Investigation carried out  by the fathers commissioned by Pope Clement V in the town of Chinon, diocese of Tours.

Chinon, August 17-20, 1308

In the name of the Lord, amen. We,Berengar, by the mercy of God cardinal presbyter of SS. Nereus andAchileus, and Stephanus, cardinal presbyter of St. Ciriacus inTherminis, and Landolf, cardinal deacon of St. Angel, declare throughthis official statement directed to all who will read it that since ourmost holy father and lord Clement, by divine providence the supremepontific of the holy Roman and universal church, after receiving theword of mouth and also clamorous reports from the illustrious king ofFrance and prelates, dukes, counts, barons and other subjects of thesaid kingdom, both noblemen and commoners, along with some brothers,presbyters, knights, preceptors and servants of the Templar order, hadinitiated an inquiry into matters concerning the brothers, [questionsof Catholic faith] and the Rule of the said Order, because of which itsuffered public infamy, the very same lord Pope wishing and intendingto know the pure, complete and uncompromised truth from the leaders ofthe said Order, namely brother Jacques de Molay, grandmaster of theOrder of Knights Tempar, brother Raymbaud de Caron, preceptor thecommandaries of Templar Knights in Outremer, brother Hugo dePérraud, preceptor of France, brother Geoffroy de Gonneville, preceptorof Aquitania and Poitou, and Geoffroy of Charny, preceptor of Normandy,ordered and commissioned us specifically and by his verbally expressedwill in order that we might with diligence examine the truth byquestioning the grandmaster and the aforementioned preceptors – one byone and individually, having summoned notaries public and trustworthywitnesses.

And having acted according to themandate and commissioned by the said Lord Supreme Pontific, wequestioned the aforementioned grandmaster and the preceptors andexamined them concerning the matters described above. Their words andconfessions were written down exactly the way they are included here bythe notaries whose names are listed below in the presence of witnesseslisted below. We also ordered these things drawn up in this officialform and validated by the protection of our seals.

In the year of our Lord 1308, the 6^th indiction, on the 17^thday of August, in the 3d year of the pontificate of the said PopeClement V, brother Raymbaud de Caron, preceptor the commandaries ofTemplar Knights in Outremer, was brought in front of us, the aforementioned fathers, to the town of Chinon of the Tours diocese.With his hand on the Holy Gospel of the Lord he took an oath that hewould speak pure and complete truth about himself as well individualsand brothers of the Order, and about the Order itself, concerningquestions of Catholic faith and the Rule of the said Order, and alsoabout five particular individuals and brothers of the Order. Diligentlyinterrogated by us about the time and circumstances of his initiationin the order he said that it was been forty-thee years or thereaboutssince he had been knighted and admitted into the Templar Order bybrother Roncelin de Fos, at the time preceptor of Provence, in the townof Richarenchess, in the diocese of Carpentras orSaint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, in the chapel of the local Templarcommandery. During the ceremony the patron said nothing to the novicethat was not proper, but after the admittance a servant-brother came upto him whose name he does not recall, for he has been dead for a longtime. He took him aside holding a small cross under his cloak, and whenall the brothers exited and they remained alone, that is thisbrother-servant and the speaker, this brother-servant showed this crossto the speaker who does not recall whether it bore the effigy of thecrucifix or not, but believes however, that there was a crucifix eitherpainted or carved. And this brother-servant told the speaker: “You mustdenounce this one.” And the speaker, not believing himself to becommitting a sin, said: “And so, I denounce.” That brother-servant alsotold the speaker that he should preserve purity and chastity, but if hecould not do so, it was better to be done secretly than publicly. Thespeaker also said that his denunciation did not come from the heart,but from the mouth. Then he said that the next day he revealed this tothe bishop of Carpentras, his blood relative, who was present in thesaid place, and the bishop told him that he had acted wrongly andcommitted a sin. Then the interrogated confessed on this account to thesame bishop and was assigned penances with he completed, according tohim.

