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  • The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine
  • Jan. 2, 1869
  • Page 15
  • CHAPTER XII.
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, Jan. 2, 1869: Page 15

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Chapter Xii.

sitions of the others who had maintained the innocence of the Order , but corresponded with the text of the Statutes . As if the Bulls were not sufficient , the Pope published an Act for the destruction of the

Templars , in which he stated that the Knights whom he had examined , had taken a solemn oath , by laying their hands on the Holy Evangelists , to shew the truth of their depositions regarding the crimes of the Order , and that a great number

had confirmed their original depositions before the Ordinaries and Commissioners . * The Papal Commissioners were the Archbishop

of Narbonne ; the Bishops of Bayenx , Mende , and Limoges ; Matthew of Naples , Archdeacon of Rouen and Notary of the Church of Rome ; John of Mantua , Archdeacon of Trent : Johu of Montlaur , Archdeacon of Montpelier ; and William

Agelin , Provost of Aix . The last was prevented by business from being present . These Commissioners had not taken part in the previous proceedings against the Order , ancl were in a measure impartial . At the same time , several

provincial councils received instructions regarding the manner of conducting their investigations ancl of passing judgment . The most famous of these were held at Paris and Rheims . New articles

were furnisded to the Commissioners , upon which they were to examine witnesses . These articles were not only useless , but indeed contemptible in comparison to those crimes with which the Order stood charged , and only shewed that the King ,

blinded by passion , hoped , by heaping charges upon it , to turn the minds of the people against its unfortunate members . The first part of these articles w ^ as , that the Grand Master , upon the reception of the Knights

made them , at a convenient opportunity , deny God , renounce Jesus Christ , in particular to declare that he was not the true God , but a false prophet who had been crucified for his crimes , ancl not for the redemption of the world ; sometimes

even to renounce the whole calendar of saints—a somewhat novel proceeding , seeing that they were accused of doing so at the period of reception , and that this seemed very like an idle repetition . Besides , if they renounced Christ , the chief , what

necessity was there for them to renounce his subordinates , the Virgin Mary and the Saints . The second was that the Grand Master and the

superior officers of the Order had the power of absolving the members from all their sins . This is a curious charge , for it supposes that these men , who had renounced Christ and his church , still believed in the sacrament of confession and

absolution ; ancl in rejecting the Catholic religion had admitted one of its most difficult dogmas . The third was , that the Grand Master had avowed these two articles in the presence of several witnesses of the highest distinction , a confession

pretended to have been made before he had even been arrested , or had heard of the charges preferred against the Order . Of this no proof but the bare accusation was produced . The fourth charge added to the secret crimes imputed to them ,

another circumstance still more infamous . The fifth charge stated that the superiors put to death any one who refused to submit to the laws which were imposed by them . No Knight had deposed to this fact , although several had mentioned the

stern discipline which existed in the Order , but which , in a military and religious body , was not only meritorious , but necessary . The sixth charge

took up the manner of reception , which was always at night , with the gates of the church closed . While this was the constant practice of the Order , we do not see that much depended upon it ; for if the Order had been so corrupt , the Knights

could easily have imposed upon the world with a sham reception , while the principal and real could have taken place in secret . This was the least tenable , although the only one in which there was a shadow of truth , of the charges brought

against the Order . The seventh charge bore , that on account of the great wickedness , several . Templars had left the Order . This charge was completely refuted by Peter de Boulogne , the

champion of the Order , hereafter to be detailed . These charges only add to the proofs of the complete innocence of the Templars . Furthermore , it was charged against them that " they spat ancl trampled upon the Cross ,

especially on Good Friday , the day on which Catholics by devoutly kissing it , testify their faith . They worshipped a cat which sometimes appeared in their chapters . Their priests , when celebrating mass , did not pronounce the words of

consecration . They were told at their reception that they mig ht abandon themselves to all kinds of licentiousness . They had idols in all their provinces , some > vith three faces , some with one . They worshipped these idols in their chapters , believed that

