Parchment of Chinon

The Parchemin of Chinon is a historical document made recently famous for the discovery of Doctor Barbara Frale, since it would tend to prove that in 1308, the pope Clément V secretly exonerated the last Maître of the Templiers, Jacques de Molay, and the other persons in charge of the Ordre of the Temple, of the charges that the medieval Inquisition had formulated with their encontre.

Agents of the Pape indeed led an investigation to the castle of Chinon (Diocèse of Tours) to check the complaints against the defendants. The parchment was dated from August 17th to 20th 1308. According to this document, the pope Clément V orders in cardinal Berengar, - priest of Saint-Nérée-and-Achilée, in Stephan, cardinal-priest of Saint-Ciriaque-of-Thermal baths, and Landolf, cardinal-deacon of Saint-Angel to carry out the survey into the marked Templiers. The cardinals declare then “… by this official declaration intended for any person who will read it… (that) its Holiness the pope wishing and seeking the pure, complete truth and without compromising on behalf of the persons in charge of the known as Order, namely Frère Jacques de Molay, Master about Templiers, Frère Raymbaud of Charon, Précepteur of the Commanderie S of Templiers in Overseas, Frère Hugo de Perraud, Précepteur of France, Frère Geoffroy de Gonneville, Précepteur of Aquitaine and Poitou, and Geoffroy de Charnay, Précepteur of Normandy, ordered to us and mandés, specifically and by its will expressed by the word, so that we can examine in all diligence the truth by questioning the above-mentioned Master and tutors - one after the other and individually, while having summoned the public notary S and of the witnesses worthy of faith. ”

The first with being questioned, on August 17th, 1308, were Raymbaud of Charon. At the end of the interrogation, the cardinals granted the Absolution to him (i.e. the forgiveness of made and recognized faults): “… After this oath, by the authority of Its Holiness the pope who was specifically granted to us to this end, we extended to Raymbaud brother who humbly asked it and according to the use accepted by the Église, mercy of the discharge of the judgment to the Excommunication that the above-mentioned acts had caused, reunifying it of the kind to the unit with the Church and reinstating it in the communion of faithful and the sacraments of the Church. ” August 17th also, the investigators of the Pope question then Geoffroy de Charnay, who was him also exonerated.

Then, always on August 17th, came the turn from Geoffroy de Gonneville who also received the discharge.

Lastly, on August 19th, 1308, Hugo de Perraud was the fourth with being questioned and was it was of the same absous.

The Large Master was questioned in the last, on August 20th, 1308. The interrogative cardinals also granted the absolution.
to him

According to the document, all the interrogations of the marked ones which proceeded from August 17th to 20th 1308 were carried out with the systematic presence notaries public and witnesses gathered for the occasion. Among the counts of indictment were reproduced sodomy, the denunciation of God, the illicit embraces, spittles on the Cross, and the worship of a “idol”.

The body text describes the appearance of the defendants, the oaths which they lent, the charges which weighed against them, their interrogations, denunciations, the requests for discharge which they had made, and the delivery of this discharge by the agents of the pape.

An extract of the interrogation of Jacques de Molay is read as follows: “Questioned to know if he had confessed these things because of a request, of a reward, gratitude, of a favor, fear, hatred or persuasion of a third person - or because of fear to be tortured, he answered by the negative one. When it was asked to him whether, after its arrest, it had been subjected to the question or torture, it answered by the negative one. ”

An extract of the discharge given to Jacques de Molay is written so that: “After that, we decided to grant the mercy of the discharge for these acts to the Brother Jacques de Molay, Master of the known as order; in the form and the manner described above, he denounced in our presence the above-mentioned heresy and any other heresy, and swore in person on the Saints Évangile S of the Lord, and humbly asked the mercy of the discharge. He is thus reinstated in the unit of the Church and again allowed in the communion of faithful and the sacraments of the Church. ”

