ed some hundred and fifty years
afterwards by Innocent VIII. He complains of the universal
infection of Christendom: that his own court even, and immediate
attendants, were attached to the devil's service, applying to him
on all occasions for help. The earliest judicial trial for the
crime on record in England is said to have occurred in the reign
of John. It is briefly stated in the 'Abbreviatio Placitorum'
that 'Agnes, the wife of Odo the merchant, accused Gideon of
sorcery; and he was acquitted by the judgment of iron.' The first
account of which much information is given occurs in Edward II.'s
reign, when the lives of the royal favourites, the De Spencers,
and his own, were attempted by a supposed criminal, one John of
Nottingham, with the assistance of his man, Robert Marshall, who
became king's evidence, and charged his master with having
conspired the king's death by the arts of sorcery.[58] Cupidity
or malice was the cause of this informer's accusation. One of the
distinguishing characteristics in its annals was the abuse of the
common prejudice for political purposes, or for the gratification
of private passion.

[58] _Narratives of Sorcery and Magic_, by Thomas Wright.

At the commencement of the fourteenth century the persecution and
final destruction of the Order of the Knights Templars in the
different countries of Europe, but chiefly in France (an instance
of the former abuse), is one of the most atrocious facts in
the history of those times. The fate of the Knights of the
Temple (whose original office it had been to protect their
coreligionists during pilgrimages in the Holy City, and whose
quarters were near the site of the Temple--whence the title of
the Order) in France was determined by the jealousy or avarice of
Philip IV. Founded in the first half of the twelfth century as a
half-religious, half-military institution, that celebrated Order
was, in its earlier career, in high repute for valour and success
in fighting the battles of the Cross. With wealth and fame, pride
and presumption increased to the highest pitch; and at the end of
150 years the champions of Christendom were equally hated and
feared. Their entire number was no more than 1,500; but they were
all experienced warriors, in possession of a number of important
fortresses, besides landed property to the amount, throughout
their whole extent, of nine thousand manorial estates. When the
Holy Land was hopelessly lost to the profane amb