When asked about the sin of sodomy, hesaid that he never was a part of it neither performing or enduring, andthat he never heard that knights Templar engaged in this sin, apartfrom those three knights who had been punished by perpetualincarceration in Castle Pilgrim. When asked whether the brothers of thesaid Order were received into the order in the same manner he wasreceived into it, he replied that he did not know that, because henever initiated anyone himself and did not see anyone being accepted inthe Order other than two or three brothers. Regarding them he did notknow whether they denounced Christ or not. When he was asked about thenames of these brothers he said that one had the name of Peter, butthat he did not remember his family name. When he was asked how old hewas when he was made brother of the said Order he replied that he wasseventeen years of age or thereabouts. When he was asked about thespitting on the cross and about the worshipped head, he said that heknew nothing, adding that he had never heard any mention of that headuntil he heard the lord Pope Clement speak of it this past year. Whenhe was asked about the practice of kissing, he replied that theaforementioned brother Roncelin kissed him on the mouth when hereceived him as a brother; he said that he knew nothing about otherkisses. When he was asked whether he wanted to maintain what he hadsaid during the confession, whether it was done according to the truth,and whether he had added anything untruthful or withheld anything thatis truthful, he replied that he wanted to maintain what he hadpreviously said in his confession, that it was truthful and that heneither added anything that was untruthful nor omitted anything thatwas truthful. When he was asked whether he had confessed due to arequest, reward, gratitude, favor, fear, hatred or persuasion bysomeone else, or the use of force, or fear of impending torture, hereplied that he did not.

Afterwards, this very brother Raymbaudstanding on his knees with his hands folded asked for our forgivenessand mercy regarding the abovementioned deeds. And as he pleaded so,brother Raymbaud denounced in our presence the abovementioned heresy,as well as any other heresy. For the second time he took an oath withhis hand upon the Holy Gospel of our Lord in that he will obey theteachings of the Church, that he will maintain, uphold and observe theCatholic faith which the Roman Church maintains, upholds and proclaims,as well as teaches and requires of others to observe it, and that hewill live and die as a faithful Christian. After this oath, by theauthority of lord Pope specifically granted to us for that purpose, weextended to this humbly asking brother Raymbaud, in a form accepted bythe Church the mercy of absolution from the verdict of excommunicationthat had been incurred by the aforementioned deeds, restoring him tounity with the Church and reinstating him for communion of the faithfuland sacraments of the Church.

Also, on the same day, brother knightGeoffroy of Charny, preceptor of commanderies of the Templar Order inNormandy, appearing personally in the previously described manner andform, in our presence, and in the presence of notaries, as well aswitnesses, modestly swore with his hand on the Gospel of the Lord andwas questioned about the manner of his reception into the said Order.He testified that it has well been forty years or thereabouts since hewas accepted into the Order of Knights Templar by brother Amaury de laRoche, the preceptor of France in Étamps of the diocese of Sens, in thechapel of the local Templar commandery. Present at the ceremony werebrother Jean le Franceys, preceptor of Pédenac, and nine, ten or sobrothers of the said Order whom he all believed to be dead now. Andthen, once he had been accepted in the order and the cloak of the orderhad been placed on his shoulders, the brother who performed theceremony took him aside within the same chapel and showed him acrucifix with an effigy of Christ, and told him that he should notbelieve in the Crucified, but should in fact denounce Him. Then thenewly accepted brother at the demand of the said recipient denouncedHim verbally, but not in his heart. Also, he said that at the time ofhis induction, the novice kissed the recipient on the mouth and in hischest through the garment as a sign of reverence.

When asked whether brothers of theTemplar Order while being initiated into the order were accepted in thesame manner that he was, he said that he did not know. He also saidthat he himself received one brother into the said Order through thesame ceremony through which he himself was accepted. Afterwards heaccepted many others without the denunciation described earlier and ingood manner. He also said that he confessed about the denunciation ofthe cross which he had done during the ceremony of induction and aboutbeing forced to do so by the brother performing the ceremony, to thePatriarch of Jerusalem of the time, and was absolved by him.

When diligently questioned regarding thespitting on the cross, the practice of kissing, the vice of sodomy andthe worshipped head, he replied that he knew nothing of it. Furtherinterrogated, he said that he believed that other brothers had beenaccepted into the Order in the same manner that he was. He said howeverthat he did not know that for sure since when these things took placethe newly received were taken aside so that other brothers who werepresent in the building would neither see nor hear what went on withthem. Asked about the age that he was in when accepted into the saidOrder, he replied that he was sixteen, seventeen or thereabouts.

