Pope Clement V

Clement V was the pope from June 5, 1305, until his death on April 20, 1314. Being the pope, he had direct control over the Knights Templar, though they often operated as their own entity, rarely looking to the pope for guidance.1

Pope Clement began his time in the papacy by facing the call from King Philip IV to reopen the claims of heresy surrounding Pope Boniface. Pope Clement stood by the king’s claims, but the matter was pushed off to the future Council of Vienne.2

Later, Pope Clement V was bombarded with accusations against the Knights Templar. On Aug 24, 1307, he wrote to King Philip IV, who would take up a formal investigation, super statu Templi. The king arrested the Templars on Friday, October 13, 1307, and threatened to torture them in order to extract a confession.3

File:Clément V Rome bibliothèque Palatine.jpg
Pope Clement.6

Many confessed, and many also underwent torture. Hearing this, and being their supposed protector, the pope sent cardinals to Paris, when in their presence many of the Templars repeated their confessions. Believing them to still be innocent, despite their confessions, the pope granted each and every Templar absolution.4

Then, due to blackmail from King Philip IV, Pope Clement disbanded the Templars.5 Hearing of this, many of the Templars were very angry, and some, including the Grand Master, Jacques de Molay withdrew their confessions, which also rid them of the absolution granted by Clement.

  1. Malcolm Barber and Keith Bate. The Templars: Selected Sources. Manchester University Press, 2007, 19.
  2. Ibid.
  3. Evelyn Lord. Templar’s Curse. Routledge, 2017, 71.
  4. Ibid, 80.
  5. Barber, 19.
  6. Bibliothèque Palatine, 2011.