Classes of the Templars--The Knights--Their Qualifications--Mode of
Reception--Dress and Arms of the Knight--Mode of Burial--The
Chaplains--Mode of Reception--Dress--Duties and Privileges--The
Serving-Brethren--Mode of Reception--Their Duties--The
Affiliated--Causes and Advantages of Affiliation--The Donates and
Oblates.
The founders of the order of the Templars were, as we have seen,
knights; and they were the first who conceived the novel idea, and happy
one, as we may call it in accordance with the sentiments of those times,
of uniting in the same person the two characters held in highest
estimation--the knight and the monk. The latter added sanctity to the
former, the former gave dignity and consideration to the latter, in the
eyes of a martial generation. Hence, the Templar naturally regarded
himself as the first of men; and the proudest nobles of the Christian
world esteemed it an honour to belong to the order. The knights were,
therefore, the strength, the flower, the ornament of the society.
The order of the Templars, when it was fully developed, consisted not of
_degrees_, but of distinct and separate _classes_. These were the
knights, the chaplains, and the serving-brethren; to which may be added
the affiliated, the donates, and the oblates, or persons attached to the
order without taking the vows.
I. The Knights.--Whoever presented himself to be received as a knight of
the order must solemnly aver that he was sprung from a knightly family,
and that his father was or might have been a knight. He was further to
prove, that he was born in lawful wedlock, for, like the church in
general, the Templars excluded bastards from their society. In this rule
there was prudence, though, possibly, it was merely established in
accordance with the ideas of the time; for, had a king of France or an
emperor of Germany been able to get his natural child into the order,
and should he then have been chosen Master of it, as he probably would,
it might have lost its independence, and become the mere tool of the
monarch. The candidate was, moreover, to declare that he was free from
all previous obligations; that he was neither married nor betrothed; had
not made any vows, or received any consecration in another order; and
that he was not involved in debt. He had finally to declare himself to
be of a sound and healthy constitution, and free from disease. When the
order was grown great and powerful, and candidates for admission were
numerous and of the highest families, it became the custom to require
the payment of a large fee on admission.
It was necessary that the candidate for admission among the knights of
the Temple should already be a knight; for as knighthood was a secular
honour, the order would have regarded it as derogating from its dignity
if any of its members were to receive it. The Hospitallers and Teutonic
knights thought differently, and with them the aspirant was knighted on
his admission. If the candidate Templar, therefore, had not been
knighted, he was obliged to receive knighthood, in the usual manner,
from a secular knight, or a bishop, previous to taking his vows.
A noviciate forms an essential and reasonable part of the course of
admission into the spiritual orders in general; for it is but right that
a person should become, in some measure, acquainted with the rules and
duties of a society before he enters it. But, though the original rule
of the Templars enjoined a noviciate, it was totally neglected in
practice; a matter which was afterwards made one of the charges against
the order. Perhaps there was in their case little necessity for this
preparatory process; the Templars were so much in the world, and those
who joined them had been in general so frequently among them, and were
consequently so well acquainted with their mode of life, that they
hardly required any such preliminary discipline to familiarize them with
their duties. The neglect of the practice at the same time gave the
Templars an advantage over the rival orders who enjoined it; for a young
nobleman would, in all likelihood, feel most disposed to join the
society into which he could be admitted at once; and perhaps no small
part of the corruption of the Templars, in which they undoubtedly
surpassed their rivals, may be ascribed to the facility which was thus
afforded to unworthy persons entering among them.
With respect to the age at which persons were admitted, it is plain,
from the previously required reception of knighthood, that it must have
been that of adolescence or manhood. All that is said by the statutes
is, that no child could be received; and that the parents or relatives
of a child destined to be a member of the order, should keep and breed
him till _he could manfully and with armed hand extirpate the enemies of
Christ out of the land_. This formed a marked distinction between the
Templars and the mere religious orders, who, even at the present day, we
believe, admit children, taking the charge of their rearing and
education; whereas, children could only be destined to the order of the
Temple, and could not be presented for admission, till able to bear
arms, that is, usually in the twenty-first year of their age.
