The Holy City falls to the Saracens
When in A.D. 637 the Holy City was surrendered to the
Saracens, the caliph Omar gave guarantees for the safety of the
Christian population. Because of this pledge pilgrimages to
Jerusalem still continued to increase. In the year 1064 the Holy
Sepulchre was visited by a total of seven thousand pilgrims, led
by no less than an archbishop and three bishops.
Facts about the Holy City and its fall to the Turcomans
In the year 1065 Jerusalem was taken by the Turcomans, who
massacred three thousand citizens. Terrible oppression of the
Christians in the city followed; the Patriarch of Jerusalem was
dragged by his hair over the sacred pavement of the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre and cast into a dungeon for ransom.
Extortion, imprisonment, and massacre were suffered by the
people of the Holy City.
Facts about the Crusades
So bad were the conditions in Jerusalem, that they aroused a
strong indignant spirit throughout Christendom, Christendom soon
channelled their feelings into a wild enthusiasm for crusades.
In 1099 Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon took Jerusalem back
from the Turcomans. The zeal for the pilgrimage increased
further.
Facts
about the
Poor Fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ
Although Jerusalem was safely delivered, the route through
Palestine was still fraught with danger, it fact it was just as
hazardous for pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem as it had been
before within the City itself. To reduce the dangers to which
the pilgrim were exposed, to guard the honour of female
pilgrims, and to protect the venerable palmers, nine knights
formed a holy brotherhood in arms, and entered into a solemn
contract to aid one another in clearing the highways of dangers,
and in protecting the pilgrims through the passes and mountains
on the route to the Holy City. Warmed by the religious and
military fervour of the day, and empowered by the sacredness of
the cause to which they had devoted their swords, they called
themselves the "Poor Fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ."
Facts about the Knights Templar Vows
The Knights renounced the world and all 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, in the manner as monks.
It combined the two most valued qualities of the age: devotion and
valour. And the Knights exercised them in the most popular of all
enterprises, the protection of the pilgrims and of the road to
the Holy Sepulchre. They soon acquired a vast reputation and a
splendid renown.
Facts about the Knighthood of the Temple of Solomon
At first Knights had no church and no particular place
of to live, but in 1118, nineteen years after the freeing of
Jerusalem by the crusaders, they had given such good service to
the Christians that Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, granted them
a place to live within the sacred enclosure of the Temple on
Mount Moriah, amid the holy and magnificent structures, erected
by the Christian emperor Justinian and the caliph Omar, which
were at that time exhibited by the monks and priests of
Jerusalem as the Temple of Solomon, consequently the "Poor
Fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ" became colloquially known as "the Knighthood
of the Temple of Solomon."
A Bigger Purpose
The first aim and object had been simply to give safe passage to
pilgrims on their journey from the coast to Jerusalem and back;
but as the hostile tribes of Mussulmans, who surrounded the
kingdom, gradually recovered from their war with Godfrey of
Bouillon's crusaders, they began assuming an aggressive and
threatening posture, it was decided that the knights 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 duty.
Facts about the Leading members of the
Knights Templar fraternity
The two most distinguished members of the fraternity were Hugh
de Payens and Geoffrey de St. Aldemar (Omer), two valiant
soldiers of the cross, who had fought with great valour during
the siege of Jerusalem.
Hugh de Payens was chosen by the knights to be the superior of
their new religious and military society, known by the title
"the Master of the Temple"; and he has, consequently, been
generally called the founder of the order.
The Word Spreads
The name and reputation of the Knights Templars quickly
spread throughout Europe, many illustrious pilgrims of the Far
West aspired to become members of the holy fraternity
themselves. Among these was Fulk, Count of Anjou, who joined the
society in 1120 as a married brother, and annually donated
thirty pounds of silver to the Order. Baldwin, King of
Jerusalem, perceived great advantage with the increase of the
power and numbers of the Templars, consequently he vigorously
supported the extension of the order throughout all Christendom,
so that he could keep alive the holy fervour of the West, and
gain military support for both his throne and kingdom from the
warrior races of Europe.
Facts about St. Bernard the Abbot of Clairvaux
St. Bernard, the holy abbot of Clairvaux, was a great admirer
of the Templars. In 1123 He wrote a letter to the Count of
Champagne, on his entering the order, praising the act as one of
eminent merit in the sight of God; based partly on this, it was
determined to enlist the powerful influence of the abbot in
favour of the fraternity. By a vow of poverty and penance, and
the refusal of all ecclesiastical dignities, the abbot of
Clairvaux had become the oracle of Europe, and founded 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 II; and his
successor, Eugenius III, was the friend and disciple of the holy
St. Bernard."
