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Article THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS. ← Page 2 of 6 Article THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS. Page 2 of 6 →
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The Knights Templars.
France derived his authority from God alone , and not from the Pope . These doctrines were congenial to a mind like Philip ' s , and he readily and early became a very undutiful son of the Church . He was a man of a proud and haughty spirit , well
instructed in business , but cold and cruel in the prosecution of his schemes . He was naturally of a fierce , avaricious , despotic , and revengeful character , and his education fostered the seeds of those qualities which sometimes make a great king ,
and always a bad man . By his marriage with Jeanne d'Evreux , he added to his own estates those of Navarre , Champagne , and Brie , and other rich lands in France , of which she was heiress . By these possessions , and from his own determined
character , he became the most powerful King that for a long time had swayed the destinies of France .
His first object on ascending the throne was to settle all differences with his nei ghbours ; but , although he was much indebted to Edward I . of England in this settlement , he soon after , with a conduct alike ungrateful and impolitic , engaged in
war with that powerful monarch . He likewise attempted to seize Flanders , in revenge for the Flemings having assisted England in the war . In this , however , he was unsuccessful . He was defeated and driven back to France with terrible
bloodshed , and with the loss of much treasure . The loss of money he deplored more than the loss of the lives of all his soldiers , as his subsequent and more famous quarrel with Pope Boniface
VIII . amply proves . Boniface , neither a Gregory nor an Innocent , nor characterised by remarkable genius or virtue , stretched the power of the papacy to its utmost limits , and , finally , by grasping at too much , lost all . He had no eye to the change
of ideas which had taken place in Europe , the result of the Crusades , and appears to have been unaware of the spread of liberty of thought , and blind to the unwillingness of kings to submit longer to the exactions of Rome . He deemed
them to be still as subservient to Rome as they were in the days of Gregory , who kept Henry TV . /* Emperor of Germany , standing barefoot at his palace doors three days in the snow , and of
The Knights Templars.
another Pope who , in a dignified manner , kicked off a monarch ' s crown who knelt before him , to show that he could make and unmake kings at pleasure . Boniface awoke the jealousy of the King , and the quarrel which ensued ended in open
warfare . The Pope issued a Ball prohibiting any of the clergy to give subsidies to lay potvers without the consent of Rome . This , attacking Philip in a peculiar manner—for his late wars had impoverished his exchequer—the king resolved that
the clergy of France should contribute with his other subjects to the exigencies of the state . He thereupon answered this Bull by issuing an order prohibiting the exportation of gold , silver , or merchandise from France , thereby cutting off a great
source of the papal revenue . It is but justice to say that the Pope explained in another Bull that he only objected to forced subsidies , and even praised those of the clergy who had voluntarily aided Philip , and admitted the right of the king
to demand subsidies from the clergy , without consulting the Holy See , where , in his conscience ., he believed that there was a case of necessity for
doing so . Matters m no ways improved . Boniface sent as his legate to the court of France , Bernard Saisette , who had rebelled against the king , and who , on this , as well as on account of his disposition , was peculiarly obnoxious to Philip .
Armed with the power of the Pope , he threatened hitn with an interdict ; but Philip contented himself with ordering the legate to leave the kingdom . Thereupon the Pope issued another Bull , declaring that the Vicar of Christ was vested
with full authority over the kings and kingdoms of the earth ; that all kings and persons whomsoever , and the King of France as well as others , by Divine command , owed perfect obedience to the Roman Pontiff , and this not merely in
religious matters , but likewise in secular and human affairs ; and he concluded by ordering the French clergy at once to repair to Rome . The king replied : — " Philip , by the Grace of God , King of the French , to Boniface , acting as Supreme
Pontiff , little or no health . Let your extreme silliness know that , in temporals , we are not subject to any one . " He furthermore ordered the Bull to be miblicly burned , and this deed to be
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Knights Templars.
France derived his authority from God alone , and not from the Pope . These doctrines were congenial to a mind like Philip ' s , and he readily and early became a very undutiful son of the Church . He was a man of a proud and haughty spirit , well
instructed in business , but cold and cruel in the prosecution of his schemes . He was naturally of a fierce , avaricious , despotic , and revengeful character , and his education fostered the seeds of those qualities which sometimes make a great king ,
and always a bad man . By his marriage with Jeanne d'Evreux , he added to his own estates those of Navarre , Champagne , and Brie , and other rich lands in France , of which she was heiress . By these possessions , and from his own determined
character , he became the most powerful King that for a long time had swayed the destinies of France .
His first object on ascending the throne was to settle all differences with his nei ghbours ; but , although he was much indebted to Edward I . of England in this settlement , he soon after , with a conduct alike ungrateful and impolitic , engaged in
war with that powerful monarch . He likewise attempted to seize Flanders , in revenge for the Flemings having assisted England in the war . In this , however , he was unsuccessful . He was defeated and driven back to France with terrible
bloodshed , and with the loss of much treasure . The loss of money he deplored more than the loss of the lives of all his soldiers , as his subsequent and more famous quarrel with Pope Boniface
VIII . amply proves . Boniface , neither a Gregory nor an Innocent , nor characterised by remarkable genius or virtue , stretched the power of the papacy to its utmost limits , and , finally , by grasping at too much , lost all . He had no eye to the change
of ideas which had taken place in Europe , the result of the Crusades , and appears to have been unaware of the spread of liberty of thought , and blind to the unwillingness of kings to submit longer to the exactions of Rome . He deemed
them to be still as subservient to Rome as they were in the days of Gregory , who kept Henry TV . /* Emperor of Germany , standing barefoot at his palace doors three days in the snow , and of
The Knights Templars.
another Pope who , in a dignified manner , kicked off a monarch ' s crown who knelt before him , to show that he could make and unmake kings at pleasure . Boniface awoke the jealousy of the King , and the quarrel which ensued ended in open
warfare . The Pope issued a Ball prohibiting any of the clergy to give subsidies to lay potvers without the consent of Rome . This , attacking Philip in a peculiar manner—for his late wars had impoverished his exchequer—the king resolved that
the clergy of France should contribute with his other subjects to the exigencies of the state . He thereupon answered this Bull by issuing an order prohibiting the exportation of gold , silver , or merchandise from France , thereby cutting off a great
source of the papal revenue . It is but justice to say that the Pope explained in another Bull that he only objected to forced subsidies , and even praised those of the clergy who had voluntarily aided Philip , and admitted the right of the king
to demand subsidies from the clergy , without consulting the Holy See , where , in his conscience ., he believed that there was a case of necessity for
doing so . Matters m no ways improved . Boniface sent as his legate to the court of France , Bernard Saisette , who had rebelled against the king , and who , on this , as well as on account of his disposition , was peculiarly obnoxious to Philip .
Armed with the power of the Pope , he threatened hitn with an interdict ; but Philip contented himself with ordering the legate to leave the kingdom . Thereupon the Pope issued another Bull , declaring that the Vicar of Christ was vested
with full authority over the kings and kingdoms of the earth ; that all kings and persons whomsoever , and the King of France as well as others , by Divine command , owed perfect obedience to the Roman Pontiff , and this not merely in
religious matters , but likewise in secular and human affairs ; and he concluded by ordering the French clergy at once to repair to Rome . The king replied : — " Philip , by the Grace of God , King of the French , to Boniface , acting as Supreme
Pontiff , little or no health . Let your extreme silliness know that , in temporals , we are not subject to any one . " He furthermore ordered the Bull to be miblicly burned , and this deed to be