The reception of a knight took place in one of the chapels of the order,
in presence of the assembled chapter. It was secret, not even the
relatives of the candidate being allowed to be present. The ceremony
commenced by the Master[79] or prior, who presided, saying, "Beloved
brethren, ye see that the majority are agreed to receive this man as a
brother. If there be any among you who knows any thing of him, on
account of which he cannot lawfully become a brother, let him say it;
for it is better that this should be signified beforehand than after he
is brought before us."
[Footnote 79: When we use the word "Master," we would always be
understood to mean the Master or his representative.]
The aspirant, if no objection was made, was then led into a chamber near
the chapter-room; and two or three reputable knights of the oldest in
the house were sent to lay before him what it was needful for him to
know. They commenced by saying, "Brother, are you desirous of being
associated to the order?" If he replied in the affirmative, they stated
to him the whole rigour of the order. Should he reply that he was
willing to endure everything for God's sake, and to be all his life long
the servant and slave of the order, they asked him if he had a wife or
was betrothed? if he had made profession or vows in any other order? if
he owed to any man in the world more than he could pay? if he was of
sound body, and had no secret infirmity, and if he was the servant of
any one? Should his answers be in the negative, the brethren went back
to the chapter and informed the Master or his representative of the
result of the examination. The latter then asked once more, if any one
knew any thing to the contrary. If all were silent, he said "Are you
willing that he should be brought in in God's name?" The knights then
said, "Let him be brought in in God's name." Those who had been already
with him then went out again, and asked him if he persisted in his
resolution. If he said that he did, they instructed him in what he was
to do when suing for admission. They then led him back to the chapter,
where, casting himself on his knees, with folded hands, before the
receptor, he said, "Sir, I am come, before God, and before you and the
brethren, and pray and beseech you, for the sake of God and our dear
Lady, to admit me into your society, and the good deeds of the order, as
one who will be, all his life long, the servant and slave of the order."
The receptor then replied, "Beloved brother, you are desirous of a great
matter, for you see nothing but the outward shell of our order. It is
only the outward shell when you see that we have fine horses and rich
caparisons, that we eat and drink well, and are splendidly clothed. From
this you conclude that you will be well off with us. But you know not
the rigorous maxims which are in our interior. For it is a hard matter
for you, who are your own master, to become the servant of another. You
will hardly be able to perform, in future, what you wish yourself. For
when you may wish to be on this side of the sea, you will be sent to the
other side; when you will wish to be in Acre, you will be sent to the
district of Antioch, to Tripolis, or to Armenia; or you will be sent to
Apulia, to Sicily, or to Lombardy, or to Burgundy, France, England, or
any other country where we have houses and possessions. When you will
wish to sleep you will be ordered to watch; when you will wish to watch,
then you will be ordered to go to bed; when you will wish to eat, then
you will be ordered to do something else. And as both we and you might
suffer great inconvenience from what you have, mayhap, concealed from
us, look here on the holy Evangelists and the word of God, and answer
the truth to the questions which we shall put to you; for if you lie you
will be perjured, and may be expelled the order, from which God keep
you!"
He was now asked over again, by the receptor, the same questions as
before; and, moreover, if he had made any simoniacal contract with a
Templar or any other for admission. If his answers proved satisfactory,
the receptor proceeded, "Beloved brother, take good care that you have
spoken the truth to us; for should you have spoken false in any one
point, you might be put out of the order, from which God keep you! Now,
beloved brother, attend strictly to what we shall say unto you. Do you
promise to God, and our dear Lady Mary, to be, all your life long,
obedient to the Master of the Temple, and to the prior who shall be set
over you?"
"Yea, Sir, with the help of God!"
"Do you promise to God, and our dear Lady Mary, to live chaste of your
body all your life long?"
"Yea, Sir, with the help of God!"
"Do you promise to God, and our dear Lady Mary, to observe, all your
life long, the laudable manners and customs of our order, both those
which are already in use, and those which the Master and knights may
add?"
"Yea, Sir, with the help of God!"
"Do you promise to God, and our dear Lady Mary, that you will, with the
strength and powers which God has bestowed on you, help, as long as you
live, to conquer the Holy Land of Jerusalem; and that you will, with all
your strength, aid to keep and guard that which the Christians possess?"
"Yea, Sir, with the help of God!"
"Do you promise to God, and our dear Lady Mary, never to hold this order
for stronger or weaker, for better or worse, than with permission of
the Master, or of the chapter which has the authority[80]?"