Two Knights Templars delivered this
letter to St. Bernard:
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"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."
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"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 splendor of their birth, to obtain from the Pope the
approbation of their order, and to dispose his holiness to send
succor 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 you 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 favor 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."
Facts about Hugh de Payens meeting
Pope Honorius
Soon after the letter had been despatched to St. Bernard,
Hugh de Payens proceeded to Rome, accompanied by Geoffrey de St.
Aldemar as well as four other brothers of the order: namely,
Brother Payen de Montdidier, Brother Gorall, Brother Geoffrey
Bisol, and Brother Archambauld de St. Armand. They were received
with great honour 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 had
negotiated with the pope, the legate, and the bishops of France,
and obtained, in 1128, the convocation of a great ecclesiastical
council at Troyes, which Hugh de Payens and his brethren were
invited to attend. The council consisted of several archbishops,
bishops, and abbots, last but not least was St. Bernard himself.
Facts about New sanctioned Rule from the
Ecclesiastical Council
The rule to which the Knights Templars had subjected themselves was
described by the master, and to the Holy abbot of Clairvaux who was
given the task of revising and correcting these rules, and of
framing a code of statutes fit and proper for the the great
religious and military fraternity of the Temple.
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, was principally of a religious character. It is divided
into seventy-two chapters, and is preceded by a short prologue
addressed to:
The rule exhorted them to put on the
armour of obedience, and to associate themselves 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 contains 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."
The Templars receive
Gold and Silver
In the same year, Hugh of the Temple came
from Jerusalem to the King in Normandy, and the King received
him with honour and gave him gold and silver, and sent him
to England, and Scotland, in both countries he was given a great
sum in gold and silver to take to Jerusalem.
Grants of land, and of money, were at the same time made to Hugh
de Payens and his brethren, some of whom were shortly afterward
confirmed by King Stephen on his accession to the throne in
1135.
Among these was 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.
Facts about the Knight Templars in England
Hugh de Payens, before leaving England,
placed a Knight Templar at the head of the order in England, who
was called the prior of the temple and was the procurator and
vice-regent 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 to admit new
members into the order, subject of course to the directions of
the master, he was also to provide transport for newly-admitted
brethren to the Far East, enabling them to fulfil their duties.
As the houses of the Temple increased in number in England,
sub-priors were appointed, and the superior of the order was
then called the "Grand Prior," and afterward Master, of the
Temple.
Facts about Joining the Knights Templar Fraternity
- it was not easy
Would be candidates, before they
were admitted, had to make reparations for any damage done by
them, at any time, to churches, public and private property.
Many illustrious knights from the best families in Europe tried
to join, but, however high their rank or standing, they were not
allowed in to the centre of the fraternity until they had proved
themselves by their conduct worthy of such a fellowship.
When Hugh d'Amboise, who was known to have harassed and
oppressed the people of Marmontier unfairly, and refused to
submit to the judicial decision of the Count of Anjou, tried to
enter the order, Hugh de Payens refused to admit him until he
had humbled himself and given satisfaction to all the people he
had treated unfairly.
Christendom enthuses over the Knights
Templar
An astonishing enthusiasm for the Templars soon existed
throughout Christendom; princes and nobles, sovereigns and their
subjects, competed with each other in heaping gifts and benefits
on the Templars, and the will of almost anybody of importance
would leave something to the Templars.
Many important people took the vows on their death-beds, so that
they could be buried in the habit of the order; some sovereigns,
even gave up their kingdoms, enrolling themselves in the holy
fraternity, bequeathing even their kingdoms to the master and
the brethren of the temple.
Facts about the Count of
Barcelona and how the Provence abdicates
Raymond Berenger, Count of Barcelona and Provence, in 1130,
abdicated, and pronounced his vows before the prior of Barcelona
temple, Brother Hugh de Rigauld. His advanced age did not allow
him to proceed in person to Jerusalem, so he sent vast sums of
money instead, he remained in a small cell within the temple in
Barcelona, there undertaking religious duties until his death.
Facts about how Emperor Lothair names the
Knights Templar as
his heirs
Also in 1130, the emperor Lothair gave the Knights Templar order a
substantial part of Supplinburg; and the following year Alphonso
I, King of Navarre and Aragon, and self-styled Emperor of Spain,
declared in his will that the Knights of the Temple were to be
his heirs and successors to the crowns of Navarre and Aragon, a
few hours before his death he had his will ratified and signed
by the majority of the barons of both kingdoms.
