papal bulls, and some preliminary proceedings, the
articles of accusation, a monument of human folly, superstition, and
credulity, were solemnly exhibited. It was urged against the Templars:
“1. That at their first reception into the order, or at some time
afterwards, or as soon as an opportunity occurred, they were induced
or admonished by those who had received them within the bosom of the
fraternity, to deny Christ or Jesus, or the crucifixion, or at one
time God, and at another time the blessed Virgin, and sometimes all
the saints.--5. That the receivers told and instructed those that
were received, that Christ was not the true God, or sometimes Jesus,
or sometimes the person crucified.--7. That they said he had not
suffered for the redemption of mankind, nor been crucified but for
his own sins.--9. That they made those they received into the order
spit upon the cross, or upon the sign or figure of the cross, or the
image of Christ.--10. That they caused the cross itself to be trampled
under foot.--11. That the brethren themselves did sometimes trample on
the same cross.--12. Item quod mingebant interdum, et alios mingere
faciebant, super ipsam crucem.--14. That they worshipped a cat, which
was placed in the midst of the congregation.--16. That they did not
believe the sacrament of the altar nor the other sacraments of the
church.--24. That they believed, and so it was told them, that the
Grand Master of the order could absolve them from their sins.--25. That
the visitor could do so.--26. That the preceptors, of whom many were
laymen, could do it.--36. That the receptions of the brethren were made
clandestinely.--37. That none were present but the brothers of the
said order.--38. That for this reason there has for a long time been a
vehement suspicion against them.”
The succeeding articles charge the Templars with crimes and abominations
too horrible and disgusting to be named.
“46. That the brothers themselves had idols in every province, viz.
heads; some of which had three faces, and some one, and some a man’s
skull.--47. That they adored that idol, or those idols, especially
in their great chapters and assemblies--48. That they worshipped
them.--49. As their God.--50. As their Saviour.--51. That some of them
did so.--52. That the greater part did.--53. They said that those
heads could save them.--54. That they could produce riches.--55. That
they had given to the order all its wealth.--56. That they caused
the earth to bring forth seed.--57. That they made the trees to
nourish.--58. That they bound or touched the heads of the said idols
with cords, wherewith they bound themselves about their shirts, or
next their skins.--59. That at their reception the aforesaid little
cords, or others of the same length, were delivered to each of the
brothers.--60. That they did this in worship of their idols.--61. That
it was enjoined them to gird themselves with the said little cords, as
before mentioned, and continually to wear them.--62. That the brethren
of the order were generally received in that manner.--63. That they did
these things out of devotion.--64. That they did them everywhere.--65.
That the greater part did.--66. That those who refused the things above
mentioned at their reception, or to observe them afterwards, were
killed or cast into prison.”[154] The remaining articles, twenty-one in
number, are directed principally to the mode of confession practised
amongst the fraternity, and to matters of heretical depravity.--Such an
accusation as this, justly remarks Voltaire, _destroys itself_.
Brother William de la More, and thirty more of his brethren, being
interrogated before the inquisitors, positively denied the guilt of
the order, and affirmed that the Templars who had made the confession
alluded to in France _had lied_. They were ordered to be brought up
separately to be examined. On the 23rd of October, Brother William
Raven, being interrogated as to the mode of his reception into the
order, states that he was admitted by Brother William de la More, the
Master of the Temple at Temple Coumbe, in the diocese of Bath; that he
petitioned the brethren of the Temple that they would be pleased to
receive him into the order to serve God and the blessed Virgin Mary,
and to end his life in their service; that he was asked if he had a
firm wish so to do; and replied that he had; that two brothers then
expounded to him the strictness and severity of the order, and told him
that he would not be allowed to act after his own will, but must follow
the will of the preceptor; that if he wished to do one thing, he would
be ordered to do another; and that if he wished to be at one place,
he would be sent to another; that having promised so to act, he swore
upon the holy gospels of God to obey the Master, to hold no property,
to preserve chastity, never to consent that any man should be unjustly
despoiled of his heritage, and never to lay violent hands on any man,
except in self-defence, or upon the Saracens. He states that the oath
was administered to him in the chapel of the preceptory of Temple
Coumbe, in the presence only of the brethren of the order; that the
rule was read over to him by one of the brothers, and that a learned
serving brother, named John de Walpole, instructed him, for the space
of one month, upon the matters contained in it. The prisoner was then
taken back to the Tower, and was directed to be strictly separated from
his brethren, and not to be suffered to speak to any one of them.
The next two days (October 24th and 25th) were taken up with a similar
examination of Brothers Hugh de Tadecastre and Thomas le Chamberleyn,
who gave precisely the same account of their reception as the previous
witness. Brother Hugh de Tadecastre added, that he swore to succour
the Holy Land with all his might, and defend it against the enemies of
the christian faith; and that after he had taken the customary oaths
and the three vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, the mantle of
the order with the cross and the coif were delivered to him in the
church, in the presence of the Master, the knights, and the brothers,
all seculars being excluded. Brother Thomas le Chamberleyn added, that
there was the same mode of reception in England as beyond sea, and the
same mode of taking the vows; that all seculars were excluded, and that
when he himself entered the Temple church to be professed, the door
by which he entered was closed after him; that there was another door
looking into the cemetery, but that no stranger could enter that way.
On being asked why none but the brethren of the order were permitted to
be present at the reception and profession of brothers, he said he knew
of no reason, but that it was so written in their book of rules.
Between the 25th of October and the 17th of November, thirty-three
knights, chaplains, and serving brothers, were examined, all of whom
positively denied every article imputing crime or infidelity to their
order. When Brother Himbert Blanke was asked why they had made the
reception and profession of brethren secret, he replied, “through our
own unaccountable folly.” They avowed that they wore little cords
round their shirts, but for no bad end; they declared that they never
touched idols with them, but that they were worn by way of penance, or
according to a knight of forty-three years standing, by the instruction
of the holy father St. Bernard. Brother Richard de Goldyngham says that
he knows nothing further about them than that they were called girdles
of chastity. They state that the receivers and the party received
kissed one another on the face, but everything else regarding the
kissing was false, abominable, and had never been done.
Radulph de Barton, priest of the order of the Temple, and custos or
guardian of the Temple church at London, stated, with regard to Article
24, that the Grand Master in chapter could absolve the brothers from
offences committed against the rules and observances of the order, but
not from private sin, as he was not a priest; that it was perfectly
true that those who were received into the order swore not to reveal
the secrets of the chapter, and that when any one was punished in the
chapter, those who were present at it durst not reveal it to such as
were absent; but if any brother revealed the mode of his reception,
he would be deprived of his chamber, or else stripped of his habit.
He declares that the brethren were not prohibited from confessing to
priests not belonging to the order of the Temple; and that he had never
heard of the crimes and iniquities mentioned in the articles of inquiry
previous to his arrest, except as regarded the charges made against
the order by Bernard Peletin, when he came to England from king Philip
of France. He states that he had been custos of the Temple church
at London for ten years, and for the last two years had enjoyed the
dignity of preceptor at the same place. He was asked about the death
of Brother Walter le Bachelor, knight, formerly Preceptor of Ireland,
who died in the Temple at London, but he declares that he knows nothing
about it, except that the said Walter was fettered and placed in
prison, and there died; that he certainly had heard that great severity
had been practised towards him, but that he had not meddled with the
affair on account of the danger of so doing; he admitted also that the
aforesaid Walter was not buried in the cemetery of the Temple, as he
was considered excommunicated on account of his disobedience of his
superior, and of the rule of the order.