The parchment of Chinon makes it possible to know the true secret practices of Templiers. All the defendants admitted to have denounced the Cross and to have spit on the crucifix, at the request of their fellow-members during their initiation. Geoffroy de Gonneville is the only one not to have denounced nor not spit on the Cross in spite of the pressure. As for the others, they ensure “to have denounced in word but not in thought”. All also deny to have practiced sodomy. However, they explain why Templiers were embraced as a sign of respect. It was also ordered with all the new initiates “to abstain from relations with the women and, if they could not contain their desire, to link themselves with brothers of the Order”. Seul Hugo de Perraud admitted to have seen the “head of the idol” which one showed Templiers to adore; he would have seen it with Montpellier, in the possession of Brother Peter Alemandin, tutor of the commandery of this city. Hugo adds that it would wish that the habits and traditions practiced by the Order during initiation be abolished in order to correct such misdeeds. They specified all that they had confessed to a priest or a bishop the totality of their transgressions of the catholic faith, for which one had inflicted penitences to them then granted the absolution.

The document also clarified the ways of carrying out initiation and the practices of the Order, surrounded differently of large a secret.

The parchment of Chinon was prepared by Robert de Condet, an ecclesiastic of the diocese of Soissons which occupied the functions of apostolic notary. The public apostolic notaries were Umberto Vercellani, Nicolo Nicolai de Benvenuto, Robert de Condet and Maître Amise of Orleans Ratif. The witnesses of the procedure were Frère Raymond, abbot of the monastery Bénédictin of Saint Théofred (diocese of Annecy), Maître Berard (or Bernard) of Boiano, Archidiacre of Troyes, Raoul de Boset, confessor and Chanoine of Paris, and Pierre de Soire, supervisor of Saint-Gaugery of the Cambrésis. Moreover, according to the document, three other more detailed copies were written by the other public notaries. The participants signed all the documents and affixed their seals there. According to the parchment, “their words and confessions were written exactly such as they were integrated here by the notaries listed low, in the presence of the witnesses below. We as ordered as these things are formulated in this way official and validated by protection of our seals. ”

It is interesting to also note that bonds would have existed between one of the defendants, Geoffrey de Charny, and the Saint-Shroud of Turin.

Before the discovery of the parchment of Chinon, unjustified charges were marked against Templiers, to the pope Clément V and the Catholic church. Others consider, wrongly or rightly, that the fall of Templiers is to be put at least partly on the account of their taste of the secrecy. The parchment of Chinon thus clarifies this episode and the consequences of the dissolution of the Order, while placing them in the context in conformity with the historical events concomitants.

However, one can only stress the importance of an integral reading of the document, within sight of the discussed nature of the subject and the actors concerned (see bond below).

The parchment of Chinon is mentioned in several books of reference on Templiers. For example, the parchment was published in the 17th century by Baluze in a work entitled “Vitae Paparum Avenionensis” (Lives of the popes in Avignon).

In 2002, Dr. Barbara Frale found a copy of the parchment in the secret Archives of the Vatican. Two years later, Mrs. Frale published an article on its discovery in the Newspaper off Medieval History, and also devoted an Italian book to the question.

Chinon is the French city where Jacques de Molay and other Templiers was questioned.

See too

Frale, Barbara. " The Chinon chart. Papal discharge to the last Templar, Master Jacques de Molay". Newspaper off Medieval History , volume 30, April 2nd, th and th 2004, pp. 109-134
Frale, Barbara. " It papato E it processo has templari: the inedita assoluzione of Chinon went luce beyond diplomatica pontificia". the edizioni del Mulino , 2004 (See descriptive of the editor: here)

External bonds

Photography of the parchment to the secret files of the Vatican (with possibility of zoom) and a small explanatory leaflet.
Translation in English of the parchment of Chinon
Bibliography of Barbara Frale, employed secret files of the Vatican
Report of the work of Barbara Frale, with the editions del Mulino

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