M. Haynouardf, we know not on what authority,

positively denies that the Master and his compatiions were ever brought before the pope- He says that, iiv the month of August following, they were on Ibeir way ■ to Poitiers, in order to be examined by the pontiff |
* This is mentioned in a. prirale letter from Clemeat to Philip, af the SOthDec^ember, 13(18. ■f Monumens Ilistoci^ueu, &c. [h 4G.
I
in person ; but (hat, under pretext of some of them beinj; fiick, tliey were dtitaiimd at Cliinon, iustesd of being' brought on to I'oiliers, where the pope re- mained, and were tinally conducted back to Paris without having seen him. He does not give the date nf this occurrence, but it it would seem to have been in Ihe following autumn.
The proceedings against the Templars were so manifestly contrary to the interest of the pope, that I'hilip deemed it necessary to keep a strict eye over him. Having, in May, 1308, convoked an assembly of Ihe states at Tours, and obtained from them a. declara- lioii of his right to punish notorious heretics without asking the consent of the pope, and in which he w&s called upon to act with rigour against the Templars, he proceeded with it himself to Poitiers, and pre- sented it to Clement. Duringthenegociationawhich took place at tluit time, the pope attempted to make his escape to Bordeaux, but his ba^o'^e and his treasures were stopped by the king's orders at the gat« of the town, and Clement remained in effect a prisoner.
While the supreme pontiff was thus in ftia power, Philip, who still remained at Poitiers, by way of re- moving all his scruples, had, on the 29th and 30th June, and 1st July, seventy-two of the Templars, who had confessed, brought before Clement and examined. As was to be expected, the greater part repeated their former declarations of the impiety, idolatry, and licentiousness of the order. From these depositions it appears clearly that the torture had been employed to extract the former confessions.
Pierre de Broel said that he had been stripped and put to the torture, but that be had said ueidier more nor less on that account. He added that those who toi'lLiri'd him were all drunk.
Guillaume de Uaymes had not been tortured, but
,THB TBMPLARS. aa9
he had been kept a month in anlitary confine men t on bread aiid water before he made ajiy contession.
Gerard de St. Martial, who coiifessed to havin^r denied Christ, and spitten betide the cross, said that he had been cruelly tortured, being at first ashamed to acknowledge these facta, although they were true.
Deodat Jalet had been tortured, but it was the in- spiration of God andtheblessed Virgin Mary, and uol the rack, which had made him confess. He acknow- ledged every crime imputed tu the order. Speaking of the idol, he said, " I was alone in a chamber wltli the person who received me : he drew nut of a box a head, or idol, which appeared to me to have three faces, and said, Thou Khoiddst adore it as thy Savi- our and that of the order of the Temple. We then bent our two knees, and I cried. Blessed be- he who iLnll save my soW.and I worshipped it." Yet Jafet afterwards retracted this deposition, and stood Ibrtli as one of the defenders of the order.
Iter de Rochefurt, though he said he had con- fessed, bad been tortured repeatedly, with a view to extracting more from him. He declared that, having been received in the unlawful way, he had confessed himself to the patriarch of Jerusalem, who had wept bitterly at hearing' of such wicked- ness. As Raynouard very justly observes, the jiatriarch, who could liardly he a friend to the Tem- plars, was not very likely to conleut himself with shedding a few useless tears had the knowledge of such u heresy come to his ears.
Pierre de Conders had confessed at the sight of the rack.
Raymond de Stiiphani had been severely tortured at Carcassonne. Being asked why he did not then tell the truth, he replied, " Because 1 did nut recol- lect it; but I pru)ed the senechal to allow me to
I
30O BSCRBT 80CIST1KS.
confer with my companions, and when I had delibe- rated with ihem I reeoUecled."
Who can give credit to depositions tike these, most of which were subsequently revoked ? Yet it wBB by these that the pope declared himself h> he perfectly satisfied of Ihe guilt of ihe order, and justi- fied the rigtirnns measures which he authorized against it. Philip, we are lo observe, was all this time at Poitiers : the prisoners were examined before the cardinals, and only tliose who had not retracted their former rack-extorled confessions were produced in the large concourse of nobles, clei'gy, and people assembled on this occasion'.
