Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
file which includes the original illustrations.
See 44376-h.htm or 44376-h.zip:
(https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/44376/pg44376-images.html)
or
(https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44376/44376-h.zip)
Images of the original pages are available through
Internet Archive. See
https://archive.org/details/knightstemplars00addirich
Transcriber's note:
Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=).
Chapter III contains a Greek name, the letters of which
might not display properly. A transliteration is contained
in the iso-8859-1 (Latin1) version of this text file. See
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44376/44376-8.txt
or
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44376/44376-8.zip
THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS,
by
C. G. ADDISON ESQE.
Barrister at Law
[Illustration]
THIRD EDITION.
London,
Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans.
Paternoster Row, 1852.
[Illustration: THE ADMISSION OF A NOVICE TO THE VOWS OF THE ORDER OF
THE TEMPLE]
PREFACE
TO THE FIRST EDITION.
Having some years ago, during a pilgrimage to the Holy City of
Jerusalem, gained admission to the courts of the ancient Temple of the
Knights Templars, which still exists on Mount Moriah in a perfect state
of preservation as a Mussulman Mosque, and having visited many of the
ruined fortresses and castles of the ancient order of the Temple, whose
shattered walls are still to be seen at intervals in Palestine and in
Syria, from Gaza to Antioch, and from the mountains of the Dead Sea to
the shores of the Mediterranean, I naturally became greatly interested
in the history of the order, and in the numerous remains and memorials
of the Knights Templars still to be met with in various stages of decay
and ruin in almost every part of Europe. The recent restoration of the
Temple Church at London, the most beautiful and the best preserved of
all the ancient ecclesiastical edifices of the western provinces of the
Temple, first suggested to me the idea of writing a short historical
account of the varied fortunes of that great religious and military
fraternity of knights and monks by whom it was erected, and of their
dark and terrible end.
Born during the first fervour of the Crusaders, the Templars 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 religious and
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,
they 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 holy zeal and body-bending toil of a poor brotherhood. The
vulgar notion that they 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 ensuing volume, will 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.
The accounts, even of the best of the ancient historians concerning the
Templars ought not to be implicitly relied upon. 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
Christianity; 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. The Arabian historians, on
the other hand, tell us that Nassr-ed-deen and his father murdered the
caliph, threw his body into a well, and then fled into Palestine; that
the sister of the murdered caliph wrote immediately to the commander
of the garrison of the Knights Templars at Gaza, 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.
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
ancient writers, but such matters only as I believe, after a careful
examination of the best authorities, to be true.
PREFACE
TO THE THIRD EDITION.
The favourable reception given to the first edition of the ensuing
work, and the interest that was taken in the extraordinary and romantic
career of the Knights Templars, induced me to publish a second edition
greatly enlarged, and to introduce various collateral matters of an
antiquarian and local character, interesting only to a comparatively
small number of readers. This enlarged edition having been exhausted,
it occurred to me, in preparing a third edition for the press, that
the work might be materially shortened and reduced in price without
in anywise detracting from its value and interest as a record of the
chief events of one of the most remarkable and interesting periods of
history, and of the extraordinary and romantic achievements of the
first and most ancient of the great religio-military orders of knights
and monks established during the crusades.
The dry matters of detail, of local and partial interest, which
interfered with the continuity of the main narrative, have been struck
out of the body of the work, and the more striking incidents of the
history have been thus brought into greater prominence. The long Latin
and French extracts from the old chronicles have also been discarded
from the notes, but the historical references have been preserved to
enable the reader, if he thinks fit, to study the quaint and curious
language of the originals. By these means, and by enlarging the size of
the page, the work has been compressed into a smaller compass, and the
price reduced nearly one half.
It is hoped that these alterations will be found to be improvements.
