The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple

The two next days (Oct. 24 and 25) were taken up with a similar examination of Brothers Hugh de Tadecastre and Thomas le Chamberleyn, who gave precisely the same account of their reception as the previous witness. Brother Hugh de Tadecastre added, that he swore to succour the Holy Land with all his might, and defend it against the enemies of the christian faith; and that after he had taken the customary oaths and the three vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, the mantle of the order and the cross with the coif on the head were delivered to him in the church, in the presence of the Master, the knights, and the brothers, all seculars being excluded. Brother Thomas le Chamberleyn added, that there was the same mode of reception in England as beyond sea, and the same mode of taking the vows; that all seculars are excluded, and that when he himself entered the Temple church to be professed, the door by which he entered was closed after him; that there was another door looking into the cemetery, but that no stranger could enter that way. On being asked why none but the brethren of the order were permitted to be present at the reception and profession of brothers, he said he knew of no reason, but that it was so written in their book of rules.

Between the 25th of October and the 17th of November, thirty-three knights, chaplains, and serving brothers, were examined, all of whom positively denied every article imputing crime or infidelity to their order. When Brother Himbert Blanke was asked why they had made the reception and profession of brethren secret, he replied, Through their own unaccountable folly. They avowed that they wore little cords round their shirts, but for no bad end; they declared that they never touched idols with them, but that they were worn by way of penance, or according to a knight of forty-three years’ standing, by the instruction of the holy father St. Bernard. Brother Richard de Goldyngham says that he knows nothing further about them than that they were called girdles of chastity. They state that the receivers and the party received kissed one another on the face, but everything else regarding the kissing was false, abominable, and had never been done.

Brother Radulph de Barton, priest of the order of the Temple, and custos or guardian of the Temple church at London, stated, with regard to Article 24, that the Grand Master in chapter could absolve the brothers from offences committed against the rules and observances of the order, but not from private sin, as he was not a priest; that it was perfectly true that those who were received into the order swore not to reveal the secrets of the chapter, and that when any one was punished in the chapter, those who were present at it durst not reveal it to such as were absent; but if any brother revealed the mode of his reception, he would be deprived of his chamber, or else stripped of his habit. He declares that the brethren were not prohibited from confessing to priests not belonging to the order of the Temple; and that he had never heard of the crimes and iniquities mentioned in the articles of inquiry previous to his arrest, except as regarded the charges made against the order by Bernard Peletin, when he came to England from king Philip of France. He states that he had been guardian of the Temple church for ten years, and for the last two years had enjoyed the dignity of preceptor at the same place. He was asked about the death of Brother Walter le Bachelor, knight, formerly Preceptor of Ireland, who died at the Temple at London, but he declares that he knows nothing about it, except that the said Walter was fettered and placed in prison, and there died; that he certainly had heard that great severity had been practised towards him, but that he had not meddled with the affair on account of the danger of so doing; he admitted also that the aforesaid Walter was not buried in the cemetery of the Temple, as he was considered excommunicated on account of his disobedience of his superior, and of the rule of the order.

Many of the brethren thus examined had been from twenty to thirty, forty, forty-two, and forty-three years in the order, and some were old veteran warriors who had fought for many a long year in the East, and richly merited a better fate. Brother Himbert Blanke, knight, Preceptor of Auvergne, had been in the order thirty-eight years. He was received at the city of Tyre in Palestine, had been engaged in constant warfare against the infidels, and had fought to the last in defence of Acre. He makes in substance the same statements as the other witnesses; declares that no religious order believes the sacrament of the altar better than the Templars; that they truly believed all that the church taught, and had always done so, and that if the Grand Master had confessed the contrary, he had lied.

Brother Robert le Scott, knight, a brother of twenty-six years’ standing, had been received at the Pilgrim’s Castle, the famous fortress of the Knights Templars in Palestine, by the Grand Master, Brother William de Beaujeu, the hero who died so gloriously at the head of his knights at the last siege and storming of Acre. He states that from levity of disposition he quitted the order after it had been driven out of Palestine, and absented himself for two years, during which period he came to Rome, and confessed to the Pope’s penitentiary, who imposed on him a heavy penance, and enjoined him to return to his brethren in the East, and that he went back and resumed his habit at Nicosia in the island of Cyprus, and was re-admitted to the order by command of the Grand Master, James de Molay, who was then at the head of the convent. He adds, also, that Brother Himbert Blanke (the previous witness) was present at his first reception at the Pilgrim’s Castle. He fully corroborates all the foregoing testimony.

Brother Richard de Peitevyn, a member of forty-two years’ standing, deposes that, in addition to the previous oaths, he swore that he would never bear arms against Christians except in his own defence, or in defence of the rights of the order; he declares that the enormities mentioned in the articles were never heard of before Bernard Peletin brought letters to his lord, the king of England, against the Templars.