Clement and Philip now arranged the convocation of Hu cecumenic council at Vienne, to pronounce the abolition of the order. The pope also appointed a commission to take nt Paris a juridical information against it ; and, on the 1st August, he authorised the bishops and his delegates to proceed in their inquiries. On the 12th August, bythebullfaciensmiser/corrfiom, after asserting the guilt of the order, he called upon all princes and prelates Ihroiigliout the Chrisiian world to assist Jiim in making inquiry into this aRuir.
The commission appointed by the pope was com- po^ied of the archbishop of Narhonne, the bishops of Bayeux, Mende, and Limoges; Matthew of Naples, archdeacon of Rouen, notary of the Holy See; John of Mantua, archdeacon of Trent ; John of Montlaur, archdeacon of Maguelone; and William Agelin, pro- vost of Aix, which last was prevented by business from giving attendance. They entered on their hinctiuiis on the Tlh Au^rust, 1309, and ordered that the brethren of t)ie 'I'emple should be cited before them on the first day of business after the festival of
' Kajnouard, p. 253.
THE TEMPLARS,
ctns were to be ^^^| (1 cleriTV in the ^^^^
St. Martin, in Noyember, The citations published iii presence of the people and clerg'y cathedrals, ehnrehes. and schools, in the principal houses of the order, and in the prisons in which the knights were confined. No one appearing, new citations were issued; and at length the Bishop of Paris was called on by the commiseioa to_go ' to the prison where the Master and the heads of the order were confined, and notify it to them. Having done su, he caused the same notification to be made throughout his diocese. The following circumstunci which occurred at this time, would seem to indicat that impediments were thrown in the way of Ihow who were disposed to defend the order by the royal ministers. The commissioners were informed that the governor of the Chatelet had arrested and im- ])ris()ned some persons who were presumed to have come to defend the order. The governor heine; sum- moned before them, ileclared that, by order of the ministers, he had arrested seven persons who were denounced as being Templars in a lay habit, who had come to Paris with money in order to procure advo^ cales and defenders for the accused. He acknow- ledged that he had put them to the torture, but said that he did not believe them to be Templars. On Wednesday, Nov. 26, the commissiou Molay, the Master of the Temple, waa brought befi it. He was asked if he would defend the order, speak for himself. He replied by expressing surprise that the Church should proceed with f precipitation in this case, when the sentence rela to the Emperor Frederic had been suspended thirty-two years. Though he had neither knowU nor talent sufficient to defend the order, he shi cont^ider himself vile in his own eyes, and in thoa others, if he hesitated to do so; but being thv'
he
aaa sborxt sodietieb.
priKonor of the king and ihc jiope, and without money, he asked fur dd and counsel.
The commisBiuuers desired him to reflect on his offer, and to consider the confessiutia respecting hitn* self and the order which he had made. Ttiey agreed, however, to g'ive him time ; and, that he might not be ignoraat of what was alleged against him, had the doc:uinents containing their powers read to him in the vulgar language.
During the reading uf the letters which recited his confession made to the cardinals at Chinon, he crossed himself repeatedly, and gave other sigus of indignation and surprise, and said, that, were it not for the respect due to the envoys of the pope, he should espresB himself differe.ntly. They said they were not come there to receive challenges. He re- plied that he spoke not of cartels, he only wished they acted in this case as the Saracens and Tartars did, who cut oS the head and cut the hody in two uf those who were found to lie guilty.
Two circumslances are worthy of note in this examination ; one, that William Plasian was present at it, and, as the commissioners expressly declared, without being invited by them ; the other, that the confessions, which were imputed to Molay, and which he evidently intimated to be false, were inserted in the bull Facienii mise^icordiam, which bears the date of the 12th August, although the festival of the Assumption, that is the 1 6th of August, is given as the day on which they were made *. It was there declared that the heads of the order had confessed and been absolved ; yet here we find the
I
* Kayaouard, 61. This ciccumstiuce wai first remarked b; Fleuiy, Hitl. Ecclei., lib. xci. Yet it seems httidly credible that the pope and his gecretancs could hare made so grom >
i
THE TBHPLAR5,
Muster treated as a heretic who u ciled.