When he was asked whether he had saidthese things due to a request, reward, gratitude, favor, fear, hatredor persuasion by someone else, or the use of force, or fear ofimpending torture, he replied that he did not. When he was askedwhether he wanted to maintain what he had said during the confession,whether it was done according to the truth, and whether he had addedanything untruthful or withheld anything that is truthful, he repliedthat he wanted to maintain what he had previously said in hisconfession during which he had only said what was true, that what hesaid was according to the truth and that he neither added anything thatwas untruthful nor omitted anything that was truthful.

After this, we concluded to extend themercy of absolution for these acts to brother Geoffroy, who in the formand manner described above had denounced in our presence the describedand any other heresy, and swore in person on the Lord’s Holy Gospel,and humbly asked for the mercy of absolution, restoring him to unitywith the Church and reinstating him for communion of the faithful andsacraments of the Church.

On the same day, in our presence and thepresence of notaries, as well as the witnesses listed below, brotherGeoffroy de Gonneville personally appeared and was diligentlyquestioned about the time and circumstances of his reception and aboutother matters described above. He replied that it has been twenty eightyears or thereabouts since he was received as a brother of the Order ofthe Knights Templar by brother-knight Robert de Torville, preceptor ofthe commandaries of the Templar order in England , in the city of London ,at the chapel of the local commandery. And this receptor, afterbestowing the cloak of the Knights Templar upon the this newly receivedmember, showed him the cross depicted in some book and said that heshould denounce the one whose image was depicted on that cross. Whenthe newly received did not want to do so, the receptor told himmultiple times that he should do so. And since he completely refused todo it, the receptor, seeing his resistance, said to him: “Will youswear to me that if asked by any of the brothers you would say that youhad made this denouncement, provided that I allow you not to make it?”And the newly received answered “yes”, and promised that if he wasquestioned by any of the brother of the said Order he would say that hehad performed the said denouncement. And, as he said, he made nodenouncement otherwise. He also said that the said receptor told himthat she should spit on the described cross. When the newly receiveddid not wish to do so, the receptor placed his own hand over thedepiction of the cross and said: “At least spit on my hand!” And sincethe received feared that the receptor would remove his hand and some ofthis spit would get on the cross, he did not want to spit on the handwith the cross being near.

When diligently questioned regarding thesin of sodomy, the worshipped head, about the practice of kissing andother things for which the brothers of the said order received a badreputation, he said that he knew nothing. When asked whether otherbrothers of the Order were accepted into the Order in the same way ashe was, he said that he believed that the same was done to others as itwas done to him at the time of his described initiation.

When he was asked whether he had saidthese things due to a request, reward, gratitude, favor, fear, hatredor persuasion by someone else, or the use of force, or fear ofimpending torture, he replied that he did not. After this, we concludedto extend the mercy of absolution for these acts to brother Geoffroy deGoneville, who in the form and manner described above had denounced inour presence the described and any other heresy, and swore in person onthe Lord’s Holy Gospel, and humbly asked for the mercy of absolution,restoring him to unity with the Church and reinstating him forcommunion of the faithful and sacraments of the Church.

Then on the nineteenth day of the month,in our presence, and in the presence of notaries and the samewitnesses, brother Hugo de Pérraud, preceptor of Templar commanderiesin France appearedpersonally and took an oath on the Holy Gospel of the Lord, placing hishand upon it in the manner described above. This brother Hugo, havingsworn as indicated, and being diligently questioned said about themanner of his initiation that he was received in London atlocal Templar commandary, in its church. It was forty six years agothis past feast of St. Magdalene. He was inducted as a brother of theOrder by brother Hubet de Perraud, his own father, a Visitator of theTemplar commanderies in France and Poitou ,who placed upon his shoulders the cloak of the said Order. This havingbeen done, some brother of the said Order, by the name of John, whoafterwards became preceptor of de La Muce, took him to a certain partof that chapel, showed him a cross with an effigy of Christ, andordered him to denounce the One whose image was depicted there. Herefused, as much as he could, according to him. Eventually, however,overcome by fear and menaces of brother John, he denounced the Onewhose image was depicted there only once. And although brother Johnmultiple times demanded that he spit on that cross, he refused to do so.