_Inner Temple, December 8, 1851._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
The pilgrimages to Jerusalem--Origin of the Templars--The
dangers to which pilgrims were exposed--The formation
of the brotherhood of the poor fellow-soldiers of
Jesus Christ to protect them--Their location in
the Temple--A description of the Temple--Origin of
the name Templars--Hugh de Payens chosen Master of
the Temple--Is sent to Europe by King Baldwin--Is
introduced to the Pope--The assembling of the Council
of Troyes--The formation of a rule for the government
of the Templars--The most curious parts of the rule
displayed--The confirmation of the rule by the
Pope--The visit of Hugh de Payens, the Master of
the Temple, to England--His cordial reception--The
foundation of the Order in this country--Lands and
money granted to the Templars--Their popularity in
Europe--The rapid increase of their fraternity--St.
Bernard takes up the pen in their behalf--He displays
their valour and piety _Page_ 5
CHAPTER II.
Hugh de Payens returns to Palestine--His death--Robert de
Craon made Master--Success of the Infidels--The second
Crusade--The Templars assume the Red Cross--Their
gallant actions and high discipline--Lands, manors, and
churches granted them in England--Bernard de Tremelay
made Master--He is slain by the Infidels--Bertrand de
Blanquefort made Master--He is taken prisoner, and
sent in chains to Aleppo--The Pope writes letters in
praise of the Templars--Their religious and military
enthusiasm--Their war banner called _Beauseant_--The
rise of the rival religio-military order of the
Hospital of St. John--The contests between Saladin and
the Templars--The vast privileges of the Templars--The
publication of the bull, _omne datum optimum_--The Pope
declares himself the immediate Bishop of the entire
Order--The Master of the Temple is taken prisoner,
and dies in a dungeon--Saladin’s great success--The
Christians purchase a truce--The Master of the Temple
and the Patriarch Heraclius proceed to England for
succour--The consecration of the TEMPLE CHURCH AT
LONDON 24
CHAPTER III.
The Temple at London--The vast possessions of the Templars
in England--The territorial divisions of the order--The
different preceptories in this country--The privileges
conferred on the Templars by the kings of England--The
Masters of the Temple at London--Their power and
importance 44
CHAPTER IV.
The Patriarch Heraclius quarrels with the king of
England--He returns to Palestine without succour--The
disappointment and gloomy forebodings of the
Templars--They prepare to resist Saladin--Their defeat
and slaughter--The valiant deeds of the Marshal
of the Temple--The fatal battle of Tiberias--The
captivity of the Grand Master and the true
cross--The captive Templars are offered the Koran or
death--They choose the latter, and are beheaded--The
fall of Jerusalem--The Moslems take possession of
the Temple--They purify it with rose-water, say
prayers, and hear a sermon--The Templars retire to
Antioch--Their letters to the king of England and the
Master of the Temple at London--Their exploits at the
siege of Acre 68
CHAPTER V.
Richard Cœur de Lion joins the Templars before Acre--The
city surrenders, and the Templars establish the chief
house of their order within it--Cœur de Lion takes up
his abode with them--He sells to them the island of
Cyprus--The Templars form the van of his army--Their
foraging expeditions and exploits--Cœur de Lion quits
the Holy Land in the disguise of a Knight Templar--The
Templars build the Pilgrim’s Castle in Palestine--The
exploits of the Templars in Egypt--The letters of the
Grand Master to the Master of the Temple at London--The
Templars reconquer Jerusalem--The state of the order in
England--King John resides in the Temple at London--The
barons come to him at that place, and demand MAGNA
CHARTA--Consecration of the nave or oblong portion of
the Temple Church at London 129
CHAPTER VI.
The conquest of Jerusalem by the Carizmians--The
slaughter of the Templars, and the death of the Grand
Master--Rise and progress of the Comans--They are
defeated and destroyed by the Templars--The exploits
of the Templars in Egypt--King Louis of France visits
the Templars in Palestine--He assists them in putting
the country into a defensible state--Henry III.,
king of England, visits the Temple at Paris--The
magnificent hospitality of the Templars in England
and France--Bendoedar, sultan of Egypt, invades
Palestine--He defeats the Templars, takes their
strong fortresses, and decapitates six hundred of
their brethren--The Grand Master comes to England for
succour--The renewal of the war--The fall of Acre--The
Templars establish their head-quarters in the island
of Cyprus--Their alliance with the king of Persia--The
reconquest of Jerusalem--The desolation of the Holy
Land--The final extinction of the Templars in Palestine
180
CHAPTER VII.
