The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the TempleAddison, C. G. (Charles Greenstreet)
History
The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple
Addison, C. G. (Charles Greenstreet)
Templars -- History
It appears that in the prison of Aldgate there were confined Brother
William de Sautre, Knight, Preceptor of Samford; Brother William de la
Ford, Preceptor of Daney; Brother John de Coningeston, Preceptor of
Getinges; Roger de Norreis, Preceptor of Cressing; Radulph de Barton,
priest, Prior of the New Temple; and several serving brethren of the
order. In the prison of Crepelgate were detained William de Egendon,
Knight, Preceptor of Schepeley; John de Moun, Knight, Preceptor of
Dokesworth; and four serving brethren. In the prison of Ludgate were five
serving brethren; and in Newgate was confined Brother Himbert Blanke,
Knight, Grand Preceptor of Auvergne.
The above declaration of faith and innocence was far from agreeable to the
papal inquisitors, who required a confession of _guilt_, and the torture
was once more directed to be applied. The king sent fresh orders to the
mayor and the sheriffs of the city of London, commanding them to place the
Templars in separate dungeons; to load them with chains and fetters; to
permit the myrmidons of the inquisitors to pay periodical visits to see
that the wishes and intentions of the inquisitors, with regard to the
severity of the confinement, were properly carried into effect; and,
lastly, to inflict TORTURE upon the bodies of the Templars, and generally
to do whatever should be thought fitting and expedient in the premises,
according to ecclesiastical law.[400] In conformity with these orders, we
learn from the record of the proceedings, that the Templars were placed in
solitary confinement in loathsome dungeons; that they were placed on a
short allowance of bread and water, and periodically visited by the agents
of the inquisition; that they were moved from prison to prison, and from
dungeon to dungeon; were now treated with rigour, and anon with
indulgence; and were then visited by learned prelates, and acute doctors
in theology, who, by exhortation, persuasion, and by menace, attempted in
every possible mode to wring from them the required avowals. We learn that
all the engines of terror wielded by the church were put in force, and
that torture was unsparingly applied "_usque ad judicium sanguinis_!" The
places in which these atrocious scenes were enacted were the Tower, the
prisons of Aldgate, Ludgate, Newgate, Bishopsgate, and Crepelgate, the
house formerly belonging to John de Banguel, and the tenements once the
property of the brethren of penitence.[401] It appears that some French
monks were sent over to administer the torture to the unhappy captives,
and that they were questioned and examined in the presence of notaries
whilst suffering under the torments of the rack. The relentless
perseverance and the incessant exertions of the foreign inquisitors were
at last rewarded by a splendid triumph over the powers of endurance of two
poor serving brethren, and one chaplain of the order of the Temple, who
were at last induced to make the long-desired avowals.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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