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- Herausgeber: FILROUGEVICEVERSA
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
THE extraordinary and romantic career of the Knights Templars, their exploits and their misfortunes, render their history a subject of peculiar interest. Born during the first fervour of the Crusades, they were flattered and aggrandized as long as their great military power and religious fanaticism could be made available for the support of the Eastern church and the retention of the Holy Land, but when the crescent had ultimately triumphed over the cross, and the religio-military enthusiasm of Christendom had died away, they encountered the basest ingratitude in return for the services they had rendered to the christian faith, and were plundered, persecuted, and condemned to a cruel death, by those who ought in justice to have been their defenders and supporters. The memory of these holy warriors is embalmed in all our recollections of the wars of the cross; they were the bulwarks of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem during the short period of its existence, and were the last band of Europe's host that contended for the possession of Palestine.
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Charles G. Addison
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Table of contents
PREFACE.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II. Regula Pauperum Commilitonum Christi et Templi Salomonis. *
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER XI. THE TEMPLE CHURCH.
CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIV.
COLOPHON
PREFACE.
THE extraordinary and romantic career of the
Knights Templars, their exploits and their misfortunes, render
their history a subject of peculiar interest.
Born during the first fervour of the Crusades, they were
flattered and aggrandized as long as their great military power and
religious fanaticism could be made available for the support of the
Eastern church and the retention of the Holy Land, but when the
crescent had ultimately triumphed over the cross, and the
religio-military enthusiasm of Christendom had died away, they
encountered the basest ingratitude in return for the services they
had rendered to the christian faith, and were plundered,
persecuted, and condemned to a cruel death, by those who ought in
justice to have been their defenders and supporters. The memory of
these holy warriors is embalmed in all our recollections of the
wars of the cross; they were the bulwarks of the Latin kingdom of
Jerusalem during the short period of its existence, and were the
last band of Europe's host that contended for the possession of
Palestine.
To the vows of the monk and the austere life of the convent,
the Templars added the discipline of the camp, and the stern duties
of the military life, joining
"The fine vocation of the sword and lance,
With the gross aims, and body-bending toil
Of a poor brotherhood, who walk the earth
Pitied."
The vulgar notion that the Templars were as wicked as they
were fearless and brave, has not yet been entirely exploded; but it
is hoped that the copious account of the proceedings against the
order in this country, given in the ninth and tenth chapters of the
ensuing volume, will tend to dispel many unfounded prejudices still
entertained against the fraternity, and excite emotions of
admiration for their constancy and courage, and of pity for their
unmerited and cruel fate.
Matthew Paris, who wrote at St. Albans, concerning events in
Palestine, tells us that the emulation between the Templars and
Hospitaliers frequently broke out into open warfare to the great
scandal and prejudice of Christendom, and that, in a pitched battle
fought between them, the Templars were slain to a man. The solitary
testimony of Matthew Paris, who was no friend to the two orders, is
invalidated by the silence of contemporary historians, who wrote on
the spot; and it is quite evident from the letters of the pope,
addressed to the Hospitaliers, the year after the date of the
alleged battle, that such an occurrence never could have taken
place.
The accounts, even of the best of the antient writers, should
not be adopted without examination, and a careful comparison with
other sources of information. William of Tyre, for instance, tells
us that Nassr-ed-deen, son of sultan Abbas, was taken prisoner by
the Templars, and whilst in their hands became a convert to the
Christian religion; that he had learned the rudiments of the Latin
language, and earnestly sought to be baptized, but that the
Templars were bribed with sixty thousand pieces of gold to
surrender him to his enemies in Egypt, where certain death awaited
him; and that they stood by to see him bound hand and foot with
chains, and placed in an iron cage, to be conducted across the
desert to Cairo. Now the Arabian historians of that period tell us
that Nassr-ed-deen and his father murdered the caliph and threw his
body into a well, and then fled with their retainers and treasure
into Palestine; that the sister of the murdered caliph wrote
immediately to the commandant at Gaza, which place was garrisoned
by the Knights Templars, offering a handsome reward for the capture
of the fugitives; that they were accordingly intercepted, and
Nassr-ed-deen was sent to Cairo, where the female relations of the
caliph caused his body to be cut into small pieces in the seraglio.
The above act has constantly been made a matter of grave accusation
against the Templars; but what a different complexion does the case
assume on the testimony of the Arabian authorities!
It must be remembered that William archbishop of Tyre was
hostile to the order on account of its vast powers and privileges,
and carried his complaints to a general council of the church at
Rome. He is abandoned, in everything that he says to the prejudice
of the fraternity, by James of Vitry, bishop of Acre, a learned and
most talented prelate, who wrote in Palestine subsequently to
William of Tyre, and has copied largely from the history of the
latter. The bishop of Acre speaks of the Templars in the highest
terms, and declares that they were universally loved by all men for
their piety and humility. "Nulli molesti erant!" says he, "sed ab
omnibus propter humilitatem et religionem amabantur."
The celebrated orientalist Von Hammer has recently brought
forward various extraordinary and unfounded charges, destitute of
all authority, against the Templars; and Wilcke, who has written a
German history of the order, seems to have imbibed all the vulgar
prejudices against the fraternity. I might have added to the
interest of the ensuing work, by making the Templars horrible and
atrocious villains; but I have endeavoured to write a fair and
impartial account of the order, not slavishly adopting everything I
find detailed in antient writers, but such matters only as I
believe, after a careful examination of the best authorities, to be
true.
It is a subject of congratulation to us that we possess, in
the Temple Church at London, the most beautiful and perfect
memorial of the order of the Knights Templars now in existence. No
one who has seen that building in its late dress of plaster and
whitewash will recognize it when restored to its antient
magnificence. This venerable structure was one of the chief
ecclesiastical edifices of the Knights Templars in Europe, and
stood next in rank to the Temple at Jerusalem. As I have performed
the pilgrimage to the Holy City, and wandered amid the courts of
the antient Temple of the Knights Templars on Mount Moriah, I could
not but regard with more than ordinary interest the restoration by
the societies of the Inner and the Middle Temple of their beautiful
Temple Church.
The greatest zeal and energy have been displayed by them in
that praiseworthy undertaking, and no expense has been spared to
repair the ravages of time, and to bring back the structure to what
it was in the time of the Templars.
In the summer I had the pleasure of accompanying one of the
chief and most enthusiastic promoters of the restoration of the
church (Mr. Burge, Q.C.) over the interesting fabric, and at his
suggestion the present work was commenced. I am afraid that it will
hardly answer his expectations, and am sorry that the interesting
task has not been undertaken by an abler hand.
