Knights of Templar

    The Knights Templar were the manifestation of a "new chivalry" which united the seemingly incompatible roles of monk and warrior. As the first religious military order, these dedicated men were models for successive orders including the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, later known as the Hospitallers, and the Teutonic Knights of the Hospital of St. Mary, two contemporary, rival brotherhoods. These and other orders, flourishing during the 12th-14th centuries as protectors of the Holy Land, were the first standing troops to be properly trained and commanded in Western Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire (Seward 17). The extraordinary story of the Knights Templar ranges from its humble establishment to a period of extreme prosperity, and, finally, to a tragic, haunting conclusion.

     In 1118 a French Crusader named Hugues de Payens and seven companions appointed themselves protectors of pilgrims in the Holy Land.  Jerusalem's King Baldwin II joined the Patriarch of Jerusalem in support of this small band of men dedicated to Christ, providing them a home in the temple adjoining the royal palace.  Living on alms, they became known as the Poor Knights of the Temple.

     Ten years after its establishment, however, the order's modest fortunes changed. Seeking new recruits, Hugues traveled to France where he met Bernard de Clairvaux, a learned monk who profoundly influenced the Templar order. Bernard shared Hugues' vision of pious warriors and pledged to help him develop a holy knighthood. Following Bernard's recommendation, the Templars vowed to lead obedient, simple lifestyles in accord with the Rule of St. Benedict. They donned the distinctive white vestments of Bernard's Cistercian brotherhood, adding a red cross at the center of the chest (Catholic Encyclopedia 1). Bernard also issued a propaganda piece condemning the practice of secular chivalry. In De Laude Novae Militiae, he redefines the proper motivation and behavior of a chivalrous knight, fixing Christ as the goal of all their toils. "I am very nearly incapable of deciding what I think they should rather be called, monks or knights," writes Bernard, "unless I should perhaps more appropriately name them both, since they apparently lack neither the monk's gentle disposition nor the knight's fierce strength." According to Bernard, "God has elected such men to Himself," carefully choosing and appointing them to fight in His name. These warrior-monks were to wage the "double fight" against evil, spiritually and physically. Killing barbarians was not only permitted, justified as "malacide" rather than homicide, but actually encouraged by the promise of an instant place in heaven. This ideology helped recruit thousands of knights to the order, inspiring acts of courage and heroism since death in battle meant martyrdom.

     In 1139 Pope Innocent II placed the Templars under his own control, exempting the order from taxation and placing them out of the scope of any bishop's authority (Britannica 1). This political and economic autonomy allowed the Templars to prosper, accumulating an estimated 9,000 estates by the mid-12th century (Catholic Encyclopedia 2). During this time the Templars conveyed thousands of pilgrims across the seas to visit the Holy Lands each year, craftily using extra space in the ships to bring tradable goods from one place to another (Seward 46).

     As the order gained numbers, reaching 20,000 brethren at its height, it acquired a hierarchical system of command and local structure.  The Master of the Order was the highest official, chosen by an elaborate voting and lot system. The Master's deputy, called the Seneschal, and the Marshal, who commanded military operations, followed in rank. The Commander of Land and Realm acted as treasurer and managed the navy and estates; the Commander of the City of Jerusalem was Hospitallers, and the Draper kept valuables of the order's wardrobe. Within each temple, or local branch, a commander ruled over four classifications: knights, sergeants, servants, and chaplains (Seward 34).

     Despite their military prominence and thriving establishments throughout Europe, the Templars' conspicuous financial successes began to elicit criticism from both secular and religious observers. The knights were charged with the sins of greed and pride, and these accusations became serious with fall of Acre in 1291. Historical chronicles record the Templars' heroic stand in this epic battle, fighting to their deaths (Nicholson 36). Yet after the city was lost, the Muslims regained the Holy Land as their own, and the Knights Templar were blamed almost exclusively for the loss, for failing to successfully perform their duty as protectors of Christendom. Critics pointed to their allegedly sinful lifestyles as the cause of defeat. Having fallen into corruption, the Templar no longer merited God's support in battle (Nicholson 36).