On the 22nd day of the inquiry, the following entry was made on the record of the proceedings: —

“Memorandum. Brothers Philip de Mewes, Thomas de Burton, and Thomas de Staundon, were advised and earnestly exhorted to abandon their religious profession, who severally replied that they would rather die than do so.”364

On the 19th and 20th of November, seven lay witnesses, unconnected with the order, were examined before the inquisitors in the chapel of the monastery of the Holy Trinity, but could prove nothing against the Templars that was criminal or tainted with heresy.

Master William le Dorturer, notary public, declared that the Templars rose at midnight, and held their chapters before dawn, and he thought that the mystery and secrecy of the receptions were owing to a bad rather than a good motive, but declared that he had never observed that they had acquired, or had attempted to acquire, anything unjustly. Master Gilbert de Bruere, clerk, said that he had never suspected them of anything worse than an excessive correction of the brethren. William Lambert, formerly a “messenger of the Temple,” (nuntius Templi,) knew nothing bad of the Templars, and thought them perfectly innocent of all the matters alluded to. And Richard de Barton, priest, and Radulph de Rayndon, an old man, both declared that they knew nothing of the order, or of the members of it, but what was good and honourable.

On the 25th of November, a provincial council of the church, summoned by the archbishop of Canterbury, in obedience to a papal bull, assembled in the cathedral church of St. Paul. It was composed of the bishops, abbots, priors, heads of colleges, and all the principal clergy, who were called together to treat of the reformation of the English church, of the recovery and preservation of the Holy Land, and to pronounce sentence of absolution or of condemnation against singular persons of the order of the chivalry of the Temple in the province of Canterbury, according to the tenor of the apostolical mandate. The council was opened by the archbishop of Canterbury, who rode to St. Paul’s on horseback. The bishop of Norwich celebrated the mass of the Holy Ghost at the great altar, and the archbishop preached a sermon in Latin upon the 20th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles; after which a papal bull was read, in which the holy pontiff dwells most pathetically upon the awful sins of the Templars, and their great and tremendous fall from their previous high estate. Hitherto, says he, they have been renowned throughout the world as the special champions of the faith, and the chief defenders of the Holy Land, whose affairs have been mainly regulated by those brothers. The church, following them and their order with the plenitude of its especial favour and regard, armed them with the emblem of the cross against the enemies of Christ, exalted them with much honour, enriched them with wealth, and fortified them with various liberties and privileges. The holy pontiff displays the sad report of their sins and iniquities which reached his ears, filled him with bitterness and grief, disturbed his repose, smote him with horror, injured his health, and caused his body to waste away! He gives a long account of the crimes imputed to the order, of the confessions and depositions that had been made in France, and then bursts out into a paroxysm of grief, declares that the melancholy affair deeply moved all the faithful, that all Christianity was shedding bitter tears, was overwhelmed with grief, and clothed with mourning. He concludes by decreeing the assembly of a general council of the church at Vienne to pronounce the abolition of the order, and to determine on the disposal of its property, to which council the English clergy are required to send representatives.365

After the reading of the bulls and the closing of the preliminary proceedings, the council occupied themselves for six days with ecclesiastical matters; and on the seventh day, being Tuesday, Dec. 2nd, all the bishops and members assembled in the chamber of the archbishop of Canterbury in Lambeth palace, in company with the papal inquisitors, who displayed before them the depositions and replies of the forty-three Templars, and of the seven witnesses previously examined. It was decreed that a copy of these depositions and replies should be furnished to each of the bishops, and that the council should stand adjourned until the next day, to give time for deliberation upon the premises.

On the following day, accordingly, (Wednesday, December the 3rd,) the council met, and decided that the inquisitors and three bishops should seek an audience of the king, and beseech him to permit them to proceed against the Templars in the way that should seem to them the best and most expedient for the purpose of eliciting the truth. On Sunday, the 7th, the bishops petitioned his majesty in writing, and on the following Tuesday they went before him with the inquisitors, and besought him that they might proceed against the Templars according to the ecclesiastical constitutions, and that he would instruct his sheriffs and officers to that effect. The king gave a written answer complying with their request, which was read before the council,366 and, on the 16th of December, orders were sent to the gaolers, commanding them to permit the prelates and inquisitors to do with the bodies of the Templars that which should seem expedient to them according to ecclesiastical law. Many Templars were at this period wandering about the country disguised as secular persons, successfully evading pursuit, and the sheriffs were strictly commanded to use every exertion to capture them.367 On Wednesday, the ecclesiastical council again met, and adjourned for the purpose of enabling the inquisitors to examine the prisoners confined in the castles of Lincoln and of York.

