Absolution of the High Dignitaries of the Order of the Temple by the Papal Legates ASV, AA, Arm. D 217 – Chinon, 1308 August 17-20

​In the name of God amen. We, by divine mercy, cardinal priests Berengar of the title of Saints Nereus and Achilleus, and Stephen of the title of San Ciriaco in Termis, and Landolfo, cardinal deacon of the title of Sant’Angelo, inform anyone who will view this present and public document as follows:

​after, recently, the most holy father and our lord Clement, by divine providence supreme pontiff of the sacrosanct and universal Church of Rome, due to what was reported by the public voice and the heated denunciation of the illustrious king of the Franks, and of prelates, dukes , counts, barons and other nobles and non-nobles of the same kingdom of France ordered an investigation to be initiated against some friars, priests, knights, preceptors and sergeants of the order of the Militia of the Temple relating to those facts which concern the friars of the order as the Catholic faith and the state of the order itself, and for which facts they have been publicly defamed, the pontiff himself, wanting and intending to know the pure, full and integral truth about the high dignitaries of the said order, that is, Brother Jacques de Molay, grand master of the entire Templar order,and the friars Raymbaud de Caron, preceptor from Overseas, and the preceptors of the Templar mansions Hugues de Pérraud in France, Geoffroy de Gonneville in Aquitaine and Poitou, Goeffroy de Charny in Normandy, ordered and commissioned us, with a special mandate expressly imparted by the oracle of his voice, so that, accompanied by public notaries and witnesses worthy of faith, we carefully sought the truth regarding the grand master and the other preceptors mentioned above by rigorously questioning them one by one.accompanied by public notaries and trustworthy witnesses, we carefully sought the truth regarding the grand master and the other preceptors mentioned above by rigorously questioning them one by one.accompanied by public notaries and trustworthy witnesses, we carefully sought the truth regarding the grand master and the other preceptors mentioned above by rigorously questioning them one by one.

We therefore, in accordance with the order and the task given to us by the aforementioned our lord and supreme pontiff, have investigated the aforementioned grand master and preceptors, carefully questioning them on the facts set out above and, as follows below, we have done write by the notaries who have signed at the bottom, and in the presence of the signed witnesses, the things said by the same Templars and their confessions, also ordering that these be drawn up in public form and that they are made even more valid by the guarantee of our seals.

​In the thousandth, three hundred and eighth year of the birth of the Lord, in the sixth indiction, on the seventeenth day of the month of August and in the third year of the pontificate of our lord Pope Clement V, in the castle of Chinon, diocese of Tours, Brother Raymbaud de Caron , overseas knight and preceptor of the Templar order, having constituted himself before us as the aforementioned cardinals, he swore on the holy Gospels of God, touching the book, to tell the pure and full truth both about himself and about every single person and about the friars of the the order, as well as on the order itself, in particular on those issues that concern the Catholic faith and the state of the said order, other individuals and the friars of the order itself; when carefully questioned by us about the time and manner of his entry into the order, he said that, indeed, It was about forty-three years ago that he became a knight, and that he was welcomed into the Temple by Brother Roncelin de Fos, then preceptor of the province of Provence, in the place of Richarenchis, in the diocese of Carpentras or Saint-Paul-Trois-Chàteaux, in the chapel of the mansion templar of that place. And on that occasion the preceptor told him nothing but good; but shortly after the said welcoming ceremony a certain brother sergeant arrived whose name he does not remember, since he has been dead for a long time. And on that occasion the preceptor told him nothing but good; but shortly after the said welcoming ceremony a certain brother sergeant arrived whose name he does not remember, since he has been dead for a long time. And on that occasion the preceptor told him nothing but good; but shortly after the said welcoming ceremony a certain brother sergeant arrived whose name he does not remember, since he has been dead for a long time.

​He led him aside carrying a small cross under his cloak; after the other friars had gone away, as soon as the sergeant himself and the deponent were alone, the sergeant showed him a cross which, however, he does not remember whether it contained the image of the crucifix or not, he however believes that it was there, painted or sculpted.

​And that friar said to him: “It is better for you to deny this.”

​And the deponent, not believing that he was sinning, said: “And I deny him.”

