The Knights Templar on trial : the trial of the Templars in the British Isles, 1308-1311

The trial of the Templars in the British Isles (1308-1311) is a largely unexplored area of history. Unlike the trial in France, where the Templars were tortured into confessing to unspeakable activities, in the British Isles there were no burnings and only three confessions after torture. Several Templars went missing, most of whom later reappeared. Outsiders told stories of abominable Templar rituals, secret meetings and murders at the dead of night, but all these tales turned out to be rumour. This book is based on extensive research into the records of the trial of trial of the Templars and other unpublished medieval documents recording their arrest, imprisonment and trial, and the surveys of their property. It traces the course of this, the first heresy of trial in the British Isles, from the arrests in January 1308 to the dissolution of the Order, and shows how, by judicious selection of material, the inquisitors made the scanty evidence against the Templars appear convincing. The book includes a list of all the Templars in the British Isles at the time of the arrests, and a gazetteer of the Templars' major properties in the British Isles. The trial of the Templars in the British Isles (1308-1311) is a largely unexplored area of history. Unlike the trial in France, where the Templars were tortured into confessing to unspeakable activities, in the British Isles there were no burnings and only three confessions after torture. Several Templars went missing, most of whom later reappeared. Outsiders told stories of abominable Templar rituals, secret meetings and murders at the dead of night, but all these tales turned out to be mere rumour. This book is based on extensive research into the records of the trial of the Templars and other unpublished medieval documents recording their arrest, imprisonment and trial, and the surveys of their property. It traces the course of this, the first heresy trial in the British Isles, from the arrests in January 1308 to the dissolution of the Order, and shows how, by judicious selection of material, the inquisitors made the scanty evidence against the Templars appear convincing. The book includes a list of all the Templars in the British Isles at the time of the arrests, and a gazetteer of the Templars' major properties in the British Isles. The loss of Acre in 1291 marked the beginning of the end of the Templars. They returned to Europe a far weaker organization. They were however, still well regarded so it came as a great shock when the Templar Brothers of France were arrested in 1307 on the orders of King Phillip IV. Other Christian monarchs followed the lead and the trial of the Templars in Britain began. This study covers the period between the start of the trials in early 1308 and the dissolution of the order in July 1311. The trials took a different course in England from those in mainland Europe with Edward II reluctant to obey the instructions of the papal investigators. The Templars did not confess to anything and the nobles and bishops did not cooperate with the investigators. Eventually in 1311 the church councils rejected all heresies and the Templars asked to be readmitted to the church