Trial of the Templars Malcolm Barber - Essay Dustin Barber

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Trial of the Templars

God’s Holy Warriors -The Innocent Martyrs 

On the very sad day of March 22, 1312. Pope Clement V issued the bull Vox in excelso, which officially put an end to and dissolved the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ, otherwise known as the mighty Christian military Order of the Knights Templar, which started in 1118 and existed for almost two hundred years until 1312. 

Let me give you just a short backstory to help you understand a little more about this very famous order before we get into the dissolution and papal bulls. 

The Knights Templar were a well-respected Christian military order comprised of monk-warriors that existed for nearly two hundred years during the medieval times. Some of their accomplishments included protecting and helping Christians traveling to the Holy Land for pilgrimages, building castles, fighting in the Crusades and creating one of the first banking systems that worked tremendously well, especially for Christian travelers to the Holy Land. This was such a great idea, it consisted of pilgrims depositing their money in a Templar house location out of harms way before they embarked upon their journeys through the treacherous roads leading to the Holy land. Once the pilgrims made it safely to the Holy land they could go to a Templar house and trade their deposit papers for their cash that they left at the original location which was safely guarded by the Knights Templar.  

These Knights amassed unfathomable power and wealth during this time, and were trusted and backed by the Catholic Church and the Pope. 

The Knights Templar was a fraternity that began with only nine Knights. These original Knights, according to historical records, were led by Hughes de Payens, who was the first Grand Master of the order along with Godfrey de Saint- Omer, André de Montbard,  Payen de Montdidier, Geoffrey Bisel,  Archambauld de St. Armand, and three other Knights that were called brothers; their names were Goral, Andrew and Gondemar. Most of these Templars were relatives and acquaintances that formed the beginning of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon. 

From 1118 to 1128, the Order remained very small. The turning point of the Templar order came on January 13, 1129 in the Cathedral of Troyes, under the heavy influence of Bernard of Clairvaux. At the Council of Troyes the Catholic Church officially recognized this small obscure brotherhood of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ as the first official religious and military order of Christendom. Bernard Clairvaux drafted the Templar Rule of the Order of the Temple which was a 72 chapter code that helped govern these Knights with their daily life and discipline. These rules included vows of poverty. This council also made the decision going forward that these Knights would wear a white mantle to symbolize purity, the famous Red Cross on the white mantle was added at a later date in the 1160’s. 

In 1139, Pope Innocent II issued the papal bull Omne Datum Optimum. This decree made the Templars answerable only to the Pope and made them exempt from paying taxes, exempt from local laws and exempt from having to tithe. Templars could pass through International borders as they pleased without having to answer to bishops or archbishops, they also were allowed to hire their own priests and chaplains that would hear their confessions and grant absolution. The Pope also let the Templars keep the spoils from wars that they fought with the Muslims. That’s unheard-of power, and still is to this day. 

After this decree, widespread donations started rolling in from wealthy nobles, lords, and kings who were seeking spiritual salvation. These nobles would donate large amounts of money, land, and property throughout Europe and Templar patrolled areas. 

This military Order was assembled and recognized by the Catholic Church. The Order’s main task was to help and protect Christians during their pilgrimages, which led them along dangerous roads in and around the Holy Land. These Knights were originally so poor that their seal showed two knights riding on one horse to symbolize their poverty and humility, hence the Poor-Fellow-Soldiers of Christ.

After the fall of this mighty empire and military Christian order the following took place. 

Pope Clement V issued the papal bull Ad providam on May 2, 1312, which transferred most Templar holdings to the Hospitallers. 

During this redistribution, Pope Clement V had the Templars' vast network of real estate, cash, and properties transferred throughout Europe to the Knights Hospitaller (formerly known as the Order of the Hospital of Saint John in Jerusalem), a Catholic military order established in the 11th century that provided medical care to pilgrims in the Holy Land. Previously, the Knights Hospitallers and the Knights Templar worked side by side.  

This plan, put forth by the Pope, was to seize all of the Templar wealth, their properties, holdings, and transfer all of this to the Hospitallers. In theory, to be used by the church for upcoming possible Crusades, even if there were to be no more crusades, it still gave control back to the Catholic Church.

 The problem with this plan is that many local rulers, lords, and Kings felt that these properties were rightfully theirs; they already possessed them in their territories and would often delay or completely ignore the Pope’s mandate which led to years of legal battles between the Hospitallers and the local rulers, as the lords and rulers did not want to give up these properties, believing they deserved them as locals, and did not want any of them to go to the Catholic Church or the Hospitallers. 

The bull Ad providam had specifically excluded the Templar Order’s property in Iberia. James II wanted to ensure the property there and especially the castles would not go to the hospitals but instead go to the Aragonese Order of Calatrava. The Templar property in Valencia also went to the Order of Calatrava. On the other hand, Templar possessions in Aragon and Catalonia were granted to the Hospial.

