Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chivalet,
of . the Temple in London and the G-rand Preceptor of Scotland were both slain at the battle of Falkirk . At this period the rolls of the English parliament teem with complaints from the fraternity of infringements upon their various rights , these encroachments having doubtless , the encouragement of both the throne and the church .
The greatest and most implacable enemy of the Templars , however , was the King of Eranee , Philip , called Le Bel , who ascended the throne in 1285 , when in his seventeenth year , and commenced his career of despotism by decreasing in every way the powers and ¦ p rivileges' of the French nobles . In 1290 he despoiled the Jews ; and in the following year cast into prison the Italian merchants who conducted Dearly the whole commerce of France , obtaining f ^ om them large
ranspms ere he would set them at liberty . Becoming involved in a war with England , to defray its expenses he confiscated the property of the Jews in Languedoe , and banished them from the kingdom . Having exhausted every resource to replenish his exchequer ( including the depreciation of the coinage of his realm to one third of its proper value ) , Philip at length cast his greedy eyes on the wealth of the Templars . He took advantage of the death of
Pope Benedict XI . in 1804 , to procure the election of Bertraiid , archbishop of Bordeaux , a creature of his own , to the pontifical chair , by the title of Clement V . The new pope , at Philip ' s bidding , removed the papal seat to Avignon in France , and summoned the cardinals to attend him at Lyons , where he was consecrated in Philip ' s presence . Ten new cardinals were then created , of whom
nine were Frenchmen . Clement is , even by ecclesiastical historians , represented as a monster of vice—avaricious , and yet wedded to pleasure—a trafficker in holy things ; indeed he has been described as stained by every vice and ennobled by no single virtue . Phili p had thus a fitting instrument to assist him in carrying out his atrocious schemes .
In consequence of the rivalry between the two Orders ., which had produced frequent instances of ill feeling , several popes had striven to amalgamate the Templars and Hospitallers ; and Clement , six months after his consecration , resolved upon this union . Whether or not Philip , to carry out his own unprincipled scheme , impelled the pope to take this step , we have no evidence , but it is very probable that such ivas the case . Clement speciously invited the two Grrand Masters to France , to confer with him on the propriety of dispatching aid to the Kings of Armenia and Cyprus . Villaret , the Master of the Order of St . John , was then engaged in the
attack on . Rhodes , and therefore did not heed the summons ; but it was obeyed by James de Molay with sixty of his most distinguished Knights and the treasure of the Order , which amounted to 150 , 000 gold florins , and as much silver as sufficed to load twelve horses . He was received in France by the king with every appearance of kindness and favour , and deposited the treasure in the Temple at Paris . He then set out to Poitiers , where Clement was ; the pope consulted him on the affairs of the east , and De Molay said that
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chivalet,
of . the Temple in London and the G-rand Preceptor of Scotland were both slain at the battle of Falkirk . At this period the rolls of the English parliament teem with complaints from the fraternity of infringements upon their various rights , these encroachments having doubtless , the encouragement of both the throne and the church .
The greatest and most implacable enemy of the Templars , however , was the King of Eranee , Philip , called Le Bel , who ascended the throne in 1285 , when in his seventeenth year , and commenced his career of despotism by decreasing in every way the powers and ¦ p rivileges' of the French nobles . In 1290 he despoiled the Jews ; and in the following year cast into prison the Italian merchants who conducted Dearly the whole commerce of France , obtaining f ^ om them large
ranspms ere he would set them at liberty . Becoming involved in a war with England , to defray its expenses he confiscated the property of the Jews in Languedoe , and banished them from the kingdom . Having exhausted every resource to replenish his exchequer ( including the depreciation of the coinage of his realm to one third of its proper value ) , Philip at length cast his greedy eyes on the wealth of the Templars . He took advantage of the death of
Pope Benedict XI . in 1804 , to procure the election of Bertraiid , archbishop of Bordeaux , a creature of his own , to the pontifical chair , by the title of Clement V . The new pope , at Philip ' s bidding , removed the papal seat to Avignon in France , and summoned the cardinals to attend him at Lyons , where he was consecrated in Philip ' s presence . Ten new cardinals were then created , of whom
nine were Frenchmen . Clement is , even by ecclesiastical historians , represented as a monster of vice—avaricious , and yet wedded to pleasure—a trafficker in holy things ; indeed he has been described as stained by every vice and ennobled by no single virtue . Phili p had thus a fitting instrument to assist him in carrying out his atrocious schemes .
In consequence of the rivalry between the two Orders ., which had produced frequent instances of ill feeling , several popes had striven to amalgamate the Templars and Hospitallers ; and Clement , six months after his consecration , resolved upon this union . Whether or not Philip , to carry out his own unprincipled scheme , impelled the pope to take this step , we have no evidence , but it is very probable that such ivas the case . Clement speciously invited the two Grrand Masters to France , to confer with him on the propriety of dispatching aid to the Kings of Armenia and Cyprus . Villaret , the Master of the Order of St . John , was then engaged in the
attack on . Rhodes , and therefore did not heed the summons ; but it was obeyed by James de Molay with sixty of his most distinguished Knights and the treasure of the Order , which amounted to 150 , 000 gold florins , and as much silver as sufficed to load twelve horses . He was received in France by the king with every appearance of kindness and favour , and deposited the treasure in the Temple at Paris . He then set out to Poitiers , where Clement was ; the pope consulted him on the affairs of the east , and De Molay said that