The downfall of the Templars--The cause thereof--The
Grand Master comes to Europe at the request of the
Pope--He is imprisoned, with all the Templars in
France, by command of king Philip--They are put to
the torture, and confessions of the guilt of heresy
and idolatry are extracted from them--Edward III.,
king of England, stands up in defence of the Templars,
but afterwards persecutes them at the instance of the
Pope--The imprisonment of the Master of the Temple
and all his brethren in England--Their examination
upon eighty-seven horrible and ridiculous articles
of accusation before foreign inquisitors appointed
by the Pope--A council of the church assembles at
London to pass sentence upon them--The curious
evidence adduced as to the mode of admission into
the order, and of the customs and observances of the
fraternity--The Templars in France having revoked
their rack-extorted confessions, are treated as
relapsed heretics, and burnt at the stake--Solitary
confinement of the Templars in England in separate
dungeons--Torture--Confessions and recantations--The
Master of the Temple at London dies in the Tower--The
Grand Master is burnt at the stake--The abolition of
the order and disposal of its property. Grant of the
Temple at London to a body of lawyers--Introduction
into the profession of the law of an order of knights
and serving-brethren 236
INTRODUCTION.
“Go forth to battle and employ your substance and your persons
for the advancement of God’s religion. Verily, God loveth those
who fight for his religion in battle array.”--KORAN, _chapter 56,
entitled_ BATTLE ARRAY.
“O Prophet, stir up the faithful to war! If twenty of you persevere
with constancy they shall overcome two hundred, and if there be
one hundred of you they shall overcome one thousand of those who
believe not.”--_Chapter 8, entitled_ THE SPOILS.
“Verily, if God pleased, he could take vengeance on the unbelievers
without your assistance, but he commandeth you to fight his battles
that he may prove the one of you by the other; and as to those who
fight in defence of God’s true religion, God will not suffer their
works to perish.”--KORAN, _chapter 47, entitled_ WAR.
To be propagated by the sword was a vital principle of Mahommedanism.
War against infidels for the establishment and extension of the faith
was commanded by the Prophet, and the solemn injunction became hallowed
and perpetuated by success.
A century after the death of Mahomet, the Moslems had extended their
religion and their arms from India to the Atlantic Ocean; they had
subdued and converted, by the power of the sword, Persia and Egypt,
and all the north of Africa, from the mouth of the Nile to the extreme
western boundary of that vast continent; they overran Spain, invaded
France, and turning their footsteps towards Italy they entered the
kingdoms of Naples and Genoa, threatened Rome, and subjected the
island of Sicily to the laws and the religion of their Prophet. But at
the very period when they were about to plant the Koran in the very
heart of Europe, and were advancing with rapid strides to universal
dominion, intestine dissensions broke out amongst them which undermined
their power, and Europe was released from the dread and danger of
Saracen dominion.
In the tenth century of the Christian era, however, the ferocious
and barbarous Turcomans appeared as the patrons of Mahommedanism,
and the propagators of the Koran. These were wild pastoral tribes of
shepherds and hunters, who descended from the frozen plains to the
north of the Caspian, conquered Persia, embraced the religion and the
law of Mahomet, and became united under the standard of the Prophet
into one great and powerful nation. They overran the greater part of
the Asiatic continent, destroyed the churches of the Christians and
the temples of the Pagans, and appeared (A. D. 1084) in warlike array
on the Asiatic shore of the Hellespont in front of Constantinople.