Many of the brethren thus examined had been from twenty to thirty,
forty, forty-two, and forty-three years in the order, and some were old
veteran warriors who had fought for many a long year in the thirsty
plains of Palestine. Brother Himbert Blanke, Knight, Preceptor of
Auvergne, had been in the order thirty-eight years. He was received
at the city of Tyre, had been engaged in constant warfare against the
infidels, and had fought to the last in defence of Acre. Brother Robert
le Scott, Knight, a brother of twenty-six years’ standing, had been
received at the Pilgrim’s Castle, the famous fortress of the Knights
Templars in Palestine, by the Grand Master, Brother William de Beaujeu,
the hero who died so gloriously at the head of his knights at the last
siege and storming of Acre. He states that from levity of disposition
he quitted the order after it had been driven out of Palestine, and
absented himself for two years, during which period he came to Rome,
and confessed to the pope’s penitentiary, who imposed on him a heavy
penance, and enjoined him to return to his brethren in the East, and
that he went back and resumed his habit at Nicosia in the island of
Cyprus, and was re-admitted to the order by command of the Grand
Master, James de Molay. He adds, also, that Brother Himbert Blanke (the
previous witness) was present at his first reception at the Pilgrim’s
Castle.
On the 22nd day of the inquiry, the following entry was made on the
record of the proceedings:--“Memorandum. Brothers Philip de Mewes,
Thomas de Burton, and Thomas de Staundon, were advised and earnestly
exhorted to abandon their religious profession, who severally replied
that they would rather die than do so.” On the 19th and 20th of
November, seven lay witnesses, unconnected with the order, were
examined before the inquisitors in the chapel of the monastery of the
Holy Trinity. Master William le Dorturer, notary public, declared that
the Templars rose at midnight, and held their chapters before dawn, and
he _thought_ that the mystery and secrecy of the receptions were owing
to a bad rather than a good motive, but declared that he had never
observed that they had acquired, or had attempted to acquire, anything
unjustly. Master Gilbert de Bruere, clerk, said that he had never
suspected them of anything worse than an excessive correction of the
brethren. William Lambert, formerly a “messenger of the Temple,” knew
nothing bad of the Templars, and thought them perfectly innocent of all
the matters alluded to. And Richard de Barton, priest, and Radulph de
Rayndon, an old man, both declared that they knew nothing of the order,
or of the members of it, but what was good and honourable.
On the 25th of November, a provincial council of the church, composed
of the bishops, abbots, priors, heads of colleges, and all the
principal clergy, assembled in St. Paul’s Cathedral, and a papal bull
was read, in which the holy pontiff dwells most pathetically upon the
awful sins of the Templars, and their great and tremendous fall from
their previous high estate. Hitherto, says he, they have been renowned
throughout the world as the special champions of the faith, and the
chief defenders of the Holy Land, whose affairs have been mainly
regulated by those brothers. The church, following them and their order
with the plenitude of its especial favour and regard, armed them with
the emblem of the cross against the enemies of Christ, exalted them
with much honour, enriched them with wealth, and fortified them with
various liberties and privileges. The holy pontiff displays the sad
report of their sins and iniquities which reached his ears, filled
him with bitterness and grief, disturbed his repose, smote him with
horror, injured his health, and caused his body to waste away! He gives
a long account of the crimes imputed to the order, of the confessions
and depositions that had been made in France, and then bursts out into
a paroxysm of grief, declares that the melancholy affair deeply moved
all the faithful, that all Christianity was shedding bitter tears, was
overwhelmed with grief, and clothed with mourning. He concludes by
decreeing the assembly of a general council of the church at Vienne to
pronounce the abolition of the order, and to determine on the disposal
of its property, to which council the English clergy are required to
send representatives.
In Scotland, in the mean time, similar proceedings had been instituted
against the order. On the 17th of November, Brother Walter de Clifton
being examined in the parish church of the Holy Cross at Edinburgh,
before the bishop of St. Andrews and John de Solerio, the pope’s
chaplain, states that the brethren of the order of the Temple in the
kingdom of Scotland received their orders, rules, and observances from
the Master of the Temple in England, and that the Master in England
received the rules and observances of the order from the Grand Master
and the chief convent in the East; that the Grand Master or his deputy
was in the habit of visiting the order in England and elsewhere; of
summoning chapters and making regulations for the conduct of the
brethren, and the administration of their property. Being asked as to
the mode of his reception, he states that when William de la More, the
Master, held his chapter at the preceptory of Temple Bruere in the
county of Lincoln, he sought of the assembled brethren the habit and
the fellowship of the order; that they told him that he little knew
what it was he asked, in seeking to be admitted to their fellowship;
that it would be a very hard matter for him, who was then his own
master, to become the servant of another, and to have no will of his
own; but notwithstanding their representations of the rigour of their
rules and observances, he still continued earnestly to seek their habit
and fellowship. He states that they then led him to the chamber of the
Master, where they held their chapter, and that there, on his bended
knees, and with his hands clasped, he again prayed for the habit and
the fellowship of the Temple; that the Master and the brethren then
required him to answer questions to the following effect:--Whether he
had a dispute with any man, or owed any debts? whether he was betrothed
to any woman? and whether he had any secret infirmity of body? or
knew of anything to prevent him from remaining within the bosom of the
fraternity? And having answered all these questions satisfactorily, the
Master then asked of the surrounding brethren, “Do ye give your consent
to the reception of Brother Walter?” who unanimously answered that they
did; and the Master and the brethren then standing up, received him the
said Walter in this manner. On his bended knees, and with his hands
joined, he solemnly promised that he would be the perpetual servant of
the Master, and of the order, and of the brethren, for the purpose of
defending the Holy Land. Having done this, the Master took out of the
hands of a brother chaplain of the order the book of the holy gospels,
upon which was depicted a cross, and laying his hand upon the book, and
upon the cross, he swore to God and the blessed Virgin Mary to be for
ever thereafter chaste, obedient, and to live without property. And
then the Master gave to him the white mantle, and placed the coif on
his head and admitted him to the kiss on the mouth, after which he made
him sit down on the ground, and admonished him to the following effect:
that from thenceforth he was to sleep in his shirt, drawers, and
stockings, girded with a small cord over his shirt; that he was never
to tarry in a house where there was a woman in the family way; never to
be present at a marriage or at the purification of women; and likewise
instructed and informed him upon several other particulars. Being asked
where he had passed his time since his reception, he replied that he
had dwelt three years at the preceptory of Blancradok in Scotland;
three years at Temple Newsom in England; one year at the Temple at
London, and three years at Aslakeby. Being asked concerning the other
brothers in Scotland, he stated that John de Hueflete was Preceptor of
Blancradok, the chief house of the order in that country, and that he
and the other brethren, having heard of the arrest of the Templars,
threw off their habits, and fled, and that he had not since heard aught
concerning them.
Forty-one witnesses, chiefly abbots, priors, monks, priests, and
serving men, and retainers of the order in Scotland, were examined
upon various interrogatories, but nothing of a criminatory nature
was elicited. The monks observed that the receptions of other orders
were public, and were celebrated as great religious solemnities, and
the friends, parents, and neighbours of the party about to take the
vows were invited to attend; while the Templars, on the other hand,
shrouded their proceedings in mystery and secrecy, and therefore they
_suspected_ the worst. The priests thought them guilty, because they
were always against the church! Others condemned them because (as they
say) the Templars closed their doors against the poor and the humble,
and extended hospitality only to the rich and the powerful. The abbot
of the monastery of the Holy Cross at Edinburgh declared that they
appropriated to themselves the property of their neighbours, right
or wrong. The abbot of Dumferlyn knew nothing of his own knowledge
against them, but had _heard_ much, and _suspected_ more. The serving
men and the tillers of the lands of the order stated that the chapters
were held sometimes by night and sometimes by day, with extraordinary
secrecy; and some of the witnesses had heard old men say that the
Templars would never have lost the Holy Land if they had been good
Christians!
