Unakceptable_views (@Unakceptabke_views)

**Templars and sodomy – were the knights gay?** “I have been asked on several occasions whether the Knights Templar were gay. After all, **they were accused of kissing each other on the “base of the spine” and other parts of the body in their initiation rites**. […] >**So – why this association between the Knights Templar and homosexuality?** It really all hinges on confessions made during the Templar trials between 1307 and 1314. King Philip of France was keen to crush the brotherhood of knights and basically levelled two main accusations against them designed to disgust medieval public opinion: **heresy and sodomy**. But…should be said that heresy was probably the worst of the two accusations. To deny Christ, his sacraments and the authority of the church was to overturn the natural order of things – way more than two men being in love. It also posed a far greater threat to the power of the Pope, the King and the whole spiritual and temporal superstructure. • • • • • **Sodomy and the Templar trials** So what were the accusations levelled against the Templars that gave rise to the idea many were gay? The Templar trials expert Professor Malcolm Barber details quite a few confessions made after 1307 that give you the full picture. This is merely a taster: >**John of Cugy, a 53 year-old Templar who had been keeper of the mills in Paris told an inquisitor that the Visitor of France (a very senior Templar knight) had taken him behind the altar and “kissed him on the base of the spine and the navel”.** After that, he was told to spit on the crucifix. >**Ithier of Rochefort under torture admitted to “obscene” kisses and “the incitement to homosexuality**”. Nicholas of Sarra denied the holiness of an effigy of Christ **before stripping off and being kissed again at the base of the spine, the navel and the mouth**. • • • • • **Ralph of Grandeville had homosexuality “enjoined upon him” via the usual kisses**. William of Giac said that while he was in Cyprus as a brother serving with the knights, **he had “carnal relations” with the Grand Master, Jacques de Molay** – who was later burnt at the stake in 1314 When dealing with other heresies, **the church and its inquisition often saw homosexuality as a symptom of heresy**. It suggested that those who denied the authority of Rome in spiritual matters were degenerate and base. >**The term “sodomy” would be employed and it encompassed not just same sex relations but bestiality as well**. So, for example, William of Auvergne (bishop of Paris between 1228 and 1249) **was convinced that heretics liked to kiss a cat under its tail or a toad fully on the mouth**. Both animals being familiars of Satan of course.” […] https://thetemplarknight.com/2011/03/06/templars-gay/