P.S. Mr. Willement, who is preparing some exquisitely stained
glass windows for the Temple Church, has just drawn my attention to
the nineteenth volume of the "MEMOIR ES DE LA SOCIÉTÉ ROYALE DES
ANTIQUAIRES DE FRANCE," published last year. It contains a most
curious and interesting account of the church of Brelevennez, in
the department des Cotes-du-Nord, supposed to have formerly
belonged to the order of the Temple, written by the Chevalier du
FREMANVILLE. Amongst various curious devices, crosses, and symbols
found upon the windows and the tombs of the church, is a copper
medallion, which appears to have been suspended from the neck by a
chain. This decoration consists of a small circle, within which are
inscribed two equilateral triangles placed one upon the other, so
as to form a six-pointed star. In the midst of the star is a second
circle, containing within it the LAMB of the order of the Temple
holding the banner in its fore-paw, similar to what we see on the
antient seal of the order delineated in the title-page of this
work. Mr. Willement has informed me that he has received an offer
from a gentleman in Brittany to send over casts of the decorations
and devices lately discovered in that church. He has kindly
referred the letter to me for consideration, but I have not thought
it advisable to delay the publication of the present work for the
purpose of procuring them.
Mr. Willement has also drawn my attention to a very distinct
impression of the reverse of the seal of the Temple described in
page 106, whereon I read very plainly the interesting motto,
"TESTIS SVM AGNI.
CHAPTER I.
"Yet ’midst her towering fanes in ruin laid,
The pilgrim saint his murmuring vespers paid;
’Twas his to mount the tufted rocks, and rove
The chequer’d twilight of the olive-grove:
’Twas his to bend beneath the sacred gloom,
And wear with many a kiss Messiah's tomb."THE extraordinary and romantic institution of the Knights
Templars, those military friars who so strangely blended the
character of the monk with that of the soldier, took its origin in
the following manner:--
On the miraculous discovery of the Holy sepulchre by the
Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, about 298 years after
the death of Christ, and the consequent erection, by command of the
first christian emperor, of the magnificent church of the
Resurrection, or, as it is now called, the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, over the sacred monument, the tide of pilgrimage set in
towards Jerusalem, and went on increasing in strength as
Christianity gradually spread throughout Europe. On the surrender
of the Holy City to the victorious Arabians, (A.D. 637,) the
privileges and the security of the christian population were
provided for in the following guarantee, given under the hand and
seal of the Caliph Omar to Sophronius the Patriarch.
"From OMAR EBNO ’L ALCHITAB to the inhabitants of ÆLIA."
"They shall be protected and secured both in their lives and
fortunes, and their churches shall neither be pulled down nor made
use of by any but themselves." *
Under the government of the Arabians, the pilgrimages
continued steadily to increase; the old and the young, women and
children, flocked in crowds to Jerusalem, and in the year 1064 the
Holy Sepulchre was visited by an enthusiastic band of seven
thousand pilgrims, headed by the Archbishop of Mentz and the
Bishops of Utrecht, Bamberg, and Ratisbon. † The year following,
however, Jerusalem was conquered by the wild Turcomans. Three
thousand of the citizens were indiscriminately massacred, and the
hereditary command over the Holy City and territory was confided to
the Emir Ortok, the chief of a savage pastoral tribe.
Under the iron yoke of these fierce Northern strangers, the
Christians were fearfully oppressed; they were driven from their
churches; divine worship was ridiculed and interrupted; and the
patriarch of the Holy City was dragged by the hair of his bead over
the sacred pavement of the church of the Resurrection, and cast
into a dungeon, to extort a ransom from the sympathy of his flock.
The pilgrims who, through innumerable perils, had reached the gates
of the Holy City, were plundered, imprisoned, and frequently
massacred; an aureus, or piece of gold, was exacted as the price of
admission to the holy sepulchre, and many, unable to pay the tax,
were driven by the swords of the Turcomans from the very threshold
of the object of all their hopes, the bourne of their long
pilgrimage, and were compelled to retrace their weary steps in
sorrow and anguish to their distant homes. * The melancholy
intelligence of the profanation of the holy places, and of the
oppression and cruelty of the Turcomans, aroused the religious
chivalry of Christendom; "a nerve was touched of exquisite feeling,
and the sensation vibrated to the heart of Europe."
Then arose the wild enthusiasm of the crusades; men of all
ranks, and even monks and priests, animated by the exhortations of
the pope and the preachings of Peter the Hermit, flew to arms, and
enthusiastically undertook "the pious and glorious enterprize" of
rescuing the holy sepulchre of Christ from the foul abominations of
the heathen.
When intelligence of the capture of Jerusalem by the
Crusaders (A.D. 1099) had been conveyed to Europe, the zeal of
pilgrimage blazed forth with increased fierceness; it had gathered
intensity from the interval of its suppression by the wild
Turcomans, and promiscuous crowds of both sexes, old men and
children, virgins and matrons, thinking the road then open and the
journey practicable, successively pressed forwards towards the Holy
City, with the passionate desire of contemplating the original
monuments of the Redemption. * The infidels had indeed been driven
out of Jerusalem, but not out of Palestine. The lofty mountains
bordering the sea-coast were infested by bold and warlike bands of
fugitive Mussulmen, who maintained themselves in various
impregnable castles and strongholds, from whence they issued forth
upon the high-roads, cut off the communication between Jerusalem
and the sea-ports, and revenged themselves for the loss of their
habitations and property by the indiscriminate pillage of all
travellers. The Bedouin horsemen, moreover, making rapid incursions
from beyond the Jordan, frequently kept up a desultory and
irregular warfare in the plains; and the pilgrims, consequently,
whether they approached the Holy City by land or by sea, were alike
exposed to almost daily hostility, to plunder, and to death.
To alleviate the dangers and distresses to which these pious
enthusiasts were exposed, to guard the honour of the saintly
virgins and matrons, † and to protect the gray hairs of the
venerable palmer, nine noble knights formed a holy brotherhood in
arms, and entered into a solemn compact to aid one another in
clearing the highways of infidels, and of robbers, and in
protecting the pilgrims through the passes and defiles of the
mountains to the Holy City. Warmed with the religious and military
fervour of the day, and animated by the sacredness of the cause to
which they had devoted their swords, they called themselves the
Poor Fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ. They renounced the world and
its pleasures, and in the holy church of the Resurrection, in the
presence of the patriarch of Jerusalem, they embraced vows of
perpetual chastity, obedience, and poverty, after the manner of
monks. * Uniting in themselves the two most popular qualities of
the age, devotion and valour, and exercising them in the most
popular of all enterprises, the protection of the pilgrims and of
the road to the holy sepulchre, they speedily acquired a vast
reputation and a splendid renown.
At first, we are told, they had no church and no particular
place of abode, but in the year of our Lord 1118, (nineteen years
after the conquest of Jerusalem by the Crusaders,) they had
rendered such good and acceptable service to the Christians, that
Baldwin the Second, king of Jerusalem, granted them a place of
habitation within the sacred inclosure of the Temple on Mount
Moriah, amid those holy and magnificent structures, partly erected
by the christian Emperor Justinian, and partly built by the Caliph
Omar, which were then exhibited by the monks and priests of
Jerusalem, whose restless zeal led them to practise on the
credulity of the pilgrims, and to multiply relics and all objects
likely to be sacred in their eyes, as the Temple of Solomon, whence
the Poor Fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ came thenceforth to be
known by the name of "the Knighthood of the Temple of Solomon." †
A few remarks in elucidation of the name Templars, or Knights
of the Temple, may not be altogether unacceptable.
