Study and Teaching Guide for the History of the Renaissance World by Julia Kaziewicz

Author:Julia Kaziewicz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Well-Trained Mind Press

Section III: Critical Thinking

The student may not use his text to answer this question.

The Knights Templar was a highly respected religious order of knights that protected Christianity. Why would Philip IV want to tear them apart? Write a paragraph explaining what happened between the Knights Templar and Philip IV in the early 14th century. Make sure to include what Philip IV got out of ruining the order in your answer.

The breakdown of what happened between the Knights Templar and Philip IV is presented on pages 413 and 414. Philip IV convinced Clement V to remove his protection over the Knights Templar. As soon as he did, Philip IV issued a letter ordering the arrest of the Templars throughout France, on charges that the Templars indulged in all sorts of secret and occultish acts of demon worship. Philip IV wanted them treated as heretics. He wrote to the chief inquisitor of Paris that “You will hold them captive to appear before an ecclesiastical court. . . . [Y]ou will seize their movable and immovable goods and hold the seizures under strict supervision in our name.” Their “movable and immovable goods” included a vast amount of treasure, held in the Templar fortress right outside the walls of Paris. The inquisitor duly sent out his agents, and all through France the Templars were suddenly arrested and imprisoned.

Through imprisonment, starvation and the threat of torture, Grand Master Jacques de Molay was forced to confess to heresy. He said that when he had joined the Templars forty-two years earlier, he had been required to spit on a cross and deny the divinity of Christ; which he had done, but “not with his heart.” Though he recanted, the interrogators used his confession to convince other Templars to confess to a whole range of blasphemous and idol-worshipping rituals, including black magic and ritual acts of sodomy. In 1310, Philip IV ordered fifty-four Templars burned at the stake outside the walls of Paris. On March 24, 1312, Clement V officially abolished the Templars, and in 1314, the elderly Grand Master was removed from his prison cell and burned to death on a tiny island in the middle of the Seine.

Philip IV wanted the Templars’s money and treasures. He had already denied Pope Boniface VIII the taxes demanded by the Church, which led to his excommunication until the appointment of Clement V. Philip IV already kicked the Jews out of France so he could confiscate their goods and property for himself. Philip IV destroyed the Knights Templar so he could have their money.

EXAMPLE ANSWER:

Philip IV was a greedy king, and he accused the Knights Templar of heresy in order to take their wealth for himself. Philip IV convinced Clement V to remove his protection over the Knights Templar. As soon as he did, Philip IV issued a letter ordering the arrest of the Templars throughout France, on charges that the Templars indulged in all sorts of secret and occultish acts of demon worship. He was able to get the

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