Templars after the Trial. Further Evidence

Abstract

This article investigates what happened to brothers of the Temple after the dissolution of their order in 1312, except in England and Aragon (the situation there has been discussed elsewhere). It seeks to discover the extent to which Clement V’s rulings were implemented regarding punishments, the maintenance of surviving brothers and the residence of absolved brethren in either Templar houses or those belonging to other religious foundations. The later decrees of John XXII, which stated that Templars should enter other religious orders as members or at least as lodgers and that Templar pensions should be reduced are also considered. The surviving evidence is patchy, but it is clear that therewas considerable variation inTemplars’ways of life after 1312. The Hospitallers, who became responsible for paying Templar pensions after they had acquired Templar properties, were anxious that papal rulings should be enforced, but elsewhere a more lenient and generous approach is sometimes in evidence, and Templars, whose numbers were quickly reduced by death, were often able to live out their lives as they wished.