[Footnote 80: That is, never to quit the order.]
"Yea, Sir, with the help of God!"
"Do you finally promise to God, and our dear Lady Mary, never to be
present when a Christian is unjustly and unlawfully despoiled of his
heritage, and that you will never, by counsel or by act, take part
therein?"
"Yea, Sir, with the help of God!"
"In the name, then, of God, and our dear Lady Mary, and in the name of
St. Peter of Rome, and of our father the pope, and in the name of all
the brethren of the Temple, we receive to all the good works of the
order which have been performed from the beginning, and shall be
performed to the end, you, your father, your mother, and all of your
family whom you will let have share therein. In like manner do you
receive us to all the good works which you have performed and shall
perform. We assure you of bread and water, and the poor clothing of the
order, and labour and toil enow."
The Master then took the distinguishing habit of the order, namely, the
white mantle with the red cross, and putting it about the neck of the
candidate, clasped it firmly. The chaplain then repeated the 132d psalm,
_Ecce quam bonum_, and the prayer of the Holy Ghost, _Deus qui corda
fidelium_, and each brother repeated a _Pater noster_. The Master and
the chaplain then kissed him on the mouth; and he sat down before the
Master, who delivered to him a discourse, of which the following is the
substance.
He was not to strike or wound any Christian; not to swear; not to
receive any service or attendance from a woman without the permission of
his superiors; not on any account to kiss a woman, even if she was his
mother or his sister; to hold no child at the baptismal font, or be a
god-father; to abuse no man or call him foul names; but to be always
courteous and polite. He was to sleep in a linen shirt, drawers, and
hose, and girded with a small girdle. He was to attend divine service
punctually, and at table he was to commence and conclude with prayer;
during the meal he was to preserve silence. When the Master died, he
was, be he where he might, to repeat 200 _Pater nosters_ for the repose
of his soul.
Each knight was supplied with clothes, arms, and equipments, out of the
funds of the order. His dress was a long white tunic, nearly resembling
that of priests in shape, with a red cross on the back and front of it;
his girdle was under this, over his linen shirt. Over all he wore his
white mantle with its red cross of four arms (the under one being the
longest, so that it resembled that on which the Saviour suffered) on the
left breast. His head was covered by a cap or a hood attached to his
mantle. His arms were shield, sword, lance, and mace; and, owing to the
heat of the East, and the necessity of activity in combats with the
Turks and Saracens, his arms and equipments in general were lighter than
those used by the secular knights. He was allowed three horses and an
esquire, who was either a serving-brother of the order or some layman
who was hired for the purpose. At times this office was performed by
youths of noble birth, whom their parents and relatives gladly placed in
the service of distinguished knights of the Temple, that they might have
an opportunity of acquiring the knightly virtues; and these often became
afterwards members of the order.
[Illustration: Costume of Knight Templar.]
When a knight had become, from age or wounds, incapable of service, he
took up his abode in one of the temple-houses, where he lived in ease,
and was treated with the utmost respect and consideration. These
emeriti knights are frequently mentioned under the name of _Prodomes_
(_Good men_); they were present at all deliberations of importance; and
their experience and knowledge of the rules of the order were highly
prized and attended to.
When the Templar died, he was placed in a coffin in his habit, and with
his legs crossed, and thus buried. Masses were said for his soul; his
arms and clothes were partly given back to the marshal or draper of the
order--partly distributed among the poor.
II. The Chaplains.--The order of the Templars, being purely military in
its commencement, consisted then solely of laymen. That of the Hospital,
on the contrary, on account of its office of attending the sick, had,
necessarily, priests in it from its origin. This advantage of the latter
society excited the jealousy of the Templars, and they were urgent with
the popes to be allowed a similar privilege. But the pontiffs were loth
to give offence to the oriental prelates, already displeased at the
exemption from their control granted in this case to the Hospitallers;
and it was not till the year 1162, that is, four years after the
founding of the order, when their great favourer, Alexander III.,
occupied the papal throne, that the Templars attained their object.
[Illustration: Knights in Temple Church, London.]
