Military Orders
The Trial of the Templars
1. Philip IV was fighting to control the French Church, and he wanted the Templar wealth and power. 2. Set William of Nogaret and others to finding grounds to destroy the Templars in France. 3. October 1307: in two days, over 10,000 people arrested. 4. The Trial of the Templars a. Accusations included idol worship, blasphemy, desecration of holy places, sodomy, black magic. This was all widely publicized. b. 138 Templar leaders were "examined." 123 confessed. Another 36 died in torture. c. November 1307: Clement V ordered the arrest of all Templars. d. Some resisted. Some surrendered. A few even apostatized. In many places they were found innocent. But most confessed, hoping Clement would release them. 5. The destruction of the Order, 1310-1312 a. Philip burned 120 Templars at the stake in 1310. b. The pope authorized the use of torture in England as well. c. 1311: Philip steps up his propaganda campaign, trying Boniface VIII posthumously. d. May 1312: Pope Clement dissolves the Order and gives its lands to the Hospitallers. e. March 1314: Grand Master Molay publicly retracts his confession, as does the Preceptor of Normandy. Both are burned.We don’t really know why Philip decided to destroy the Templars in France. Events bear out the financial motive—one of his first acts was to seize the Templar treasury in Paris—but he may well have felt the Templars were a positive danger to royal authority and may even believed some of the more colorful charges, such as heresy and witchcraft, levelled against them. Whatever his motives, his actions are in no doubt.
On October 13, 1307, agents of the French king acted as one throughout the royal domains. This fact alone says volumes about Philip himself and the changing nature of royal authority, for no 12th century king could possibly have orchestrated such a coordinated effort. Templars throughout France were arrested and their treasuries and documents seized.
Philip rolled out what by the 14th century had become a standard litany of charges against one’s political enemies, s those protected by the Church: heresy, blasphemy, witchcraft and black magic, worshipping idols, sexual license, treason. These charges were widely publicized; the general public was not particularly sympathetic to the Templars by this time, and they found few defenders. One hundred thirty-eight brothers were "examined". One hundred twenty-three confessed. Another thirty-six died under torture.
In November of the same year, Pope Clement V, a French pope installed with Philip’s approval after the death of Boniface VIII, ordered the arrest of all Templars throughout Europe. Some resisted, some surrendered. Some were even found innocent by the local authorities. But most confessed, hoping Clement would release them.
In France, at least, the hope was false, for Philip was determined to destroy the order. He burned one hundred twenty Templars at the stake in 1310. In May 1312, Pope Clement dissolved the Templars as an order, giving their remaining lands to the Hospitallers. By this time, Philip had already confiscated much of the Templar wealth in France.
The following year, the Grand Master of the order publicly retracted his confession, as did the Preceptor of Normandy. Philip saw to it that both were burned at the stake.