The following day (Nov. 27), Ponsard de Gisi, prior of Payeos, appeared befure the cominiHsioii. Oil being asked if he would defeud the order, he replied, " Yes ; the imputations cast on us of deny- ing Christ, of spitting on the cross, of authorising iiifamoui crimes, and all such accusatioos, are false. If I, myself, or other knights, have made coufessiona hefore the bishop of Paris, or elsewhere, we have betrayed the truth — we have yielded to fear, to danger, to violence. We were tortured by Flexieu de Beziers, prior of Montlaucon, and the monk Wil- liam Robert, our enemies. Several of the prisoners had agreed among themselves to make these con- fessions, in order to escape death, and because thirty-six knights had died at Paris, and a great number in other places, under the torture. As for me, I am ready to defend the order lit my own name, and in the names of those who will make common cause with me, if I am assigned out of the goods of the order as much as will defray the needful expense, i require to he grunted ttie counsel of Raynaud of Orleans and of Peter of Bologna, priests of the order." He was asked if he had been tortured. He replied that he had, three months before he made his confession.
Next day the Master was brought up again. He demanded fo be brought before the pope, appealed lu the valour and charity of the Templars, and their zeal inadorningchurches, in proof of their piety, and made an orthodox confession of his own faith. No- garet, who was present, then observed, that it was related in the chronicles of St. Denis that the Mas- ter of the order bad done homage to SakJin; and that ihe sultan had ascribed their ill fortune to their secret vices and impiety. Molay dec]ai«d that he

SECRET 80CIBTIB8.
wptioi
hod never heard of such calunniiies; mid gave an inslatiLi! of the prudence and ffood faitli of a former Master, when hjiuself and some other young men wanted him to break a truce. Molay concluded by praying the chancellor and the commissioners to procure him the favour of hearing- mass, and being allended by his ciiaplainB.
Orders having been given tliat all the Templars who were desirous to undertake the defence of the order should be conveyed to Paris, they were brought thilher strongly guarded. The commission then re- newed its sittiogs. As the prisoners wei eivety brought before it, they, with few t declared their readiness to defend tiieir order— till dfath, cried some; till the end, cried others; be- cauK I wish to save my soul, added one. Bertrand de St. Paul declared that he never did, ond never would, confess the guilt of the order, because it was not tme ; and that he believed that God would work a miracle if ihe body of Christ was administered to those who confessed and tiiose who denied. Seven of those who had been examined before the pope, nnd had confessed, now declared that they had lied, and revoked what they then said. John de Val- gell^ maintained that he had made no confession on that occa!iioii. " I was tortured so much, and held so long before a burning fire," said Bernard de Vado, " that the fle.'ih of my heels was burnt, and these two bones (which he showed) came off."
In the course of these ex ii mi nations, a Templar, named Laurent de licaune, showed a letter with the seals of Philip de Voet and John Jainviile, the per- sons set by the pope and king over the prisoners, addressed to the 'i'emplars confined at Sens, inviting was required, and declaring orders that those who did not ssiona should be committed to
. THE TEMPLABB. 30fi
the flames. Philip de Voet, on being interrogated, said that he did nut believe that he had sent that Itlter; his seal had oflen laia in the hands of his secretary; he had always advised the prisoners Ut speak the trulh. Jainville was not enamined, neither was John Carpiui, the bearer of the letter. De Beauue was one of the first ailerwards committed to the flames ; the supposition is natural, that the letter was a stratagem of the king and his ministers.
The Master having been again brought before the commissioners, and havinir renewed his demand of being sent to the pope, they promised to write to the pope on the subject, hut there is no proof of their having done so.
On the 2Bth March all the Templars who had expressed their willingness to defend the order were assembled in the garden of the bishop's palace. Their number was 346. The Master was not among them. The articles of accusation were then read over to them in Latin ; the commissioners ordered that they should be read again to them in the vulgar tongue, but the knights ail cried out that it was enough, they did not desire that such abominalions, which were false and not to be named, should be repeated in the vulgar language. Again, they com- plained of the deprivation of their religious habits and the sacraments of the church, and desired that the Master and the heads of the order should be called thither also. But this reasonable request was not complied with. In vain the Master demanded to be brought before the pope ; in vain the i required to be permitted to enjoy the presence of ■heir chief. Neither the one nor the other suited the interest or the designs of the king.
