were slain on the field of battle; the whole race was exterminated; and
the enraged conquerors scoured the country in all directions--slew the
women and children and old men--drove away the cattle--fired the woods
and cottages, and made a total waste of the land.

Just as absurd and effectual was the charge brought against the
Templars in 1307, when they had rendered themselves obnoxious to the
potentates and prelacy of Christendom. Their wealth, their power, their
pride, and their insolence had raised up enemies on every side; and
every sort of accusation was made against them, but failed to work
their overthrow, until the terrible cry of witchcraft was let loose
upon them. This effected its object, and the Templars were extirpated.
They were accused of having sold their souls to the devil, and of
celebrating all the infernal mysteries of the witches' Sabbath. It was
pretended that, when they admitted a novice into their order, they
forced him to renounce his salvation and curse Jesus Christ; that they
then made him submit to many unholy and disgusting ceremonies, and
forced him to kiss the Superior on the cheek, the navel, and the
breech; and spit three times upon a crucifix. That all the members were
forbidden to have connexion with women, but might give themselves up
without restraint to every species of unmentionable debauchery. That
when, by any mischance, a Templar infringed this order, and a child was
born, the whole order met, and tossed it about like a shuttlecock from
one to the other until it expired; that they then roasted it by a slow
fire, and with the fat which trickled from it anointed the hair and
beard of a large image of the devil. It was also said that, when one of
the knights died, his body was burnt into a powder, and then mixed with
wine and drunk by every member of the order. Philip IV, who, to
exercise his own implacable hatred, invented, in all probability, the
greater part of these charges, issued orders for the immediate arrest
of all the Templars in his dominions. The pope afterwards took up the
cause with almost as much fervour as the King of France; and in every
part of Europe, the Templars were thrown into prison and their goods
and estates confiscated. Hundreds of them, when put to the rack,
confessed even the most preposterous of the charges against them, and
by so doing, increased the popular clamour and the hopes of their
enemies. It is true that, when removed from the rack, they d