Posted on 10/12/2007 11:41:08 AM PDT by xzins
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Knights Templar, the medieval Christian military order accused of heresy and sexual misconduct, will soon be partly rehabilitated when the Vatican publishes trial documents it had closely guarded for 700 years.
A reproduction of the minutes of trials against the Templars, "'Processus Contra Templarios -- Papal Inquiry into the Trial of the Templars'" is a massive work and much more than a book -- with a 5,900 euros (4,125 pounds) price tag.
"This is a milestone because it is the first time that these documents are being released by the Vatican, which gives a stamp of authority to the entire project," said Professor Barbara Frale, a medievalist at the Vatican's Secret Archives.
"Nothing before this offered scholars original documents of the trials of the Templars," she told Reuters in a telephone interview ahead of the official presentation of the work on October 25.
The epic comes in a soft leather case that includes a large-format book including scholarly commentary, reproductions of original parchments in Latin, and -- to tantalise Templar buffs -- replicas of the wax seals used by 14th-century inquisitors.
Reuters was given an advance preview of the work, of which only 799 numbered copies have been made.
One parchment measuring about half a metre wide by some two metres long is so detailed that it includes reproductions of stains and imperfections seen on the originals.
Pope Benedict will be given the first set of the work, published by the Vatican Secret Archives in collaboration with Italy's Scrinium cultural foundation, which acted as curator and will have exclusive world distribution rights.
The Templars, whose full name was "Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon", were founded in 1119 by knights sworn to protecting Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land after the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099.
They amassed enormous wealth and helped finance wars of some European monarchs. Legends of their hidden treasures, secret rituals and power have figured over the years in films and bestsellers such as "The Da Vinci Code".
The Knights have also been portrayed as guardians of the legendary Holy Grail, the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper before his crucifixion.
The Vatican expects most copies of the work to be bought up by specialised libraries at top universities and by leading medieval scholars.
BURNED AT THE STAKE
The Templars went into decline after Muslims re-conquered the Holy Land at the end of the 13th century and were accused of heresy by King Philip IV of France, their foremost persecutor. Their alleged offences included denying Christ and secretly worshipping idols.
The most titillating part of the documents is the so-called Chinon Parchment, which contains phrases in which Pope Clement V absolves the Templars of charges of heresy, which had been the backbone of King Philip's attempts to eliminate them.
Templars were burned at the stake for heresy by King Philip's agents after they made confessions that most historians believe were given under duress.
The parchment, also known as the Chinon Chart, was "misplaced" in the Vatican archives until 2001, when Frale stumbled across it.
"The parchment was catalogued incorrectly at some point in history. At first I couldn't believe my eyes. I was incredulous," she said.
"This was the document that a lot of historians were looking for," the 37-year-old scholar said.
Philip was heavily indebted to the Templars, who had helped him finance his wars, and getting rid of them was a convenient way of cancelling his debts, some historians say.
Frale said Pope Clement was convinced that while the Templars had committed some grave sins, they were not heretics.
SPITTING ON THE CROSS
Their initiation ceremony is believed to have included spitting on the cross, but Frale said they justified this as a ritual of obedience in preparation for possible capture by Muslims. They were also said to have practised sodomy.
"Simply put, the pope recognised that they were not heretics but guilty of many other minor crimes -- such as abuses, violence and sinful acts within the order," she said. "But that is not the same as heresy."
Despite his conviction that the Templars were not guilty of heresy, in 1312 Pope Clement ordered the Templars disbanded for what Frale called "the good of the Church" following his repeated clashes with the French king.
Frale depicted the trials against the Templars between 1307 and 1312 as a battle of political wills between Clement and Philip, and said the document means Clement's position has to be reappraised by historians.
"This will allow anyone to see what is actually in documents like these and deflate legends that are in vogue these days," she said.
Rosi Fontana, who has helped the Vatican coordinate the project, said: "The most incredible thing is that 700 years have passed and people are still fascinated by all of this."
"The precise reproduction of the parchments will allow scholars to study them, touch them, admire them as if they were dealing with the real thing," Fontana said.
"But even better, it means the originals will not deteriorate as fast as they would if they were constantly being viewed," she said.
Don't you get it?
That is WHY the Vatican did this today, on this date.
Sheesh, man, at least try to connect the dots!
Shhhh...good job! Stick to the company line...
In your own post, #36, you are the one who says, “IF this is a real story...”
I repeated that it was carried on a number of outlets.
This is getting eerie, Sav.
correction
In your own post, #35, you are the one who says, “IF this is a real story...”
I repeated that it was carried on a number of outlets.
This is getting eerie, Sav.
I suppose the next thing the Vatican will do is admit that there actually were more than 4 Apostles....
L
Peter, Paul, & Mary
3
(The answer, my friend......)