​Likewise the sergeant then told him to maintain continence or chastity; however, if he had not succeeded, it would have been better for him to have done so in secret rather than in public.

​He also said that the denial he made was done not with conviction, but in words.

​He then said that the following day he had revealed it to the bishop of Carpentras, his relative who was in that place, who told him that he had acted badly and that he had sinned: for which reason he confessed to the same bishop who ordered him to do penance which, from what he told us, he did.

​When questioned about the vice of sodomy, he said that he had never practiced it, either actively or passively, nor did he ever hear that the Templars practiced that vice, except for only three of them, who, for that vice, had been sentenced to prison for life in the castle of Chàteau-Pélerin.

​When asked whether the friars are welcomed into the order in the same way in which he himself was welcomed, he said he did not know, since he never welcomed or saw anyone welcome except two or three friars, of whom he did not know whether they had denied the Christ or not.

​When questioned about the names of these friars welcomed, he said of one whose name was Brother Pietro, whose surname he does not know. When questioned about what age he was when he became a friar in the order, he said that he was about seventeen years old. When questioned about the spit on the cross and the head-shaped idol he said he knew nothing about it, adding that he had never heard of this head until he heard it from our lord Pope Clement in the past year.

​When questioned about the kiss he said that Brother Rossolino, when he welcomed him as a friar, had kissed him on the mouth; he said he knew nothing about other kisses.

​When asked whether he wanted to stand firm on this confession of his, whether he had told the truth, and whether he had mixed something false into it or left out something true, he said he wanted to stand firm on his now released confession and that he had told the truth, and that he had not mixed anything false into it, nor omitted any truth.

​When questioned whether he had confessed the things just said upon request, for money, gratitude, sympathy, fear or hatred or instigation of someone or for fear of torture, he said no.

​When asked whether he had been asked questions or tortured after he was arrested, he said no.

​And finally Brother Raymbaud himself, kneeling down and clasping his hands, asked before us for forgiveness and mercy for the facts revealed; and since it was Brother Raymbaud himself who asked for these things, he abjured in our hands the revealed hour and every other heresy and, for the second time, touching the book, swore on the holy Gospels of God that he himself would obey the precepts of the Church and he would have held, believed in and observed the Catholic faith which the Holy Roman Church holds, observes, preaches and teaches and orders to be observed by others, and that he would have lived and died as a faithful Christian. After this oath, we cardinals, by virtue of the authority specially granted to us by the Pope in this place, imparted to Brother Raymbaud himself, who humbly requested it, the benefit of absolution from the sentence of excommunication in which.

​Likewise, on the same day, in the aforementioned manner and form, being constituted in person, in the presence of us and of the same notaries and witnesses, Brother Geoffroy de Charny, knight, preceptor of the mansions of the Temple throughout Normandy, swore in similar manner on the holy Gospels of God, touching the book; carefully questioned about the manner of his entry into the order, he said that it was about forty years ago that he was welcomed into the Temple Militia by Brother Amaury de la Roche, preceptor of France, near Étampes, in the diocese of Sens, in the chapel of the Templar mansion of that place, present the brother Jean le Franceys, preceptor of Poitou and about nine or ten brothers who are now, as he believes, dead.

​And, on that occasion, once the entrance rite was over, placing the cloak of the order around his neck, the friar who had welcomed him took him aside inside the chapel itself and showed him a cross on which there was the the image of Christ: and told him not to believe in that, indeed, to deny it. And then, on his orders, he denied it in words but without conviction.

​He also said that at the moment of his welcome he had kissed that friar on the mouth, on the chest, and on his robe, as a sign of respect.

​When asked whether the Templar friars were welcomed into the order in the same way in which he himself had been welcomed, he said he did not know.

​He also said that he had personally welcomed only one friar into the order, according to the practice for which he himself had been welcomed, and that he subsequently welcomed many others without imposing the aforementioned denial on them and in a correct manner; he also said that, for the denial of the crucifix which he himself had suffered during his reception and imposed in the one he had done, he confessed to the then patriarch of Jerusalem, and was absolved by him.

​When carefully questioned about the spitting on the cross, the kisses and the vice of sodomy and the head-shaped idol, he said he knew nothing.

