288 THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS
known only to God, the devil, and the brethren. Richard
de Koefield, a monk, had been told that all Templars must
sell themselves to the devil and take so awful an oath that
none dared reveal its terms. John of Donington, a Francis-
can, had been told by a Templar (name not known) that
the Order had four idols in England. Gasper de Nafferton,
who had been a priest in the Temple for a few months,
remembered that, when a new brother was received, all the
doors were carefully guarded. He himself had been
threatened with death if he tried to spy into the secrets of
the reception. Next morning the crosses in the church had
been moved from their places. Furthermore, said the
witness, the new member had seemed very depressed!
Nothing more than this collection of fantastic fables was
produced before the tribunal, but nevertheless the commis-
sioners treated the worthless depositions with much solem-
nity. On April 22nd the bishops of London and Chichester
and the inquisitors had the evidence read in the Church of
the Holy Trinity in the presence of the Templars. The
prisoners asked, and were granted, copies of the depositions,
and given eight days to prepare their defence. On the
eighth day William de la More, the Grand Preceptor, five
Preceptors, two priests and twenty brothers appeared before
the bishops and inquisitors and presented a statement. They
were men unused to the law and had neither the money nor
the opportunity to obtain the assistance of lawyers. They
could not therefore attempt to make a defence, but they
wished to declare the faith that they held and always had
held. They believed in all the doctrines of the Roman
Church. The Order of the Temple existed to conquer the
Holy Land and its members were vowed to obedience,
poverty and chastity, and had no connection with any heresies
or iniquities. " We beg you, the representatives of our holy
father the Pope, that for the love of God and for charity we
should be treated as children of the Church, for we have