In Scotland, in the mean time, similar proceedings had been instituted against the order.368 On the 17th of November, Brother Walter de Clifton being examined in the parish church of the Holy Cross at Edinburgh, before the bishop of St. Andrews and John de Solerio, the pope’s chaplain, states that the brethren of the order of the Temple in the kingdom of Scotland received their orders, rules, and observances from the Master of the Temple in England, and that the Master in England received the rules and observances of the order from the Grand Master and the chief convent in the East; that the Grand Master or his deputy was in the habit of visiting the order in England and elsewhere; of summoning chapters, and making regulations for the conduct of the brethren and the administration of their property. Being asked as to the mode of his reception, he states that when William de la More, the Master, held his chapter at the preceptory of Temple Bruere in the county of Lincoln, he sought of the assembled brethren the habit and the fellowship of the order; that they told him that he little knew what it was he asked, in seeking to be admitted to their fellowship; that it would be a very hard matter for him, who was then his own master, to become the servant of another, and to have no will of his own; but notwithstanding their representations of the rigour of their rules and observances, he still continued earnestly to seek their habit and fellowship. He states that they then led him to the chamber of the Master, where they held their chapter, and that there, on his bended knees, and with his hands clasped, he again prayed for the habit and the fellowship of the Temple; that the Master and the brethren then required him to answer questions to the following effect: – Whether he had a dispute with any man, or owed any debts? whether he was betrothed to any woman? and whether he had any secret infirmity of body? or knew of anything to prevent him from remaining within the bosom of the fraternity? And having answered all those questions satisfactorily, the Master then asked of the surrounding brethren, “Do ye give your consent to the reception of brother Walter?” who unanimously answered that they did; and the Master and the brethren then standing up, received him the said Walter in this manner. On his bended knees, and with his hands joined, he solemnly promised that he would be the perpetual servant of the Master, and of the order, and of the brethren, for the purpose of defending the Holy Land. Having done this, the Master took out of the hands of a brother chaplain of the order the book of the holy gospels, upon which was depicted a cross, and laying his hands upon the book and upon the cross, he swore to God and the blessed Virgin Mary to be for ever thereafter chaste, obedient, and to live without property. And then the Master gave to him the white mantle, and placed the coif on his head, and admitted him to the kiss on the mouth, after which he made him sit down on the ground, and admonished him to the following effect: that from thenceforth he was to sleep in his shirt, drawers, and stockings, girded with a small cord over his shirt; that he was never to tarry in a house where there was a woman in the family way; never to be present at a marriage, nor at the purification of women; and likewise instructed and informed him upon several other particulars. Being asked where he had passed his time since his reception, he replied that he had dwelt three years at the preceptory of Blancradok in Scotland; three years at Temple Newsom in England; one year at the Temple at London, and three years at Aslakeby. Being asked concerning the other brothers in Scotland, he stated that John de Hueflete was Preceptor of Blancradok, the chief house of the order in that country, and that he and the other brethren, having heard of the arrest of the Templars, threw off their habits and fled, and that he had not since heard aught concerning them.

Brother William de Middleton, being examined, gave the same account of his reception, and added that he remembered that brother William de la More, the Master in England, went, in obedience to a summons, to the Grand Master beyond sea, as the superior of the whole order, and that in his absence Brother Hugh de Peraut, the visitor, removed several preceptors from their preceptories in England, and put others in their places. He further states, that he swore he would never receive any service at the hands of a woman, not even water to wash his hands with.

After the examination of the above two Templars, forty-one witnesses, chiefly abbots, priors, monks, priests, and serving men, and retainers of the order in Scotland, were examined upon various interrogatories, but nothing of a criminatory nature was elicited. The monks observed that the receptions of other orders were public, and were celebrated as great religious solemnities, and the friends, parents, and neighbours of the party about to take the vows were invited to attend; that the Templars, on the other hand, shrouded their proceedings in mystery and secrecy, and therefore they suspected the worst. The priests thought them guilty, because they were always against the church! Others condemned them because (as they say) the Templars closed their doors against the poor and the humble, and extended hospitality only to the rich and the powerful. The abbot of the monastery of the Holy Cross at Edinburgh declared that they appropriated to themselves the property of their neighbours, right or wrong. The abbot of Dumferlyn knew nothing of his own knowledge against them, but had heard much, and suspected more. The serving men and the tillers of the lands of the order stated that the chapters were held sometimes by night and sometimes by day, with extraordinary secrecy; and some of the witnesses had heard old men say that the Templars would never have lost the Holy Land, if they had been good Christians!369

A. D. 1310.

On the 9th of January, A. D. 1310, the examination of witnesses was resumed at London, in the parish church of St. Dunstan’s West, near the Temple. The rector of the church of St. Mary de la Strode declared that he had strong suspicions of the guilt of the Templars; he had, however, often been at the Temple church, and had observed that the priests performed divine service there just the same as elsewhere. William de Cumbrook, of St. Clement’s church, near the Temple, the vicar of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, and many other priests and clergymen of different churches in London, all declared that they had nothing to allege against the order.370

