In October 1307 all the brothers of the military religious Order of the Temple in France were arrested on the instructions of King Philip IV and charged with heresy. In November, Pope Clement V instructed King Edward II of England to do likewise. This volume provide the first full translation of the four surviving texts of the trial proceedings that followed in Britain and Ireland, complementing the edition published in volume 1. The trial of the Templars was the first major heresy trial in the British Isles, and the proceedings reveal the Episcopate's attempts to deal with this unprecedented situation, the varying procedures followed in different countries, and how testimonies were recorded and summarised for the Church Councils which eventually decided the fate of the Order of the Temple. The testimonies given during the trial contain a wealth of information about religious beliefs among the lay population of the British Isles (both the Templars and outsiders who gave evidence during the trial), national and international mobility of lay religious, the social function of the order of the Temple in the British Isles and its relations with society at large, and the organisation and operations of the Order of the Temple at a local, national and international level. Detailed introductions to each volume describe the manuscripts and how the material was compiled and arranged, and discuss the course of the proceedings and the value of the evidence they contain. Appendices in this volume also list the names of all the Templars mentioned during the proceedings, Templar houses and the locations of the proceedings in London.

In October 1307 all the brothers of the military religious Order of the Temple in France were arrested on the instructions of King Philip IV and charged with heresy. In November, Pope Clement V instructed King Edward II of England to do likewise. These two volumes provide the first full edition and translation of the four surviving texts of the trial proceedings that followed in Britain and Ireland. Detailed introductions to each volume describe the manuscripts and how the material was compiled and arranged, and discuss the course of the proceedings and the value of the evidence they contain.

In October 1307 all the brothers of the military religious Order of the Temple in France were arrested on the instructions of King Philip IV and charged with heresy. In November, Pope Clement V instructed King Edward II of England to do likewise. This volume provides the first full edition of the four surviving texts of the trial proceedings that followed in Britain and Ireland; volume 2 supplies the translations into English. The trial of the Templars was the first major heresy trial in the British Isles, and the proceedings reveal the Episcopate's attempts to deal with this unprecedented situation, the varying procedures followed in different countries, and how testimonies were recorded and summarised for the Church Councils which eventually decided the fate of the Order of the Temple. The testimonies given during the trial contain a wealth of information about religious beliefs among the lay population of the British Isles (both the Templars and outsiders who gave evidence during the trial), national and international mobility of lay religious, the social function of the order of the Temple in the British Isles and its relations with society at large, and the organisation and operations of the Order of the Temple at a local, national and international level. Detailed introductions to each volume describe the manuscripts and how the material was compiled and arranged, and discuss the course of the proceedings and the value of the evidence they contain. Appendices in volume 2 (the translation) list the names of all the Templars mentioned during the proceedings, Templar houses and the locations of the proceedings in London.

The trial of the Templars in the British Isles (1308-1311) is a largely unexplored area of history. Unlike the trial in France, where the Templars were tortured into confessing to unspeakable activities, in the British Isles there were no burnings and only three confessions after torture. Several Templars went missing, most of whom later reappeared. Outsiders told stories of abominable Templar rituals, secret meetings and murders at the dead of night, but all these tales turned out to be rumour. This book is based on extensive research into the records of the trial of trial of the Templars and other unpublished medieval documents recording their arrest, imprisonment and trial, and the surveys of their property. It traces the course of this, the first heresy of trial in the British Isles, from the arrests in January 1308 to the dissolution of the Order, and shows how, by judicious selection of material, the inquisitors made the scanty evidence against the Templars appear convincing. The book includes a list of all the Templars in the British Isles at the time of the arrests, and a gazetteer of the Templars' major properties in the British Isles.

This book is the first to use a multidisciplinary approach to study the Knights' Templars of Bologna, Italy. Archaeological, scientific, historical and archival sources are combined to consider the Templars in the context of Bologna’s growing economic and political power during this period. A complete picture of urban and suburban Templar properties in Bologna is provided, detailing lucrative activities such as Templar land use, agricultural innovations and wine production. Because the Crusades were influential in this era and directly impacted the urbanization of the city, the Bolognese Templars are also studied in relation to the five other military orders in Bologna, including the understudied Crucifers and Knights of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Many formerly unexplored historical and archival sources are integrated with scientific data from this project’s archaeological excavations and architectural surveys of the Templar House in Bologna, allowing for its precise dating and the development of an architecturally accurate 3D film reconstruction of this property. Particular attention is also given to the Order's rise and fall under the ecclesiastical governance of the archbishops of Ravenna, as well as the Templar trial conducted by Archbishop Rinaldo da Concorezzo. In addition, the biography of the famous Templar brother Peter of Bologna is explored, due to his considerable impact on the events of the Templar trial of 1310. While many Freemasons believe Peter of Bologna escaped from the Paris trial and went to Scotland in 1313, bringing information crucial to that organization’s founding, the research included here suggests that Peter returned to Bologna instead, serving as a Hospitaller until his death in the city in 1329. This book therefore suggests alternative conclusions regarding Peter of Bologna’s death and legacy, based on the latest available interdisciplinary research.