On the 9th of January, A. D. 1310, the examination of witnesses was
resumed at London, in the parish church of St. Dunstan’s West, near
the Temple. The rector of the church of St. Mary de la Strode declared
that he had strong _suspicions_ of the guilt of the Templars; he had,
however, often been at the Temple church, and had observed that the
priests performed divine service there just the same as elsewhere.
William de Cumbrook, of St. Clement’s church, near the Temple, the
vicar of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, and many other priests and
clergymen of different churches in London, all declared that they had
nothing to allege against the order.
On the 27th of January, Brother John de Stoke, a serving brother of the
order of the Temple, of seventeen years’ standing, being examined by
the inquisitors in the chapel of the Blessed Mary of Berkyngecherche
at London, states, amongst other things, that secular persons were
allowed to be present at the burial of Templars; that the brethren
of the order all received the sacraments of the church at their last
hour, and were attended to the grave by a chaplain of the Temple. Being
interrogated concerning the burial of the Knight Templar Brother Walter
le Bacheler, Grand Preceptor of Ireland, who had been confined in the
penitential cell in the Temple, for disobedience to his superiors,
and was reported to have been there starved to death, he deposes that
the said knight was buried like any other Christian, except that he
was not buried in the burying-ground, but in the court of the house
of the Temple at London; that he confessed to Brother Richard de
Grafton, a priest of the order, then in the island of Cyprus, and
partook, as he believed, of the sacrament. He states that he himself
and Brother Radulph de Barton carried him to his grave at the dawn of
day, and that the deceased knight was in prison, as he believes, for
the space of eight weeks; that he was not buried in the habit of his
order, and was interred without the cemetery of the brethren, because
he was considered to be excommunicated, in pursuance, as he believed,
of a rule or statute among the Templars, to the effect that every one
who privily made away with the property of the order, and did not
acknowledge his fault, was deemed excommunicated.
On the 30th of March, the papal inquisitors opened their commission
at Lincoln, and numerous Templars were examined in the chapter-house
of the cathedral, amongst whom were some of the veteran warriors of
Palestine, who had moistened with their blood the distant plains of
the far East. Brother William de Winchester, a member of twenty-six
years’ standing, stated that he had been received into the order at
the castle _de la Roca Guille_, in the province of Armenia, bordering
on Syria, by the valiant Grand Master William de Beaujeu. He states
that the same mode of reception existed there as in England, and
everywhere throughout the order. Brother Robert de Hamilton declares
that the girdles said to be worn by the brethren were called girdles
of Nazareth, because they had been pressed against the column of the
Virgin at that place, and were worn in remembrance of the blessed Mary.
At York, the examination commenced on the 28th of April, and lasted
until the 4th of May, during which period twenty-three Templars,
prisoners in York Castle, were examined in the chapter-house of the
cathedral, and followed the example of their brethren in maintaining
their innocence. Brother Thomas de Stanford, a member of thirty years’
standing, had been received in the East by the Grand Master William
de Beaujeu, and Brother Radulph de Rostona, a priest of the order, of
twenty-three years’ standing, had been received at the preceptory of
Lentini in Sicily, by Brother William de Canello, the Grand Preceptor
of Sicily. Brother Stephen de Radenhall refused to reveal the mode of
reception, because it formed part of the secrets of the chapter, and
if he discovered them he would lose his chamber, be stripped of his
mantle, or be committed to prison.[155]
The proceedings against the order in France had, in the mean time,
assumed a most sanguinary character. On the 28th of March, (A. D. 1310)
five hundred and forty-six Templars, who persisted in maintaining the
innocence of their order, were assembled in the garden of the bishop’s
palace at Paris, to hear the articles of accusation read over to them,
and a committee of their number was authorised to draw up a written
defence. They asked to have an interview with the Grand Master and
the heads of the order, but this was refused. The total number of
Templars, immured in the prisons of Paris, was nine hundred. In the
course of the examination before the papal commissioners, Brother
Laurent de Beaume produced a letter which had been sent to him and
his fellow-prisoners at Sens, warning them against a retractation of
their confessions in the following terms: “_Sachez que notre pere le
pape a mande que tuit cil qui aurent fayt les suizitos confessions
devant ses anvouez, qui en cele confessions ne voudroient perseverès,
que il sorent mis a damnazion et destruit au feu._” This threat was
carried into execution, and Brother Laurent de Beaume was one of the
first victims. The defence drawn up by the brethren and presented
to the commissioners by Brother Peter de Bologna, begins by stating
the origin and objects of their institution, the vows to which they
subjected themselves, and the mode in which persons were received into
the fraternity. They give a frightful account of the tortures that had
been inflicted upon them, and declare that those who had escaped with
life from the hands of the tormentors, were either ruined in health
or injured in intellect, and that as pardon and forgiveness had been
freely offered to those knights who would confess, it was not wonderful
that false confessions had been made. They observed that a vast number
of knights had died in prison, and they exhorted the commissioners to
interrogate the guards, jailers, and executioners, and those who saw
them in their last moments, concerning the declarations and confessions
they had made at the peril of their souls when dying. They maintained
that it was a most extraordinary thing that so many knights of
distinguished birth and noble blood, members of the most illustrious
families in Europe, should have remained from an early age up to the
day of their death, members of the order, and should never, in days
of sickness, or at the hour of death, have revealed any of the horrid
iniquities and abominations charged against it.[156] All the Templars,
indeed, who had made confessions were rapidly following one another’s
example in retracting them, and maintaining their innocence, and the
king hastened to arrest the unfavourable march of events.
The archbishop of Sens, whose ecclesiastical authority extended over
the diocese of Paris, having died, the king obtained the vacant see for
Philip de Martigny, a creature of his own, who was installed therein
in the month of April. In a letter to Clement urging this appointment,
Philip reminds the holy pontiff that the new archbishop would have to
preside over a provincial council wherein would be transacted many
things which immediately concerned the glory of God, the stability of
the faith, and of the holy church. Immediately after the enthronement
of this new archbishop, the provincial council of Sens was convoked at
Paris, and on the 10th of May, all the Templars who had revoked their
confessions, and had come forward to maintain the innocence of their
order, were dragged before it, and sentence of death was passed upon
them by the archbishop in the following terms:--“You have avowed,” said
he, “that the brethren who are received into the order of the Temple
are compelled to renounce Christ and spit upon the cross, and that you
yourselves have participated in that crime; you have thus acknowledged
that you have fallen into the sin of _heresy_. By your confession
and repentance you had merited absolution, and had once more become
reconciled to the church. As you have revoked your confession, the
church no longer regards you as reconciled, but as having fallen back
to your first errors. You are, therefore, _relapsed heretics_, and as
such, we condemn you to the fire!” As soon as the commissioners had
received intelligence of this extraordinary decree, they despatched
messengers to the archbishop and his suffragans, praying them to delay
the execution of their sentence, as very many persons affirmed that the
Templars who died in prison had proclaimed with their last breath the
innocence of their order. But these representations were of no avail.
The archbishop, who was paying the price of his elevation to a hard
creditor, proceeded to make short work of the business.