By the Mussulmen, the site of the great Jewish temple on
Mount Moriah has always been regarded with peculiar veneration.
Mahomet, in the first year of the publication of the Koran,
directed his followers, when at prayer, to turn their faces towards
it, and pilgrimages have constantly been made to the holy spot by
devout Moslems. On the conquest of Jerusalem by the Arabians, it
was the first care of the Caliph Omar to rebuild "the Temple of the
Lord." Assisted by the principal chieftains of his army, the
Commander of the Faithful undertook the pious office of clearing
the ground with his own hands, and of tracing out the foundations
of the magnificent mosque which now crowns with its dark and
swelling dome the elevated summit of Mount Moriah. *
This great house of prayer, the most holy Mussulman Temple in
the world after that of Mecca, is erected over the spot where
"Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount
Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place
that David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Oman the
Jebusite." It remains to this day in a state of perfect
preservation, and is one of the finest specimens of Saracenic
architecture in existence. It is entered by four spacious doorways,
each door facing one of the cardinal points; the Bab el D'jannat,
or gate of the garden, on the north; the Bab el Kebla, or gate of
prayer, on the south; the Bab ib’n el Daoud, or the gate of the son
of David, on the east; and the Bab el Garbi, on the west. By the
Arabian geographers it is called Beit Allah, the house of God, also
Beit Almokaddas, or Beit Almacdes, the holy house. From it
Jerusalem derives its Arabic name, el Kods, the holy, el Schereef,
the noble, and el Mobarek, the blessed; while the governors of the
city, instead of the customary high-sounding titles of sovereignty
and dominion, take the simple title of Hami, or protectors.
On the conquest of Jerusalem by the crusaders, the crescent
was torn down from the summit of this famous Mussulman Temple, and
was replaced by an immense golden cross, and the edifice was then
consecrated to the services of the christian religion, but retained
its simple appellation of "The Temple of the Lord." William,
Archbishop of Tyre and Chancellor of the Kingdom of Jerusalem,
gives an interesting account of this famous edifice as it existed
in his time, during the Latin dominion. He speaks of the splendid
mosaic work, of the Arabic characters setting forth the name of the
founder, and the cost of the undertaking, and of the famous rock
under the centre of the dome, which is to this day shown by the
Moslems as the spot whereon the destroying angel stood, " with his
drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem." * This rock
he informs us was left exposed and uncovered for the space of
fifteen years after the conquest of the holy city by the crusaders,
but was, after that period, cased with a handsome altar of white
marble, upon which the priests daily said mass.
To the south of this holy Mussulman temple, on the extreme
edge of the summit of Mount Moriah, and resting against the modern
walls of the town of Jerusalem, stands the venerable christian
church of the Virgin, erected by the Emperor Justinian, whose
stupendous foundations, remaining to this day, fully justify the
astonishing description given of the building by Procopius. That
writer informs us that in order to get a level surface for the
erection of the edifice, it was necessary, on the east and south
sides of the hill, to raise up a wall of masonry from the valley
below, and to construct a vast foundation, partly composed of solid
stone and partly of arches and pillars. The stones were of such
magnitude, that each block required to be transported in a truck
drawn by forty of the emperor's strongest oxen; and to admit of the
passage of these trucks it was necessary to widen the roads leading
to Jerusalem. The forests of Lebanon yielded their choicest cedars
for the timbers of the roof, and a quarry of variegated marble,
seasonably discovered in the adjoining mountains, furnished the
edifice with superb marble columns. * The interior of this
interesting structure, which still remains at Jerusalem, after a
lapse of more than thirteen centuries, in an excellent state of
preservation, is adorned with six rows of columns, from whence
spring arches supporting the cedar beams and timbers of the roof;
and at the end of the building is a round tower, surmounted by a
dome. The vast stones, the walls of masonry, and the subterranean
colonnade raised to support the south-east angle of the platform
whereon the church is erected, are truly wonderful, and may still
be seen by penetrating through a small door, and descending several
flights of steps at the south-east corner of the inclosure.
Adjoining the sacred edifice, the emperor erected hospitals, or
houses of refuge, for travellers, sick people, and mendicants of
all nations; the foundations whereof, composed of handsome Roman
masonry, are still visible on either side of the southern end of
the building.
On the conquest of Jerusalem by the Moslems, this venerable
church was converted into a mosque, and was called D’jamé al Acsa;
it was enclosed, together with the great Mussulman Temple of the
Lord erected by the Caliph Omar, within a large area by a high
stone wall, which runs around the edge of the summit of Mount
Moriah, and guards from the profane tread of the unbeliever the
whole of that sacred ground whereon once stood the gorgeous temple
of the wisest of kings. *
When the Holy City was taken by the crusaders, the D’jamé al
Acsa, with the various buildings constructed around it, became the
property of the kings of Jerusalem; and is denominated by William
of Tyre "the palace," or "royal house to the south of the Temple of
the Lord, vulgarly called the Temple of Solomon." † It was this
edifice or temple on Mount Moriah which was appropriated to the use
of the poor fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ, as they had no church
and no particular place of abode, and from it they derived their
name of Knights Templars. *
James of Vitry, Bishop of Acre, who gives an interesting
account of the holy places, thus speaks of the Temple of the
Knights Templars. "There is, moreover, at Jerusalem another temple
of immense spaciousness and extent, from which the brethren of the
knighthood of the Temple derive their name of Templars, which is
called the Temple of Solomon, perhaps to distinguish it from the
one above described, which is specially called the Temple of the
Lord. " † He moreover informs us in his oriental history, that "in
the Temple of the Lord there is an abbot and canons regular; and be
it known that the one is the Temple of the Lord, and the other the
Temple of the Chivalry. These are clerks, the others are knights."
‡
The canons of the Temple of the Lord conceded to the poor
fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ the large court extending between
that building and the Temple of Solomon; the king, the patriarch,
and the prelates of Jerusalem, and the barons of the Latin kingdom,
assigned them various gifts and revenues for their maintenance and
support, § and the order being now settled in a regular place of
abode, the knights soon began to entertain more extended views, and
to seek a larger theatre for the exercise of their holy profession.
Their first aim and object had been, as before mentioned,
simply to protect the poor pilgrims, on their journey backwards and
forwards, from the sea-coast to Jerusalem; * but as the hostile
tribes of Mussulmen, which everywhere surrounded the Latin kingdom,
were gradually recovering from the stupifying terror into which
they had been plunged by the successful and exterminating warfare
of the first crusaders, and were assuming an aggressive and
threatening attitude, it was determined that the holy warriors of
the Temple should, in addition to the protection of pilgrims, make
the defence of the christian kingdom of Jerusalem, of the eastern
church, and of all the holy places, a part of their particular
profession.
