NOGARET (Guillaume de)
(Saint-Félix-de-Caraman, near Toulouse, second half of the 13th century - died in 1313.) Professor of law in Montpellier, and at the same time judge-magus of the seneschalsy of Beaucaire and Nîmes, Guillaume de Nogaret has several opportunities to stand out for his zeal for the crown of France.
In 1296, Nogaret was called to the King's Council by Chancellor Pierre Flotte*. The same year, the jurist successfully completed an investigation he was leading in Champagne on ecclesiastical immunities.
Nogaret quickly became one of the most capable and influential advisers in the Circle of Philip the Fair. Sitting in parliament from 1298, Knight of the Hôtel du Roi in 1300, the adviser to Philippe le Bel carried out his activity in the most diverse fields, finance, administration, etc.
But Nogaret became famous above all, at the very beginning of the 14th century, for the role he played in the conflict between Pope Boniface VIII and the king. His grandfather had been burned as a Cathar, and this tragic end may explain the lawyer's hatred of the pope. From 1300, Philippe le Bel sent him to Rome alongside Boniface, with the mission of exasperating the pope, and pushing him to the limit. Then, on March 12, 1303, before an assembly of the greats of the kingdom, Nogaret accused Boniface VIII of all the sins, called him a criminal, and proposed to put him under guard, before having him judged by a general council. Warned, the pope threatens to excommunicate the king, then takes refuge in Anagni. Nogaret then decides to kidnap the pontiff, in order to take him by force to Lyon before a council. The attack is prepared with the support of the Colonna, enemies of Boniface. On September 7, 1303, with Sciarro Colonna and 300 men-at-arms, the king's adviser entered Anagni by force.
There, after having prevented Colonna from casting a the latter under guard. On March 9, however, the population of Anagni rose up and, with the help of Roman horsemen called for help by the cardinals, forced the kidnappers to flee, freeing the pope. The unfortunate will die on October 11.
His successor, Benedict XI, in 1304 gave absolution to all the participants in the kidnapping, except Nogaret, whom he summoned to appear. But the new pontiff dies soon after, very opportunely, and his French successor, Clement V, will end up absolving the jurist against the promise of a pilgrimage, never made.
In 1306, Philippe le Bel charged Nogaret with a new mission. With Jean de Saint-Just, he must seize the property of the Jews of the Seneschal of Toulouse, before expelling them. As soon as this mission was accomplished, Nogaret, following the orders of Philippe le Bel, but also following the advice he had been giving the king for some time, attacked the Templars*. He will pursue them until their death and the suppression of order. Based on accusations that some say were fabricated from scratch, while others lend them real foundations, the lawyer, invested with the Seals in September 1307, organizes the trial of the Templars, arrested in October. He persuades the king to entrust the interrogations to the inquisitors and the bishops. In 1308, he threatened Pope Clement V, who believed that the defendants might not be guilty and wanted to put an end to the prosecution.
During the years that followed, Nogaret saw with satisfaction the Templars, who had confessed everything under torture, but sometimes retracted afterwards, mounted at the stake. The Chancellor died, however, before the full accomplishment of his task, since Jacques de Molay and three other dignitaries of the order were still in prison when he expired in April 1313.