278 POLITICAL HERESY. — THE STATE. ent sought a further ground of complaint .by reminding the king that Templars were not under royal jurisdiction, but under that of the Holy See, and he had committed a grave act of disobedi- ence in seizing their persons and property, both of which must be forthwith delivered to two cardinals sent for the purpose. These were Berenger de Fredole, Cardinal of SS. JSTereo and Achille, and Etienne de Suissi of S. Ciriaco, both Frenchmen and creatures of Philippe, who had procured their elevation to the sacred college. He seems to have had no trouble in coming to an understanding with them, for, though the trials and tortures were pushed unre- mittingly, another letter of Clement's, December 1. praises the king for putting the matter in the hands of the Holy See, and one of Philippe's of December 24 announces that he had no intention of infringing on the rights of the Church and does not intend to abandon his own ; he has, he says, delivered the Templars to the cardinals, and the administration of their property shall be kept separate from that of the crown. Clement's susceptibilities be- ing thus soothed, even before the trials at Paris were ended he is- sued, November 22, the bull Pastoralis prcBeminentice, addressed to all the potentates of Europe, in which he related what Philippe had done at the requisition of the Inquisitor of France, in order that the Templars might be presented to the judgment of the Church; how the chiefs of the Order had confessed the crimes imputed to them ; how he himself had examined one of them who was employed about his person and had confirmed the truth of the allegations. Therefore he orders all the sovereigns to do like- wise, retaining the prisoners and holding their property in the name of the pope and subject to his order. Should the Order prove innocent the property is to be restored to it, otherwise it is to be employed for the recovery of the Holy Land.* This
- Regest. Clement. PP. V. T. II. p. 95.— Du Puy, pp. 117-18, 124, 134.— Schott-
miiller, I. 94.— Rymer, Feed. III. 30.— MSS. Chioccarello T. VIII.— Mag. Bull. Rom. IX. 126, 131.— Zurita, Lib. v. c. 73. Apparently there was a general expectation that the Hospitallers would share the fate of the Templars, and a disposition was manifested at once to pillage them, for Clement felt obliged, December 21, 1307, to issue a bull confirming all their privileges and immunities, and to send throughout Europe letters ordering them to be protected from all encroachments (Regest. Clem. PP. V. T III. pp. 14, 17-18, 20-1, 273; T. IV. p. 418).
