Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/314

 298 POLITICAL HERESY. — THE STATE. transmitted without comment to Clement its records as part of the material to guide the judgment of the assembled Church at the Council of Yienne.* Before proceeding to the last scene of the drama at Yienne, it is necessary to consider briefly the action taken with the Templars outside of France. In England, Edward II., on October 30, 1307, replied to Philippe's announcement of October 16, to the effect that he and his council have given the most earnest attention to the matter ; it has caused the greatest astonishment, and is sc abominable as to be well-nigh incredible, and, to obtain further in- formation, he had sent for his Seneschal of Agen. So strong were his convictions and so earnest his desire to protect the threatened Order that on December 4 he wrote to the Kings of Portugal, Cas- tile, Aragon, and Xaples that the accusations must proceed from cupidity and envy, and begging them to shut their ears to detrac- tion and do nothing without deliberation, so that an Order so dis- tinguished for purity and honor should not be molested until legitimately convicted. Xot content with this, on the 10th he re- plied to Clement that the reputation of the Templars in England for purity and faith is such that he cannot, without further proof, believe the terrible rumors about them, and he begs the pope to resist the calumnies of envious and wicked men. In a few days, however, he received Clement's bull of ^November 22, and could no longer doubt the facts asserted by the head of Christendom. He hastened to obey its commands, and on the 15th elaborate orders were already prepared and sent out to all the sheriffs in England, with minute instructions to capture all the Templars on January 10, 1308, including directions as to the sequestration and disposition of their property, and this was followed on the 20th by 254-6. — A notarial attestation describes the voluminous record as consisting of 219 folios with forty lines to the page, equivalent to 17,520 lines. How close a watch was kept on the witnesses is seen in the case of three, Martin de Mont Richard, Jean Durand, and Jean de Ruaus, who, on March 22, asserted that they knew of no evil in the Order. Two days later they are brought back to say that they had lied through folly. When before their bishops they had confessed to renouncing and spitting, and it was true. What persuasions were applied to them during the interval no one can tell. — Proces, II. 88-96, 107-9.
 * Harduin. VII. 1334.— Proces, I. 286-7 : II. 3-4, 269-73.— Raynouard, pp.