The validity of the will, was disputed, and the claims of the
Knights Templar were successfully resisted by the nobles of Navarre;
but in Aragon they obtained, in compromise, lands, castles and
dependencies, a portion of the customs and duties levied
throughout the kingdom, and the contributions raised from the
Moors.
In Praise of the New Chivalry
To increase the popularity of the Knights Templar, and increase their
number with the best and bravest of the European chivalry, St.
Bernard, at the request of Hugh de Payens, wrote on their behalf
in a famous discourse, In Praise of the New Chivalry, the holy
abbot set down, in eloquent and enthusiastic terms, the
spiritual advantages and blessings enjoyed by the military
friars of the temple over all other warriors.
He described the relative situations and circumstances of the
secular soldiery and the soldiery of Christ, and explained how
different in the eyes of God were the bloodshed and slaughter of
the one compared to the other. The extraordinary discourse was
written with great spirit; it was addressed "To Hugh, Knight of
Christ, and Master of the Knighthood of Christ," it contained
fourteen chapters, starting with a short introductory prologue.
It clearly illustrates the spirit of the time. The Holy Abbot
pursued his comparison between a soldier of the world and a
soldier of Christ, the secular, and the religious warrior:
-
"As often as
thou who wagest a secular warfare marchest forth to battle,
it is greatly to be feared lest when thou slayest thine
enemy in the body, he should destroy thee in the spirit, or
lest peradventure thou shouldst be at once slain by him both
in body and soul. From the disposition of the heart, indeed,
not by the event of the fight, is to be estimated either the
jeopardy or the victory of the Christian. If, fighting with
the desire of killing another, thou shouldst chance to get
killed thyself, thou diest a manslayer; if, on the other
hand, thou prevailest, and through a desire of conquest or
revenge killest a man, thou livest a manslayer...."
-
"O unfortunate
victory! when in overcoming thine adversary thou fallest
into sin, and, anger or pride having the mastery over thee,
in vain thou gloriest over the vanquished...."
-
"What,
therefore, is the fruit of this secular, I will not say
militia, but malitia, if the slayer committeth a deadly sin,
and the slain perisheth eternally? Verily, to use the words
of the apostle, he that plougheth should plough in hope, and
he that thresheth should be partaker of his hope. Whence,
therefore, O soldiers, cometh this so stupendous error? What
insufferable madness is this - to wage war with so great
cost and labor, but with no pay except either death or
crime? Ye cover your horses with silken trappings, and I
know not how much fine cloth hangs pendent from your coats
of mail. Ye paint your spears, shields, and saddles; your
bridles and spurs are adorned on all sides with gold and
silver and gems, and with all this pomp, with a shameful
fury and a reckless insensibility, ye rush on to death. Are
these military ensigns, or are they not rather the
garnishments of women? Can it happen that the sharp-pointed
sword of the enemy will respect gold, will it spare gems,
will it be unable to penetrate the silken garment?"
-
"As ye
yourselves have often experienced, three things are
indispensably necessary to the success of the soldier: he
must, for example, be bold, active, and circumspect; quick
in running, prompt in striking; ye, however, to the disgust
of the eye, nourish your hair after the manner of women, ye
gather around your footsteps long and flowing vestures, ye
bury up your delicate and tender hands in ample and
wide-spreading sleeves. Among you indeed naught provoketh
war or awakeneth strife, but either an irrational impulse of
anger or an insane lust of glory or the covetous desire of
possessing another man's lands and possessions. In such
cases it is neither safe to slay nor to be slain.... But the
soldiers of Christ indeed securely fight the battles of
their Lord, in no wise fearing sin, either from the
slaughter of the enemy or danger from their own death. When
indeed death is to be given or received for Christ, it has
naught of crime in it, but much of glory...."
-
"And now for an
example, or to the confusion of our soldiers fighting not
manifestly for God, but for the devil, we will briefly
display the mode of life of the Knights of Christ, such as
it is in the field and in the convent, by which means it
will be made plainly manifest to what extent the soldiery of
God and the soldiery of the World differ from one
another...."