King Ferdinand IV of Castile secured Templar property for his own personal gain and sold these properties in his area. There are still records of the king’s sale of these properties to the Order of Alcantara before it was seized by the Hospitallers. 

Another problem with the sudden papal bull was the attempt to quickly transfer all the Templars' holdings to the military Christian order (the Hospitallers). This redistribution did not go as planned, as it was a complete mess and a disaster in many ways.

 The Hospitallers were not ready to take on and manage such a vast amount of wealth so quickly; this also led to corruption within the order. Now, there was more focus on managing their enormous new real estate holdings and less time for devotion as a religious fraternity. 

My personal thoughts on this redistribution are that it was an evil plan from the get-go because the Pope was being coerced and pressured by King Philip IV of France to get what he wanted: to destroy the Knights Templar for his own ulterior motives. 

King Philip IV had borrowed massive amounts of money from the Templars and sought to avoid repaying his loans by spreading lies throughout France, Europe, and other Templar territories. He planned to ruin the Templars' name first publicly and have them go down in history as heretics. He was hoping to dissolve the group with his political power, false accusations, and with the help of  Pope Clement V. The Pope was originally on the side of the Templars but was pressured and persuaded by King Philip IV of France and by public opinion that had spread quickly through the medieval world. 

King Philip IV was also hoping to settle his enormous debt with the Templars and seize all their wealth and property. He legally defaulted on all his loans to the Templars by eliminating them, so his plan ultimately worked toward their dissolution. Still, the Pope had the final say on where the wealth and holdings would go, and he chose that it would all go to the Hospitallers. King Philip IV did, however, manage to squeeze a huge sum of money from the Hospitallers in compensation for his costs in bringing the Templars to trial. If you think about it, how is this even possible? It’s because of political power, an evil plan, lies, a fabricated story for his own financial benefit, and pressure on the Pope to go along with his wicked plan. At first, the Pope was oblivious to what was going on. After King Philip IV spread the rumors to the public and other countries, it had gone way too far, and Pope Clement V had to do something about the Templars. He also wanted to ensure the Catholic Church didn't suffer any embarrassment, so he finally sided with King Philip IV of France. 

This successful attempt to steer the Pope's opinion was also one of the first times in history that a politician used his power to manipulate the head of the Catholic Church for his own financial gain. Originally, Pope Clement V was a fan of the Knights Templar and had no issue with them, as he initially condoned and backed their Order. He had even asked for their help and had written to them to plan a possible upcoming Crusade! 

While it was messy and violent, the redistribution of the Knights Templar's treasures and properties took decades for the Hospitallers to gain control of finally, and in some Kingdoms for instance in Portugal, the Knights Templar treasures were quietly given by the local Lords to a new military Order known as the Order of Christ, which allowed them to keep their local assets and completely ignore the papal mandate. The papal bull Vox officially suppressed the Templars in excelso, which led to an interesting future for surviving Knights.

Many Knights were forced to plead guilty as heretics after being tortured in France. In some cases, they had to undergo heavy penances, including perpetual imprisonment. In other cases, where they had admitted nothing, Templars were sent to monasteries to spend the rest of their lives. Those who were completely acquitted or retired were promised pensions or quietly allowed to join other monastic orders, such as the Hospitallers. Fugitives who refused to submit to the decrees within a year were excommunicated and condemned as heretics. 

The suppression of the Templars was quickly followed by a campaign of church and government propaganda to shape the Templars' memory. To justify seizing and taking the Templars' assets, the papacy and royal houses insisted that any surviving Templars were disgraced heretics. 

 Be that as it may, the catastrophic, sudden, and heavily publicized disassembly of the Templars, along with the burning at the stake of the Grand Master Jacques de Molay, backfired. 

Instead of being remembered for spitting on or trampling on the cross, homosexual activity, denying Christ, and worshiping false idols, instead of being know for committing heresy and blasphemy as heretics they have been remembered and honored as legendary innocent martyrs, history celebrates them as to what they truly were and many appreciate their almost 200 years of helping Christians to, from, in and around the holy land! 

The twentieth century has undoubtedly and profoundly changed the way we view the Templar trials. This book is a sad reminder that genocide against minority groups, governments using propaganda, and torture being used as a device to get convictions all affect the way that we perceive the story of the Templars, as well as other times in history. These methods have been going on for far too long. They can still be found in use in other parts of the world, especially in communist countries, where the people don't know any better because they aren't allowed to think for themselves, and their government and leaders completely rule them. 

God bless the Knights Templar and may your memory live on as exactly that, innocent martyrs! Thank you for your sacrifice in the name of Christianity. Had you not done what you did, our current lives may look very different! 

Sir Knight Dustin Barber

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