Council of Vienne

Council of Vienne
Date	1311–1312
Accepted by	Roman Catholicism
Previous council	Second Council of Lyons
Next council	Council of Constance
Convoked by	Pope Clement V
President	Pope Clement V
Attendance	20 cardinals, 122 bishops, 38 abbots (several more were barred by Philip IV of France)
Topics	Knights Templar
Documents and statements	Knights Templar disbanded, King Philip absolved of actions against Pope Boniface VIII, crusade declared (but never carried out)
Chronological list of Ecumenical councils

The Council of Vienne was the fifteenth Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church that met between 1311 and 1312 in Vienne. Its principal act was to withdraw papal support for the Knights Templar on the instigation of Philip IV of France.

The Knights Templar were founded after the First Crusade of 1096 to ensure the safety of European pilgrims to Jerusalem. In the following centuries the order grew in power and wealth. In the early 14th century, Philip IV of France needed money urgently to continue his war with England and so he accused the Grand Master of the Templars, Jacques De Molay, of corruption and heresy. In 1307 Philip had many French Templars arrested, charged with heresies, and tortured by the French authorities until they allegedly confessed. This action released Philip from his obligation to repay loans from the Templars and allowed him to confiscate the Templar's assets in France.

Pope Clement V was under the control of Philip. One of the Pope's predecessors, Boniface VIII, had claimed supremacy over Philip and had attempted to excommunicate him when Philip disagreed. However Boniface was seized at Anagni by a party of horsemen under the command of Philip's men. Though he was later released, the elderly Boniface died shortly after. Boniface's successor, Pope Benedict XI, lasted less than a year before he too died, possibly poisoned by Philip's agent Guillaume de Nogaret. The Frenchman Pope Clement thereafter was strongly pressured to follow Philip's directions.

Pope Clement V caused the Council to meet by issuing the bulls Faciens misericordiam and Regnans in coelis in August 1308. The city chosen was Vienne, which is on the Rhône River in the south of modern France and at the time was outside the direct control of Philip IV. The neutral setting was intended to give the impression of independent action.