''Faciens misericordiam'' (''Granting forgiveness'') was a papal bull issued by

Pope Clement V Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...

on August 12, 1308, as part of the trial against the Knights Templar. It called for a new

Ecumenical council An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote ar ...

to be held in 1310, and set out some structure for the collection of depositions from the arrested Templars.

Date

The bull was written on August 8, and then read aloud on the 12th at the

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are app ...

Content

The document created papal commissions which were charged with investigating the actions of the Templars. It also called for an ecumenical council to convene in 1310 to discuss urgent problems facing Christianity, such as the organization of a new Crusade. Regarding the Templars, the bull ordered the collection of depositions from Templars across Christendom, which would be gathered and brought to the Pope for determination on the fate of the Order, which fate would be decided and announced by the Pope at the 1310 council. The document made an important distinction that the fate of the Templars rested with the papacy, and no one else.Frale, p. 186

Parisian Commission

The Papal Commission in Paris consisted of: * Gilles Aycelin (Archbishop of Narbonne) * Guillaume Durand (Bishop of Mende) * William Bonnet (Bishop of Bayeux) * Raynaud La Porte (Bishop of Limoges) * John Montlaur (Bishop Maguelone) * Matthew Napoli (notary Apostolic) * John of Mantua (Archdeacon of Trent) * William Argan (provost of the church of Aix)

Council

A few days after ''Faciens misericordiam'', the Pope issued the bull ''

Regnans in coelis The Council of Vienne was the fifteenth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church and met between 1311 and 1312 in Vienne, France. One of its principal acts was to withdraw papal support for the Knights Templar at the instigation of Phi ...

'', which indicated more details about the upcoming ecumenical council. Though directed to convene in 1310, the council was delayed due to the length of the trial against the Templars, but was eventually convened as the

Council of Vienne The Council of Vienne was the fifteenth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church and met between 1311 and 1312 in Vienne, France. One of its principal acts was to withdraw papal support for the Knights Templar at the instigation of Phil ...

from 1311 to 1312 in

Vienne, Isère Vienne (; frp, Vièna) is a town in southeastern France, located south of Lyon, at the confluence of the Gère and the Rhône. It is the fourth largest-commune in the Isère department, of which it is a subprefecture alongside La Tour-du- ...

, southeastern France.

Notes

References