The Knights Templars.

without violence or application of the torture , ancl in all probability , the sentence was similar to that of the other Council held at Salamanca , over which the Archbishop of Oompostella presided . He was assisted by the Bishops of Lisbon , Guardia ,

Zamora , Avila , Ciudad-Rodrigo , Astorga , Tuy , and Lugo . After hearing witnesses , the Council declared the Knights innocent , but their g-oods were seized upon by the King till the decision of the General Council , should be known .

After France , the Ttmplars were treated with the greatest severity in Italy . The King of Sicily , as we have said , was a bitter enemy ot the Templars . He pursued them with great rigour , although perfectly convinced of their innocence .

The Templars of Naples escaped his vengeance , with the exception of two , captured at Brindisithe others having retired from the kingdom some time previous to the persecution , when Charles seized upon their benefices . The two Templars were examined at Brindisi in June 1310 . The

torture was applied , ancl one confessed to having denied Christ , in Cyprus , six years after joining the Order ; and the other stated that he had trampled on the Cross at his reception—he , as well as others , having bowed clown ancl worshipped

a grey cat in the Chapters . In Piedmont ancl Provence , the Templars were arrested aud the torture applied , under which several confessed . The } r , however , contradicted themselves , retracted their depositions , ancl caused the Commissioners

great embarrassment . They urged the Knights to withdraw their recantations , and upon their refusing , they caused them to be burned alive . At Florence , ancl in Cyprus , the Order was declared innocent . *

Chapter Xii.

CHAPTER XII .

Proceedings in France—Before tho Bishops of Clermont and Bine—The Pope anil King issue acts regarding the Order—' Ilia Papal . Commissioners arrive m Paris—Summon the Templars to appear before them—The Proclamatiou suppressed—Nee ; articles of accusation supplied to ihe Commissioners—The Provost of Ghalelet arrests certain persons presumed to have come to Paris

to procure Counsel—Jolm de Molai , a brother of the Grand Master , appears before the Commission—The Grand Master before the Commissioners for the first time—Be Placian—A . B . 1309 . Having thus reviewed the proceedings against the Templars in other Christian countries , let us return to France , where the process was being

prosecuted with the utmost vigour . All over France the Bishops and Inquisitors , in accordance with the Papal Bull , examined the captive Templars . In the proceedings taken by the Bishoj > of Clermont in 1309 , sixty-nine Templars

appeared . Of these , forty confessed to the charges , and twenty-nine maintained the Order ' s innocence . When the depositions of all the Templars had been taken , the Bishop assembled them together . On the one side , he placed those who had confessed

to the Order ' s guilt ; on the other , those who had maintained its innocence . The twenty-nine werethen examined anew . They persisted in asserting their innocence , and , looking towards their cowardly brethren , declared , that " from fear of

torture , from the effects of confinement , or from some other corporeal pain , they have been forced to make these shameful avowals , and the means which have been employed to wring confessionsfrom them , are not lawful , and justice cannot

recognise as true their depositions . " The Bishop demanded of the forty what they had to say for themselves . They replied , unanimously , that they wished to make no defence , nor to wait for a definite judgment ; they submitted

theniselvesin all things to the mercy of the Church . What a contrast between the immoveable courage of the true and faithful Templar's , and the timid and dastardly conduct of those who abandoned aud betrayed their Order .

The Bishop of Elne , by Order of the Archbishop of Narbonne , during the month of February , took proceedings against twenty-five Templars belonging to the Preceptory of Mas-Dien , who were detained in the Castle of Trulars ..

These are very remarkable . All the captives maintained the innocence of the Order . They declared that they did not believe a single Templar had avowed such shameful ancl improbable crimes as were contained in the Act of Accusation .

"If any Templar has made such a confession , were it even the Grand Master , he lies in his throat . " One of them added , " whoever has made such a confession is not a Templar , but the devil incarnate in the shape of a man . " They

furthermore detailed and explained the rules and customs of the Order , handed to the Bishop the Book of the Statutes which commenced with these romantic words , " Quam alcun pro om Requeer la Compaya de la Mayso . " The replies of these Templars dictated by sentiments at the same time religious aud chivalric ; accorded not only with the depo-