Official documents from one of the most notorious and mysterious events in history: the trial of Jacques de Molay and the Knights Templar
Trial against the Templars
Poitiers (France) — 1312

Trial against the Templars
Poitiers (France) — 1312
Founded in 1119, the Knights Templar were some of the fiercest warriors in all of Christendom
The tremendous wealth and power accumulated by the Templars also earned them jealous enemies
The trial from 1307 to 1314 that resulted in their downfall is witnessed here by various official documents
Trial against the Templars
- Processus contra Templarios
- Prozess gegen die Templer
Short Description
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, commonly known as the Knights Templar, were a monastic military order that rose from humble beginnings in the early 12th century to becoming one of the most powerful organizations in the Western world in the 13th century. In the early–14th century, the Templars suddenly collapsed in one of the most mysterious and infamous episodes of medieval history, apparently the victims of a wide-reaching conspiracy against them.
Trial against the Templars
The Vatican Secret Archive is a centuries-old guardian of the world's largest documentary heritage, which comprises 35,000+ volumes dating back to the 8th century. Its name is somewhat inaccurate: Archivum Secretum Vaticanum more accurately translates as the “Private Vatican Library” – is private in the sense that it is the personal, private possession of the Pope, although contemporary records are kept classified. These are primarily diplomatic documents, ranging from state papers and official documents, to correspondence and account books. A series of documents stored under the shelf marks ASV A.A. Arm. 208, 209, 210 and 217 deal with one of the most infamous and mysterious events in history: the trial of the Knights Templar, which began in 1307 and lasted until 1314.
Medieval Court Records
The first three documents (208, 209, 210) are the surviving specimens of an original corpus of 5 parchment rolls, including the confessions of seventy-two knights questioned by Pope Clement V (ca. 1264–1314) between June 28th and July 2nd, 1308. The fourth parchment (217) records the final acquittal granted to Grand Master Jacques de Molay (ca. 1243–1314) and to other high dignitaries of the Order, even if it did not save them from being burnt at the stake by King Philip IV of France (1268–1314), who had instigated the conspiracy against the Templars in order to wipe his extensive debts to them clean while seizing much of their property. A final document is included, listed in the Reg. Aven. 48 of Pope Benedict XII (1285–1342), which recorded the personal observations of representatives of the Holy See summarizing the depositions of various Templars.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Processus contra Templarios
Prozess gegen die Templer - Origin
- Poitiers (France)
- Date
- 1312
- Epochs
- Style
- Language
- Content
- Documentation of papal inquiry regarding the Order of the Templars
1 available facsimile edition(s) of „Trial against the Templars “
Processus Contra Templarios
- Publisher
- Scrinium – Venice, 2009
- Limited Edition
- 799 copies
- Commentary
-
1 volume by Marco Maiorino, Pier Paolo
Languages: English, Italian - More Information
- Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.
Matching Works
Banderia Prutenorum
From Germany and Poland, from Prussia and the Teutonic Order: the story of Tannenberg in 1410, the greatest battle of the Middle Ages
Experience MoreOldenburg Mirror of Saxony
One of only four illuminated manuscripts with the first legal text in the history of Germany
Experience MoreMatching Background Articles
Gothic
Gothic illumination is some of the most spectacular and iconic imagery of medieval art and first emerged in Northern...Experience more14th Century
How could a century of endemic warfare, famine, and the Black Death produce great minds like Petrarch, Boccaccio, and...Experience moreChronicles
Take a deep dive into history with a medieval chronicler, trace the history of the world or focus on the history of a...Experience more
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Aboca Museum
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- CM Editores
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- De Agostini/UTET
- DIAMM
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Egeria, S.L.
- Extraordinary Editions
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Helikon
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- La Meta Editore
- Leo S. Olschki
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lumen Artis
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Manuscriptum
- Millennium Liber
- Nova Charta
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- PIAF
- Popyläen Verlag
- Prestel Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Reichert Verlag
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Salerno Editrice
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- Styria Verlag
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- Trident Editore
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Yushodo