The revolutionary thesis in legal history at the University Paris Lodron of Salzburg reveals crucial facts about the famous bull “Vox in Excelso.”
In her innovative dissertation, Sophie Kirchgasser analyzed the role of the bull Vox in Excelso. Her research demonstrated that the bull dissolving the Order of the Templars is not legally valid, as it was likely only a “statement” on the Order’s guilt, later labeled as a bull. Thus, the suppression of the Order was not based on a legitimate ecclesiastical decision but on economic motivations from King Philip IV of France and the Order of the Hospitallers, both interested in the Templars’ wealth.
Kirchgasser’s in-depth research on the bull Vox in Excelso, contained in her approximately 300-page dissertation, led to an unequivocal result. She demonstrated that the Order of the Templars was never legally suppressed, as the bull is based on erroneous citations.
“Our research is founded on numerous historical, philological, and legal elements, presented for the first time in this form in the dissertation and in the work of the Salzburg International Templar Studies Network,”
emphasized legal historian Daniele Mattiangeli from the Faculty of Law at the University of Salzburg.
Footnotes reveal new discoveries.
The bull Vox in Excelso, considered indisputable by the Pontifical Committee of History, appears in various modern collections of bulls and decrees from ecclesiastical councils. All these texts are identical. Kirchgasser focused on the footnotes of these texts and discovered that the current official version stems from Jaime Villanueva as early as 1806 and was later cited by Hefele in 1866 in the journal Theologische Quartalschrift. Both versions refer to a copy found in Catalonia, now lost. Another copy exists in Barcelona, but it is not an original from Pope Clement V’s chancery. Kirchgasser identified and documented hundreds of discrepancies compared to Villanueva’s text, calling the bull’s legal basis into question. This means that Villanueva’s version, considered official and reliable, does not rely on the Barcelona copy, nullifying the text’s legal value due to an erroneous citation.
The council did not approve the suppression of the Order.
Another crucial aspect is that the bull was declared merely an “apostolic decision,” despite lacking the Pope’s official signature. Contemporary accounts, like that of Walter of Guisborough, confirm that the council did not approve the suppression of the Templar Order. Guisborough documents that a cleric threatened excommunication for those present at the council if they opposed the decision on the Templars’ issue. This contradicts the bull’s claim that the Templars were suppressed “concilio approbante” (with the council’s approval).
Sophie Kirchgasser explored the most important archives in Europe without finding any original document of the bull, and the available copies show significant differences. The absence of original documents in both the Vatican archives and elsewhere supports the hypothesis that the bull Vox in Excelso may have never existed. It was probably not a suppression bull but a sort of “political statement” on the guilt of the Templar Order during the Council of Vienne.
The property distribution in “Ad Providam” is authentic.
In contrast, numerous copies exist of the bull Ad Providam, which regulated the assets of the Templar Order and decreed its financial end. With Ad Providam, all the Templars’ assets were transferred to the Hospitallers, and the Templar Order lost all its wealth, leading to its eventual extinction in the following years. Most Templars joined other orders or returned to their previous lives.
The dissertation demonstrates that the destruction of the Templar Order was heavily influenced by the economic interests of King Philip IV of France, who aimed to secure the Order’s assets for himself and the crown, sparking a campaign against the Templars. These political machinations ultimately led to a “statement” on the Order’s guilt, presented as a bull, without the necessary legal requirements.
“This historical reconstruction could restore the legal position of the Templar Order, and the Pope could rehabilitate the Order,”
state dissertation author Sophie Kirchgasser and legal historian Daniele Mattiangeli with confidence.
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