The very next morning, (Tuesday, May 12,) fifty-four Templars were
handed over to the secular arm, and were led out to execution by the
king’s officers. They were conducted, at daybreak, into the open
country, in the environs of the Porte St. Antoine des Champs at
Paris, and were there fastened to stakes driven into the ground, and
surrounded by faggots and charcoal. In this situation, they saw the
torches lighted, and the executioners approaching to accomplish their
task, and they were once more offered pardon and favour if they would
confess the _guilt_ of their order; they persisted in the maintenance
of its _innocence_, and were burnt to death in a most cruel manner
before slow fires! All historians speak with admiration of the heroism
and intrepidity with which they met their fate. Many hundred other
Templars were dragged from the dungeons of Paris before the archbishop
of Sens and his council. Those whom neither the agony of torture nor
the fear of death could overcome, but who remained stedfast amid all
their trials in the maintenance of their innocence, were condemned to
perpetual imprisonment as _unreconciled heretics_; whilst those who,
having made the required confessions of guilt, continued to persevere
in them, received absolution, were declared reconciled to the church,
and were set at liberty.[157]
On the 18th of August, four other Templars were condemned as relapsed
heretics by the council of Sens, and were likewise burnt by the Porte
St. Antoine; and it is stated that a hundred and thirteen Templars
were, from first to last, burnt at the stake in Paris. Many others
were burned in Lorraine; in Normandy; at Carcassone; and nine, or,
according to some writers, twenty-nine, were burnt by the archbishop
of Rheims at Senlis! King Philip’s officers, indeed, not content
with their inhuman cruelty towards the living, invaded the sanctity
of the tomb; they dragged a dead Templar, who had been treasurer of
the 93. Temple at Paris, from his grave, and burnt the mouldering
corpse as a heretic. In the midst of all these sanguinary atrocities,
the examinations continued before the ecclesiastical tribunals. Many
aged and illustrious warriors, who merited a better fate, appeared
before their judges pale and trembling. At first they revoked their
confessions, declared their innocence, and were remanded to prison; and
then, panic-stricken, they demanded to be led back before the papal
commissioners, when they abandoned their retractations, persisted
in their previous avowals of _guilt_, humbly expressed their sorrow
and repentance, and were then pardoned, absolved, and reconciled to
the church! The torture still continued to be applied, and out of
thirty-three Templars confined in the chateau d’Alaix, four died in
prison, and the remaining twenty confessed, amongst other things, the
following absurdities:--that in the provincial chapter of the order
held at Montpelier, the Templars set up a head and worshipped it; that
the devil often appeared there in the shape of a cat, and conversed
with the assembled brethren, and promised them a good harvest, with the
possession of riches, and all kinds of temporal property. Some asserted
that the head worshipped by the fraternity possessed a long beard;
others that it was a woman’s head; and one of the prisoners declared
that as often as this wonderful head was adored, a great number of
devils made their appearance in the shape of beautiful women...!!
We must now unfold the dark page in the history of the order in
England. All the Templars in custody in this country had been
examined separately, and had, notwithstanding, deposed in substance
to the same effect, and given the same account of their reception
into the order, and of the oaths that they took. Any reasonable and
impartial mind would consequently have been satisfied of the truth
of their statements; but it was not the object of the inquisitors to
obtain evidence of the _innocence_, but proof of the _guilt_ of the
order. At first, king Edward the Second, to his honour, forbade the
infliction of torture upon the illustrious members of the Temple in his
dominions--men who had fought and bled for Christendom, and of whose
piety and morals he had a short time before given such ample testimony
to the principal sovereigns of Europe. But the virtuous resolution of
the weak king was speedily overcome by the all-powerful influence of
the Roman pontiff, who wrote to him in the month of June, upbraiding
him for preventing the inquisitors from submitting the Templars to the
discipline of the rack. Influenced by the admonitions of the pope,
and the solicitations of the clergy, king Edward sent orders to the
constable of the Tower, to deliver up the Templars to certain gaolers
appointed by the inquisitors, in order that the inquisitors might
do with the bodies of the Templars whatever should seem fitting, in
accordance with ecclesiastical law. The ecclesiastical council then
assembled, and ordered that the Templars should be again confined in
separate cells; that fresh interrogatories should be prepared, to see
if by such means the _truth_ could be extracted, and if by straitenings
and confinement they would _confess nothing further_, then the torture
was to be applied; but it was provided that the examination by torture
should be conducted without the PERPETUAL MUTILATION OR DISABLING OF
ANY LIMB, AND WITHOUT A VIOLENT EFFUSION OF BLOOD! and the inquisitors
and the bishops of London and Chichester were to notify the result to
the archbishop of Canterbury, that he might again convene the assembly
for the purpose of passing sentence, either of absolution or of
condemnation.
Fresh instructions were then sent by the king to the constable of the
Tower, and the sheriffs of London, informing them that the king, on
account of his respect for the holy apostolical see, had conceded to
the inquisitors the power of examining the Templars by TORTURE; and
strictly enjoining them to deliver up the Templars to the inquisitors,
and receive them back when required so to do. The king then acquainted
the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of his faithful city of London,
that out of reverence to the pope he had authorised the inquisitors,
sent over by his holiness, to question the Templars by TORTURE; and he
commands them, in case it should be notified to them by the inquisitors
that the prisons provided by the sheriffs were insufficient for their
purposes, to procure without fail fit and convenient houses in the
city, or near thereto, for carrying into effect the contemplated
measures. Shortly afterwards, he again wrote to the mayor, aldermen,
and commonalty of London, acquainting them that the sheriffs had made
a return to his writ, to the effect that the four gates (prisons) of
the city were not under their charge, and that they could not therefore
obtain them for the purposes required; and he commands the mayor,
aldermen, and commonalty, to place those four gates at the disposal
of the sheriffs. Shortly afterwards orders were given for all the
Templars in custody in London to be loaded with chains and fetters!
the myrmidons of the inquisitors were to be allowed to make periodical
visits to see that the imprisonment was properly carried into effect,
and were to be allowed to TORTURE the bodies of the Templars in any way
that they might think fit.[158]
On the 30th of March, A. D. 1311, the examination was resumed
before the inquisitors, and the bishops of London and Chichester,
at the several churches of St. Martin’s Ludgate, and St. Botolph’s
Bishopsgate. The Templars had now been in prison in England for the
space of three years and some months. During the whole of the previous
winter they had been confined in chains in the dungeons of the city
of London, compelled to receive their scanty supply of food from the
officers of the inquisition, and to suffer from cold, from hunger, and
from torture. They had been made to endure all the horrors of solitary
confinement, and had none to solace or to cheer them during the long
hours of their melancholy captivity. They had been already condemned
collectively by the pope, as members of an heretical and idolatrous
society, and as long as they continued to persist in the truth of
their first confessions, and in the avowal of their innocence, they
were treated as obstinate, unreconciled heretics, living in a state
of excommunication, and doomed, when dead, to everlasting punishment
in hell. They had heard of the miserable fate of their brethren in
France, and they knew that those who had confessed crimes of which
they had never been guilty, had been immediately declared reconciled
to the church, had been absolved and set at liberty, and they knew
that freedom, pardon, and peace could be immediately purchased by a
confession of guilt; notwithstanding all which, every Templar, at this
last examination, persisted in the maintenance of his innocence, and
in the denial of all knowledge of, or participation in, the crimes
and heresies imputed to the order. They were therefore again sent
back to their dungeons, and loaded with chains; and the inquisitors,
disappointed of the desired confessions, addressed themselves to the
enemies of the order for the necessary proofs of guilt.