The bull, _Omne Datum Optimum_, issued on this occasion, gave permission
to the Templars to receive into their houses spiritual persons, in all
countries, who were not bound by previous vows. If they were clergy of
the vicinity, they were to ask them of the bishop; and if he refused his
consent, they were empowered, by the bull, to receive them without it.
The clergy of the Temple were to perform a noviciate of a year--a
practice which, as in the case of the knights, was dispensed with in the
days of the power and corruption of the order. The reception of the
clergy was the same as that of the knights, with the omission of such
questions as did not apply to them. They were only required to take the
three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The ritual of their
reception was in Latin, and was almost precisely the same with that of
the Benedictines. Like that of the knights, their reception was secret.
When the psalms had been sung the Master put on the recipient the dress
of the order and the girdle, and, if he was a priest, the cap called
_baret_.
[Illustration: Effigies of Knights in Temple Church.]
The habit of the chaplains of the order was a white close-fitting tunic,
with a red cross on the left breast. Though, according to the statutes,
they were to have the best clothes in the order, they were not permitted
to assume the white mantle as long as they were mere priests. But should
one of them, as was not unfrequently the case, arrive at the episcopal
dignity, he was, if desirous of it, cheerfully granted that privilege.
It was a further distinction between the knights and the chaplains, that
the former wore their beards, while the latter were close-shaven. The
chaplains were also to wear gloves, _out of respect to the body of the
Lord_.
All who had received the _first tonsure_ were eligible to the office of
chaplain to the order. When those who were only sub-deacons and deacons
were to be raised to the rank of priests, the Master or his deputy sent
them with letters dimissory to a bishop of the vicinity, who was bound
to confer the required order.
The clergy were, like all other members of the order, bound to obey the
Master and the chapter. The Master and the chief officers of the order
had always chaplains in their train to celebrate mass and other
religious offices, as also to act as secretaries, the knights being in
general as illiterate as their secular brethren. It was by this last
office that the chaplains acquired their chief influence in the society;
mind and superior knowledge vindicating, as they always do, their
natural rights. For though it was specially provided that the clergy
should take no share in the government of the society without being
invited thereto by their superiors, the opinion of the secretary was
naturally taken in general, and if he was a man of sense and talent, it
was most commonly followed[81].
[Footnote 81: This influence of the clergy excited the spleen of the
knights. Gerard de Caux, in his examination hereafter to be noticed,
said, "The aged men of the order were unanimous in maintaining that the
order had gained nothing in _internal goodness_ by the admission of
learned members."]
The duties of the clergy of the order were nearly the same as those of
monks in general. They performed all religious offices, and officiated
at all the ceremonies of the order, such as the admission of members,
the installation of a Master, &c. Their privileges were very
unimportant; they had merely the best clothes, sat next the Master in
the chapter and in the refectory, and were first served at table; when
they committed any offence, they were also more lightly punished than
others. They could, however, if it so pleased the heads of the order,
arrive at high rank in it; and we find that they were not unfrequently
among the preceptors. The attorney-general of the order at Rome, who was
always a person of considerable importance, was most probably a priest
of the order; at least we know that Peter de Bononia, the last of them,
was such.
It is worthy of notice, that even in the most flourishing period of the
order it never had a sufficient number of chaplains, and was always
obliged to have recourse to the ministry of secular priests. The causes
of this were probably the circumstance of the order having attained its
full form and consistency long before the clergy formed a part of it,
and they consequently had not an opportunity of arranging it so as to
give themselves their due share of power and importance. It must have
been galling to the pride of those who were used to rule, obeying only
their spiritual superiors, to find themselves subject to the command of
mere laymen, as they esteemed the knights of the order. Further, though
they shared in the good things of the order and enjoyed the advantage of
the consideration in which it stood, yet they had no dignities to look
forward to; whereas an entrance into a Benedictine order held out to the
ambitious a prospect of rich priories, abbacies, and bishoprics, and, at
the least, a voice in the chapter. It may well be supposed that the
pride of the knights of the Temple refused to admit into their society
such persons as those who afterwards joined the mendicant
orders--peasants and others who preferred a life of ease and idleness to
the labours of the plough and the workshop. The number consequently of
those who presented themselves for admission was small. But the knights
felt no disadvantage thereby; enow of secular priests were to be had,
who were willing to have the master of the Temple as their ordinary, and
to share in the good things of the order, and as neither party was bound
to the other, they could easily part if they disagreed.