The two most distinguished members of the fraternity were
Hugh de Payens and Geoffrey de St. Aldemar, or St. Omer, two
valiant soldiers of the cross, who had fought with great credit and
renown at the siege of Jerusalem. Hugh de Payens was chosen by the
knights to be the superior of the new religious and military
society, by the title of "The Master of the Temple;" and he has,
consequently, generally been called the founder of the order.
The name and reputation of the Knights Templars speedily
spread throughout Europe, and various illustrious pilgrims from the
far west aspired to become members of the holy fraternity. Among
these was Falk, Count of Anjou, who joined the society as a married
brother, (A.D. 1120,) and annually remitted the order thirty pounds
of silver. Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, foreseeing that great
advantages would accrue to the Latin kingdom by the increase of the
power and numbers of these holy warriors, exerted himself to extend
the order throughout all Christendom, so that he might, by means of
so politic an institution, keep alive the holy enthusiasm of the
west, and draw a constant succour from the bold and warlike races
of Europe for the support of his christian throne and kingdom.
St. Bernard, the holy abbot of Clairvaux, had been a great
admirer of the Templars. He wrote a letter to the Count of
Champagne, on his entering the order, (A.D. 1123,) praising the act
as one of eminent merit in the sight of God; and it was determined
to enlist the all-powerful influence of this great ecclesiastic in
favour of the fraternity. "By a vow of poverty and penance, by
closing his eyes against the visible world, by the refusal of all
ecclesiastical dignities, the Abbot of Clairvaux became the oracle
of Europe, and the founder of one hundred and sixty convents.
Princes and pontiffs trembled at the freedom of his apostolical
censures: France, England, and Milan, consulted and obeyed his
judgment in a schism of the church: the debt was repaid by the
gratitude of Innocent the Second; and his successor, Eugenics the
Third, was the friend and disciple of the holy St. Bernard." *
To this learned and devout prelate two knights templars were
despatched with the following letter:
"Baldwin, by the grace of the Lord JESUS CHRIST, King of
Jerusalem, and Prince of Antioch, to the venerable Father Bernard,
Abbot of Clairvaux, health and regard.
"The Brothers of the Temple, whom the Lord hath deigned to
raise up, and whom by an especial Providence he preserves for the
defence of this kingdom, desiring to obtain from the Holy See the
confirmation of their institution, and a rule for their particular
guidance, we have determined to send to you the two knights, Andrew
and Gondemar, men as much distinguished by their military exploits
as by the splendour of their birth, to obtain from the Pope the
approbation of their order, and to dispose his holiness to send
succour and subsidies against the enemies of the faith, reunited in
their design to destroy us, and to invade our christian
territories.
"Well knowing the weight of your mediation with God and his
vicar upon earth, as well as with the princes and powers of Europe,
we have thought fit to confide to yon these two important matters,
whose successful issue cannot be otherwise than most agreeable to
ourselves. The statutes we ask of you should be so ordered and
arranged as to be reconcilable with the tumult of the camp and the
profession of arms; they must, in fact, be of such a nature as to
obtain favour and popularity with the christian princes.
"Do you then so manage, that we may, through you, have the
happiness of seeing this important affair brought to a successful
issue, and address for us to heaven the incense of your prayers." *
Soon after the above letter had been despatched to St.
Bernard, Hugh de Payens himself proceeded to Rome, accompanied by
Geoffrey de St. Aldemar, and four other brothers of the order, viz.
Brother Payen de Montdidier, Brother Gorall, Brother Geoffrey
Bisol, and Brother Archambauld de St. Amand. They were received
with great honour and distinction by Pope Honorius, who warmly
approved of the objects and designs of the holy fraternity. St.
Bernard had, in the mean time, taken the affair greatly to heart;
he negotiated with the Pope, the legate, and the bishops of France,
and obtained the convocation of a great ecclesiastical council at
Troyes, (A.D. 11280 which Hugh de Payens and his brethren were
invited to attend. This council consisted of several archbishops,
bishops, and abbots, among which last was St. Bernard himself. The
rules to which the Templars had subjected themselves were there
described by the master, and to the holy Abbot of Clairvaux was
confided the task of revising and correcting these rules, and of
framing a code of statutes fit and proper for the governance of the
great religious and military fraternity of the Temple.
Footnotes2:* Elmacin, Hist. Saracen. Eutychius.
2:† Ingulphus, the secretary of William the Conqueror, one of
the number, states that he sallied forth from Normandy with thirty
companions, all stout and well-appointed horsemen, and that they
returned twenty miserable palmers, with the staff in their hand and
the wallet at their back.--Baronius ad ann. 1064, No. 43, 56.
3:* Will. Tyr., lib. i. cap. 10, ed. 1564.
4:* Omnibus mundi partibus divites et pauperes, juvenes et
virgines, senes cum junioribus, loca sancta visitaturi Hierosolymam
pergerent.--Jac. de Vitriaco. Hist. Hierosol. cap. lxv.
4:† "To kiss the holy monuments," says William of Tyre, "came
sacred and chaste widows, forgetful of feminine fear, and the
multiplicity of dangers that beset their path."--Lib. xviii. cap.
5.
5:* Quidam autem Deo amabiles et devoti milites, charitate
ferventes, mundo renuatiantes, et Christi se servitio mancipantes
in manu Patriarchæ Hierosolymitani professione et voto solemni sere
astrinxerunt, ut a prædictis latronibus, et viris sanguinum,
defenderent peregrinos, et stratas publicas custodirent, more
canonicorum regularium in obedientia et castitate et sine proprio
militaturi summo regi. Jac. de Vitr. Hist. Hierosol. apud Gesta Dei
per Francos, cap. lxv. p. 1083.--Will. Tyr. lib. xii. cap. 7. There
were three kinds of poverty. The first and strictest (altissima)
admitted not of the possession of any description of property
whatever. The second (media) forbade the possession of individual
property, but sanctioned any amount of wealth when shared by a
fraternity in common. The lowest was where a separate property in
some few things was allowed, such as food and clothing, whilst
everything else was shared in common. The second kind of poverty
(media) was adopted by the Templars.
5:† Pantaleon, lib. iii. p. 82.
6:* D’Herbelot Bib. Orient. p. 270, 687, ed. 1697. William of
Tyre, who lived at Jerusalem shortly after the conquest of the city
by the Crusaders, tells us that the Caliph Omar required the
Patriarch Sophronius to point out to him the site of the temple
destroyed by Titus, which being done, the caliph immediately
commenced the erection of a fresh temple thereon, "Quo postea infra
modicum tempus juxta conceptum mentis suæ feliciter consummato,
quale hodie Hierosolymis esse dinoscitur, multis et infinites
ditavit possessionibus."--Will. Tyr. lib. i. cap. 2.