When asked whether he had to kiss the receptor, he said that he did, only on the mouth.

When asked about the sin of sodomy, he replied that it was never imposed on him and he never committed it.

When asked whether he accepted othersinto the Order, he replied that he did many times, and that he acceptedmore people than any other living member of the Order.

When asked about the ceremony throughwhich he accepted them, he said that after they were received and giventhe cloaks of the Order, he ordered them to denounce the crucifix andto kiss him at the bottom of the back, in the navel and then on themouth. He also said that he imposed on them to abstain from partnershipwith women, and, if they were unable to restrain their lust, to jointhemselves with brothers of the Order.

He also said under oath that theaforementioned denunciation, which he performed during initiation, aswell as other things described that he demanded from those received byhim, was done in word only, and not in spirit. When asked why he feltpained and did not perform in spirit the things that he did, he repliedthat such were the statutes or rather traditions of the Order and thathe always hoped that this error would be removed from the said Order.

When asked whether any of the membersnewly received by him refused to perform the described spitting andother dishonest things listed above, he replied that only few, andeventually all did as ordered. He also said that although he himselfinstructed brothers of the order whom he initiated to join with otherbrothers, nevertheless he never did that, nor heard that anyone elsecommit this sin, except for the two or three brothers in Outremer whowere incarcerated for this in Castle Pilgrim.

When asked whether he knew if allbrothers of the said Order were initiated in the same manner as heinitiated others, he said that he did not know for sure about others,only about himself and those whom he initiated, because brothers areinitiated in such secrecy that nothing can be known other than throughthose who are present. When asked whether he believed that they wereall initiated in this manner, he said that he believed that the sameritual is used while initiating others as it was used in his case andas he himself administered when he received others.

When asked about the head of an idolthat was reportedly worshiped by the Templars, he said that it wasshown to him in Montpellier by brother Peter Alemandin, preceptor ofthat place, and that this head remained in possession of brother Peter.

When asked how old he was when acceptedinto the said Order, he replied that he heard his mother say that hewas eighteen. He also said that previously he had confessed about thesethings in the presence of brother Guillaume of Paris, inquisitor ofheretical actions, or his deputy. This confession was written down inthe hand of the undersigning Amise d’Orleans and some other notariespublic. He wishes to maintain that confession, just as it is, as wellas maintain in the present confession that which is in concord with theprevious one. And if there is anything additional in this confession infront of the Inquisitor or his deputy, as has been said above, heratifies, approves and confirms it.

When he was asked whether he hadconfessed to these things due to a request, reward, gratitude, favor,fear, hatred or persuasion by someone else, or the use of force, orfear of impending torture, he replied that he did not. When he wasasked whether he, after being apprehended, was submitted to anyquestioning or torture, he replied that he did not.

After this, we concluded to extend themercy of absolution for these acts to brother Hugo, who in the form andmanner described above had denounced in our presence the described andany other heresy, and swore in person on the Lord’s Holy Gospel, andhumbly asked for the mercy of absolution, restoring him to unity withthe Church and reinstating him to communion of the faithful andsacraments of the Church.

Then on the twentieth day of the month,in our presence, and in the presence of notaries and the samewitnesses, brother-knight Jacques de Molay, grandmaster of  the Orderof Knights Templar appeared personally and having sworn in the form andmanner indicated above, and having been diligently questioned, said ithas been forty-two years or thereabouts since he was received as abrother of the said Order by brother-knight Hubert de Pérraud, at thetime Visitator of France and Poitou, in Beune, diocese of Autun, in thechapel of the local Templar commandery of that place.

Concerning the way of his initiationinto the Order, he said that having given him the cloak the receptorshowed to him <the cross> and told him that he should denouncethe God whose image was depicted on that cross, and that he should spiton the cross. Which he did, although he did not spit on the cross, bynear it, according to his words. He also said that performed thisdenunciation in words, not in spirit. Regarding the sin of sodomy, theworshipped head and the practice of illicit kisses, he, diligentlyquestioned, said that he knew nothing of that.