The number of the Templars in Paris soon amounted to near 900. The commissioners were desirous that
SeCRET SOCinTIBS,
I
they BhoDid appoint agents in manage their defence ; but this they declined to do, some aliegiag that they euuld not do so without the consent of their chief, others insisting on defending the order in person. At length, atler a great dea.1 of argument and deliberation, seventy-five Templars were chosen tn draw np the defence of the order ; and the priests of the order, Raynaud de Pruino and Peter of Bo- logna, and the knights, William de Chambonnel and Bertnind de Sartiges, were appointed to be present at the deposition of the witnesses.
The act of accusation against the Templars, drawn up in the name of the pope, ran thus. At the time of their reception they were made to deny God, Christ, the Virgin, &c. ; in particularto declare that Christ was not the true God, but a false prophet, who had been crucified for his own crimes, and not for the redemption of the world. They spat and trampled on the cross, especially on Good Friday. They worshipped a cat which sometimes appeared in their chapters. Their priesLs, when celebrating moss, did not pronounce the words of consecration. They believed that their Master could absolve them from their sins. They were told at their reception that they might abandon themselves to all kinds of licen- tiousness. They had idols in all their provtnoes, some with three faces, some with one. They worshipped these idols in their chapters, believed thaJ they could save them, regarded them as the givers of wealth to the order, and of fertility to the earth; they touched them with corda which they afterwards tied round their own bodies. Those who at the lime of their reception would not comply with these prac- tices were put to death or imprisoned. All this, il was stated, took place accordmg to the statute* of the order; il was a general and ancient custom, and
. THE TEMPLARS. 307
tliere was no other mode of reception. Tile net of accusation stated lartlier that the Templan stopped at no means of enriching the order*.
The Templars, in their reply, asHCrted that all these impututions were false, and tliat if any of thetn hud confessed them, they had done so under terror itnd violence, thirty-sis having expired by torture at Paris and several others elsewhere. The forms of taw had )>een violated with respect to them ; to obbiiii from them false depositions letters of the king had been shown them deelaring that the order had been condemned irrevocably, and offering; life, hberly, and pensions, to those who would depose falsely. " All these facts, said they, are so public and sn uotoiious that there are no means or pretexts for disavowing them." The heads of accusation were nothing but falsehoods and absurdities, and the bull contained nothing but horrible, detestable, and iniquitous falsehoods. Their order was pure, and if their statutes were consulted they would be found to be the same for all Templars and for all countries. Their belief was that of the Church; parents brougiit their children, brothers each other, uncles their nephews, into the order, because it was pure and holy. When in captivity to the infidels, the Templars died sooner than renounce their religion. They declared their readiness to defend their innocence in every way, and against every person except the pmpe and the king, demanded to be brought personally before the general council, required that those who had quitted the order and deposed against it should be
* All these ctimeii had baeu acknowledged by vuiuui mem- t)ei« uCthuiiider. Yet what can be moce imprabttble than thd VFurahip dE thu cat for iustmice? This choree, Uy the way, bad already been made against the Beet uf the Cathari, who were isid lu have derived their name a callai — catber their uune gHH urigm to the LnvEatiuD.
SSCItET SOCIRTies.
n
I Phi
kept in close custody till their truth or falsehood should be ascertain eil, and Ihat no layman should be present to inlimidale the accjused when under fi, ritni- nation. The knights, tliey maintained, had been struck with such terror, that the false cotifessk)ns made by ftume were less matter of surprise than the courage of those who maintained the truth was of admiration. Inquire, said they, of those who were present at the last moments of the knights who died in prison ; let their confessions be revealed, and it will be seen if the accusations are true. Is it not strange, asked they in conclusion, that more credit should be given to the lies of those who yielded to tortures or to promises than to the asseverations of those who, in defence of the truth, have died with the palm of martyrdom — of the sound majority of those knights who have sufTered and still sufier so much for con- On the 11th April, 1310, the hearing of the wit- nesses against the order commenced. Only twenty- one were produced, two of whom did nut belong to the order, the others being principally those who had persisted in their declarations before the pope. As might be expected, all the crimes laid to the charge of the order in the papal bull were again deposed to by these men ; but the commission had only got as far as the examination of Lhe thirteenth witness when the impatience of the king; manifested itself in a barbarous and illegal act, which had appa- rently long been meditated.
