Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/323

 THE TEMPLARS. 307 In the rest of Italy Clement's bull of 1307, addressed to the arch- bishops and ordering an inquest, seems to have been somewhat slack- ly obeyed. The earliest action on record is an order, in 1308, of Fra Ottone, Inquisitor of Lombardy, requiring the delivery of three Tem- plars to the Podesta of Casale. Some further impulsion apparent- ly was requisite, and in 1309 Giovanni, Archbishop of Pisa, was ap- pointed Apostolic Nuncio in charge of the affair throughout Tus- cany, Lombardy, Dalmatia, and Istria, with a stipend of eight florins per diem, to be assessed on the Templar property. In Ancona the Bishop of Fano examined one Templar who con- fessed nothing, and nineteen other witnesses who furnished no in- criminating evidence, and in Romagnuola, Rainaldo, Archbishop of Ravenna, and the Bishop of Rimini interrogated two Templars at Cesena, both of whom testified to the innocence of the Order. The archbishop, who was papal inquisitor against the Templars in Lom- bardy, Tuscany, Tarvisina, and Istria, seems to have extended his inquest over part of Lombardy, though no results are recorded. Papal letters were published throughout Italy, empowering the inquisitors to look after the Templar property, of w T hich the Arch- bishops of Bologna and Pisa w T ere appointed administrators; it was farmed out and the proceeds remitted to Clement. Rainaldo of Ravenna sympathized with the Templars, and no very earnest efforts were to be expected of him. He called a synod at Bologna in 1309, where some show was made of taking up the subject, but no results were reached, and when, in 1310, his vicar, Bonincontro, w T ent to Ravenna with the papal bulls, he made no secret of his favor towards the accused. At length Rainaldo was forced to action, and issued a proclamation, November 25, 1310, reciting the papal commands to hold provincial councils for the examination and judgment of the Templars, in obedience to which he summoned one to assemble at Ravenna in January, 1311, calling upon the in- quisitors to bring thither the evidence which they had obtained by the use of torture. The council was held and the matter discussed, but no conclusion was reached. Another was summoned to meet at Bologna on June 1, but was transferred to Ravenna and post- poned till June 18. To this the bishops were ordered to bring all Templars of their dioceses under strict guard, the result of which was that on June 16, seven knights were produced before the council. They were sworn and interrogated seriatim on all the