Eventually, their rules of secrecy, their power, privileges and their wealth,[a] made them vulnerable to the King of France's accusations and, with the Pope's unsuccessful attempts to prevent it, their destruction. The Templar leader, Master Jacques de Molay had recently come to France for meetings with the pope. In 1307, members of the Templar order in France were suddenly charged with heresy and arrested. In France, many ultimately, including their leader, were burned at the stake while others were sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. The events in France led to a series of trials in other locations, not all of which had the same outcome.
Several significant changes in legal procedures had been made by 1230 that affected later trials, especially those of the Templars.[31] No longer did a witness need fear reprisals if his accusations were proved untrue.[31] Instead, a new system relying on the testimony of witnesses, judicial latitudes[c] and the inquisitorial procedure began to dominate criminal trials in most of Europe.[31] In France, the issuance of Cupientes in 1229 by Louis IX of France, Philip's grandfather, gave the kings of France the duty to eliminate heresy in his kingdom.[32] Additionally, from 1230 on, the inquisitors in northern Italy had been given special powers by Pope Honorius III which allowed them to examine even the exempted and protected orders of the Hospitallers, Cistercians and Templars, but only in cases where heresy was suspected.[33] When the Albigensian Crusade was over, these special powers were never revoked but simply forgotten.[33] Philip's royal lawyers concentrated their charges on this one vulnerable exception, that of heresy, to an otherwise untouchable order, one which answered only to the Pope.[33]
Trial Of The Crusader Not Starting
Download: https://tinurli.com/2vDwO6
Of the various trials held in France, the first, and one of the larger trials, ran from October 19 to November 24, 1307, and was held in Paris. A total of 138 prisoners gave a full testimony and almost all admitted guilt to one or more charges.[38] Since torture was used to elicit these confessions, the reliability of their testimony before this and other inquisitional tribunals remains an open question.[39] What is known is these earlier confessions contradicted later testimony before the 1310 papal commissions in Paris.[39] Another important trial that was held at Poitiers between 28 June and 2 July 1308 where at least 54 Templars testified before the pope and his commission of cardinals.[40] Here too a considerable number of defendants confessed to one or more of the charges.[41] When asked if their statements were freely given many said that, while they had been tortured or threatened, restricted to bread and water and other forms of harsh treatments had been imposed on them, their confessions were not the results of any torture.[42] But in 1310 at least three said they had lied in front of the Pope and now wished to defend the order.[42]
Templar Peter (Pierre) of Bologna was trained as a canon lawyer and was the Templar representative to the papal court in Rome. On April 23, 1310, Peter, with others, went before the commission and demanded what amounts to full disclosure of their accusers and all the information and evidence gathered in the case. They also requested a ban on witnesses conversing with one another, and that all proceedings should be kept secret until they were sent to the Pope. In May 1310, the Archbishop of Sens, Philippe de Marigny, took over the trial of the Templars from the original commission. De Marigny conducted the proceedings against the Templars until his death in 1316.[43] Pope Clement V interceded and directed that actual trials take place; however, Philip sought to thwart this effort, and had several Templars burned at the stake as heretics to prevent their participation in the trials.[44] Two days after this change, 54 Templars were burned outside of Paris. When the papal commission met on November 3, 1310, they found the Templars had no defenders and adjourned until December 27.[45] At this time the prisoners insisted that Peter de Bologna and Renaud de Provins again defend them but were told the two priests had appeared before the commission of the Archbishop of Sens and that both de Provins and de Bologna were found guilty and had been imprisoned.[45] Peter de Bologna, however, had managed to escape his confinement.[45]
On September 13, 1309, two Inquisitors were brought to England and allowed to question the Templars but in the presence of English prelates and as of November 1309, none of the Templars would confess to the charges.[56] At that time torture was rarely used in England, while the legal system was well-formed and used regular jurors as opposed to the "professional witness, accusers and jurors" frequently used by Philip as tools to enforce his will.[57] In December, the Pope put pressure on England and other countries to allow the Inquisitors to use "their" methods, namely torture, and reluctant approval was given by the King of England. The conditions that the Templars were living in were radically changed and, as with continued pressure by the Pope and Inquisition on the King and local prelates, the inevitable result was obtained. The English Templars were sent to the Count of Ponthieu which did not adhere to English Law. Various confessions, different in many ways, were nonetheless obtained and the Templars were either executed or sent to prison for life.[58][59] Two Templars, both from England, were examined by the Bishop of St. Andrews in Scotland and ended up with confessions of minor offenses, while in Ireland, fourteen Templars subjected to three trials netted likewise minor confessions that amounted to nothing.[59]