7:* Erant porro in eodem Templi ædificio, intus et extra ex
opere musaico, Arabici idiomatis literarum vetustissima monimenta,
quibus et auctor et imperarum quantitas et quo tempore opus
inceptum quodque consummatum fuerit evidenter declaratur. . . . In
hujus superioris areæ medio Templum ædificatum est, forma quidem
octogonum et laterum totidem, tectum habens sphericum plumbo
artificiose copertum. . . . Intus vero in medio Templi, infra
interiorem columnarum ordinem rupes est, &c.--Will. Tyr. lib.
i. cap 2, lib. viii. cap. 3. In hoc loco, supra rupem quæ adhuc in
eodem Templo consistit, dicitur stetisse et apparaisse David
exterminator Angelus. . . . Templum Dominicum in tanta veneratione
habent Saraceni, ut nullus eorum ipsum audeat aliquibus sordibus
maculare; sed a remotis et longinquis regionibus, a temporibus
Salomonis usque ad tempora præsentia, veniunt adorare.--Jac. de
Vitr. Hist. Hierosol. cap. lxii. p 1080.
8:* Procopius de ædificiis Justiniani, lib. 5.
9:* Phocas believes the whole space around these buildings to
be the area of the ancient temple. Ἑν τῶ ἀρχαίω δαπεδω τοῦ
περιώνῦμου ναου έκείνοὺ Σὸλομῶντος θεωρουμενοσ . . . Ἔξωθεν δὲ του
ναου ἐστι περιαύλιον μεγα λιθόστωτον τὸ παλαιὸν, ὼς οῖμαι, του
μεγαλου ναου δάπεδον.--Phocæ descript. Terr. Sanc. cap. xiv. Colon.
1653.
9:† Quibus quoniam neque ecclesia erat, neque certum habebant
domicilium, Rex in Palatio suo, quod secus Templum Domini ad
australem habet partem, eis concessit habitaculum.--Will. Tyr. lib.
xii. cap. 7. And in another place, speaking of the Temple of the
Lord, he says, Ab Austro vero domum habet Regiam, quæ vulgari
appellatione Templum Salomonis dicitur.--Ib. lib, viii. cap. 3.
10:* Qui quoniam juxta Templum Domini, ut prædiximus, in
Palatio regio mansionem habent, fratres militiæ Templi
dicuntur.--Will. Tyr. lib. xii. cap. 7.
10:† Est præterea Hierosolymis Templum aliud immensæ
quantitatis et amplitudinis, a quo fratres militiæ Templi,
Templarii nominantur, quod Templum Salomonis nuncupatur, forsitan
ad distinctionem alterius quod specialiter Templum Domini
appellatur.--Jac. de Vitr. cap. 62.
10:‡ In Templo Domini abbas est et canonici regulares, et
sciendum est quod aliud est Templum Domini, aliud Templum militiæ.
Isti clerici, illi milites.--Hist. Orient. Jac de Vitr. apud
Thesaur. Nov. Anecd. Martene, tom. iii. col. 277.
10:§ Will. Tyr. lib. xii. cap. 7.
11:* Prima autem eorum professio quodque eis a domino
Patriarcha et reliquis episcopis in remissionem peccatorum
injunctum est, ut vias et itinera, ad salutem peregrinorum contra
latronum et incursantium insidias, pro viribus conservarent.--Will.
Tyr. lib. xii. cap. 7.
12:* Gibbon.
13:* Reg. Constit. et Privileg. Ordinis Cisterc. p. 447.
CHAPTER II. Regula Pauperum Commilitonum Christi et Templi Salomonis. *
"Parmi les contradictions qui entrent dans le gouvernement de
ce monde ce n’en est pas un petite que cette institution de moines
armées qui font vœu de vivre là a fois en anachoretes et en
soldats."--Voltaire sur les Mœurs et l’Esprit des Nations."THE RULE OF THE POOR FELLOW-SOLDIERS OF JESUS CHRIST AND OF
THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON," arranged by St. Bernard, and sanctioned by
the Holy Fathers of the Council of Troyes, for the government and
regulation of the monastic and military society of the Temple, is
principally of a religious character, and of an austere and gloomy
cast. It is divided into seventy-two heads or chapters, and is
preceded by a short prologue, addressed "to all who disdain to
follow after their own wills, and desire with purity of mind to
fight for the most high and true king," exhorting them to put on
the armour of obedience, and to associate themselves together with
piety and humility for the defence of the holy catholic church; and
to employ a pure diligence, and a steady perseverance in the
exercise of their sacred profession, so that they might share in
the happy destiny reserved for the holy warriors who had given up
their lives for Christ.
The rule enjoins severe devotional exercises,
self-mortification, fasting, and prayer, and a constant attendance
at matins, vespers, and on all the services of the church, "that
being refreshed and satisfied with heavenly food, instructed and
stablished with heavenly precepts, after the consummation of the
divine mysteries," none might be afraid of the fight, but be
prepared for the crown. If unable to attend the regular service of
God, the absent brother is for matins to say over thirteen
pater-nosters, for every hour seven, and for vespers nine. When any
templar draweth nigh unto death, the chaplains and clerk are to
assemble and offer up a solemn mass for his soul; the surrounding
brethren are to spend the night in prayer, and a hundred
pater-nosters are to be repeated for the dead brother. "Moreover,"
say the holy Fathers, "we do strictly enjoin you, that with divine
and most tender charity ye do daily bestow as much meat and drink
as was given to that brother when alive, unto some poor man for
forty days." The brethren are, on all occasions, to speak
sparingly, and to wear a grave and serious deportment. They are to
be constant in the exercise of charity and almsgiving, to have a
watchful care over all sick brethren, and to support and sustain
all old men. They are not to receive letters from their parents,
relations, or friends, without the license of the master, and all
gifts are immediately to be taken to the latter, or to the
treasurer, to be disposed of as he may direct. They are, moreover,
to receive no service or attendance from a woman, and are
commanded, above all things, to shun feminine kisses.
There is much that is highly praiseworthy in this rule, and
some extracts therefrom will be read with interest.
"VIII. In one common hall, or refectory, we will that you
take meat together, where, if your wants cannot be made known by
signs, ye are softly and privately to ask for what you want. If at
any time the thing you require is not to be found, you must seek it
with all gentleness, and with submission and reverence to the
board, in remembrance of the words of the apostle: Eat thy bread in
silence, and in emulation of the psalmist, who says, I have set a
watch upon my mouth; that is, I have communed with myself that I
may not offend, that is, with my tongue; that is, I have guarded my
mouth, that I may not speak evil.
"IX. At dinner and at supper, let there be always some sacred
reading. If we love the Lord, we ought anxiously to long for, and
we ought to hear with most earnest attention, his wholesome words
and precepts . .
