[Chapter3][Chapter4][Chapter5]
Mediaeval Knights Templars
Chapter 2.
Although the Latin kingdom
was established at Jerusalem by its capture under Godfrey of Bouillon, yet the
position of the Christians was very precarious. They were
pressed by the hostile Egyptians on the south, by the Turks on the north and
east; the land was infested by the incursions of Arab
tribes, the Moslem inhabitants were still numerous, and the Latin Christians
were confined to a few of the principal places. The lot
of the pilgrims was still one of
much
danger and peril. On their way from the port at which they landed to the Holy
City, on their journey to the banks of the
Jordan or to the gardens of Jericho, they had to endure
the persecution and attacks of the Infidels, and many of
them lost their lives on those occasions. Deeply impressed with a sense of
those
perils, and burning with a desire to do something for their amelioration, in
1118 (just about 20 years after the capture of Jerusalem) nine pious and valiant
Knights resolved to form themselves into an association which should unite the
characters of the Monk and the Knight, living holy lives and employing their
swords in the protection of the pilgrims on their visits to the holy places.
They took for their patroness 'The Sweet Mother of God," and in presence of
the Patriarch took the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, to which they
added a fourth of fighting incessantly against the Infidels. They bound
themselves to live according to the rule of St.Augustine, and elected as their
first Master, Hugh de Payens. King Baldwin II gave them part of his palace for
their dwelling, and he and his Barons contributed to their support. As the
palace stood close by the church and convent of the Temple, the abbot and canons
gave them a street leading from it to the palace for keeping their magazines and
equipments in, and hence they styled themselves the Soldiery of the Temple, and
Templars.
In the first nine years after
the institution of the Order, the Knights of the Temple lived in poverty, giving
all the money sent to them from Europe to the advantage of the Holy Land and for
the service of the pilgrims. They had no peculiar habit; their raiment was such
as the charity of the faithful bestowed on them. Though they were all Knights
and engaged in constant warfare with the Infidels, their poverty and moderation
was such that Hugh de Payens and his companion Godfrey de St.Omer had but one
war horse between them; a circumstance which they afterwards commemorated by
their seal, which represented two Knights riding on one horse, a device chosen
in order to inculcate humility in the brethren.
King Baldwin II, wishing by
all means to strengthen the position of the Christians in Palestine, resolved to
obtain from the Pope an official confirmation of the Order of the Templars,
whose valour, humility, and single-mindedness had won general applause. To this
end, in 1127, he sent two members of the Order, Andreas and Gundemar to Rome
with this request, and an injunction to impress or the
Pope the perilous state of the Holy Land. He also furnished them with a letter
of recommendation to St.Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, whose influence at that
time was all-powerful in the Christian world, and who was devoting all his
energies to the organization of the second Crusade. Hugh de Payens himself, with
five of his brethren, shortly after arrived in Europe on the same mission.
St.Bernard took up the cause of the Templars with great zeal, and, at the
request of the Master, wrote an eloquent work in support of their application,
which had been remitted by the Pope to a council which was to assemble at Troyes.
As this work contained a vivid description of the rule and conduct of the
Knights at that time, it may be well to quote from it as giving a contemporary
account of the estimation in which they were held. After exhorting the brethren
to persevere in their toil-some but laudable task of fighting against the
tyranny of the heathens, and commending their piety to all the faithful, and
contrasting the luxury of the ordinary knights with the modesty and simplicity
of these holy warriors, he proceeds to extol the unlimited obedience of the
Templars to their Master, both at home and in the field.
He says:
"They go and come at a
sign from their 'Master; they wear the clothing he gives them, and ask neither
food nor clothing from anyone else; they live cheerfully and temperately
together, without wives and children, and, that nothing may be wanting for
evangelical perfection, without property, in one house, endeavouring to
preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of
peace,
so that one heart and one soul would appear to dwell in them all. They never sit
idle, or go about gaping after news. When they are resting from warfare against
the Infidels, a thing which rarely occurs, not to eat the bread of idleness they
employ themselves in repairing their clothes and arms, or do something which the
command of the Master or the common need
enjoins. There is with them no respect of persons; the best, not the noblest
born, are the most highly regarded; they endeavour to anticipate one another
in respect, and to lighten each other's burdens. No unseemly word or light
mocking, no murmur or immoderate laughter is let to pass unreproved, if anyone
should allow himself to indulge in such. They avoid games of chess and tables;
they are adverse to the chase, and equally so to hawking in which others so much
delight. They hate all jugglers and mountebanks, all wanton songs and plays, as
vanities and follies of the
world. They cut their hair in obedience to these words of
the
Apostle, 'it is not seemly in a man to have long hair.' No one ever sees them
dressed out; they are seldom ever washed; they are mostly to be seen with
disordered hair, and covered with dust, brown from their corsets and the heat of
the
sun. When they go forth to war they arm themselves with faith, without with
iron, but never adorn themselves with gold, wishing to excite fear in the enemy
and not the desire for booty. They delight in horses which are strong and swift,
not in such as are handsomely marked and richly caparisoned, wishing to inspire
terror rather than admiration. They go not impetuously and headlong into battle,
but with care and foresight, peacefully, as the true children of
Israel.
But as soon as the fight has begun, then they rush without delay on the foes,
esteeming them but as sheep: and know no fear even though they should be few,
relying on the aid of the Lord of Sabaoth. Hence
one of them has often put a thousand, and two of
them
ten thousand to flight. Thus they are, in union strange, at the same time
gentler than lambs and grimmer than lions, so that one may doubt whether to call
them Monks or Knights. But both names suit them, for theirs is the mildness of the Monk and the valour of the Knight. what
remains to be said but that this is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful in
our eyes. Such are they whom God has chosen out of the
bravest in Israel, that, watchful and true, they may guard the Holy Sepulchre,
armed with swords and well-skilled in war."
The advocacy of
St.Bernard,
coupled with the eloquence of the Master at the Council,
which met January 31st 1128, was sufficient to gain the favour of
the
assembled Fathers, who approved of the
Order, and gave them a new rule, containing their own previous regulations, with
several additions chosen from that of the Benedictines, and chiefly relating to
spiritual matters. The brethren were "to speak little, to give alms, to be
gentle and courteous to the weak, the aged, the sick, to observe the fast days,
and keep always a spare diet." The validity of
the
rule was made to depend on the
His honest sonsie baws'nt
face
Aye got him friends in ilka
place.
That is a face, as is frequently seen in the
collie, one side white and one side black or brown. This banner bore on it the
red cross of the order, and the inscription, Non nobis Domine, non nobis sed
nomine tuo da gioriam (Not to us, 0 Lord, not to us, but to thy Name give the
glory.)
The order was now fully established, though further privileges were subsequently accorded it. In 1147 they were allowed to have Mass said once a year in places lying under Interdict; in 1162, by a special Bull of Pope Alexander III they were released from all spiritual obedience, except to the Holy See; they were allowed to have peculiar burial grounds at their houses, and to have chaplains of their own; and they were freed from the obligation to pay tithes, and could, with the consent of the bishop, receive them all privileges which added largely to the power and influence of the Knights, but which they were to pay very dearly for in the end.