-
"The soldiers of
Christ live together in common in an agreeable but frugal
manner, without wives and without children; and that nothing
may be wanting to evangelical perfection, they dwell
together without property of any kind, in one house, under
one rule, careful to preserve the unity of the spirit in the
bond of peace. You may say that to the whole multitude there
is but one heart and one soul, as each one in no respect
followeth after his own will or desire, but is diligent to
do the will of the Master. They are never idle nor rambling
abroad, but, when they are not in the field, that they may
not eat their bread in idleness, they are fitting and
repairing their armor and their clothing, or employing
themselves in such occupations as the will of the Master
requireth or their common necessities render expedient.
Among them there is no distinction of persons; respect is
paid to the best and most virtuous, not the most noble. They
participate in each other's honor, they bear one anothers'
burdens, that they may fulfil the law of Christ."
-
"An insolent
expression, a useless undertaking, immoderate laughter, the
least murmur or whispering, if found out, passeth not
without severe rebuke. They detest cards and dice, they shun
the sports of the field, and take no delight in the
ludicrous catching of birds (hawking), which men are wont to
indulge in. Jesters and soothsayers and story-tellers,
scurrilous songs, shows, and games, they contemptuously
despise and abominate as vanities and mad follies. They cut
their hair, knowing that, according to the apostle, it is
not seemly in a man to have long hair. They are never
combed, seldom washed, but appear rather with rough
neglected hair, foul with dust, and with skins browned by
the sun and their coats of mail."
-
"Moreover, on
the approach of battle they fortify themselves with faith
within and with steel without, and not with gold, so that,
armed and not adorned, they may strike terror into the
enemy, rather than awaken his lust of plunder. They strive
earnestly to possess strong and swift horses, but not
garnished with ornaments or decked with trappings, thinking
of battle and of victory, and not of pomp and show, studying
to inspire fear rather than admiration...."
-
"Such hath God
chosen for his own, and hath collected together as his
ministers from the ends of the earth, from among the bravest
of Israel, who indeed vigilantly and faithfully guard the
Holy Sepulchre, all armed with the sword, and most learned
in the art of war...."
-
"There is indeed
a temple at Jerusalem in which they dwell together, unequal,
it is true, as a building, to that ancient and most famous
one of Solomon, but not inferior in glory. For truly the
entire magnificence of that consisted in corrupt things, in
gold and silver, in carved stone, and in a variety of woods;
but the whole beauty of this resteth in the adornment of an
agreeable conversation, in the godly devotion of its
inmates, and their beautifully ordered mode of life. That
was admired for its various external beauties, this is
venerated for its different virtues and sacred actions, as
becomes the sanctity of the house of God, who delighteth not
so much in polished marbles as in well-ordered behavior, and
regardeth pure minds more than gilded walls. The face
likewise of this temple is adorned with arms, not with gems,
and the wall, instead of the ancient golden chapiters, is
covered around with pendent shields."
-
"Instead of the
ancient candelabra, censers, and lavers, the house is on all
sides furnished with bridles, saddles, and lances, all which
plainly demonstrate that the soldiers burn with the same
zeal for the house of God as that which formerly animated
their great Leader, when, vehemently enraged, he entered
into the Temple, and with that most sacred hand, armed not
with steel, but with a scourge which he had made of small
thongs, drove out the merchants, poured out the changers'
money, and overthrew the tables of them that sold doves;
most indignantly condemning the pollution of the house of
prayer by the making of it a place of merchandise."
-
"The devout army
of Christ, therefore, earnestly incited by the example of
its king, thinking indeed that the holy places are much more
impiously and insufferably polluted by the infidels than
when defiled by merchants, abide in the holy house with
horses and with arms, so that from that, as well as all the
other sacred places, all filthy and diabolical madness of
infidelity being driven out, they may occupy themselves by
day and by night in honorable and useful offices. They
emulously honor the temple of God with sedulous and sincere
oblations, offering sacrifices therein with constant
devotion, not indeed of the flesh of cattle after the manner
of the ancients, but peaceful sacrifices, brotherly love,
devout obedience, voluntary poverty."
-
"These things
are done perpetually at Jerusalem, and the world is aroused,
the islands hear, and the nations take heed from afar...."
St. Bernard then goes on to congratulate
Jerusalem on the advent of the soldiers of Christ, and declares
that the Holy City will rejoice with a double joy in being rid
of all her oppressors, the ungodly, the robbers, the
blasphemers, murderers, perjurers, and adulterers; and in
receiving her faithful defenders and sweet consolers, under the
shadow of whose protection "Mount Zion shall rejoice, and the
daughters of Judah sing for joy." |