kissed by the preceptor, on his navel, posterior and mouth. The third was telling the neophyte (novice) that unnatural lust was lawful and indulged in commonly. The fourth was that the cord worn by the neophyte day and night was "consecrated" by wrapping it around an idol in the form of a human head with a great beard, and that this idol was adored in all chapters. The fifth was that the priests of the order did not consecrate the host in celebrating Mass. Many of these charges were also made against Pope Boniface VIII before his capture, escape and eventual death shortly in 1308. Philip's agents pursued these charges as they had been successful against other enemies of the King. On 12 August 1308, the charges were increased, with one specifically stating that the Templars worshipped an idol made of a cat and a head with three faces. The lists of articles 86 to 127 would add many other charges. Recantation and death of Templar leaders in France Eventually King Philip's Inquisitors succeeded in making Jacques de Molay confess to the charges. On 18 March 1314, de Molay and de Charney recanted their confessions, stating they were innocent of the charges and they were only guilty of betraying their Order by confessing under duress to something they did not do. They were immediately found guilty of being relapsed heretics, for which the punishment was death. This effectively silenced the other Templars. Philip continued to pressure and threaten the Pope to officially disband the Order, which culminated in 1314 with the public execution by burning of leader Jacques de Molay and Geoffroi de Charney. Death His exact day of death is disputed by scholars. One source records his death as follows: The cardinals dallied with their duty until 19 March 1314, when, on a scaffold in front of Notre Dame, de Molay, Geoffroi de Charney, Master of Normandy, Hugues de Peraud, referred to as a visitor of France, and Godefroi de Gonneville, Master of Aquitaine, were brought forth from the jail in which for nearly seven years they had lain, to receive the sentence agreed upon by the cardinals, in conjunction with the Archbishop of Sens and some other prelates whom they had called in. Considering the offences which the culprits had confessed and confirmed, the penalty imposed was in accordance with the rule—that of perpetual imprisonment. The affair was