What Happened at the Council of Vienne?
The Council of Vienne was a major ecclesiastical council convened by Pope Clement V in October 1311. The Council was held in the cathedral of Vienne in southeastern France, and it was one of the most important ecclesiastical gatherings of the fourteenth century. The Council’s most consequential act was the suppression of the Knights Templar, by the bull Vox in Excelso, on March 22, 1312.
This article examines the Council of Vienne and its decisions. It is a companion to The Papal Suppression: Vox in Excelso and to The Trial and Suppression of the Knights Templar.
The Council’s Convening
The Council of Vienne was convened by Clement V in response to several pressing issues facing the Church:
- The fate of the Knights Templar, which had been the subject of a long and complex trial since 1307.
- The reform of the Franciscan Order, which was in crisis over the interpretation of the Rule of Saint Francis.
- The teaching of certain controversial theologians, including Peter John Olivi and his followers.
- The Crusading movement, which was in crisis after the fall of Acre in 1291.
- The reform of the Church in general, which was one of the Council’s official purposes.
The Council opened in October 1311, with a solemn Mass in the cathedral of Vienne. The Council was attended by approximately 300 bishops and abbots, and it was one of the largest and most important ecclesiastical gatherings of the century.
The Templar Question
The most pressing issue before the Council was the fate of the Knights Templar. The trial of the Order had been ongoing since 1307, and the political and ecclesiastical situation was complex:
- King Philip IV of France had arrested the Templars in 1307 and had been conducting his own trial of the Order in France.
- Pope Clement V had intervened in the trial in 1308, but the relationship between the papacy and the French crown was tense.
- The Order’s defenders were calling for a fair trial, while the Order’s accusers were calling for the Order’s destruction.
- The public was divided, with some supporting the Order and some supporting its accusers.
The Council of Vienne was, in effect, an attempt to resolve this complex situation through ecclesiastical action.
The Deliberations
The Council deliberated for several months on the Templar question. The key speakers and actors included:
- Pope Clement V, who presided over the Council and who was the principal decision-maker.
- Cardinal Berenguer Fredoli, the papal legate, who presented the case for the Order’s suppression.
- William Durandus of Mende, a French bishop, who presented a strong case for the Order’s suppression.
- Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master of the Order, who was brought to the Council to defend the Order.
- A defense team for the Order, including several canon lawyers and theologians.
The deliberations were complex and contentious. The Council heard arguments on both sides, and it considered several possible outcomes:
- A formal heresy conviction, which would have led to the Order’s dissolution and the confiscation of its assets.
- A special apostolic decree, which would have suppressed the Order without a formal heresy conviction.
- A reform of the Order, which would have allowed the Order to continue in a modified form.
- A continuation of the trial, which would have delayed a decision for several more years.
The Council eventually decided on a special apostolic decree, suppressing the Order without a formal heresy conviction.
For the legal basis of the suppression, see Were the Knights Templar Guilty of Heresy?.
The Bull Vox in Excelso
The Council’s decision was implemented by the bull Vox in Excelso, issued by Clement V on March 22, 1312. The bull suppressed the Order by “apostolic provision,” not by formal heresy conviction. The bull’s careful legal language — “not by way of definitive sentence” but “by way of apostolic provision” — was a deliberate strategy to avoid endorsing the trial’s findings.
The bull. See The Papal Suppression: Vox in Excelso.
The Bull Ad Providam
The same day, Clement V issued a second bull, Ad providam, transferring the Order’s assets to the Knights Hospitaller. The transfer was, in theory, intended to allow the Hospitallers to use the assets for the defense of the Holy Land. In practice, however, the transfer was largely a fiction, and most of the Order’s assets were confiscated by the various secular rulers, especially in France and England.
The story of the assets. See What Happened to Templar Treasure?.
Other Council Decisions
In addition to the suppression of the Templars, the Council of Vienne made several other important decisions:
- The reform of the Franciscan Order: The Council ruled on the question of the interpretation of the Rule of Saint Francis, settling a long-running dispute within the Order.
- The condemnation of certain theologians: The Council condemned the teachings of Peter John Olivi and his followers, a controversial group of Franciscan mystics.
- The promotion of the Crusading movement: The Council called for a new Crusade to recover the Holy Land, although the call had little practical effect.
- The reform of the Church: The Council passed a number of reforming decrees, although the reforms had limited practical effect.
The most important of these decisions, however, was the suppression of the Templars.
The Aftermath of the Council
The Council of Vienne was a major event in the history of the medieval Church. The suppression of the Templars was the most consequential act of the Council, and it had a major impact on the political, religious, and economic life of Europe.
The aftermath of the Council. See The Trial and Suppression of the Knights Templar. The story of the bull Vox in Excelso. See The Papal Suppression: Vox in Excelso.
Conclusion
The Council of Vienne was a major ecclesiastical council, and its most consequential act was the suppression of the Knights Templar by the bull Vox in Excelso on March 22, 1312. The Council’s decision was the result of a long and complex political and ecclesiastical process, and it had a major impact on the medieval Church. The story of the Council is told in The Trial and Suppression of the Knights Templar and in The Papal Suppression: Vox in Excelso.