During the month of April, seventy-two witnesses were examined in
the chapter-house of the Holy Trinity. They were nearly all monks,
Carmelites, Augustinians, Dominicans, and Minorites; their evidence
is all hearsay, and the nature of it will be seen from the following
choice specimens:--Henry Thanet, an Irishman, had _heard_ that a
certain Preceptor of the Pilgrim’s Castle was in the habit of making
all the brethren he received into the order deny Christ. He had _heard_
also that a certain Templar had in his custody a brazen head with two
faces, which would answer all questions put to it!--Master John de
Nassington had _heard_ that the Templars celebrated a solemn festival
once a year, at which they worshipped a _calf_!--John de Eure, knight,
sheriff of the county of York, deposed that he had once invited Brother
William de la Fenne, Preceptor of Wesdall, to dine with him, and that
after dinner the Preceptor drew a book out of his bosom, and delivered
it to the knight’s lady to read, who found a piece of paper fastened
into the book, on which were written abominable heretical doctrines, to
the effect that Christ was not the Son of God, nor born of a virgin,
but conceived of the seed of Joseph, the husband of Mary, after the
manner of other men, and that Christ was not a true but a false
prophet, and was not crucified for the redemption of mankind, but for
his own sins; and many other things contrary to the christian faith. On
the production of this important evidence, Brother William de la Fenne
was called in and interrogated; he admitted that he had dined with the
sheriff of York, and had lent his lady a book to read, but he swore
that he was ignorant of the piece of paper fastened into the book, and
of its contents. It appears that the sheriff of York had kept this
discovery to himself for the space of six years!
William de la Forde, a priest, rector of the parish of Crofton in the
diocese of York, had _heard_ William de Reynbur, priest of the order
of St. Augustine, who was then dead, say, that the Templar, Brother
Patrick of Rippon, son of William of Gloucester, had confessed to him,
that at his entrance into the order, he was led, clothed only in his
shirt and trousers, through a long passage to a secret chamber, and
was there made to deny his God and his Saviour; that he was then shown
a representation of the crucifixion, and was told that since he had
previously honoured that emblem he must now dishonour it and spit upon
it, and that he did so. “Item dictum fuit ei quod, depositis brachis,
dorsum verteret ad crucifixum,” and this he did bitterly weeping.
After this they brought an image, as it were, of a calf, placed upon
an altar, and they told him he must kiss that image, and worship it,
and he did so; and after all this they covered up his eyes and led him
about, kissing and being kissed by all the brethren, but he could not
recollect in what part. The worthy priest was asked when he had _first
heard_ all these things, and he replied _after_ the arrest of the
brethren by the king’s orders!
Robert of Oteringham, senior of the order of Minorites, stated that on
one occasion he was partaking of the hospitality of the Templars at
the preceptory of Ribstane in Yorkshire, and that when grace had been
said after supper, the chaplain of the order reprimanded the brethren,
saying, “The devil will burn you;” and hearing a bustle, he got up,
and, as far as he recollects, saw one of the brothers of the Temple,
“brachis depositis, tenentem faciem versus occidentem et posteriora
versus altare!” He then states, that about twenty years before that
time, he was the guest of the Templars, at the preceptory of Wetherby
in Yorkshire, and when evening came he heard that the preceptor was not
coming to supper, as he was arranging some relics that he had brought
with him from the Holy Land, and afterwards at midnight he heard a
confused noise in the chapel, and getting up he looked through the
keyhole, and saw a great light therein, either from a fire or from
candles, and on the morrow he asked one of the brethren of the Temple
the name of the saint in whose honour they had celebrated so grand a
festival during the night, and that brother, aghast and turning pale,
thinking he had seen what had been done amongst them, said to him, “Go
thy way, and if you love me, or have any regard for your own life,
never speak of this matter!” Brother John de Wederel, another Minorite,
stated that he had lately _heard_ in the country, that a Templar,
named Robert de Baysat, was once seen running about a meadow uttering,
“Alas! alas! that ever I was born, seeing that I have denied God and
sold myself to the devil!” Brother N. de Chinon, another Minorite, had
_heard_ that a certain Templar had a son who peeped through a chink
in the wall of the chapter-room and saw a person who was about to be
professed, slain because he would not deny Christ, and afterwards the
boy was asked by his father to become a Templar, but refused, and he
immediately shared the same fate. Twenty other witnesses, who were
examined in each other’s presence, related similar absurdities.
At this stage of the proceedings, the papal inquisitor, Sicard de
Vaur, exhibited two rack-extorted confessions of Templars which had
been obtained in France. The first was from Robert de St. Just, who
had been received into the order by Brother Himbert, Grand Preceptor
of England, but had been arrested in France, and there tortured. In
this confession Robert de St. Just states that, on his admission to
the vows of the Temple, he denied Christ, and spat _beside_ the cross.
The second confession had been extorted from Geoffrey de Gonville,
Knight of the Order of the Temple, Preceptor of Aquitaine and Poitou.
In this confession, (which had been revoked, but of which revocation
no notice was taken by the inquisitors,) Geoffrey de Gonville states
that he was received into the order in England in the house of the
Temple at London, by Brother Robert de Torvile, Knight, the Master of
all England, about twenty-eight years before that time; that the Master
showed him on a missal the image of Jesus Christ on the cross, and
commanded him to deny him who was crucified; that, terribly alarmed, he
exclaimed, “Alas! my lord, why should I do this? I will on no account
do it.” But the Master said to him, “Do it boldly; I swear to thee that
the act shall never harm either thy soul or thy conscience;” and then
proceeded to inform him that the custom had been introduced into the
order by a certain bad Grand Master, who was imprisoned by a certain
sultan, and could escape from prison only on condition that he would
establish that form of reception in his order, and compel all who were
received to deny Christ Jesus! but the deponent remained inflexible;
he refused to deny his Saviour, and asked where were his uncle and
the other good people who had brought him there, and was told that
they were all gone; and at last a compromise took place between him
and the Master, who made him take his oath that he would tell all his
brethren that he had gone through the customary form, and never reveal
that it had been dispensed with! He states also that the ceremony was
instituted in memory of St. Peter, who three times denied Christ! This
knight had been tortured in the Temple at Paris, by the brothers of
St. Dominic, in the presence of the grand inquisitor, and he made his
confession when suffering on the rack; he afterwards revoked it, and
was then tortured into a withdrawal of his revocation, notwithstanding
which the inquisitor made the unhappy wretch, in common with others,
put his signature to the following interrogatory, “Interrogatus, utrum
_vi_ vel _metu carceris_ aut _tormentorum_ immiscuit in suâ depositione
aliquam falsitatem, dicit _quod non_!”
Ferinsius le Mareschal, a secular knight, being examined, declared that
his grandfather entered into the order of the Temple, active, healthy,
and blithesome as the birds and the dogs, but on the third day from
his taking the vows he was dead, and, as he _now suspects_, was killed
because he refused to participate in the iniquities practised by the
brethren. An Augustine monk declared that he had heard a Templar say
that a man after death had no more soul than a dog. Brother John de
Gertia, a Minorite, had _heard_ from a certain woman called Cacocaca!
who had it from Exvalettus, Preceptor of London, that one of the
servants of the Templars entered the Temple hall where the chapter was
held, and secreted himself, and after the door had been shut and locked
by the last Templar who entered, and the key had been brought by him to
the superior, the assembled Templars jumped up and went into another
room, and opened a closet, and drew therefrom a certain black figure
with shining eyes, and a cross, and they placed the cross before the
Master, and the “culum idoli vel figuræ” they placed upon the cross,
and carried it to the Master, who kissed the said image, (in ano,)
and all the others did the same after him; and when they had finished
kissing, they all spat three times upon the cross, except one, who
refused, saying, “I was a bad man in the world, and placed myself in
this order for the salvation of my soul; what could I do worse? I will
not do it;” and then the brethren said to him, “Take heed, and do as
you see the order do;” but he answered that he would not do so, and
then they placed him in a well which stood in the midst of their house,
and covered the well up, and left him to perish. Being asked as to the
time when the woman heard this, the deponent stated that she told it to
him about fourteen years back at London, where she kept a shop for her
husband, Robert Cotacota!
