ABSTRACT

We have remaining to us about nine hundred depositions made by members of the order of the Temple during their examinations at various trials or hearings between 1307 and 1311. 1 Most, if not all of these, were examined at the council of Vienne, 1311–12. 2 Others have obviously been lost. 3 Trained notaries licensed by secular or ecclesiastical authorities wrote down these depositions in Latin, usually translated into the witness’s own vulgar language prior to confirmation. The manuscripts I have edited contain the writing of up to four notaries, each confirming that what the other man had written down was correct. Many renowned scholars of the military orders have written on the still unresolved question of Templar innocence or guilt. 4 My intention here is to discuss not the testimony of Templars as a whole, but to focus on priests or chaplains of the order, permitted by the bull Omne datum optimum of 1139. 5 These clerics took the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, as did all members. 6 Because priests were at least minimally literate, possessing some education, their opinion of the Templar order is particularly important. After considering all depositions, I will consider here only priests for whom reasonably full testimony is given: 71 Templars, or about eight per cent of those testifying. 7