The Archbishop of Sens, whose suffragan the Bishop of Paris was, had died about Easter, 1309, and the pope had reserved the nomination to himself, Philip wrote to him requiring of him to nominate Philip de Mariguy, Bishop of Cambray, brother to Enquerrand, his prime minister, alleging that his youth was no just impediment, and that his acts
THE TBMPLAHS.
would prove how much he was beyond hia age. The | pope, thoug'h very reluctant, was obliged to conseot, an(L^ April, 1310, Murigny was installed. No time wa^BiW lost in proceeding to operation. On Sun- day, May iO, the fonr defenders of the order learned that the provincial council of Sens was convoked at Paris in order to proceed against the knights indi- vidually. 'Ilieytook alarm, and applied to the com- mission, which, though it did not sit on Sundays, ossembled, and Peter of Bologna informed them of what he had heard. He begged that they would KuHer him to lead an appeal which he had drawn up. This they declined doing, but said that, if he had any defence of the order to give in, they would receive it He forthwith laid down a written paper, stating the danger which the prisoners were in dread of, appeal- ing to the holy see, and entreating the commission to stop the proceedings of the archbishop and his sufFraguns. The defenders of the order then retired, and the further consideration of the aflUirwas put off til! after vespers, when they re-apjjeared and gave in an address to the Archbishop of Sens, containing an appeal to the pope. The commissioners, however, declined iaterferiiig for the present.
It is to be noticed that the defenders of the order prayed on this occasion of the commission lo nomi- nate one or more of iis notaries to draw up their act of defence, because they could find no notary who would act for them, owing probably to fear of the royal displeasure, or to the want of funds by the accused.
On Monday and Tuesday two mure of the wit- nesses were heard. One of them named Humbert de Puy declared that, having refui^ed to acknowledge the crimes laid to the charge of the order, he had been tortured three limes and kept for thirty-six weeks on bread and water in the bottom of au in- fected tower, by order of John de Jaiuville.
SECBBT SOCieTlffS.
While tliUB enfraged, the commissi oners leomed a their rlismsy that the coundl was about to cammit
s fifty-iViur of the knights who had ate^i- l>ed forth as tlie defenders of the onler. TItey itistanlly sent one of tlieir iiot»Ties and one of the keejiers of the prison of the Templars to entreat the archbishop to act with caution, as lliere were strong reasons for doubting the truth of the charges; and representiug thai the witnesses were so terriBed at what they had heard of the intentions of the council, that they were incapable of giving their evidence; ih&t moreuver the Templars had delivered in as appeal to the pope.
The archbishop, who was paying the price of his elevation to a hard creditor, was not to be stopped by these considerations. He was making short work of the business. On the Monday he had a number of those wlio had undertaken the defence of the order brought before the council.and he interrogated them once more himBclf. Those of them who, having pou- fessed, had afterwards retracted, and now persisted in their relraciation, were declared to he rtlapged heretics, and were delivered over to the secular arm and condemned to the flameiii; those who, had not confessed, and wonid not, were sentenced to imprison- ment as unreconciVfd Templars ; those who persisted in their confession of the enormities laid lo the churp^e of the order were set at liberty, and called reconcited Temjilars.
The next morning the fifty-four Templars who had been declared relapsed were taken from their prison, placed in carts, and conducted to ^e place i»f execution, where they beheld the piles prepared, and the executioners standiiig with flaming torches in their hands. An envoy from the court was pre- sent, who proclaimed liberty and the royal favour for those who would even then retract theirdeclaralions
THE TEMPLARS. 311
snA confess the ^ilt of Hie onler. The friends and relalives of the unhappy victims crowded round them, with tears and prayers, imploring of them to make the required acknowledgment and save their lives. In vain. These galbnt knights, who, yielding to the anguish of torture, and worn down by solitude and privations, had confessed to the truth of the most absurd charges, now that they beheld the certain limit of their sufferings, disdained to purchase by falsehood a prolongation of life to be spent in infamy and contempt. With one voice they re-asserted their own innocence and that of their order. Tliey called on God, the Virgin, and all the saints to aid and sup- port them, raised the hymn of death, and expired amidst the tears and commiseration of the by-atanders.
