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ORDO SUPREMUS MILITARIS TEMPLI HIEROSOLYMITANI®
The Magistral Grand Priory of The Holy Lands
(Notre Dame, Saint Mary of Magdalene)
Torture
and Confessions
After
the arrests, King Philip was under much pressure to extract as many
confessions
from the prisoners as possible, because the arrests had been
done
on such flimsy grounds. He had to be able to demonstrate that the
Order
had indeed been a genuine threat to the Catholic faith and that he
had
acted in the best interest of the Holy Church.
Philip's
orders were very clear; All Templar houses were to be investigated
and
a detailed inventory made of all possible items. All those on the
premises
were to be arrested, well guarded, and isolated from each other.
Confessions
were to be extracted from all captives, by any means necessary,
including
torture if need be. To all those who confessed to the crimes
Philip
listed, the baillis were allowed to offer full pardon. Those who protested their
innocence
often found themselves in the rack, which of course rearranged
things
in their memories and dug up several crimes and heresies the
Templars
had taken part in. It must be remembered that many Templars were
from
quiet rural houses, agrarian workers and servants, who had never seen
a
live Muslim, much less fought with one. The effect of Philip's operation
was
one of immediate and desperate terror, which helped Philip gather many
confessions
even as the raid was still underway.
Philip
saw to it that the Templars had no contact with each other to ward
off
any attempts at defense. Single Templars who ventured to claim
innocence
of either themselves or the Order as a whole were most often
tortured
cruelly until they retracted their claims. They were subjected to
intense
questioning, loss of sleep, deprivation of food either that bread
and
water and arduous physical humiliation. Ato de Salvigny, Preceptor of
the
Templar house of La Chappelle, sustained for four weeks in irons before
confessing
to alleged crimes. The Inquisition did not need to put out
fully,
since most of the Templars were but simple workers whose minds were
terrorized
enough merely by the fact that they were in the hands of
the
King and not the daily tasks of the Order. Still, there were several
methods
of torture used;
1.
The strappado - the victim was tied to a triangular frame with his hands
behind
his back, lifted by the hands, only to be dropped and stopped a few
feet
short of the ground, the jolt resulting in violent pain.
2.
Sometimes weights were attached to the testicles of some prisoners
already
strapped on the strappado.
3.
Some prisoners had the soles of their feet rubbed with fat and then
subjected
to flames until the fat caught fire. Bones dropped off Bernard de
Vaho's
feet a few days after this treatment.
Surely
it is easy to see why the methods proved extraordinarily successful.
Out
of the 138 Templars questioned in Paris, 134 admitted to the charges
either
in full or in part, and about the same rate applied throughout
France.
In no time, Philip was able to begin preparing for the upcoming
trial.
Obviously such results did not flood in from outside France, where
the
Inquisition had no jurisdiction. Most Templars portrayed themselves as
hapless
victims of a cruel and inhuman Order, which suited Philip just
fine,
as it was against the Order he fought, not the individuals. The
confessors
said they had committed the crimes ore et non corde, in the
mouth
only and not in the heart, in vain attempts to save themselves. Very
few
risked themselves by attempting to defend the Order.
copyright 2000, 2001, 2002, The Magistral Grand Priory of The Holy Lands, ( Notre Dame, Saint Mary Magdalene) ORDO SUPREMUS MILITARIS TEMPLI HIEROSOLYMITANI® - OSMTH® - SMOTJ®, All rights reserved. No part of this copyrighted website may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission of the copyright holder, including distribution via electronic means such as eMail or Internet.
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