"X. Let a repast of flesh three times a week suffice you,
excepting at Christmas, or Faster, or the feast of the Blessed
Mary, or of All Saints. . . . . On Sunday we think it clearly
fitting and expedient that two messes of flesh should be served up
to the knights and the chaplains. But let the rest, to wit, the
esquires and retainers, remain contented with one, and be thankful
therefor.
"XI. Two and two ought in general to eat together, that one
may have an eye upon another . . . . . .
"XII. On the second and fourth days of the week, and upon
Saturday, we think two or three dishes of pulse, or other
vegetables, will be sufficient for all of you, and so we enjoin it
to be observed; and whosoever cannot eat of the one may feed upon
the other.
"XIII. But on the sixth day (Friday) we recommend the Lenten
food, in reverence of the Passion, to all of you, excepting such as
be sick; and from the feast of All Saints until Easter, it must be
eaten but once a day, unless it happen to be Christmas-day, or the
feast of Saint Mary, or of the Apostles, when they may eat thereof
twice; and so at other times, unless a general fast should take
place.
"XIV. After dinner and supper, we peremptorily command thanks
to be given to Christ, the great Provider of all things, with a
humble heart, as it becomes you, in the church, if it be near at
hand, and if it be not, in the place where food has been eaten. The
fragments (the whole loaves being reserved) should be given with
brotherly charity to the domestics, or to poor people. And so we
order it.
"XV. Although the reward of poverty, which is the kingdom of
heaven, be doubtless due unto the poor, yet we command you to give
daily unto the almoner the tenth of your bread for distribution, a
thing which the Christian religion assuredly recommends as regards
the poor.
"XVI. When the sun leaveth the eastern region, and descends
into the west, at the ringing of the bell, or other customary
signal, ye must all go to compline (evening prayer;) but we wish
you beforehand to take a general repast. But this repast we leave
to the regulation and judgment of the Master, that when he pleaseth
you may have water, and when he commandeth you may receive it
kindly tempered with wine: but this must not be done too
plentifully, but sparingly, because we see even wise men fall away
through wine.
"XVII. The compline being ended, you must go to bed. After
the brothers have once departed from the hall, it must not be
permitted any one to speak in public, except it be upon urgent
necessity. But whatever is spoken must be said in an under tone by
the knight to his esquire. Perchance, however, in the interval
between prayers and sleep, it may behove you, from urgent
necessity, no opportunity having occurred during the day, to speak
on some military matter, or concerning the state of your house,
with some portion of the brethren, or with the Master, or with him
to whom the government of the house has been confided: this, then,
we order to be done in conformity with that which hath been
written: In many words thou shalt not avoid sin; and in another
place, Life and death are in the hands of the tongue. In that
discourse, therefore, we utterly prohibit scurrility and idle words
moving unto laughter, and on going to bed, if any one amongst you
hath uttered a foolish saying, we enjoin him, in all humility, and
with purity of devotion, to repeat the Lord's Prayer.
"XVIII. We do not require the wearied soldiers to rise to
matins, as it is plain the others must, but with the assent of the
Master, or of him who hath been put in authority by the Master,
they may take their rest; they must, nevertheless, sing thirteen
appointed prayers, so that their minds be in unison with their
voices, in accordance with that of the prophet: Sing wisely unto
the Lord, and again, I will sing unto thee in the sight of the
angels. This, however, should always be left to the judgment of the
Master . . . . . . . .
"XX. . . . . . . To all the professed knights, both in winter
and summer, we give, if they can be procured, white garments, that
those who have cast behind them a dark life may know that they are
to commend themselves to their Creator by a pure and white life.
For what is whiteness but perfect chastity, and chastity is the
security of the soul and the health of the body. And unless every
knight shall continue chaste, he shall not come to perpetual rest,
nor see God, as the apostle Paul witnesseth: Follow after peace
with all men, and chastity, without which no man shall see God. . .
. . . .
"XXI. . . . . . . Let all the esquires and retainers be
clothed in black garments; but if such cannot be found, let them
have what can be procured in the province where they live, so that
they be of one colour, and such as is of a meaner character, viz.
brown.
"XXII. It is granted to none to wear white habits, or to have
white mantles, excepting the above-named knights of Christ.
"XXIII. We have decreed in common council, that no brother
shall wear skins or cloaks, or anything serving as a covering for
the body in the winter, even the cassock made of skins, except they
be the skins of lambs or of rams. . . . . . . .
"XXV. If any brother wisheth as a matter of right, or from
motives of pride, to have the fairest or best habit, for such
presumption without doubt he merits the very worst.
"XXX. To each one of the knights let there be allotted three
horses. The noted poverty of the House of God, and of the Temple of
Solomon, does not at present permit an increase of the number,
unless it be with the license of the Master .
"XXXI. For the same reason we grant unto each knight only one
esquire; but if that esquire serve any knight gratis, and for
charity, it is not lawful to chide him, nor to strike him for any
fault.
"XXXII. We order you to purchase for all the knights desiring
to serve Christ in purity of spirit, horses fit for their daily
occasions, and whatever is necessary for the due discharge of their
profession. And we judge it fitting and expedient to have the
horses valued by either party equally, and let the price be kept in
writing, that it may not be forgotten. And whatsoever shall be
necessary for the knight, or his horses, or his esquire, adding the
furniture requisite for the horses, let it be bestowed out of the
same house, according to the ability of that house. If, in the
meanwhile, by some mischance it should happen that the knight has
lost his horses in the service, it is the duty of the Master and of
the house to find him others; but, on this being done, the knight
himself, through the love of God, should pay half the price, the
remainder, if it so please him, he may receive from the community
of the brethren.
"XXXIII. . . . . . . . . It is to be holden, that when
anything shall have been enjoined by the Master, or by him to whom
the Master hath given authority, there must be no hesitation, but
the thing must be done without delay, as though it had been
enjoined from heaven: as the truth itself says, In the hearing of
the ear he hath obeyed me. . . . . . . . .
"XXXV. . . . . . . . . When in the field, after they shall
have been sent to their quarters, no knight, or esquire, or
servant, shall go to the quarters of other knights to see them, or
to speak to them, without the order of the superior before
mentioned. We, moreover, in council, strictly command, that in this
house, ordained of God, no man shall make war or make peace of his
own free will, but shall wholly incline himself to the will of the
Master, so that he may follow the saying of the Lord, I came not to
do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
. . . . . . . .
.
"XXXVII. We will not that gold or silver, which is the mark
of private wealth, should ever be seen on your bridles,
breastplates, or spurs, nor should it be permitted to any brother
to buy such. If, indeed, such like furniture shall have been
charitably bestowed upon you, the gold and silver must be so
coloured, that its splendour and beauty may not impart to the
wearer an appearance of arrogance beyond his fellows.
. . . . . . . .
.
"XL. Bags and trunks, with locks and keys, are not granted,
nor can any one have them without the license of the Master, or of
him to whom the business of the house is intrusted after the
Master. In this regulation, however, the procurators (preceptors)
governing in the different provinces are not understood to be
included, nor the Master himself.
