Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/325

 THE TEMPLARS. 309 Cyprus was the headquarters of the Order. There resided the marshal, Ay me d'Osiliers, who was its chief in the absence of the Grand Master, and there was the " Convent," or governing body. It was not until May, 1308, that the papal bull commanding the arrest reached the island, and there could be no pretence of a secret and sudden seizure, for the Templars were advised of what had occurred in France. They had many enemies, for they had taken an active part in the turbulent politics of the time, and it had been by their aid that the regent, Amaury of Tyre, had been placed in power. He hastened to obey the papal commands, but with many misgivings, for the Templars at first assumed an attitude of de- fence. Resistance, however, was hopeless, and in a few weeks they submitted ; their property was sequestrated and they were kept in honorable confinement, without being deprived of the sacraments. This continued for two years, until, in April, 1310, the Abbot of Alet and the Archpriest Tommaso of Rieti came as papal inquisi- tors to inquire against them individually and the Order in general, under the guidance of the Bishops of Limisso and Famagosta. The examination commenced May 1 and continued until June 5, when it came abruptly to an end, in consequence, doubtless, of the excitement caused by the murder of the Regent Amaury. All the Templars on the island, seventy -five in number, together with fifty- six other witnesses, were duly interrogated upon the long list of articles of accusation. That the Templars were unanimous in denying the charges and in asserting the purity of the Order shows that torture cannot have been employed. More convincing as to their innocence is the evidence of the other witnesses, con- sisting of ecclesiastics of all ranks, nobles, and burghers, many of them political enemies, who yet rendered testimony emphatically favorable. As some of them said, they knew nothing but good of the Order. Ail dwelt upon its liberal charities, and many de- scribed the fervor of the zeal with which the Templars discharged their religious duties. A few alluded to the popular suspicions aroused by the secrecy observed in the holding of chapters and the admission of neophytes ; the Dominican Prior of Nicosia spoke 1589, pp. 517, 521, 522, 524, 525, 526.— Campi, Dell' Hist. Eccles. di Piacenza, P. in. p. 41. — Barbarauo dei Mironi Hist. Eccles. di Vicenza, II. 157-8. — Anton, Versuch einer Geschichte der Tempelherrenordens, Leipzig, 1779, p. 139.