​When questioned, he also said that he believes that the other friars are welcomed into the order in the way in which he himself was welcomed there; he said, however, that he did not know for sure, since when such entrance ceremonies take place, the acolytes are kept aside so that the other brothers who are in the same mansion do not see or hear what is done with them on that occasion.

​When asked how old he was when he joined the order, he said he was about seventeen.

​When questioned whether he had confessed the things just said upon request, for money, gratitude, sympathy, fear, hatred or instigation of someone or for fear of torture, he said no.

​When asked if he wanted to remain firm on this confession of his, and if he had told the truth and if he had mixed something false into it or if he had left out something true, he said that he wanted to remain firm in his confession just said, in which he had said everything for true, and that he had told the truth, and that he had not mixed anything false into it, nor omitted any truth.

​After this, we cardinals, according to the methods and forms written above, held that the same brother Geoffroy, who in our hands abjured the one just revealed and every other heresy, and who swore on the holy Gospels of God humbly also requesting the benefit of absolution for these facts, the benefit of absolution should be imparted according to the forms of the Church, welcoming him back into the unity of the Church and returning him to the communion of the faithful and to the ecclesiastical sacraments.

​Likewise, on the same day, having appeared in person, in the presence of us, the notaries and the undersigned witnesses, Brother Geoffroy de Gonneville, carefully questioned about the time and manner of his reception and about the other things mentioned above, said that about twenty-eight years old who was welcomed as a friar into the Templar order by Robert de Torville, knight and preceptor of the Templar mansions in England, near London, in the chapel of the Templar house of that city.

​And on that occasion, the Templar who welcomed him, after having given him the cloak of the order, showed him a cross painted on a certain book and told him that it was necessary for him to deny the image of him who was depicted there; and since the acolyte did not want to do it, the preceptor strongly insisted that he do it.

​Since he didn’t want to do it in any way, the Templar, seeing his resistance, said to him: “Do you want to swear to me that, if I spare you from doing it, you will still say that you have made this denial if the brothers ask you?”.

​And he said yes, and promised that, if he were questioned by any of the brothers, he would say that he had completed the denial; therefore, from what he told us, he did not deny anything else.

​The Templar who welcomed him also told him that it was necessary to spit on the cross previously shown; and since he didn’t want to do it, the Templar placed his hand on the cross and said to him: “At least spit on my hand!”.

​Fearing that the Templar would remove his hand and some of the spit might fall on the cross, he did not want to spit on his hand but on the ground, near the cross.

​When carefully questioned about the vice of sodomy, the head-shaped idol, kisses and other facts about which the Templars are defamed, he said he knew nothing.

​When asked whether other friars of the order are welcomed in the same way in which he himself was welcomed, he said he believed that, as happened to him on the occasion of his entry already mentioned, so it also happens for others. When questioned whether he had confessed the things just said upon request, for money, gratitude, sympathy, fear or hatred or instigation of someone or forcibly or for fear of torture, he said no.

​After this, we cardinals, according to the methods and forms written above, held that the same friar Geoffroy de Gonneville, who in our hands abjured the revealed hour and every other heresy and who swore on the holy Gospels of God humbly also requesting the benefit of absolution for these facts, was to impart the benefit of absolution according to the forms of the Church, welcoming him back into the unity of the Church and returning him to the communion of the faithful and to the ecclesiastical sacraments.

​Likewise, on the nineteenth day of the current month, personally constituted in the presence of us and of the same notaries and witnesses Hugues de Pérraud, knight, preceptor of the mansions of the Temple in France, touching the book, swore on the holy Gospels of God in the manner and in the aforementioned form.

​

And the aforementioned Brother Hugues, after having sworn, as has already been said, being questioned about the manner of his entry into the order, said that he had been welcomed in Lyon, in the Templar house of that city, in the chapel of the same mansion, having passed already forty-six years more or less, the day of the feast of the Magdalene next passed; and Brother Hubert de Pérraud, a Templar knight and his paternal uncle, visitor to the order’s mansions in France and Poitou, welcomed him as a friar of the order.

​The latter placed the cloak of the order around his neck; this done, another brother named Giovanni, who was later preceptor of La Muce, took him aside in the chapel, and showing him a certain cross on which the image of the crucifix was painted, ordered him to deny the image of him who was represented there: according to what he told us, he opposed it as much as he could.