"XLI. It is in nowise lawful for any of the brothers to
receive letters from his parents, or from any man, or to send
letters, without the license of the Master, or of the procurator.
After the brother shall have had leave, they must be read in the
presence of the Master, if it so pleaseth him. If, indeed, anything
whatever shall have been directed to him from his parents, let him
not presume to receive it until information has been first given to
the Master. But in this regulation the Master and the procurators
of the houses are not included.
"XLII. Since every idle word is known to beget sin, what can
those who boast of their own faults say before the strict Judge?
The prophet showeth wisely, that if we ought sometimes to be
silent, and to refrain from good discourse for the sake of silence,
how much the rather should we refrain from evil words, on account
of the punishment of sin. We forbid therefore, and we resolutely
condemn, all tales related by any brother, of the follies and
irregularities of which he hath been guilty in the world, or in
military matters, either with his brother or with any other man. It
shall not be permitted him to speak with his brother of the
irregularities of other men, nor of the delights of the flesh with
miserable women; and if by chance he should hear another
discoursing of such things, he shall make him silent, or with the
swift foot of obedience he shall depart from him as soon as he is
able, and shall lend not the ear of the heart to the vender of idle
tales.
"XLIII. If any gift shall be made to a brother, let it be
taken to the Master or the treasurer. If, indeed, his friend or his
parent will consent to make the gift only on condition that he
useth it himself, he must not receive it until permission hath been
obtained from the Master. And whosoever shall have received a
present, let it not grieve him if it be given to another. Yea, let
him know assuredly, that if he be angry at it, he striveth against
God.
. . . . . . . .
.
"XLVI. We are all of opinion that none of you should dare to
follow the sport of catching one bird with another: for it is not
agreeable unto religion for you to be addicted unto worldly
delights, but rather willingly to hear the precepts of the Lord,
constantly to kneel down to prayer, and daily to confess your sins
before God with sighs and tears. Let no brother, for the above
especial reason, presume to go forth with a man following such
diversions with a hawk, or with any other bird.
XLVII. Forasmuch as it becometh all religion to behave
decently and humbly without laughter, and to speak sparingly but
sensibly, and not in a loud tone, we specially command and direct
every professed brother that he venture not to shoot in the woods
either with a long-bow or a cross-bow; and for the same reason,
that he venture not to accompany another who shall do the like,
except it be for the purpose of protecting him from the perfidious
infidel; neither shall he dare to halloo, or to talk to a dog, nor
shall he spur his horse with a desire of securing the game.
. . . . . . . .
.
"LI. Under Divine Providence, as we do believe, this new kind
of religion was introduced by you in the holy places, that is to
say, the union of warfare with religion, so that religion, being
armed, maketh her way by the sword, and smiteth the enemy without
sin. Therefore we do rightly adjudge, since ye are called KNIGHTS
OF THE TEMPLE, that for your renowned merit, and especial gift of
godliness, ye ought to have lands and men, and possess husbandmen
and justly govern them, and the customary services ought to be
specially rendered unto you.
LII. Above all things, a most watchful care is to be bestowed
upon sick brothers, and let their wants be attended to as though
Christ himself was the sufferer, bearing in mind the blessed words
of the Gospel, I was sick, and ye visited me. These are indeed
carefully and patiently to be fostered, for by such is acquired a
heavenly reward.
"LIII. We direct the attendants of those who are sick, with
every attention, and with the most watchful care, diligently and
faithfully to administer to them whatever is necessary for their
several infirmities, according to the ability of the houses, for
example, flesh and fowls and other things, until they are restored
to health.
. . . . . . . .
.
"LV. We permit you to have married brothers in this manner,
if such should seek to participate in the benefit of your
fraternity; let both the man and his wife grant, from and after
their death, their respective portions of property, and whatever
more they acquire in after life, to the unity of the common
chapter; and, in the interim, let them exercise an honest life, and
labour to do good to the brethren: but they are not permitted to
appear in the white habit and white mantle. If the husband dies
first, he must leave his portion of the patrimony to the brethren,
and the wife shall have her maintenance out of the residue, and let
her depart forthwith; for we consider it most improper that such
women should remain in one and the same house with the brethren who
have promised chastity unto God.
"LVI. It is moreover exceedingly dangerous to join sisters
with you in your holy profession, for the ancient enemy hath drawn
many away from the right path to paradise through the society of
women: therefore, dear brothers, that the flower of righteousness
may always flourish amongst you, let this custom from henceforth be
utterly done away with.
. . . . . . . .
.
"LVIII. If any knight out of the mass of perdition, or any
secular man, wisheth to renounce the world and to choose your life
and communion, he shall not be immediately received, but, according
to the saying of Paul, Prove the spirits, whether they be of God;
and if so, let him be admitted. Let the rule, therefore, be read in
his presence; and if he shall have undertaken diligently to obey
the precepts thereof, then, if it please the Master and the
brothers to receive him, let the brothers be called together, and
let him make known with sincerity of mind his desire and petition
unto all. Then, indeed, the term of probation should altogether
rest in the consideration and forethought of the Master, according
to the honesty of life of the petitioner.
"LIX. We do not order all the brothers to be called, in every
instance, to the council, but those only whom the Master shall know
to be circumspect, and fit to give advice; when, however, important
matters are to be treated of, such as the granting of the land of
the fraternity, or when the thing debated immediately affects the
order itself, or when a brother is to be received, then it is fit
that the whole society should be called together, if it please the
Master, and the advice of the common chapter having been heard, the
thing which the Master considereth the best and the most useful,
that let him do. . . . . . . . .
"LXII. Although the rule of the holy fathers sanctions the
dedication of children to a religious life, yet we will not suffer
you to be burdened with them, but he who kindly desireth to give
his own son or his kinsman to the military religion, let him bring
him up until he arrives at an age when he can, with an armed hand,
manfully root out the enemies of Christ from the Holy Land. Then,
in accordance with our rule, let the father or the parents place
him in the midst of the brothers, and lay open his petition to them
all. For it is better not to vow in childhood, lest afterwards the
grown man should foully fall away.
"LXIII. It behoves you to support, with pious consideration,
all old men, according to their feebleness and weakness, and
dutifully to honour them, and let them in nowise be restricted from
the enjoyment of such things as may be necessary for the body; the
authority of the rule, however, being preserved.
"LXIV. The brothers who are journeying through different
provinces should observe the rule, so far as they are able, in
their meat and drink, and let them attend to it in other matters,
and live irreproachably, that they may get a good name out of
doors. Let them not tarnish their religious purpose either by word
or deed; let them afford to all with whom they may be associated,
an example of wisdom, and a perseverance in all good works. Let him
with whom they lodge be a man of the best repute, and, if it be
possible, let not the house of the host on that night be without a
light, lest the dark enemy (from whom God preserve us) should find
some opportunity. But where they shall hear of knights not
excommunicated meeting together, we order them to hasten thither,
not considering so much their temporal profit as the eternal safety
of their souls. . . . . . . . .
