§ 6. THE TRANSFER OF THE PAPACY TO AVIGNON. 53
sant.i Thejnachinery of the Inquisition was called into use. The Dominicans, its chief agents, stood high in Philip's favor, and one of their number Was his confessor. In 1308 the authorities of the state assented to the king's plans to bring the order to trial. The constitution of the court was provided for by Clement, the bishop of each diocese and two Franciscans and two Dominicans being associated together. A commission invested with general authority was to sit in Paris. '^
In the summgr.of 1308 the pope ordered a prosecution of ^he^ni^hte wherever they might be found.^ The charges set forth were heresy, spitting upon the cross, worshipping anidol, Bafomet — the word for Mohammed in the Provengal dialect — and also the most abominable offences against moral decency such as sodomy and kissing the posterior parts and the navel of fellow knights. The members were also accused of having meetings with the devil who appeared in the form of a black cat and of having carnal intercourse with female demons. The charges which the lawyers and IncLuisitors got together numbered l2^and these the pope sent through France and to^ other countries as the basis of the prosecution.
Under the strain of prolonged torture, many of the unfortunate men gave assent to these charges, and more particularly
1 In the bull Pastoralis prceemineiitice, 1307. Augustinus Triumphus, in his tract on the Templars, de facto Templaroriini, without denying the charges of heresy, denied the king's right to seize and try persons accused of heresy on his own initiative and without the previous consent of the Church. See the document printed by Scholz, pp. 508-516.
2 It consisted of the archbishop of Narbonne, the bishops of Mende, Bayeux, and Limoges and four lesser dignitaries. The place of sitting was put at Paris at the urgency of Philip.
3 In the bull Faciens miser icordiam. In this document the pope made the charge that the grand-master and the officers of the order were in the habit of granting absolution, a strictly priestly prerogative. It was to confirm the strict view of granting absolution that Alexander III. provided for the admission of priests to the Military Orders. See Lea's valuable paper, The Absolution Formula of the Templars. See also on this subject Finke I. .395- 397. Funk, p. 13.30, says der Pahst kam von jetzt an dem Konig mehr und mehr entgegen und nachdem er sich von dem gexoaltigsten und rlicksichtscosigsten Fitrsten seiner Zeit hatte ungarnen lassen, war ein Entkommen aun seiner Gewalt kaum mehr m'oglich.
54 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
to the denial of Christ and the spitting upon the cross. The Templars seem tO-have had iio. frienda in high places bold enough to take their part. The king, the x^ope, the Dominican order, the University of Paris, the French episcopacy werg against thgm. Many confessions once made by the victims were afterwards recalled at the stake. Many denied the charges altogether.^ In Paris 3G died under torture, 54 suffered there-ai one burning, M;iy 10, l-'UO, and 8 days later 4 morg. Hundreds of jthem_perished iji-4)£is©fi. Even the bitterest enemies acknowledged that the Templars who were put to death maintained their innocence to their dying breath. ^
Inaccordance with Clement^s^OTder^jtrialsjEere had in Q^rmany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and England. In England, Edward II. at first refused to apply the torture, which was never formally adopted in that land, but later, at Clement's demand, he complied. Papal inquisitors appeared. Synods in London and York declared the charges of heresy so serious that it would be impossible for the knights to clear themselves. English houses were disbanded and the members distributed among the monasteries to do penajice. In Italy^nd Germany, the accused were, for the most part, declared innocent. In Spain and Portugal, no evidence was forthcoming of guilt and the synod of Tarragona, 1310, and other synods favored their innocence.
The last act in these hostile proceedings was opened at the Council of Vieiine, called for the special purpose of taking action upon the order. The large majority of the council were
1 These practices have been regarded by Prutz, Loiscleur {La doctrine secrete des Templiers, Paris, 1872) and others as a part of a secret code which came into use in the thirteenth century. But the code has not been forthcoming and was not referred to in tlie trials. Frederick II. declared that the Templars received Mohammedans into their house at Jerusalem and preferred their religious rites. This statomont must be taken with reserve, in view of Frederick's hostility to the order for its refusal to help him on his crusade. See M. Paris, an. 1244.
2 At the trial before the bi.shop of Nismes in 1309, out of 32, all but three denied the charges. At Perpignan, 1310, the whole number, 25, denied the charges. At Clermont 40 confessed the order guilty, 28 denied its guilt. With such antagonistic testimonies it is difficult, if at all possible, to decide the question of guilt or innocence.