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Article THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR. ← Page 5 of 7 →
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The Knights Templar.
all the iniquity he had seen amongst his Brethren . After this , the Pope ordered the Grand Master , the Great Priors , and the principal commanders of France , Gascony , Normandy , Aquitain , and Poitiers to be brought before him . " We have ordered them , " says he , in one of his bulls , " to be removed
to Poitiers ; but some of them being so sick at Chinon , in Touraine , that they are not able to travel on horseback , or bear any other method of conveyance whatever , we have appointed the Cardinals Berenge , Stephen , and Landulse to have them examined . " It is very probable those Knights who could not be brought on
horseback , or in any other manner , were such as had been disabled by the rack . It is said the Grand Master owned at Poitiers most of the crimes of which the Order was accused . Some authors say he had made before a similar confession at Paris , and in consequence of that
had written a circular letter to all the Templars , exhorting them to follow his example by confession and repentance . The commissioners of the Holy See , at their return from Chinon , delivered the verbal process to the Pope and the King .
Philip returned to Poitiers to solicit with more efficacy the condemnation of the whole Order . But whilst they were taking their measures for that purpose , and laying the stress of their proceedings on the confessions of a great number of Templars , they were surprised to hear that the most of those Knights had recanted their confessions ,
declaring that they were extorted from them by the violence of tortures ; that they openly detested the pardon which the King ' s officer had tendered them ; and that they looked upon it is the price of falsehood , and the scandalous recompence of a prevarication that was equally prejudicial to their honour and their conscience .
For the meantime most of the jsotentates in Europe , at the desire of the Pope , caused all the Templars to be arrested . Garrisons were also placed in their commanderies , their effects were seized , and preparations made for their prosecution . The Templars in Arragon immediately took refuge in some
fortresses which they had built , at their own expense , to defend the c ountry against incursions of the Moors . From those asylums they wrote to his Holiness in their own justification . They remonstrated to him that their faith was pure , and had never fallen under the least suspicion . That they had often sealed the confession of it with their
blood : That at this very time , when they were so barbarously persecuted , great numbers of their brethren were actually groaning under a grevious slavery amongst the Moors , who daily offered them liberty if they would change their religion . " Thus , " exclaimed they ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Knights Templar.
all the iniquity he had seen amongst his Brethren . After this , the Pope ordered the Grand Master , the Great Priors , and the principal commanders of France , Gascony , Normandy , Aquitain , and Poitiers to be brought before him . " We have ordered them , " says he , in one of his bulls , " to be removed
to Poitiers ; but some of them being so sick at Chinon , in Touraine , that they are not able to travel on horseback , or bear any other method of conveyance whatever , we have appointed the Cardinals Berenge , Stephen , and Landulse to have them examined . " It is very probable those Knights who could not be brought on
horseback , or in any other manner , were such as had been disabled by the rack . It is said the Grand Master owned at Poitiers most of the crimes of which the Order was accused . Some authors say he had made before a similar confession at Paris , and in consequence of that
had written a circular letter to all the Templars , exhorting them to follow his example by confession and repentance . The commissioners of the Holy See , at their return from Chinon , delivered the verbal process to the Pope and the King .
Philip returned to Poitiers to solicit with more efficacy the condemnation of the whole Order . But whilst they were taking their measures for that purpose , and laying the stress of their proceedings on the confessions of a great number of Templars , they were surprised to hear that the most of those Knights had recanted their confessions ,
declaring that they were extorted from them by the violence of tortures ; that they openly detested the pardon which the King ' s officer had tendered them ; and that they looked upon it is the price of falsehood , and the scandalous recompence of a prevarication that was equally prejudicial to their honour and their conscience .
For the meantime most of the jsotentates in Europe , at the desire of the Pope , caused all the Templars to be arrested . Garrisons were also placed in their commanderies , their effects were seized , and preparations made for their prosecution . The Templars in Arragon immediately took refuge in some
fortresses which they had built , at their own expense , to defend the c ountry against incursions of the Moors . From those asylums they wrote to his Holiness in their own justification . They remonstrated to him that their faith was pure , and had never fallen under the least suspicion . That they had often sealed the confession of it with their
blood : That at this very time , when they were so barbarously persecuted , great numbers of their brethren were actually groaning under a grevious slavery amongst the Moors , who daily offered them liberty if they would change their religion . " Thus , " exclaimed they ,