"LXVII. If any brother shall transgress in speaking, or
fighting, or in any other light matter, let him voluntarily show
his fault unto the Master by way of satisfaction. If there be no
customary punishment for light faults, let there be a light
penance; but if, he remaining silent, the fault should come to be
known through the medium of another, he must be subjected to
greater and more severe discipline and correction. If indeed the
offence shall be grave, let him be withdrawn from the companionship
of his fellows, let him not eat with them at the same table, but
take his repast alone. The whole matter is left to the judgment and
discretion of the Master, that his soul may be saved at the day of
judgment.
"LXVIII. But, above all things, care must be taken that no
brother, powerful or weak, strong or feeble, desirous of exalting
himself, becoming proud by degrees, or defending his own fault,
remain unchastened. If he showeth a disposition to amend, let a
stricter system of correction be added: but if by godly admonition
and earnest reasoning he will not be amended, but will go on more
and more lifting himself up with pride, then let him be cast out of
the holy flock in obedience to the apostle, Take away evil from
among you. It is necessary that from the society of the Faithful
Brothers the dying sheep be removed. But let the Master, who ought
to hold the staff and the rod in his hand, that is to say, the
staff that he may support the infirmities of the weak, and the rod
that he may with the zeal of rectitude strike down the vices of
delinquents; let him study, with the counsel of the patriarch and
with spiritual circumspection, to act so that, as blessed Maximus
saith, The sinner be not encouraged by easy lenity, nor the sinner
hardened in his iniquity by immoderate severity
"LXXI. Contentions, envyings, spite, murmurings, backbiting,
slander, we command you, with godly admonition, to avoid, and do ye
flee therefrom as from the plague. Let every one of you, therefore,
dear brothers, study with a watchful mind that he do not secretly
slander his brother, nor accuse him, but let him studiously ponder
upon the saying of the apostle, Be not thou an accuser or a
whisperer among the people. But when he knoweth clearly that his
brother hath offended, let him gently and with brotherly kindness
reprove him in private, according to the commandment of the Lord;
and if he will not hear him, let him take to him another brother,
and if he shall take no heed of both, let him be publicly reproved
in the assembly before all. For they have indeed much blindness who
take little pains to guard against spite, and thence become
swallowed up in the ancient wickedness of the subtle adversary.
"LASTLY. We hold it dangerous to all religion to gaze too
much on the countenance of women; and therefore no brother shall
presume to kiss neither widow, nor virgin, nor mother, nor sister,
nor aunt, nor any other woman. Let the knighthood of Christ shun
feminine kisses, through which men have very often been drawn into
danger, so that each, with a pure conscience and secure life, may
be able to walk everlastingly in the sight of God." *
The above rule having been confirmed by a Papal bull, Hugh de
Payens proceeded to France, and from thence he came to England, and
the following account is given of his arrival, in the Saxon
chronicle.
"This same year, (A.D. 1128,) Hugh of the Temple came from
Jerusalem to the king in Normandy, and the king received him with
much honour, and gave him much treasure in gold and silver, and
afterwards he sent him into England, and there he was well received
by all good men, and all gave him treasure, and in Scotland also,
and they sent in all a great sum in gold and silver by him to
Jerusalem, and there went with him and after him so great a number
as never before since the days of Pope Urban." † Grants of land, as
well as of money, were at the same time made to Hugh de Payens and
his brethren, some of which were shortly afterwards confirmed by
King Stephen on his accession to the throne, (A.D. 1135.) Among
these is a grant of the manor of Bistelesham made to the Templars
by Count Robert de Ferrara, and a grant of the church of Langeforde
in Bedfordshire made by Simon de Wahull, and Sibylla his wife, and
Walter their son.
Hugh de Payens, before his departure, placed a Knight Templar
at the head of the order in this country, who was called the Prior
of the Temple, and was the procurator and vicegerent of the Master.
It was his duty to manage the estates granted to the fraternity,
and to transmit the revenues to Jerusalem. He was also delegated
with the power of admitting members into the order, subject to the
control and direction of the Master, and was to provide means of
transport for such newly-admitted brethren to the far east, to
enable them to fulfil the duties of their profession. As the houses
of the Temple increased in number in England, sub-priors came to be
appointed, and the superior of the order in this country was then
called the Grand Prior, and afterwards Master of the Temple.
Many illustrious knights of the best families in Europe
aspired to the habit and the vows, but however exalted their rank,
they were not received within the bosom of the fraternity until
they had proved themselves by their conduct worthy of such a
fellowship. Thus, when Hugh d’Amboise, who had harassed and
oppressed the people of Marmontier by unjust exactions, and had
refused to submit to the judicial decision of the Count of Anjou,
desired to enter the order, Hugh de Payens refused to admit him to
the vows, until he had humbled himself, renounced his pretensions,
and given perfect satisfaction to those whom he had injured. * The
candidates, moreover, previous to their admission, were required to
make reparation and satisfaction for all damage done by them at any
time to churches, and to public or private property.
An astonishing enthusiasm was excited throughout Christendom
in behalf of the Templars; princes and nobles, sovereigns and their
subjects, vied with each other in heaping gifts and benefits upon
them, and scarce a will of importance was made without an article
in it in their favour. Many illustrious persons on their deathbeds
took the vows, that they might be buried in the habit of the order;
and sovereigns, quitting the government of their kingdoms, enrolled
themselves amongst the holy fraternity, and bequeathed even their
dominions to the Master and the brethren of the Temple.
Thus, Raymond Berenger, Count of Barcelona and Provence, at a
very advanced age, abdicating his throne, and shaking off the
ensigns of royal authority, retired to the house of the Templars at
Barcelona, and pronounced his vows (A.D. 1130) before brother Hugh
de Rigauld, the Prior. His infirmities not allowing him to proceed
in person to the chief house of the order at Jerusalem, he sent
vast sums of money thither, and immuring himself in a small cell in
the Temple at Barcelona, he there remained in the constant exercise
of the religious duties of his profession until the day of his
death. * At the same period, the Emperor Lothaire bestowed on the
order a large portion of his patrimony of Supplinburg; and the year
following, (A.D. 1131,) Alphonso the First, king of Navarre and
Arragon, also styled Emperor of Spain, one of the greatest warriors
of the age, by his will declared the Knights of the Temple his
heirs and successors in the crowns of Navarre and Arragon, and a
few hours before his death he caused this will to be ratified and
signed by most of the barons of both kingdoms. The validity of this
document, however, was disputed, and the claims of the Templars
were successfully resisted by the nobles of Navarre; but in Arragon
they obtained, by way of compromise, lands, and castles, and
considerable dependencies, a portion of the customs and duties
levied throughout the kingdom, and of the contributions raised from
the Moors. *
