MESSAGE
| DATE | 2007-10-13 |
| FROM | MYC
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] [Fwd: Knights Templar win heresy reprieve after 700 years]
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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Knights Templar win heresy reprieve after 700 years
Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 05:58:04 -0700 (PDT)
From: Michael Richardson
To: ExploringOurselvesFirstUUinBrooklyn
,
minister-at-firstuubrooklyn.org, obrugnola-at-aol.com, work
, michael
I was suprised to read this.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071012/ts_nm/vatican_templars_dc
Knights Templar win heresy reprieve after 700 years:
By Philip Pullella
Fri Oct 12, 4:10 AM ET
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
($8,333) 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 tantalize 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 meter wide by
some two meters 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 specialized 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 practiced sodomy.
"Simply put, the pope recognized 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.
____________________________________________________________________________________
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