of time that
the Jews spent as captives in Babylon. Hence this stay of the popes at
Avignon has sometimes been spoken of as the "Babylonian Captivity" of
the Church. Although there were some good popes in the course of those
seventy years, the court of Avignon was usually full of luxury and vice,
and the government of the Church grew more and more corrupt.

Philip the Fair was not content with having brought Boniface to his end,
but wished to persecute and disgrace his memory. He caused all sorts of
shocking charges to be brought against the dead pope, and demanded that
he should be condemned as a heretic, and that his body should be taken
up and burnt. By these demands Pope Clement was thrown into great
distress. He was afraid to offend Philip, and at the same time he wished
to save the memory of Boniface; for if a pope were to be condemned in
the way in which Philip wished, it must tell against the papacy
altogether. And besides this, if Boniface had not been a lawful pope (as
Philip and his party said), the cardinals whom he had appointed were not
lawful cardinals, and Clement, who had been partly chosen by their
votes, could have no right to the popedom. He was therefore willing to
do much in order to clear Boniface's memory; and Philip craftily managed
to get the pope's help in another matter on condition that the charges
against Boniface should not be pressed. This is supposed to have been
the secret article which we have heard of in the story of the meeting
in the forest.

PART II.

I have already mentioned the order of Knights Templars, which was formed
in the Holy Land soon after the first crusade.[83] These soldiers of the
cross showed at all times a courage worthy of their profession; but they
also showed faults which were beyond all question. As they grew rich,
they grew proud, and, from having at first been very strict in their way
of living, it was believed that they had fallen into habits of luxury.
They despised all men outside of their own order; they showed no respect
for the kings of Jerusalem, or for the patriarchs, and were, indeed,
continually quarrelling with them.

[83] Page 210.

At this time the number of the Templar Knights was about fifteen
thousand--the finest soldiers in the world; and the whole number of
persons attached to the order was not less than a hundred thousand.
About half of these were Frenchmen, and all the masters or heads of the
order had been French.

But, although