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By Dr. Margaret Hollis, Lead Editor Last reviewed First published Fact-checked by Dr. Sofia Carretta, Università di Bologna

The Papal Suppression: Vox in Excelso

The bull Vox in Excelso (literally, “A Voice from on High”) is one of the most important documents in the history of the Knights Templar. Issued by Pope Clement V on March 22, 1312, the bull formally suppressed the Order of the Temple and brought to an end nearly two centuries of Templar history. The bull and the circumstances of its issue are central to the story of the Order’s destruction.

This cluster page examines the bull Vox in Excelso and the legal basis of the suppression. It is a companion to The Trial of Jacques de Molay and to The Trial and Suppression of the Knights Templar.

The Council of Vienne

The bull Vox in Excelso was issued at the conclusion of the Council of Vienne, which had been convened by Clement V in October 1311 to address a number of pressing issues facing the Church, including the fate of the Templars, the reform of the Franciscan Order, and the teaching of John Duns Scotus and other controversial theologians.

The Council met in the cathedral of Vienne in southeastern France, near the papal palace at Avignon. The Council was attended by approximately 300 bishops and abbots, and it was one of the most important ecclesiastical gatherings of the fourteenth century.

The Council’s main task with respect to the Templars was to determine the legal basis for the suppression of the Order. The bull Vox in Excelso was the result of this deliberation.

The full text of the bull. See The Council of Vienne.

The Terms of the Bull

The bull Vox in Excelso is, by medieval standards, a relatively short document. It opens with the famous words “Vox in excelso” (“A Voice from on High”), and proceeds in a number of clauses to:

  • Recount the charges against the Order, including the denial of Christ, the spitting on the cross, the worship of a head called Baphomet, and the obscene kisses at initiation.
  • Express the Pope’s horror at the charges, but also his concern for the salvation of the brothers and the good of the Church.
  • Suppress the Order by papal authority, “not by way of definitive sentence” (i.e., not a heresy conviction), but by “way of apostolic provision” (i.e., by special papal decree).
  • Provide for the brothers by allowing them to enter other religious orders or to live out their lives in penance.
  • Transfer the Order’s assets to the Knights Hospitaller of St. John, to be used for the defense of the Holy Land.

The bull did not, notably, declare the Order guilty of heresy. The Order was suppressed, in the words of the bull, because its very existence had become a “scandal” and a “danger” to the Church. This was a deliberate legal strategy, designed to avoid the formal heresy conviction that Philip IV had sought.

For the charges themselves, see Templar Initiation and the Charges of Secret Rites.

The legal basis of the bull Vox in Excelso has been debated for centuries. In medieval canon law, a religious order could only be suppressed by a formal heresy conviction, a voluntary dissolution, or a special apostolic decree. The bull relied on the third basis: a special apostolic decree.

This third basis was controversial. Many canonists argued that the suppression of a religious order was outside the Pope’s power, except in the case of heresy. The bull’s preamble, however, argued that the Order had become a danger to the Church, and that the Pope had the authority to suppress it for the good of the faithful.

The bull also carefully avoided any formal heresy conviction. The suppression was, in the words of the bull, “not by way of definitive sentence” — that is, not a heresy conviction — but “by way of apostolic provision.” This careful legal language was a major concession to the Order’s defenders, but it was also a way for the papacy to avoid endorsing the trial’s findings.

For the historiographical debate on the Order’s guilt, see Were the Knights Templar Guilty of Heresy?.

The Transfer of Assets: Ad Providam

The bull Vox in Excelso did not deal with the disposition of the Order’s assets. This was done in a separate bull, Ad providam, issued on the same day.

The bull Ad providam transferred the Order’s assets to the Knights Hospitaller, in trust for the defense of the Holy Land. In practice, however, the transfer was largely a fiction. In France, the crown simply kept the assets. In England, the crown took most of the assets as well, although some did pass to the Hospitallers. The Hospitallers received, in practice, a much smaller share of the Templar assets than the bulls had envisioned.

The story of the Templar assets. See What Happened to Templar Treasure?.

The Aftermath of the Bull

The bull Vox in Excelso was promulgated in the various Christian countries of Europe in the weeks and months that followed. In most cases, the suppression was accepted without significant resistance. In Cyprus, however, the Templars held out for several months before being suppressed by the Cypriot authorities. The last Templar preceptor on Cyprus was murdered by his own men in 1313.

In France, the bull was used to justify the confiscation of Templar assets. In England, the bull was used to justify the transfer of Templar estates to the crown, although the process was more orderly than in France. In the Iberian Peninsula, the Templars were absorbed into other orders, including the new Order of Christ in Portugal.

The story of the suppression is told in detail in The Trial and Suppression of the Knights Templar.

The Significance of the Bull

The bull Vox in Excelso is one of the most important documents in the history of the medieval Church. It was the first time a major religious order had been suppressed by special apostolic decree, and it set a precedent for the use of papal authority to dissolve religious orders. The bull would be invoked again in 1773, when Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Jesuits by the brief Dominus ac Redemptor.

The bull also marked a major moment in the long struggle between the papacy and the secular powers of Europe. The Templars had been brought down by the combined action of a king and a pope, and the suppression was, in some ways, a victory for the secular power. The bull, however, was a careful legal compromise that protected the papacy from endorsing the trial’s findings. The story of the political background. See The Trial and Suppression of the Knights Templar.

The Bull in Templar Mythology

The bull Vox in Excelso has also been an important document in the modern Templar mythology. Some neo-Templar orders claim that the bull was a “suspended” decree, and that the Order was never formally dissolved. These claims are not supported by historical evidence, but they have been a recurring theme in the modern mythology of the Order.

The mythology. See Templar Mythology, Symbolism and Hidden Knowledge.

Conclusion

The bull Vox in Excelso was the formal end of the Knights Templar. Issued by Pope Clement V on March 22, 1312, the bull suppressed the Order by special apostolic decree and brought to a close nearly two centuries of Templar history. The bull’s careful legal language, its avoidance of a formal heresy conviction, and its transfer of the Order’s assets to the Hospitallers all reflected the political compromises that made the suppression possible. The story of the Order’s destruction, and of the Grand Master who would be burned in 1314,. See The Trial of Jacques de Molay.