On the 27th of January, Brother John de Stoke, a serving brother of the order of the Temple, of seventeen years’ standing, being examined by the inquisitors in the chapel of the Blessed Mary of Berkyngecherche at London, states, amongst other things, that secular persons were allowed to be present at the burial of Templars; that the brethren of the order all received the sacraments of the church at their last hour, and were attended to the grave by a chaplain of the Temple. Being interrogated concerning the death and burial of the Knight Templar Brother Walter le Bachelor, he deposes that the said knight was buried like any other Christian, except that he was not buried in the burying-ground, but in the court, of the house of the Temple at London; that he confessed to Brother Richard de Grafton, a priest of the order, then in the island of Cyprus, and partook, as he believed, of the sacrament. He states that he himself and Brother Radulph de Barton carried him to his grave at the dawn of day, and that the deceased knight was in prison, as he believes, for the space of eight weeks; that he was not buried in the habit of his order, and was interred without the cemetery of the brethren, because he was considered to be excommunicated, in pursuance, as he believed, of a rule or statute among the Templars, to the effect that every one who privily made away with the property of the order, and did not acknowledge his fault, was deemed excommunicated. Being asked in what respect he considered that his order required reformation, he replied, “By the establishment of a probation of one year, and by making the receptions public.”

Two other Templars were examined on the same 27th day of January, from whose depositions it appears that there were at that time many brethren of the order, natives of England, in the island of Cyprus.

On the 29th of January, the inquisitors exhibited twenty-four fresh articles against the prisoners, drawn up in an artful manner. They were asked if they knew anything of the crimes mentioned in the papal bulls, and confessed by the Grand Master, the heads of the order, and many knights in France; and whether they knew of anything sinful or dishonourable against the Master of the Temple in England, or the preceptors, or any of the brethren. They were then required to say whether the same rules, customs, and observances did not prevail throughout the entire order; whether the Grand Preceptors, and especially the Grand Preceptor of England, did not receive all the observances and regulations from the Grand Master; and whether the Grand Preceptors and all the brethren of the order in England did not observe them in the same mode as the Grand Master, and visitors, and the brethren in Cyprus and in Italy, and in the other kingdoms, provinces, and preceptories of the order; whether the observances and regulations were not commonly delivered by the visitors to the Grand Preceptor of England; and whether the brothers received in England or elsewhere had not of their own free will confessed what these observances were. They were, moreover, required to state whether a bell was rung, or other signal given, to notify the time of the assembling of the chapter; whether all the brethren, without exception, were summoned and in the habit of attending; whether the Grand Master could relax penances imposed by the regular clergy; whether they believed that the Grand Preceptor or visitor could absolve a layman who had been excommunicated for laying hands on a brother or lay servant of the order; and whether they believed that any brother of the order could absolve from the sin of perjury a lay servant, when he came to receive the discipline in the Temple-hall, and the serving brother scourged him in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, &c. &c.

Between the 29th of January and the 6th of February, thirty-four Templars, many of whom appeared for the first time before the inquisitors, were examined upon these articles in the churches of St. Botolph without Aldgate, St. Alphage near Cripplegate, and St. Martin de Ludgate, London. They deny everything of a criminatory nature, and declare that the abominations mentioned in the confessions and depositions made in France were not observances of the order; that the Grand Master, Preceptors, visitors, and brethren in France had never observed such things, and if they said they had, they lied. They declare that the Grand Preceptor and brethren in England were all good men, worthy of faith, and would not deviate from the truth by reason of hatred of any man, for favour, reward, or any other cause; that there had been no suspicion in England against them, and no evil reports current against the order before the publication of the papal bull, and they did not think that any good man would believe the contents of the articles to be true. From the statements of the prisoners, it appears that the bell of the Temple was rung to notify the assembling of the chapter, that the discipline was administered in the hall, in the presence of the assembled brethren, by the Master, who punished the delinquent on the bare back with a scourge made of leathern thongs, after which he himself absolved the offender from the guilt of a transgression against the rule of the order; but if he had been guilty of immoral conduct, he was sent to the priest for absolution. It appears also, that Brother James de Molay, before his elevation to the office of Grand Master, was visitor of the order in England, and had held chapters or assemblies of the brethren, at which he had enforced certain rules and regulations; that all the orders came from the Grand Master and chief convent in the East to the Grand Preceptor of England, who caused them to be published at the different preceptories.371

On the 1st of March, the king sent orders to the constable of the Tower, and to the sheriffs of Lincoln and of York, to obey the directions of the inquisitors, or of one bishop and of one inquisitor, with regard to the confinement of the Templars in separate cells, and he assigns William de Diene to assist the inquisitors in their arrangements. Similar orders were shortly afterwards sent to all the gaolers of the Templars in the English dominions.372