THE TEMPLARS. 285 manner in which it was subsequently eluded forms one of the dark- est features in the whole transaction. Finally there were other bulls elaborately providing for the payment of the papal commis- sioners and inquisitors, and ordering the Templar possessions ev- ery „ r here to be sequestrated to await the result of the trial, and to be devoted to the Holy Land in case of condemnation. Much, it was stated, had already been wickedly seized and appropriated, and all persons were summoned to make restitution, under pain of ex- communication. All debtors to the Order were summoned to pay, and all persons cognizant of such debts or of stolen property were required to give information. The series of bulls was completed by one of December 30, to be read in all churches, declaring all Templars to be suspect of heresy, ordering their capture as such and delivery to the episcopal ordinaries, and forbidding all poten- tates and prelates from harboring them or showing them any aid or favor, under pain of excommunication and interdict. At the same time another bull was directed to all the princes of Christen- dom, commanding them to seize any Templars who might as yet not have been arrested.* The prosecution of the Templars throughout Europe was thus organized. Even such distant points as Achaia, Corsica, and Sar- dinia were not neglected. The large number of special inquisitors to be appointed was a work of time, and the correspondence be- tween Philippe and Clement on the subject shows that they vir- tually were selected by the king. In France the work of prose- cution was speedily set on foot, and, after a respite of some six months, the Templars found themselves transferred from the im- provised inquisitorial tribunals set on foot by Frere Guillaume to the episcopal courts as provided by Clement. In every diocese
- Rymer,III. 101.— Mag. Bull. Rom. IX. 134, 136.— Harduin. VII. 1283, 1289,
1321, 1353.— Schmidt, Pabstliche Urkunden und Regesten, Halle, 1886, pp. 71-2.— Raynald. aim. 1308, No. 8.— Contin. Guill. Nangiac. ann. 1308.— Ray- nouard, p. 50.— Regest. Clement. PP. V. T. III. pp. 281 sqq., pp. 363 sqq., 386 sqq.; T. IV. pp. 3, 276 sqq., 479-82. The Master of England and the Master of Germany were reserved for papal judgment. The bull Faciens misericordiam, addressed to Germany, contained no command to assemble provincial councils (Harduin. VII. 1353). In spite of all that had occurred, this bull seems to have taken the public by surprise outside of France. Walter of Hemingford calls it " uullam horribilem contra Templarios " (Chron. Ed. 1849, II. 279).
