In the account of this order, which is published in the Encyclopaedia, we have, with many others, supposed that the guilt of which they were accused at the suppression of the order was less enormous than their enemies alleged. For the honour of human nature, we are still unwilling to believe that this was not the case. Justice, however, compels us to admit, that the Abbé Barnuel has brought together such a cloud of witnesses against the Templars, that we know not how to refute their evidence; and that he has completely proved, that Philip le Bel was not influenced by avarice when he suppressed that order in France. "It has been said, that he and Clement V. had concerted between them the dissolution of the Templars. The falsity of such an assertion is evident on the inspection of their letters. Clement V. at first will give no cre- dit to the accusations against the Templars; and even when he receives incontestable proofs from Philip le Bel, he had still so little concerted the plan with that Prince, that every step taken by the one or the other occasions disputes on the rights of the church or of the throne.

"It was also said, that the king wished to seize on the great riches of these knights; but at the very commencement of his proceedings against the order, he solemnly renounced all share in their riches; and perhaps no Prince in Christendom was truer to his engagement. Not a single estate was annexed to his domain; and all history bears testimony to the fact.

"We next hear of a spirit of revenge which actuated this Prince; and during the whole course of this long trial, we do not hear of a single personal offence that he had to revenge on the Templars. In their defense, not the most distant hint, either at the revengeful spirit, or at any personal offence against the king, is given; so far from it, until the period of this great catastrophe, the grand master of the order had been a particular friend of the king's, who had made him godfather to one of his children.

"In fine, the rack and torture is supposed to have forced confessions from them which otherwise they never would have made; and in the minutes, we find the avowal of at least 200 knights all made with the greatest freedom, and without any coercion. Compulsion is mentioned but in the case of one person; and he makes exactly the same avowal as 12 other knights, his companions, freely made (a). Many of these avowals were made in councils where the bishops begin by declaring, that all who had confessed through fear of the torture should be looked upon as innocent, and that no Knight Templar should be subjected to it (b). The Pope Clement V. was so far from favouring the king's prosecutions, that he began by declaring them all to be void and null. He suspended the archbishops, bishops, and prelates, who had acted as inquisitors in France. The king accuses the Pope in vain of favouring the Templars; and Clement is only convinced after having been present at the interrogatories of 72 knights at Poitiers, in presence of many bishops, cardinals, and legates. He interrogated them, not like a judge who sought for criminals, but like one who wished to find innocent men, and thus exculpate himself from the charge of having favoured them. He hears them repeat the same avowals, and they are freely confirmed. He desired that these avowals should be read to them after an interval of some days, to see if they would still freely persevere in their depositions. He hears them all confirmed. Qui perserverant in illis, eas expresse et sponte prout recitae fuerant approbatunt. He wished still further to interrogate the grand master and the principal superiors, praeposites majoris, of the divers provinces of France, Normandy, Poitou, and of the Transmarine countries. He sent the most venerable persons to interrogate those of the superiors, whose age or infirmities hindered them from appearing before him. He ordered the depositions of their brethren to be read to them, to know if they acknowledged the truth of them. He required no other oath from them than to answer freely and without compulsion; and both the grand master and the superiors of these divers provinces depose and confess the same things, confirm them some days after, and approve of the minutes of their depositions taken down by public notaries. Nothing less than such precautions could convince him of his error; it was then only that he revoked his menaces and his suspension of the French bishops, and that he allows the king to proceed in the trials of the Templars.

"Let such pretexts be forgotten, and let us only dwell on the avowals which truth alone forced from these criminal knights.

"Their depositions declare, that the Knights Templars, on their reception, denied Christ, trampled on the cross, and spit upon it; that Good Friday was a day which was particularly consecrated to such outrages; that they promised to prostitute themselves to each other for the most unnatural crimes; that every child begotten by a Templar was cast into the fire; that they bound themselves by oath to obey, without exception, every order coming from the grand master; to spare neither sacred nor profane; to look upon every thing as lawful when the good of the order was in question; and, above all, never to violate the horrible secrets of their nocturnal mysteries, under pain of the most terrible chastisements (c).

"In making their depositions, many of them declared they had only been forced into these horrors by imprisonment and the most cruel usage; that they wished, after the example of many of their brethren, to pass into other orders, but that they did not dare, fearing the power and vengeance of their order; that they had secretly confessed their crimes, and had craved absolution. In this public declaration, they testified, by their tears, the most ardent desire of being reconciled to the church.

"All repeat the same deposition, except three, who declare they have no knowledge of the crimes imputed to their order. The Pope, not content with this information taken by men of religious orders and by French noblemen, requires that a new trial should take place in Poitou before cardinals and others whom he himself nominates: Again, with the same freedom, and for the third time, the grand master and other chiefs, in presence of Clement V. repeat their depositions. Molay even requested, that one of the lay brothers, who was about his person, should be heard, and this brother confirms the declaration. During many years these informations were continued and renewed at Paris, in Champagne, in Normandy, in Quercy, in Languedoc, in Provence. In France alone, above 200 avowals of the same nature are to be found; nor did they vary in England, where, at the synod of London held in 1311, 78 English knights were heard, and two whole months were spent in taking informations and in verifying their declarations. Fifty-four Irish were also heard, and many Scotch, in their respective countries. It was in consequence of these declarations that the order of the Templars was abolished in those kingdoms, and that the parliament

(a) Layette, No. 20. Interrog. made at Caen. (b) See the Council of Ravenna. Rubens Hist. Raven. lib. vi. (c) See the Vouchers brought by Dupuy, and Extract of the Registers. TEM

[665]

TER

parliament disposed of their goods (n). The same declarations were taken and proved in Italy, at Ravenna, at Bologna, at Pisa, and at Florence, though in all these councils the prelates were very ready to abolve all those knights who could succeed in their justifications.

"I would willingly affirm (continues the Abbé), that it was the smaller part of the Templars who suffered themselves to be carried away by such abominations. Some even at Paris were declared innocent. In Italy a still greater number were absolved; of all those who were judged at the councils of Mayence and Salamanca, none were condemned: and hence we may conclude, that of the 9000 houses belonging to the order, many had not been tainted, and that whole provinces were to be excepted from the general stain of infamy. But the condemnations, the juridical depositions, the method of initiating the knights, almost become general; the secrecy of their receptions, where neither prince, nor king, nor any person whatever, could be present during the last half century, are so many testimonies which corroborate the divers accusations contained in the articles sent to the judges; that is to say, that at least two-thirds of the order knew of the abominations practised without taking any steps to extirpate them. Quod non est, vel quod dux partes ordinis scientes dictos errores corrigere neglecterint.

"This certainly cannot mean that two thirds of the knights had equally partaken of these abominations. It is evident, on the contrary, that many detested them as soon as they were acquainted with them; and that others only submitted to them, though initiated, after the harsh treatment and most terrible threats. Nevertheless, this proves, that the greatest part of these knights were criminal, some through corruption, others through weakness or connivance; and hence the dissolution of the order became necessary."