III. The Serving-brethren. The order, consisting at first of only
knights and men of noble birth, had no serving-brethren in it. The
knights probably found esquires for a limited time among those who
fought under their banner and received their pay. The Hospitallers seem
to have set the example of introducing into the order the class of
serving-brethren, which is not to be found with the Templars till some
time after the council of Troyes. The advantage of this alteration was
very apparent. Hitherto only knights and nobles were interested in the
fate of the society to which their relatives belonged; the regards of
burghers and traders would now be obtained by the formation of this
class, to admission into which their sons and brothers were eligible.
They felt themselves honoured by their relatives coming into contact
with knights, and were therefore liberal in the admission-fee and in
other contributions to the _quetes_ of the order.
We should be wrong in supposing the serving-brethren to have been all
persons of mean birth. The high consideration in which the order stood
induced many men of wealth, talent, and valour, but who were not of
noble birth, to join it. We thus find among the serving-brethren William
of Arteblay, almoner to the king of France; Radulf de Gisi, collector of
the taxes in Champagne; John de Folkay, an eminent lawyer. Bartholomew
Bartholet gave property to the amount of 1,000 _livres Tournois_ to be
admitted; William of Liege gave 200 _livres Tournois_ a year. The
serving-brother, indeed, could never arrive at the dignity of knight
(for which he was disqualified by birth), and consequently never
exercise any of the higher offices of the order, but in other respects
he enjoyed the same advantages and privileges as the knights and
priests.
The reception of the serving-brethren was the same as that of the two
higher classes, the necessary difference being made in the questions
which were asked. As the order would receive no slave into their body,
the candidate was required to aver that he was a free-born man: he was
moreover obliged to declare that he was not a knight. This last
condition may cause surprise, but it was probably justified by
experience, as it is not unlikely that evil may have been felt or
apprehended from men of noble birth, out of humility, or by way of
atoning for the sins of their youth, or from some other of the causes
which might operate on the minds of superstitious men, or even from
poverty, if, as is likely, the admission-fee was lower for a
serving-brother than for a knight, concealing their birth, and entering
the order as serving-brethren. As the more disagreeable duties of the
order probably fell to their share, the general duties and obligations
were laid before them in stronger and more explicit terms than were
thought necessary in the case of knights and priests.
In the times of the poverty of the order, the clothing of the
serving-brethren was the cast-off garments of the knights. But this
custom did not long continue, and as some abuses arose from all the
members of the order being clad in white, the serving-brethren were
appointed to wear black or brown kirtles, with the red cross upon them,
to indicate that they belonged to the order. In battle, their arms were
nearly the same as those of the knights, but of a lighter kind, as they
had frequently to jump down from their horses, and fight on foot. A
serving-brother was allowed but one horse by the order, but the Master
was empowered to lend him another if he thought it expedient, which
horse was to be afterwards returned.
The serving-brethren were originally all of one kind; they fought
in the field; they performed the menial offices in the houses of
the order; but, in after-times, we find them divided into two
classes--the brethren-in-arms (_Freres servons des armes_), and the
handicraft-brethren (_Freres servons des mestiers_). These last, who
were the least esteemed of the two, dwelt in the houses and on the lands
of the order, exercising their various trades, or looking after the
property of the society. We read in the statutes of the smiths and
bakers of the order, and we hear of _preceptors_ (as was the phrase) of
the mares, cows, swine, &c. of the order. These handicraft-brethren
practised the usual religious duties of the order, and were even allowed
to be present at chapters. The farrier, who was also armourer,
enjoyed a much higher degree of consideration than the other
handicraft-brethren, for this profession was highly prized by the
martial generation of the middle ages[82].
[Footnote 82: Sir W. Scott is perfectly correct in making the smith so
important a character in his St. Valentine's Eve.]
The other class were more highly regarded. The knights associated with
them on a footing of equality. They ate in the same refectory with the
knights and priests, although at separate tables, and with always one
dish less than the higher classes. They were, however, strictly
subordinate to the knights; the master and all the great officers of the
order had each several serving-brethren to attend him, and each knight
had some of the serving-brethren among his esquires. The statutes
provided carefully against their being tyrannized over or otherwise
ill-treated by the knights.