John Walby de Bust, another Minorite, had _heard_ John de Dingeston say
that _he had heard_ that there was in a secret place of the house of
the Templars at London a gilded head, and that when one of the masters
was on his death-bed, he summoned to his presence several preceptors,
and told them that if they wished for power, and dominion, and honour,
they must worship that head. Gaspar de Nafferton, chaplain of the
parish of Ryde, deposed that he was in the employ of the Templars
when William de Pokelington was received into the order; that he well
recollected that the said William made his appearance at the Temple on
Sunday evening, with the equipage and habit of a member of the order,
accompanied by Brother William de la More, the Master of the Temple,
Brother William de Grafton, Preceptor of Ribbestane and Fontebriggs,
and other brethren: that the same night, during the first watch, they
assembled in the church, and caused the deponent to be awakened to say
mass; that, after the celebration of the mass, they made the deponent
with his clerk go out into the hall beyond the cloister, and then
sent for the person who was to be received; and on his entry into the
church, one of the brethren immediately closed all the doors opening
into the cloister, so that no one within the chambers could get out,
and thus they remained till daylight; but what was done in the church
the deponent knew not; the next day, however, he saw the said William
clothed in the habit of a Templar, looking very sorrowful. The deponent
also declared that he had threatened to peep through a secret door to
see what was going on, but was warned that it was inevitable death so
to do. He states that the next morning he went into the church, and
found the books and crosses all removed from the places in which he had
previously left them.
The evidence given before this papal tribunal affords melancholy proof
of the immorality, the credulity, and the profligacy of the age.
Abandoned women were brought before the inquisitors, and were induced
unblushingly to relate, in the presence of the archbishop of Canterbury
and the English bishops, the most disgusting and ridiculous enormities;
and evidence was taken down by notaries, and quietly listened to by the
most learned and distinguished characters of the age, which in these
days would be scouted with scorn and contempt from almost every court
in Christendom.[159] On the 22nd of April all the Templars in custody
in the Tower and in the prisons of the city were assembled before the
inquisitors and the bishops of London and Chichester, in the church of
the Holy Trinity, to hear the depositions of the witnesses publicly
read. The Templars required copies of these depositions, which were
granted them, and they were allowed eight days from that period to
bring forward any defences or privileges they wished to make use of.
Subsequently, before the expiration of the eight days, the officer
of the bishop of London was sent to the Tower with scriveners and
witnesses, to know if they would then set up any matters of defence,
to whom the Templars replied that they were unlettered men, ignorant
of the law, and that all means of defence were denied them, since
they were not permitted to employ those who could afford them fit
counsel and advice. They observed, however, that they were desirous of
publicly proclaiming the faith, and the religion of themselves and of
the order to which they belonged, of showing the privileges conceded to
them by the chief pontiffs, and their own depositions taken before the
inquisitors, all which they said they wished to make use of in their
defence.
On the eighth day, being Thursday the 29th of April, they appeared
before the papal inquisitors and the bishops of London and Chichester,
in the church of All Saints of Berkyngecherche, and presented to them
the following declaration, which they had drawn up amongst themselves,
as the only defence they had to offer against the injustice, the
tyranny, and the persecution of their powerful oppressors; adding, that
if they had in any way done wrong, they were ready to submit themselves
to the orders of the church. This declaration is written in the Norman
French of that day, and is as follows:--
“_Conue chese seit a nostre honurable père, le ercevesque de
Canterbiere, primat de toute Engletere, e a touz prelaz de seinte
Elise, e a touz Cristiens, qe touz les frères du Temple que sumes ici
assemblez et chescune singulere persone par sen sumes cristien nostre
seignur Jesu Crist, e creoms en Dieu Père omnipotent, qui fist ciel e
terre, e en Jesu soen fiz, qui fust conceu du Seint Esperit, nez de
la Virgine Marie, soeffrit peine e passioun, morut sur la croiz pour
touz peccheours, descendist e enferns, e le tierz jour releva de mort
en vie, e mounta en ciel, siet au destre soen Père, e vendra au jour
de juise, juger les vifs, e les morz, qui fu saunz commencement, e
serra saunz fyn; e creoms comme seynte eglise crets, e nous enseigne.
E que nostre religion est foundée sus obedience, chasteté, vivre sans
propre, aider a conquere la seint terre de Jerusalem, a force e a
poer, qui Dieu nous ad preste. E nyoms e firmement en countredioms
touz e chescune singulere persone par sei, toutes maneres de heresies
e malvaistes, que sount encountre la foi de Seinte Eglise. E prioms
pour Dieu e pour charité a vous, que estes en lieu nostre seinte père
l’apostoile, que nous puissoms aver lez drettures de seinte église,
comme ceus que sount les filz de sainte église, que bien avoms garde,
e tenu la foi, e la lei de seinte église, e nostre religion, la quele
est bone, honeste e juste, solom les ordenaunces, e les priviléges de
la court de Rome avons grauntez, confermez, e canonizez par commun
concile, les qels priviléges ensemblement ou lestablisement, e la règle
sount en la dite court enregistrez. E mettoms en dur e en mal eu touz
Cristiens sauue noz anoisourz, par la ou nous avoms este conversaunt,
comment nous avoms nostre vie demene. E se nous avoms rien mesprys
de aucun parole en nos examinacions par ignorance de seu, si comme
nous sumez genz laics prest sûmes, a ester a lesgard de seint eglise,
comme cely que mourust pour nouz en la beneite de croiz. E nous creoms
fermement touz les sacremenz de seinte église. E nous vous prioms pour
Dieu e pour salvacioun de vous almes, que vous nous jugez si comme vous
volez respoundre pour vous et pour nous devaunt Dieu: e que nostre
examinement puet estre leu e oii devaunt nous e devaunt le people,
salom le respouns e le langage que fust dit devaunt vous, e escrit en
papier._”
“Be it known to our honourable father, the archbishop of Canterbury,
primate of all England, and to all the prelates of holy church, and
to all Christians, that all we brethren of the Temple here assembled,
and every of one of us are Christians, and believe in our Saviour
Jesus Christ, in God the Father omnipotent, &c., &c.... And we believe
all that the holy church believes and teaches us. We declare that our
religion is founded on vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty, and
of aiding in the conquest of the Holy Land of Jerusalem, with all
the power and might that God affordeth us. And we firmly deny and
contradict, one and all of us, all manner of heresy and evil doings,
contrary to the faith of holy church. And for the love of God, and for
charity, we beseech you, who represent our holy father the pope, that
we may be treated like true children of the church, for we have well
guarded and preserved the faith, and the law of the church, and of our
own religion, that which is good, honest, and just, according to the
ordinances and the privileges of the court of Rome, granted, confirmed,
and canonized by common council; the which privileges, together with
the rule of our order, are enregistered in the said court. And we would
bring forward all Christians, (save our enemies and slanderers,) with
whom we are conversant, and among whom we have resided, to say how and
in what manner we have spent our lives. And if, in our examinations, we
have said or done anything wrong through ignorance of a word, since we
are unlettered men, we are ready to suffer for holy church like him who
died for us on the blessed cross. And we believe all the sacraments of
the church. And we beseech you, for the love of God, and as you hope to
be saved, that you judge us as you will have to answer for yourselves
and for us before God; and we pray that our examination may be read and
heard before ourselves and all the people, in the very language and
words in which it was given before you, and written down on paper.”