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1869-01-02, Page 15” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 11 July 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_02011869/page/15/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
Untitled Article 2
ADDRESS TO OUR READERS. Article 3
INDEX. Article 5
MASONIC PERSECUTION.—I. Article 9
GRAND LODGE OF IOWA.—I. Article 10
MASONIC DISCIPLINE.—V. Article 11
THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS. Article 13
CHAPTER XII. Article 14
CHIPS OF FOREIGN ASHLER. Article 16
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 17
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 19
ANTIQUITY OF CHRISTMAS GAMES. Article 20
MASONIC MEMS. Article 21
METROPOLITAN. Article 21
PROVINCIAL. Article 22
SCOTLAND. Article 24
CHANNEL ISLANDS. Article 25
MARK MASONRY. Article 25
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR. Article 25
RED CROSS OF ROME AND CONSTANTINE. Article 25
MASONIC LIFEBOAT FUND. Article 25
MASONIC FESTIVITIES. Article 26
REVIEWS. Article 27
FUNERAL OF THE LATE BRO. JAMES CHALMERS WITH MASONIC HONOURS. Article 27
Obituary. Article 28
METROPOLITAN LODGE MEETINGS, ETC., FOR THE WEEK ENDING JANUARY 9TH, 1869. Article 28
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 28
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Chapter Xii.

sitions of the others who had maintained the innocence of the Order , but corresponded with the text of the Statutes . As if the Bulls were not sufficient , the Pope published an Act for the destruction of the

Templars , in which he stated that the Knights whom he had examined , had taken a solemn oath , by laying their hands on the Holy Evangelists , to shew the truth of their depositions regarding the crimes of the Order , and that a great number

had confirmed their original depositions before the Ordinaries and Commissioners . * The Papal Commissioners were the Archbishop

of Narbonne ; the Bishops of Bayenx , Mende , and Limoges ; Matthew of Naples , Archdeacon of Rouen and Notary of the Church of Rome ; John of Mantua , Archdeacon of Trent : Johu of Montlaur , Archdeacon of Montpelier ; and William

Agelin , Provost of Aix . The last was prevented by business from being present . These Commissioners had not taken part in the previous proceedings against the Order , ancl were in a measure impartial . At the same time , several

provincial councils received instructions regarding the manner of conducting their investigations ancl of passing judgment . The most famous of these were held at Paris and Rheims . New articles

were furnisded to the Commissioners , upon which they were to examine witnesses . These articles were not only useless , but indeed contemptible in comparison to those crimes with which the Order stood charged , and only shewed that the King ,

blinded by passion , hoped , by heaping charges upon it , to turn the minds of the people against its unfortunate members . The first part of these articles w ^ as , that the Grand Master , upon the reception of the Knights

made them , at a convenient opportunity , deny God , renounce Jesus Christ , in particular to declare that he was not the true God , but a false prophet who had been crucified for his crimes , ancl not for the redemption of the world ; sometimes

even to renounce the whole calendar of saints—a somewhat novel proceeding , seeing that they were accused of doing so at the period of reception , and that this seemed very like an idle repetition . Besides , if they renounced Christ , the chief , what

necessity was there for them to renounce his subordinates , the Virgin Mary and the Saints . The second was that the Grand Master and the

superior officers of the Order had the power of absolving the members from all their sins . This is a curious charge , for it supposes that these men , who had renounced Christ and his church , still believed in the sacrament of confession and

absolution ; ancl in rejecting the Catholic religion had admitted one of its most difficult dogmas . The third was , that the Grand Master had avowed these two articles in the presence of several witnesses of the highest distinction , a confession

pretended to have been made before he had even been arrested , or had heard of the charges preferred against the Order . Of this no proof but the bare accusation was produced . The fourth charge added to the secret crimes imputed to them ,

another circumstance still more infamous . The fifth charge stated that the superiors put to death any one who refused to submit to the laws which were imposed by them . No Knight had deposed to this fact , although several had mentioned the

stern discipline which existed in the Order , but which , in a military and religious body , was not only meritorious , but necessary . The sixth charge

took up the manner of reception , which was always at night , with the gates of the church closed . While this was the constant practice of the Order , we do not see that much depended upon it ; for if the Order had been so corrupt , the Knights

could easily have imposed upon the world with a sham reception , while the principal and real could have taken place in secret . This was the least tenable , although the only one in which there was a shadow of truth , of the charges brought

against the Order . The seventh charge bore , that on account of the great wickedness , several . Templars had left the Order . This charge was completely refuted by Peter de Boulogne , the

champion of the Order , hereafter to be detailed . These charges only add to the proofs of the complete innocence of the Templars . Furthermore , it was charged against them that " they spat ancl trampled upon the Cross ,

especially on Good Friday , the day on which Catholics by devoutly kissing it , testify their faith . They worshipped a cat which sometimes appeared in their chapters . Their priests , when celebrating mass , did not pronounce the words of

consecration . They were told at their reception that they mig ht abandon themselves to all kinds of licentiousness . They had idols in all their provinces , some > vith three faces , some with one . They worshipped these idols in their chapters , believed that

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