The Trial of the Templars (Canto Classics) by Barber Malcolm

Author:Barber, Malcolm [Barber, Malcolm]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

The Charges

When, on 14 September 1307, Philip IV had issued his secret orders for the arrest of the Templars, he had justified his action on three main grounds: the denial and the spitting, obscene kissing and homosexuality, and idol worship.1 In July 1308 Clement V finally agreed to reopen the proceedings which had been suspended the previous February,2 and on 12 August 1308 a fuller and more systematic list of charges was drawn up. This runs to 127 articles, which can be summarised under seven main headings. Firstly, that when a new Templar was received, he denied Christ and sometimes the Holy Virgin and the saints, an act instigated by those receiving him. He was told that Christ was not the true God, that he was a false prophet who had not been crucified for the redemption of the human race, but on account of his sins. There was therefore no hope of receiving salvation through Christ. The new member was then made to spit on a crucifix or on an image of Christ and, in some receptions, to trample or to urinate on it. Secondly, that the Templars adored idols, specific mention being made of a cat and a head, the latter sometimes having three faces. This head was worshipped as a saviour and venerated as a giver of plenty which could make the trees flower and the land germinate. They touched or encircled it with small cords which they wore around their waists. Thirdly, that they did not believe in the sacraments and that the Templar priests omitted the words of consecration during the mass. Fourthly, that they believed that the grand master and the other leaders could hear their confessions and absolve them from sin, despite the fact that many of these leaders were laymen. Fifthly, that the Order’s receptors kissed new entrants on the mouth, the navel, the stomach, the buttocks and the spine, and that homosexuality was encouraged and indeed enjoined on them. Sixthly, that the Templars sought gain for the Order by whatever means came to hand, whether lawful or not. Donations made to the Order were not used in approved ways, nor were they apportioned to hospitals. Seventhly, that chapter meetings and receptions were held in secret at night under a heavy guard and that only Templars were present. Brothers who revealed to an outsider what had occurred were punished by imprisonment or death.3

In 1307 Philip IV had reigned for twenty-two years. He had around him a settled and reliable group of ministers led by William of Nogaret. These men had developed set techniques for dealing with those who, for one reason or another, fell foul of the regime. Intimidation and violence were backed by an intensive propaganda campaign aimed at harnessing support within France and blackening the name and reputation of the opponent concerned. Once the right climate of opinion was established the estates were assembled to hear the discourses of the royal ministers on the subject and their members were then sent back to their own regions to spread the word.

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