​Nonetheless, in the end, terrified by the intimidations and threats of that brother John, he renounced the painted image, but only once.

​However, even though the said Brother John had ordered him over and over again to spit on the said cross, he did not want to do so.

​When asked if he had kissed the Templar who welcomed him, he said yes, but only on the mouth. When questioned about the vice of sodomy he said that it was never forced upon him, nor did he ever commit it.

​When asked if he had received any in the order he said yes: many people and in many cases, more than any other templar still alive in the order.

​When questioned about the way in which he welcomed others, he said that, after the entrance ceremony, having handed over their cloaks, he required each of those welcomed to refuse the crucifix and to kiss him on the lower back, on the navel and, later, on the mouth.

​He also said that he admonished them to abstain from sexual relations with women; and if they were unable to contain their desire, to unite with their brothers.

​By his oath he also said that the denial he made when he was welcomed into the order and the other prescriptions he imposed on those who were welcomed by him, he had done only in words and without intention.

​When asked why he had ever done it and why he ever regretted it, since he did it without intention, he replied that the statutes or customs of the order prescribed this: and he had always hoped that that error would be removed.

​When asked if any of the acolytes refused to spit or do the other reprehensible actions he himself mentioned earlier, he said that few refused: but in the end they all did it.

​He also said that although he himself forced the friars he welcomed into the order to unite sexually between brothers, he never happened to do so, nor did he ever hear of anyone who had committed that sin, except for two or three friars who in the Land of ‘Overseas, for that vice, they had been incarcerated in the fortress of Chàteau-Pélerin.

​When questioned whether or not he knows whether all the friars of the order are received in the way he himself welcomed the others, he said he did not know for sure, except for himself and for those he had personally welcomed, since the Templars are welcomed in the the order according to a procedure so secret that nothing can be known except through those who are present at the entrance ceremony.

​When asked whether he believes that those welcomed are received in this way, he said that he believes that the same practice is still maintained to welcome others, just as it was practiced to welcome him, and which he himself had observed for those he had welcomed.

​When questioned about the head-shaped idol, which is said to be worshiped by the Templars, he said that he saw it, shown to him at Montpéllier by the friar Pierre Allemandin, preceptor of that place; and that head remained with Brother Pierre.

​When asked what age he was when he was accepted into the order, he said that he heard his mother say that he was eighteen.

​He also said that he had already confessed these facts on another occasion, in the presence of the friar inquisitor Guillaime de Paris or one of his commissioners; and that that confession had been written by the hand of the same master who is here signed, Amise de Orléans, and of certain other public notaries.

​And he holds to that confession as true, and in that, and in everything that agrees with that in this, he wants to remain firm; and if in the same confession made, as already said, before the inquisitor or his commissioner, there is something more, he ratifies, approves and confirms it. When questioned whether he confessed the things just said upon request, for money, gratitude, sympathy, fear or hatred or instigation of someone or for fear of torture, he said no.

​When asked whether he had been asked questions or tortured after he was arrested, he said no.

​After this we cardinals, according to the methods and forms written above, held that the same Brother Hugues, who in our hands abjured the revealed hour and every other heresy and who swore on the holy Gospels of God humbly also requesting the benefit of absolution for these facts, was to impart the benefit of absolution according to the forms of the Church, welcoming him back into the unity of the Church and returning him to the communion of the faithful and to the ecclesiastical sacraments.

​Likewise, on the twentieth of the current month, in the presence of us and the same notaries and witnesses, Brother Jacques de Molay, knight and grand master of the order of the Temple, appeared in person after having sworn the oath, being carefully questioned about the form and the methods reported above, said that approximately forty-two years have passed since near Beune, in the diocese of Autun, he was welcomed as a friar of the order, through the Templar knight Hubert de Pérraud, then visitor to France and Poitou, in the chapel of the mansion of that place.

​And regarding the manner of his entry into the order he said that the one who had welcomed him, before tying his cloak, showed him a certain cross, told him to deny God whose image was painted on the cross itself, and to spit on it: something which he did; and yet he did not spit on the cross, but on the ground, according to what he said.