The above declaration was presented by Brother William de la More, the
Master of the Temple; the Knights Templars Philip de Mewes, Preceptor
of Garwy; William de Burton, Preceptor of Cumbe; Radulph de Maison,
Preceptor of Ewell; Michael de Baskevile, Preceptor of London; Thomas
de Wothrope, Preceptor of Bistelesham; William de Warwick, Priest; and
Thomas de Burton, Chaplain of the Order; together with twenty serving
brothers. The same day the inquisitors and the two bishops proceeded to
the different prisons of the city to demand if the prisoners confined
therein wished to bring forward anything in defence of the order, who
severally answered that they would adopt and abide by the declaration
made by their brethren in the Tower. In the prison of Aldgate there
were confined Brother William de Sautre, Knight, Preceptor of Samford;
Brother William de la Ford, Preceptor of Daney; Brother John de
Coningeston, Preceptor of Getinges; Roger de Norreis, Preceptor of
Cressing; Radolph de Barton, priest, Prior of the New Temple; and
several serving brethren of the order. In the prison of Crepelgate were
detained William de Egendon, Knight, Preceptor of Schepeley; John de
Moun, Knight, Preceptor of Dokesworth; and four serving brethren. In
the prison of Ludgate were five serving brethren; and in Newgate was
confined Brother Himbert Blanke, Knight, Grand Preceptor of Auvergne.
The above declaration of faith and innocence was far from agreeable
to the papal inquisitors, who required a confession of _guilt_, and
the torture was once more directed to be applied. The king sent fresh
orders to the mayor and the sheriffs of the city of London, commanding
them to place the Templars in separate dungeons; to load them with
chains and fetters; to permit the myrmidons of the inquisitors to
pay periodical visits to see that the wishes and intentions of the
inquisitors, with regard to the severity of the confinement, were
properly carried into effect; and lastly, to inflict TORTURE upon the
bodies of the Templars, and generally to do whatever should be thought
fitting and expedient in the premises, according to the ecclesiastical
law. In conformity with these orders, we learn from the record of the
proceedings, that the Templars were placed in solitary confinement in
loathsome dungeons; that they were put on a short allowance of bread
and water, and periodically visited by the agents of the inquisition;
that they were moved from prison to prison, and from dungeon to
dungeon; were now treated with rigour, and anon with indulgence; and
were then visited by learned prelates, and acute doctors in theology,
who, by exhortation, persuasion, and by menace, attempted in every
possible mode to wring from them the required avowals! We learn that
all the engines of terror wielded by the church were put in force, and
that torture was unsparingly applied “_usque ad judicium sanguinis!_”
The places in which these atrocious scenes were enacted were the Tower,
the prisons of Aldgate, Ludgate, Newgate, Bishopgate, and Crepelgate,
the house formerly belonging to John de Banguel, and the tenements
once the property of the brethren of penitence.[160] It appears that
some French monks were sent over to administer the torture to the
unhappy captives, and that they were questioned and examined in the
presence of notaries whilst suffering under the torments of the rack.
The relentless perseverance and the incessant exertions of the foreign
inquisitors were at last rewarded by a splendid triumph over the powers
of endurance of two poor serving brethren, and one chaplain of the
order, who were at last induced to make the long desired avowals.
On the 23rd of June, Brother Stephen de Staplebrugge, described as
an apostate and fugitive of the order of the Temple, captured by the
king’s officers in the city of Salisbury, deposed in the house of
the head gaoler of Newgate, in the presence of the bishops of London
and Chichester, the chancellor of the archbishop of Canterbury, Hugh
de Walkeneby, doctor of theology, and other clerical witnesses, that
there were two modes of profession in the order of the Temple, the one
good and lawful, and the other contrary to the christian faith; that
he himself was received into the order by Brother Brian le Jay, Grand
Preceptor of England, at Dynneslee, and was led into the chapel, the
door of which was closed as soon as he had entered; that a crucifix
was placed before the Master, and that a brother of the Temple, with
a drawn sword, stood on either side of him; that the Master said to
him, “Do you see this image of the crucifixion?” to which he replied,
“I see it, my lord;” that the Master then said to him, “You must deny
that Christ Jesus was God and man, and that Mary was his mother; and
you must spit upon this cross;” which the deponent, through immediate
fear of death, did with his mouth, but not with his heart, and he spat
_beside_ the cross, and not on it; and then falling down upon his
knees, with eyes uplifted, with his hands clasped, with bitter tears
and sighs, and devout ejaculations, he besought the mercy and the
favour of holy church, declaring that he cared not for the death of the
body, or for any amount of penance, but only for the salvation of his
soul!
On Saturday, the 25th of June, Brother Thomas Tocci de Thoroldeby,
serving brother of the order of the Temple, described as an apostate
who had escaped from Lincoln after his examination at that place by
the papal inquisitors, but had afterwards surrendered himself to
the king’s officers, was brought before the bishops of London and
Chichester, the archdeacon of Salisbury, and others of the clergy in
St. Martin’s Church, in Vinetriâ; and being again examined, he repeated
the statement made in his first deposition, but added some particulars
with regard to penances imposed and absolutions pronounced in the
chapter, showing the difference between sins and defaults, the priest
having to deal with the one, and the Master with the other. He declared
that the little cords were worn from honourable motives, and relates a
story of his being engaged in a battle against the Saracens, in which
he lost his cord, and was punished by the Grand Master for a default
in coming home without it. He gives the same account of the secrecy
of the chapters as all the other brethren, states that the members
of the order were forbidden to confess to the friars mendicants,
and were enjoined to confess to their own chaplains; that they did
nothing contrary to the christian faith, and as to their endeavouring
to promote the advancement of the order by any means, right or wrong,
that exactly the contrary was the case, as there was a statute in the
order to the effect, that if any one should be found to have acquired
anything unjustly, he should be deprived of his habit, and be expelled
the order. Being asked what induced him to become an apostate, and
to fly from his order, he replied that it was through fear of death,
because the abbot of Lagny, (the papal inquisitor,) when he examined
him at Lincoln, asked him if he would not confess anything further,
and he answered that he knew of nothing further to confess, unless
he was to say things that were not true; and that _the abbot, laying
his hand upon his breast, swore by the word of God that he would make
him confess before he had done with him!_ and that being terribly
frightened, he afterwards bribed the gaoler of the castle of Lincoln,
giving him forty florins to let him make his escape.
The abbot of Lagny, indeed, was as good as his word, for on the 29th
of June, four days after this imprudent avowal, Brother Thomas Tocci
de Thoroldeby was brought back to St. Martin’s Church, and there, in
the presence of the same parties, he made a third confession, in which
he declares that, coerced by two Templars with drawn swords in their
hands, he denied Christ with his mouth, but not with his heart; and
spat _beside_ the cross, but not on it; that he was required to spit
upon the image of the Virgin Mary, but contrived, instead of doing so,
to give her a kiss on the foot. He declares that he had heard Brian le
Jay, the Master of the Temple at London, say a hundred times over, that
Jesus Christ was not the true God, but a man: and that the smallest
hair out of the beard of one Saracen, was of more worth than the whole
body of any Christian. He declares that he was once standing in the
presence of Brother Brian, when some poor people besought charity of
him for the love of God and our lady the blessed Virgin Mary; and he
answered, “_Que dame, alez vous pendre a vostre dame_”--“What lady,
go and be hanged to your lady,” and violently casting a halfpenny
into the mud, he made the poor people hunt for it, although it was in
the depth of a severe winter. He also relates that, at the chapters,
the priest stood like a beast, and had nothing to do but to repeat
the psalm, “God be merciful unto us, and bless us,” which was read at
the closing of the chapter. (The Templars, by the way, must have been
strange idolaters to have closed their chapters, in which they are
accused of worshipping a cat, a man’s head, and a black idol, with the
reading of the beautiful psalm, “God be merciful unto us, and bless us,
and show us the light of thy countenance, that thy way may be known
upon earth, thy saving health among all nations,” &c., Psalm lxvii.)