     After the defeat at Acre, political forces destroyed the Templar order within a quarter century. France's ambitious King Philip the Fair desired to elevate France to a position of greater imminence, but to achieve this goal he needed money and papal submission (Seward 209). Many historians believe Philip's machinations targeted the wealthy Templars as a means to achieve his ends. The secrecy that surrounded the knights' initiation ceremony and monastic lifestyle had produced many unfavorable rumors during their two hundred year existence. On Friday October the 13th, 1307, 15,000 men affiliated with the French Templars, from the Grand Master to the lowest peasant monks, were unlawfully seized and imprisoned. Philip and his chancellor, Guillaume de Nogaret, claimed to hold evidence of heresy, idolatry, and homosexuality within the Templar ranks. The warrior-monks were cruelly tortured in an effort to obtain their confessions. Thirty-six men died during this ordeal, and the majority of those examined confessed to the relatively minor sin of spitting on the Cross. Three confessed to homosexual practices (Seward 212). With these coerced confessions, Philip persuaded Pope Clement II to order the arrest of all Templars in Christendom. By May of 1307 Philip had agreed to hand his prisoners over to Clement for a papal trial. In 1310 the prisoners were again tortured but only four admitted any wrongdoing. A hearing before a commission in Paris was to no avail; the retractors were burned alive as heretics (Seward 218). In 1312 Clement condemned and dissolved the once illustrious order of knights. To Philip's dismay, Clement gave the Templar lands to their rival order Hospitallers. Those knights who had never given in to the pressure to confess were sentenced to life imprisonment. Those who did confess were released with a small pension (Seward 219).
     On March 14th, 1314 the remaining Templar officers were taken to Notre-Dame to receive public sentencing. When it was declared that he should spend life in prison, the Grand Master Jacques de Molay courageously raised his voice so that all could hear what he had to say. The monk admitted to lying in his confession in order to save himself from the agony of torture; though he knew the fate of those who retracted confessions, he publicly pronounced the Order's innocence. More than seventy years old, Molay declared that he would rather die than live in infamy (Seward 221). One other officer joined Molay, and the two were burned alive the following morning (Howarth 307). Legend says that Molay cursed Philip and Clement as he died, promising to summon them to a judgment before God. Both the king and the pope died within the year (Howarth 308).

     The triumph and tragedy of the Knights Templar is a historical version of the Round Table legends. Founded on noble, pure intentions, the Templar grew into a burgeoning, far-flung institution, but its very success propelled it toward destruction. The laws of the idealist orders ask men to be saints, but, as men of the world, they are vulnerable to sin. This is an essential tension of chivalry, especially as it emerges in a Christian world. The Knights Templar represent a chivalric impulse to seek the ideal in the face of opposition, whether it be the Cid's perfect loyalty, the bottomless depth of Tristan's and Iseult's love, or the divine goodness of Christ.

Sources Consulted:

Bernard de Clairvaux. De Laude Novae Militiae. S. Bernadi Opera. Trans.
     David Carbon. Eds. J. Leclercq and H.M. Rochais. Rome, 1963. Online.
     Southern Methodist University. 9 Nov. 1998. Available FTP:
     www.smu.edu/~bwheeler/chivalry/bernard.html.

Howarth, Stephen. The Knights Templar: Christian Chivalry and the
     Crusades: 1094- 1314. New York: Atheneum, 1982.

"Knights Templars." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Online. Infotrack. 9 Nov.
     1998. Available FTP: www.knight.org/advent/cathen/14493a.htm.

Nicholson, Helen. "Saints or sinners? The Knights Templar in medieval
     Europe." History Today 44.12 (1994): 30-37.

Seward, Desmond. The Monks of War: The Military Religious Orders. London:
     Penguin, 1972.

"Templar." Britannica Online. Infotrack. 9 Nov. 1998. Available FTP:
     www.eb.com.