​He also said that he made that denial in words, without intention. When carefully questioned about the vice of sodomy, the head-shaped idol and immoral kisses, he said he knew nothing.

​When questioned whether he had confessed the things just said upon request, for money, gratitude, sympathy, fear or hatred or instigation of someone or for fear of torture, he said no.

​When asked whether he had been asked questions or tortured after he was arrested, he said no.

​After this, we cardinals, according to the methods and forms written above, believed that the same Brother Jacques, grand master of the order, who in our hands abjured the revealed hour and every other heresy and who swore on the holy Gospels of God humbly requesting also the benefit of absolution for these facts, was to be imparted the benefit of absolution according to the forms of the Church, welcoming him back into the unity of the Church and returning him to the communion of the faithful and to the ecclesastic sacraments.

​On the same day 20, the aforementioned friar Geoffroy de Gonneville, appearing in the presence of us and the same notaries and witnesses, spontaneously and freely ratified, approved and confirmed his confession reported above, read to him publicly in his own language, declaring that he intends to remain firm both in this confession and also in the one he already declared on another time, on these facts, before the inquisitor or inquisitors, since it agrees with the said confession made before us and the notaries and the witnesses mentioned, and that he intends to adhere to both confessions; and if in the same confession made, as has been said, before the inquisitor or inquisitors, there is something more, he ratifies, approves and confirms it.

​On the aforementioned day 20, the aforementioned friar preceptor Hugues de Pérraud, appearing in the presence of us and the same notaries and witnesses, in a similar way and form, spontaneously and freely ratified, approved and confirmed his above-mentioned confession read to him publicly in his language.

​As evidence of all this, we have ordered that the confessions and all the individual facts reported above, before us and the same notaries and witnesses and made by ourselves as contained above, be written down and, once drawn up in public form by Robert de Condet, cleric of the diocese of Soissons and notary by apostolic authority, who was present together with us and the notaries and texts indicated below, are equipped with the weight of our seals.

​These events took place in the year, in the indiction, in the month, in the days, in the pontificate and in the place mentioned above, in the presence of us, including the public notaries by apostolic authority Umberto Vercellani, Nicolo Nicolai of Benevento, the aforementioned Robert de Condet and the master Amise de Orléans known as le Ratif, and the witnesses specially summoned for this: the religious friar Raymond, abbot of the monastery of Saint Theoffrey of the order of Saint Benedict in the diocese of Annecy, and the shrewd gentlemen Bernardo da Boiano, archdeacon of Troy, Raoul de Boset, penitentiary and canon of Paris and Pierre de Soire, custodian of the church of Saint-Gaucéry of Cambresis.

​And I, the same Robert de Condet, cleric of the diocese of Soissons, public notary by apostolic authority, witnessed all the individual facts reported above in the presence of the reverend fathers and already mentioned gentlemen cardinals, myself, and the other same notaries and witnesses , present by the grace of the same cardinals together with the mentioned notaries and witnesses, and on the orders of the same lord cardinals, I wrote this public instrument and, upon request, I drafted it in public form by affixing my notarial sign.

​And I mentioned above Umberto Vercellani, cleric of Béziers, public notary by apostolic authority, attended the confessions and all the individual facts reported above in the presence of the aforementioned cardinals and as more fully reported above, present by grace of these together with the notaries and to the witnesses mentioned above and on the orders of the cardinals themselves, as a greater guarantee I signed this public instrument and authenticated it with my notarial sign.

​And I, Nicola di Benevento, public notary by apostolic authority named above, attended the confessions and all the other individual facts reported above in the presence of the aforementioned cardinals and as is more fully reported above, present by grace of these together with the notaries and the witnesses mentioned above and upon order of the cardinals themselves, as a greater guarantee I signed this public instrument and authenticated it with my notarial sign.

​And I Amise de Orléans known as le Ratif, cleric and public notary by the authority of the sacrosanct Church of Rome, attended the confessions or depositions and all the other individual events in the presence of the aforementioned cardinal fathers and lords and as is more fully contained above, I was present together with the notaries and witnesses mentioned above and upon order of the same cardinals as a testimony of truth I signed, upon request, in this public instrument and authenticated it with my notarial sign.