The statutes make a distinction between the serving-brethren who were
armed with iron and those who were not. The former were the proper
light-horse of the order; they were chiefly intended to support the
knights in the action, and were usually placed in the second rank. The
place of the unarmed was with the baggage; and as they were exposed to
little danger, they wore only linen corslets. The others were enjoined
to fight, without flinching, as long as a Christian banner flew on the
field: it was matter of praise to these last if they managed to come
safe out of the fight. When the troops of the Temple were on their
march, the esquires rode before the knights with their baggage. When the
knights were going to action, one esquire rode before each with his
lance, another behind with his war-horse.
There were various offices in the society, hereafter to be noticed,
which were appropriated to the serving-brethren, or to which they were
eligible.
The knights, the chaplains, and the serving-brethren, were the proper
members of the order, and it is to them alone that the name Templars
applies. But both the Templars and the Hospitallers devised a mode of
attaching secular persons to their interest, and of deriving advantages
from their connexion with them, in which they were afterwards imitated
by the mendicant orders of the Franciscans and Dominicans; the Jesuits
also, who were always so keen at discerning what might be for the
advantage of their society, adopted it; and it is, we believe, still
practised in Catholic countries. This system is styled _affiliation_.
The affiliated were persons of various ranks in society, and of both
sexes, who, without giving up their secular mode of life, or wearing any
peculiar habit, joined the order, with a view to the advantages, both
spiritual and temporal, which they expected to derive from it. These
advantages will appear to have been very considerable when we recollect
that all who joined the order were admitted to a share in the merits of
its good works, which were what those times esteemed of the highest
order. Nothing could have more contributed to the extent of affiliation
than the exemption which the Templars enjoyed from the effects of
interdict. At a time when it was in the power of every bishop to lay
entire towns under this formidable sentence it must have been highly
consolatory to pious or superstitious minds to belong to a society who
disregarded this spiritual thunder, and who could afford them an
opportunity of at least occasionally hearing mass and receiving the
sacraments, and secured them, if they should die while the interdict
continued, the advantage of Christian burial. In those days also, when
club-law prevailed so universally, and a man's safety depended not so
much on his innocence or the justice of his cause as on the strength of
his party, it was a matter of no small consequence to belong to so
powerful a body as the Templars, and it must have been highly gratifying
to both the secular and spiritual pride of a lawyer or a burgher to be a
member of the same body with the high-born soldier-monks of the Temple.
These important advantages were not conceded by the Templars without
equivalent considerations. This ambitious and covetous order required
that he who sought the honor of affiliation with them should, besides
taking the three vows, pledge himself to lead a reputable life, to
further the interests of the order to the best of his power, and leave
it the entire of his property at his death. If he was married, and died
before his wife, he might leave her a competent provision for life; but
from the day of his admission into the order he was to abstain from her
bed, though he might continue to reside in the same house with her; for
were he to have children, he might provide for them to the disadvantage
of the order, or on his death they might give trouble to it by claiming
his property. For a similar reason the affiliated were forbidden to be
sponsors, lest they might covertly or openly give some of their property
to their godchildren. They were not even permitted to give offerings to
the clergy. If they dared to violate these injunctions, a severe
punishment--in general, confinement for life--awaited them.
All orders of men were ambitious of a union with this honourable and
powerful society. We find among the affiliated both sovereign princes
and dignified prelates: even the great Pope Innocent III., in one of his
bulls, declares himself to stand in this relation to the order. Many of
the knights who dwelt with the Templars, and fought under their banner,
were also affiliated, and the history of the order more than once makes
mention of the _sisters_--that is, women who were affiliated to it, for
there were no nuns of the Temple similar to those of the order of Malta
in later times.
In less intimate connexion with the order than the affiliated stood
those who were styled _Donates_ and _Oblates_. These were persons who,
as their titles denote, were given or presented to the order. They were
either children whom their parents or relations destined to the service
of the order when they should have attained a sufficient age, or they
were full-grown persons who pledged themselves to serve the order as
long as they lived without reward, purely out of reverence to it, and
with a view to enjoying its protection, and sharing in its good works.
Persons of all ranks, princes and priests, as well as others, were to be
found among the oblates of the Temple.