Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/341

 THE TEMPLARS. 325 There remained to be disposed of de Molay and the other chiefs reserved by Clement for his personal judgment — a reserva- tion which, as we have seen, by inspiring them with selfish hopes, led them to abandon their brethren. When this purpose had been accomplished Clement for a while seemed to forget them in their drear captivity. It was not till December 22, 1313, that he ap- pointed a commission of three cardinals, Arnaud of S. Sabina, Nicholas of S. Eusebio, and Arnaldo of S. Prisca, to investigate the proceedings against them and to absolve or condemn, or to inflict penance proportionate to their offences, and to assign to them on the property of the Order such pensions as were fitting. The cardi- nals dallied with their duty until March 19, 1314, when, on a scaffold in front of Notre Dame, de Molay, Geoff roi de Charney, Master of Normandy, Hugues de Peraud, Visitor of France, and Godefroi de Gonneville, Master of Aquitaine, were brought forth from the jail in which for nearly seven years they had lain, to receive the sen- tence agreed upon by the cardinals, in conjunction with the Arch- bishop of Sens and some other prelates whom they had called in. Considering the offences which the culprits had confessed and con- firmed, the penance imposed was in accordance with rule — that of perpetual imprisonment. The affair was supposed to be concluded when, to the dismay of the prelates and wonderment of the as- sembled crowd, de Molay and Geoff roi de Charney arose. They had been guilty, they said, not of the crimes imputed to them, but of basely betraying their Order to save their own lives. It was pure and holy ; the charges were fictitious and the confessions false. Hastily the cardinals delivered them to the Prevot of Paris, and retired to deliberate on this unexpected contingency, but they were saved all trouble. When the news was carried to Philippe he was furious. A short consultation with his council only was required. The canons pronounced that a relapsed heretic was to be burned without a hearing; the facts were notorious and no formal judgment by the papal commission need be waited for. That same day, by sunset, a pile was erected on a small island in the Seine, the Isle des Juifs, near the palace garden. There de Molay and de Charney were slowly burned to death, refusing all IV. 141.— Stemler, Contingent zur Geschichte der Templer, pp. 20-1.— Raynouard, pp. 213-4, 233-5.— Wilcke, II. 236, 240.— Anton, Versucb, p. 142.