The Templars, along with the Hospitallers had moved their main bases of operations to Cyprus after the fall of Acre in 1291.[9] The Hospitallers, however, attacked and in 1308 captured the island of Rhodes and moved their headquarters there leaving Cyprus to the Templars.[60] This made Cyprus of particular importance to the pope since it was now the Templar base of operations.[61] In May 1308 a letter from the pope was brought to Cyprus by Prior Hayden which ordered the arrest of all the Templars on the island.[61] Amalric, Prince of Tyre was ruling Cyprus at the time and had overthrown his brother Henry II of Cyprus with the help of the Templars.[61] Amalric was slow to implement the arrests giving the Templar knights ample time to prepare their defenses.[61] But in June the Templars surrendered, their properties and treasure seized, and they were held at Khirokitia and later Yermasoyia, then finally Pano Lefkara, where they remained for three years.[61] May 1310 found king Henry II restored to his throne and unlike his brother he complied with the pope's demands to bring them to trial.[61] They seemed to have received a fair trial in spite of Henry II's dislike for the order.[61] All seventy-six Templars denied the charges and numerous witnesses testified as to their innocence.[62] The trials ended in acquitting all Templars of all charges.[61] The pope demanded Henry II hold new trials and sent a personal delegate, Dominic of Palestrina, to insure the pope's wishes were carried out.[61] The result of the 1311 trials was not recorded but they were still in prison when the pope decreed the order to disband the order and transfer all their possessions to the Hospitallers. But the Hospitallers received the properties only, the treasure and movable goods were retained by Cypriot authorities to cover the unusually high costs of the trials.[63] The leaders were never released and died in prison.[63]
After the infamous trials of the Templars in France and the subsequent orders of Pope Clement V to dissolve the order, most countries complied, ceding Templar lands to the Hospitallers.[66] Kings Denis of Portugal and James II of Aragon both proclaimed they found no fault of heresy, blasphemy or immorality in the Templars in their respective realms.[67] This was not surprising since the Templars had become key to the success of the Reconquista in Aragon and Portugal and their vast holdings were critical to the continued security of these kingdoms.[68] Ceding the Templar holdings to the Hospitallers posed a threat of foreign control of significant portions of both countries.[66] Both kings sought to circumvent these outcomes and in Aragon King James convinced Pope John XXII in 1317 to form the Order of Montesa which received the bulk of Templar lands in Aragon and Valencia.[68] In Portugal, the result of long negotiations with the pope by King Denis resulted in the formation of another new order, the Order of Christ formed in 1320, which saw not only the vast holdings in Portugal ceded to this new order, but also a great number of Templars themselves quietly joined the order.[66] The problems caused by the downfall of the Knights Templar Orders in Valencia and Portugal were solved by the creation of two new orders, the difference being the Order of Montesa was given Templar and Hospitaller lands while the Order of Christ was simply a transition of the Templars and their holdings in Portugal.[69]
Brown s trial in Charlestown, Virginia, began in October 1859. He was charged with and convicted of treason, murder, and conspiring with slaves to revolt. Severely wounded during his capture, Brown had to be carried into court and lay on a stretcher. (Harpers Ferry National Park)
Ten days later, Brown's trial began in Charlestown, Virginia (now West Virginia). He was charged with treason, murder, and conspiring with slaves to rebel. He was convicted on November 2 and sentenced to death. Before his sentencing, Brown told the court that his actions against slavery were consistent with God's commandments.
In 1825 Brown moved to western Pennsylvania, where he was a successful tanner and a postmaster (under President John Quincy Adams). Despite his own poor education and struggles with schooling, he helped start a local school. A proper burgher of the community, he became a church leader and joined the Masons. In 1834 his business went bad, and he moved back to Ohio, starting a tannery in Kent. There he speculated in land and won a contract to build a canal from Kent (then called Franklin Mills) to Akron. He formed the Franklin Land Company with 700 acres for building houses.
2ff7e9595c
Comments