Felons convicted on the clearest evidence will, as is well known, die asserting their innocence ; but this is when they have no hope of escape remaining. Here life and hberty were offered, and the victims were implored by those whom they most loved to accept of them. May we not then assert that the men who resisted all solicitations were sincere and spoke the truth, and were supported by their cou- tidence of being received as martyrs by that God wfiom they devoutly adored according to the doctrines of their church?
On Wednesday, Aymeric de Villars-le-Duc, aged about fifty years, was brought before the coniniia- sioners. He was quite p&llid, and seemed terrilied Iicyond measure. On the articles to which he was to depose being explained lo him, he asseverated in the strongest manner his resolution to speak the truth; then striking his breast with bis clenched hands, he bent his knees, and stretching his hands towards the altar, spake ihese memorable words: —
" I persist in maintaining that the errors imputed to the Templars are absolutely false, though 1 have
3ii
SECRET SOCtBTIES,
confessed some oflhem myself. overL-ome by the tor- tures which G. de Marcillac and Hugh de Celle, the king's knights, ordered to be inflicf^d on me. I have seen the fifty-four knights led in carls to be committed to the flames because they would not make the confessions which were required of them. I have heard that they were burnt ; and I doubt if I could, like them, have had the noble constancy to brave the terrors of the pile. 1 believe that, if I were threatened with it, I should depose on oath before the commission, and before any other persons who should interrogate me, (hat these sume erriira imputed to the order are true. / would kiU God himself if it wai Teqjiired oftne."
He then earnestly implored the commissioners and the notaries wlio were presept not to reveal to the king's officers, and lo the lieepers of the Templars, the words which had escaped him, lest they should deliver him also to the flames.
Ought not these simple honest words, the very accents of truth, to prevail with us against all the confessiong procured by torture, or by promises or threats, and satisfy us as to their value ?
The commissioners, whose conduct throughout the whole alfair was regulated by humanity and justice, declared that the evening befure one of the witnesses had come to them and implored of them to keep his deposition secret, on accoutitof the danger which he ran if it should be known ; and, judging that in their present state of terror it would not be just to hear the witnesses, they deliberated on proroguing their session to a future period. .
We thus see that even the papal commission could not protect against ihe king such of the witnesses as were honest and bold enough tn maintain the inno- cence of the order. Strict justice was therefore out of the question, Philip would have the order guilty
THE TEMPLARS. SIS
of the most incredible crimes, and death awaited the witness who did iiot depose as he wished. Mean- lime his ag^ents were busily engaged in tamperinii; with the prisoners; and by threats and promises they prevailed on forty-ftur of them to give up their desig'n of defending the order.
On the 21st May the 'commissioners met, in the absence of the Archbisliop of Narboniie and the Archdeacon of Trent, and, declaring' their labours suspended for the present, adjouriied to the 3d November.
In the interval the conduct of the council of Sens had been imitated in other provinces. The Arch- bishop of Rheims held a council at Senlis, by whose sentence nine Templars were committed to the flames. Another council was held at Pont-de-rArche by the Archbishop of Rouen, and several knights were burnt. The Bishop of Carcassonne presided at a council which delivered many victims to the secular arm. On the iStli August the Archbishop of Sens held a second council, and burned four knights. Thibaull, Duke of Lorraine, the close friend of King Philip, put many Templnrs to death, and seized the property of the order.
On the 3d November three of the papal commis- sioners met at Paris : they asked if any one wished to defend the order of the Templars. No oue ap]iearing Ihey adjourned to the 27th December. On resuming their sittings they called on VVilliam de Chambonnet and Berlnind de Sortiges to give their presence at the hearing of the witnesses. These knighls required the presence of Raynaud de Pruino and Peter of Bologna, but were informed that these priests had solemnly and voluntarily renounced the defence of the order, and revoked their retractations ; that the latter had escaped from his prison and fled, and that the former could not be admitted to defend theorder.
3M
SEOitST COCIETIBS.
US he bad been defrraded at the coundl of Sens. The knights reiterated their reiiisal and retired. Tlie commisEioners then proceedei^ in their labours without them, and continued the examination of witnesses till the 26tta Mny, ISll.
Tile whole number of persons examined before the commision amounted to 231. for the tar greater part serving-brethren. 01" these about two-thirds ac- knowledged the truth of the principal charges against the order, l^e denial of Christ and xpitiing on the cross were very generally confessed, but many said they had spitten beside it, not onit.and also that ihej had denied God with their lips, not with their hearts.