When he was asked whether he hadconfessed to these things due to a request, reward, gratitude, favor,fear, hatred or persuasion by someone else, or the use of force, orfear of impending torture, he replied that he did not. When he wasasked whether he, after being apprehended, was submitted to anyquestioning or torture, he replied that he did not.

After this, we concluded to extend themercy of absolution for these acts to brother Jaques de Molay, thegrandmaster of the said order, who in the form and manner describedabove had denounced in our presence the described and any other heresy,and swore in person on the Lord’s Holy Gospel, and humbly asked for themercy of absolution, restoring him to unity with the Church andreinstating him to communion of the faithful and sacraments of theChurch.

On the same twentieth day of the month,in our presence, and in the presence of notaries and the samewitnesses, brother Geoffroy de Gonneville freely and willinglyratified, approved and confirmed his signed confession that was read tohim in his native tongue, and gave assurances that he intended to standby and maintain both this confession and the confession he made on adifferent occasion in front of the Inquisitor or inquisitors regardingthe aforementioned heretic transgressions, in as much as it was inconcordance with the confession made in front of us, the notaries andthe aforementioned witnesses; and that if there is something extracontained in the confession made in front of the Inquisitor andinquisitors, as it was said earlier, he ratifies, approves and confirmsthat.

On the same twentieth day of the month,in our presence, and in the presence of notaries and the samewitnesses, brother-preceptor Hugo de Perraud in a similar way freelyand willingly ratified, approved and confirmed his signed confessionthat was read to him in his native tongue.

We ordered Robert de Condet, cleric ofthe diocese of Soissons, a notary by apostolic power, who was among ustogether with notaries and witnesses listed below, to record and makepublic as evidence these confessions, as well as each and every thingdescribed above that occurred in front of us, the notaries and thewitnesses, and also everything done by us, exactly as it is shownabove, and to validate it by attaching our seal.

This was done on the year, indiction,month, day, pontificate and the place indicated above, in our presenceand the presence of Umberto Vercellani, Nicolo Nicolai de Benvenuto andthe aforementioned Robert de Condet, and also master Amise d’Orleans leRatif, notaries public by the apostolic power, as well as pious anddistinguished brother Raymond, abbot of the Benedictine monastery ofSt. Theofred, Annecy diocese, master Berard de Boiano, archdeacon ofTroia, Raoul de Boset, confessor and canon from Paris, and Pierre deSoire, overseer of Saint-Gaugery in Cambresis, who were gatheredspecifically as witnesses.

And I, Robert de Condet, cleric of thediocese of Soissons, notary by apostolic power, observed with othernotaries and witnesses each and every thing described above thatoccurred in the presence of the aforementioned reverend fathers lordscardinal presbyters, myself and other notaries and witnesses, as wellas what was done by their lordships. On the orders from their lordshipsthe cardinal presbyters, I made this record, and put in the officialform, and sealed it with my seal, having been asked to do so.

And also I, Umberto Vercellani, clericof Béziers, notary by apostolic power, observed with other notaries andwitnesses each and every thing described above that occurred in thepresence of the aforementioned lords cardinal presbyters, as well aswhat was done by their lordships cardinal presbyters just as it isshown above in fuller detail. On the orders from these cardinalpresbyters, for further assurance, I wrote underneath this record andsealed it with my seal.

And also I, Nicolo Nicolai di Benevento,notary by apostolic decree, observed with other aforementioned notariesand witnesses each and every thing described above that occurred in thepresence of the aforementioned lords cardinal presbyters, as well aswhat was done by their lordships just as it is shown above in fullerdetail. On the orders from these cardinal presbyters, for furtherassurance, I wrote underneath this record and sealed it with my seal.

And also I, Arnulphe d’Orléans called leRatif, notary by the power of the Holy Roman Church, observed withother aforementioned notaries and witnesses confessions, depositionsand other each and every thing described above that occurred in thepresence of the aforementioned reverend fathers lords cardinalpresbyters, as well as what was done by their lordships just as it isshown above in fuller detail. On the orders from these cardinalpresbyters, as a testimony of truth, I wrote underneath this record andsealed it with my seal, having been asked to do so.