Paul was an apostle, so that makes at least 5...
Liberals still practice this kind of lying. It’s called “projection.” Accuse your enemies of your own crimes (or sins) and they can’t then credibly bring out the truth against you. It’s where the “they all do it” defense came from.
Wow how many times have we witness this charade be practiced!
Maybe someday enough will read “The Secret of the Zodiac” it has nothing to do with Zodiac as one would think, it has to do with opposition whom we have always been shadow boxing!
Every thing the media and the left political leaders are doing can be read in this book and why!
Only it was explain so clearly in a 1930 novel!
I see Amazon has it for sale but I know where you can get copies for $5 dollars. What a rip off for Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Zodiac-1930-Julian-Sterne/dp/1417979445
We have to identify our enemy before the public understands who and what we are fighting!
Today because of the lack of history in many ways the public is clueless and can not maintain attention because they can not relate to the fact that they are in an awful situation in the struggle for civilization.
That is WHY the Vatican did this today, on this date.
Sheesh, man, at least try to connect the dots!
um, that was my point. Try reading the post.
Sorry if that wasn't clear.
>If you bothered to check at all you would know that it was the French king and not the Church that attacked the Templars. Although Pope Clement’s succumbing to the pressure of King Phillip to disband the Templars may not be commendable, to transfer the crimes of the French king to the Church is not honest.
So are we still looking for the Papal Bull of Protest against the French King? Oh, thats right, the Pope who could send thousands of Crusaders off to the Holy Land, who could get the Holy Roman Emperor on his knees in a hair shirt, is just fretting on his throne.
Please look at this in rational way. The French King pretty much seized (at least) a few hundred million dollars of the Churches assets and tortured and killed members of a Church holy order and the Pope just sat by idly? If this was not done with the Popes okay the Pope should have put the French king under threat of excommunication immediately. But in order to whitewash the church from its sin of collusion you have the pope just sitting there helpless to stop what you yourself call the crimes of the French king?
Or are you saying that the Pope allowed this to happen over serious sins of the templars, much of which were overblown confessions of racked men looking for an end to the torture?
Yes, lets be honest, the Pope had his hand in this mess, and probably gold was exchanged for his silence.
Except you were being serious, and I was being sarcastic.
"The pope, irresolute and harrassed, finally adopted a middle course: he decreed the dissolution, not the condemnation of the order, and not by penal sentence, but by an Apostolic Decree (Bull of 22 March, 1312)."
It was a sad end to a once proud order.
I remembered a joke & was saving it for the next meeting of neeners, but alas, was overcome by listlessness & forgot it again.
You don't know your history very well. Pope Clement was a wholly-owned, bought-and-paid-for rubber-stamp stooge of King Phillip, as any Catholic historian will tell you. Why do you think they call this period (which began with Clement, and ended shortly before Luther's birth) the "Babylonian Captivity of the Church"?
Of course he never taught any heresy (dogmatically or otherwise), but if you're looking for someone to stand up courageously against Phillip, Clement isn't your man. His predecessor, Boniface VIII, did that, and paid for it dearly. But in the long view of history (at least for Catholics), Boniface is the good guy.
That’s a sad, sad story.
Do not golightly into that dark night.
Sir Edgbert, knight of the realm, was hurrying home on a cold, dark, wet night when, suddenly, his horse suffered a major coronary and died on the spot. All Sir Edgbert could do was collect up what belongings he could and tramp onwards.
After staggering for a spell, he decides that he must get alternative transport. Accordingly, he heads for the nearest building which, as luck would have it, is a small farm. He strides up to the door, bangs on it and shouts ‘A horse! A horse!. I must have a horse!”.
The door opens to reveal a young girl. She looks at Sir Edgbert and says, “Your pardon, good night but my father and brothers are returning from the village on the other side of the forest and will not be back before noon tomorrow. They are riding all our horses”.
Sir Edgbert is saddened by this and says “But I must return home immediately. Have you any idea where I may accuire alternative transportation?”.
The young girl says “I know of no other horses hereabouts, but sometimes my brothers ride our Great Dane dog when the need arises. Would use of that help?”
Sir Edgbert is desperate and says “If I must, I must. Show me the animal”. The young girl leads the way around to the back of the farmhouse to a stable. She dissapears inside and returns leading and enormous dogs which is quite of a size for riding. Unfortunately, the dog has seen better days. It’s coat is threadbare, it’s legs are spindly and it seems to be breathing labouriously.
Sir Edgbert looks at the young girl and says, “Surely, you wouldn’t send a knight out on a dog like this?”
LOL! I was worried for a minute where this was going. :)
What was Camelot famous for ?
It’s knight life !
When were King Arthur’s army too tired to fight ?
When they had lots of sleepless knights
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