The Knights Templar were arrested across France in 1307 and in other countries later on. King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V were eager to get confessions as quickly as possible from the knights. The only way to do that was through the use of torture. And the pope authorised jailers to get on with it.
In fact, we know that Pope Clement was annoyed that Templars in England were being given an easy ride – in his opinion. Reports that the grand master was in comfortable lodgings and not being tortured led His Holiness to fire off an edict to the English demanding a tougher approach. Get the thumbscrews out!
In France, confessions were extracted quickly. King Philip was even more impatient than the pope to get results. The Templars were in royal dungeons where there were no misgivings about using torture. One method was the deployment of the strappado (pictured below). The Templar’s hands were tied behind his back, weights attached to his feet, and then he was hoisted upwards until his shoulders dislocated.
Another recorded torture was the burning of a Templar’s feet. They were greased and then set alight. One knight’s feet were so badly damaged that he turned up in court with some toe bones in his pocket that had fallen off. These were produced in a moment of anger to shame his judges.
Of course, the Knights Templar were not the only people being tortured in the Middle Ages…
Medieval nuns using violence and torture
In his excellent new history of England – part one of which is titled ‘Foundation’ – Peter Ackroyd includes a chapter on crime and punishment in the medieval period. He gives a shocking example of a nun who lost her virginity to a young priest in the 1160s at a convent in Watton, Yorkshire.
The nuns interrogated the pregnant sister and when they found out who the culprit was, he was captured and brought to the convent. The local Lothario was imprisoned in a cell and the impregnated nun was forced to castrate him with a knife. The other nuns then stuffed his genitals into his mouth! As if that wasn’t traumatic enough for her, she was flogged and bound with chains in a cell.
What happened to the baby after all this – goodness only knows.
A very morbid game of football!
Violence was on another level in the Middle Ages. Ackroyd mentions the case of Thomas of Eldenfield who, in 1221, was not hanged for theft – as was usual – but blinded and castrated instead. His testicles were used as “little footballs” by the local kids. A man who simply walked into a tavern for a drink, was disliked by the locals and killed on the spot. A judge arriving at the city of Lincoln in the year 1202 was confronted with 114 cases of murder and 49 cases of rape!
If you would like to know more about the Knights Templar, then get your hands on a copy of my book: The Knights Templar – History & Mystery. Published by Pen & Sword and available on Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, and WHSmith. Don’t miss out on your copy!
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