With respect to the head which the Templars were said to worship, as it was of some importance to prove this olfenee, in order to make out tlte charge of heresy, it was testified to by a. few. Some said it was like that of a man with a long white beard, others thai it was like that of a woman, and that it was said to be tlie head of one of the ] 1,000 virgins. One witness gave the following account of it, which be said he had had from a secular knight at Limisao, in Cyprus,
A cert^u nobleman was passionately in love with a maiden. Being unable, however, to overcome her repugnance to him, he took her body, when she was dead, out of her grave, and cut off her head, and while Ibua engaged lie heard u voice crying — Keep it safe, whatever looks on it wiU be dtttroyed. He did as desired, and made the first trial of it on the Grissons, an Arab tribe, which dwelt in Cyprus uid the neighbouring country, and whenever he un- covered the head and turned it towards any of thdr towns, its walls instantly fell down. He next em- barked witli the bead for Conslanlinople, being re- solved to destroy thai city also. On the way his ■se, oulofenriosily, opened the box which contained
THB TBHPtARa. 315
the head. Instantly there came on it teirilic storm, the ship went to pieces, and nearly all who were on board perished. The very fieh vanishwl Iroin that part of the sea.
Another iif the witnesses had heard the same slory. The common tradition of the East, he said, was, that in old times, before the two s|Mritiial orders of knight- hood were founded, a head used to rise in a certain whirlpool named Setalia, the appearance of which wae very dan^rous tor the atiipa which happened to be near it. We are to suppose, though it does not appear that the witnesses said so, that the Templars had contrived to get possession of this formidable head.
We are to observe that the witnesses who thus de- posed bad been picked and culled in all parts of Fiance, by the king's officers, out of those who had confessed before the dilFereut prelates and iirovincial councils, and who were, by threats and promises, en- gaged to persist in what they had said. The terror they were under was visible in their countenances, their words, and their actions, Many of them began by saying that they would not vary from what they hod deposed before such a bishop or such a council ; yet even among these some were bold enough to revoke their confessions, declaring that they had been drawn from them by torture, and asserted the inno- cence of the order. Others retracted their confession)) when brought before the commissioners, but shortly afterwards, having probably in the interval been well menaced or tortured by tt^ king's officers, returned and retracted their retractation.
The case of John dePoUencourt, the thirty-seventh witness, is a remarkable instance. He bt^an in the usual way, by declaring that he would persist in his confession made before the Bishop of Amiens, touching thedenial of Christ, &c. The commissioners, observing his paleness and agitation, told him to tell
31S sbchet societieb.
ttie truth, and save his soul, iind not to persist in his confession if it had nut been sincere, assuring him that neither thej nor their notaries would reveal any thing that he said. After a pause he replied: —
" I declare then, on peril of my soul, and on the oath which I have taken, that, at the time of my re- ception, I neither denied God nor spat upon the cross, nor committed any of the indecencies of which we are accused, and was not required so to do. It is true that I have made confessiouB before the inqui- sitors; but it was through the fear of death, and be- cause Giles lie Rotaugi had, nith tears, said to me, and many others who were with me in prison at Montreuil, that we should pay for it with our lives, if we did not assist by our confessions to destroy the order. I yielded, and afterwards I wished to confess myself to the Bishop of Amiens; he referred me to a Minorite friar; laccusedmyself of this falsehood, and obtained absolution, on condition that I would make no more false depositions in this alluir. I tell you the truth; I persist in attesting it before you; come what may of it, I prefer my soul to my body.' '
Nothing can bear more plainly the character of truth than this declaration ; yet three days afterwards the witness came back, revoked it all, spoke of the eat which used to appemr in tile chapters, and said lliat, if the order had not been abolished, he would have quitted it. Had he not been welt menaced and tortured in the interim ?
The examination of Peter de la Falu, a bachelor in theology of the order of the preachers, the 201st witness, brought from him these remarkable words : " I have been present at the examination of several Templars, some of whom, confessed many of the things contained in the said articles, and some others totally denied them ; and for many reasons it ap- peared to me that greater credit was to be given to those who denied i\\an to \kt)se. Vwi caafc^ed,"
TKB TBHFLARS,