This witness further states, that the priest had no power to impose a
heavier penance than a day’s fast on bread and water, and could not
even do that without the permission of the brethren. He is made also to
relate that the Templars always favoured the Saracens in the holy wars
in Palestine, and oppressed the Christians! and he declares, speaking
of himself, that for three years before he had never seen the body of
Christ without thinking of the devil, nor could he remove that evil
thought from his heart by prayer, or in any other way that he knew
of; but that very morning he had heard mass with great devotion, and
since then had thought only of Christ, and thinks there is no one in
the order of the Temple whose soul will be saved, unless a reformation
takes place.
Previous to this period, the ecclesiastical council had again
assembled, and these last depositions of Brother Stephen de Stapelbrugge
and Thomas Tocci de Thoroldeby having been produced before them,
the solemn farce of their confession and abjuration was immediately
publicly enacted. It is thus described in the record of the
proceedings:--“To the praise and glory of the name of the most high
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, to the confusion of
heretics, and the strengthening of all faithful Christians, begins the
public record of the reconciliation of the penitent heretics, returning
to the orthodox faith published in the council, celebrated at London in
the year 1311. In the name of God, Amen. In the year of the incarnation
of our Lord, 1311, on the twenty-seventh day of the month of June, in
the hall of the palace of the bishop of London, before the venerable
fathers the Lord Robert by the grace of God archbishop of Canterbury,
primate of all England, and his suffragans in provincial council
assembled, appeared Brother Stephen de Stapelbrugge, of the order of
the chivalry of the Temple; and the denying of Christ and the blessed
Virgin Mary his mother, the spitting upon the cross, and the heresies
and errors acknowledged and confessed by him in his deposition, being
displayed, the same Stephen asserted in full council, before the people
of the city of London, introduced for the occasion, that all those
things so deposed by him were true, and that to that confession he
would wholly adhere; humbly confessing his error on his bended knees,
with his hands clasped, with much lamentation and many tears, he again
and again besought the mercy and pity of holy mother church, offering
to abjure all heresies and errors, and praying them to impose on him
a fitting penance, and then the book of the holy gospels being placed
in his hands, he abjured the aforesaid heresies in this form ;--‘I,
Brother Stephen de Stapelbrugge, of the order of the chivalry of the
Temple, do solemnly confess,’ &c., &c., (he repeats his confession,
makes his abjuration, and then proceeds;) ‘and if at any time hereafter
I shall happen to relapse into the same errors, or deviate from any
of the articles of the faith, I will account myself _ipso facto_
excommunicated; I will stand condemned as a manifest perjured heretic,
and the punishment inflicted on perjured relapsed heretics, shall be
forthwith imposed upon me without further trial or judgment!!’”
He was then sworn upon the holy gospels to stand to the sentence of the
church in the matter, after which Brother Thomas Tocci de Thoroldeby
was brought forward to go through the same ceremony, which being
concluded, these two poor serving brothers of the order of the Temple,
who were so ignorant that they could not write, were made to place
their mark on the record of their abjuration. “And then our lord the
archbishop of Canterbury, for the purpose of absolving and reconciling
to the unity of the church the aforesaid Thomas and Stephen, conceded
his authority and that of the whole council to the bishop of London, in
the presence of me the notary, specially summoned for the occasion,
in these words: ‘We grant to you the authority of God, of the blessed
Mary, of the blessed Thomas the Martyr our patron, and of all the
saints of God (sanctorum atque _sanctarum_ Dei) to us conceded, and
also the authority of the present council to us transferred, to the
end that thou mayest reconcile to the unity of the church these
miserables, separated from her by their repudiation of the faith, and
now brought back again to her bosom, reserving to ourselves and the
council the right of imposing a fit penance for their transgressions!’
And as there were two penitents, the bishop of Chichester was joined
to the bishop of London for the purpose of pronouncing the absolution,
which two bishops, putting on their mitres and pontificals, and being
assisted by twelve priests in sacerdotal vestments, placed themselves
in seats at the western entrance of the cathedral church of St. Paul,
and the penitents, with bended knees, humbly prostrating themselves
in prayer upon the steps before the door of the church, the members
of the council and the people of the city standing around; and the
psalm, _Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness_, having
been chaunted from the beginning to the end, and the subjoined prayers
and sermon having been gone through, they absolved the said penitents,
and received them back to the unity of the church in the following
form:--‘In the name of God, Amen. Since by your confession we find
that you, Brother Stephen de Stapelbrugge, have denied Christ Jesus
and the blessed Virgin Mary, and have spate _beside_ the cross, and
now taking better advice wishest to return to the unity of the holy
church with a true heart and sincere faith, as you assert, and all
heretical depravity having for that purpose been previously abjured by
you according to the form of the church, we, by the authority of the
council, absolve you from the bond of excommunication wherewith you
were held fast, and we reconcile you to the unity of the church, if you
shall have returned to her in sincerity of heart, and shall have obeyed
her injunctions imposed upon you.’” Brother Thomas Tocci de Thoroldeby
was then absolved and reconciled to the church in the usual manner,
after which various psalms (Gloria Patri, Kyrie Eleyson, Christe
Eleyson, &c. &c.) were sung, and prayers were offered up, and then the
ceremony was concluded.
On the 1st of July, an avowal of guilt was wrung by the inquisitors
from Brother John de Stoke, chaplain of the order, who, being brought
before the bishops of London and Chichester in St. Martin’s Church,
deposed that he was received in the mode mentioned by him on his first
examination; but a year and fifteen days after that reception, being at
the preceptory of Garwy in the diocese of Hereford, he was called into
the chamber of Brother James de Molay, the Grand Master of the order,
who, in the presence of two other Templars of foreign extraction,
informed him that he wished to make proof of his obedience, and
commanded him to take a seat at the foot of the bed, and the deponent
did so. The Grand Master then sent into the church for the crucifix,
and two serving brothers, with naked swords in their hands, stationed
themselves on either side of the doorway. As soon as the crucifix
made its appearance, the Grand Master, pointing to the figure of our
Saviour nailed thereon, asked the deponent whose image it was, and he
answered, “The image of Jesus Christ, who suffered on the cross for the
redemption of mankind;” but the Grand Master exclaimed, “Thou sayest
wrong, and art much mistaken, for he was the son of a certain woman,
and was crucified because he called himself the Son of God, and I
myself have been in the place where he was born and crucified, and thou
must now deny him whom this image represents.” The deponent exclaimed,
“Far be it from me to deny my Saviour;” but the Grand Master told him
he must do it, or he would be put into a sack and be carried to a place
which he would find by no means agreeable, and there were swords in
the room, and brothers ready to use them, &c. &c.; and the deponent
asked if such was the custom of the order, and if all the brethren
did the same; and being answered in the affirmative, he, through fear
of immediate death, denied Christ with his _tongue_, but not with his
_heart_. Being asked in whom he was told to put his faith after he had
denied Christ Jesus, he replies, “In that great Omnipotent God who
created the heaven and the earth!”