The terrified emperor Alexius sent urgent letters to the Pope and
the christian princes of Europe, exhorting them to assist him and
their common Christianity in the perilous crisis. The preachings of
Peter the hermit, and the exhortations of the Pope, forthwith aroused
Christendom; Europe was armed and precipitated upon Asia; the Turkish
power was broken; the Christian provinces of the Greek empire of
Constantinople were recovered from the grasp of the infidels; and the
Latin kingdom of Jerusalem was reared upon the ruins of the Turkish
empire of sultan Soliman. The monastic and military order of the Temple
was then called into existence for the purpose of checking the power
of the infidels, and fighting the battles of Christendom in the plains
of Asia. “Suggested by fanaticism,” as Gibbon observes, but guided by
an intelligent and far reaching policy, it became the firmest bulwark
of Christianity in the East, and mainly contributed to preserve Europe
from Turkish desolation, and probably from Turkish conquest.
Many grave and improbable charges have been brought against the
Templars by monks and priests who wrote in Europe concerning events in
the Holy Land, and who regarded the vast privileges of the order with
indignation and aversion. Matthew Paris tells us that they were leagued
with the infidels, and fought pitched battles with the rival order of
Saint John; but as contemporary historians of Palestine, who describe
the exploits of the Templars, and were eye-witnesses of their career,
make no mention of such occurrences, and as no allusion is made to
them in the letters of the Pope addressed to the Grand Master of the
order of Saint John shortly after the date of these pretended battles,
I have omitted all mention of them, feeling convinced, after a careful
examination of the best authorities, that they never did take place.
At this distant day, when the times and scenes in which the Templars
acted are changed, and the deep religious fervour and warm fresh
feelings of bygone ages have given way to a cold and calculating
philosophy, we may doubt the sincerity of the military friars, exclaim
against their credulity, and deride their zeal; but when we call to
mind the hardships and fatigues, the dangers, sufferings, and death,
to which they voluntarily devoted themselves in a far distant land,
the sacrifice of personal comforts, of the ties of kindred, and of all
the endearments of domestic life, which they made without any prospect
of worldly gain or temporal advantage, for objects which they believed
to be just, and noble, and righteous, we must ever rank the generous
impulses by which they were actuated among the sublime emotions which
can influence the human character in those periods when men feel rather
than calculate, before knowledge has chilled the sensibility, or
selfish indifference hardened the heart.
THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS.
CHAPTER I.
The pilgrimages to Jerusalem--Origin of the Templars--Their
location in the Temple--Hugh de Payens chosen Master of the
Temple--His introduction to the Pope--The assembling of the
Council of Troyes--The formation of a rule for the government of
the Templars--The most curious parts of the rule displayed--Visit
of Hugh de Payens to England--The foundation of the Order in this
country--Lands and money granted to the Templars--St. Bernard
displays their valour and piety.
“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 natural desire of visiting those holy spots which have been
sanctified by the presence, and rendered memorable by the sufferings,
of the Son of God, drew, during the early ages of Christianity,
crowds of devout worshippers and pilgrims to Jerusalem. Among the
most illustrious and enthusiastic of the many wanderers to the Holy
City was the empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, who, with
the warm feelings of a recent conversion, visited in person every
place and every object in Palestine associated with the memory of him
who died for mankind on the blessed cross. With a holy zeal and a
lively enthusiasm, she attempted to fix by unquestionable tradition
the scene of each memorable event in the gospel narrative; and
Christendom is indebted to her for the real or pretended discovery
(about two hundred and ninety-eight years after the death of Christ)
of the Holy Sepulchre. Over this sacred monument the empress and
her son Constantine caused to be erected the magnificent church of
the Resurrection, or, as it is now called, the church of the Holy
Sepulchre; and they adorned all those places in the Holy Land which
remind us most forcibly of the earthly existence and death of Jesus
Christ, with magnificent churches and religious houses.
The example of this pious princess, and the pretended discoveries made
by her of holy relics, caused a great increase in the pilgrimages to
Jerusalem. The conquest of Palestine by the Arabians, (A. D. 637,)
stimulated rather than suppressed them; it added to the merit by
increasing the danger and difficulty of the undertaking, whilst the
enthusiasm which prompted the long and perilous journey was increased
by the natural feelings of sorrow and indignation at the loss of the
holy places, and the possession of them by the conquering infidels.
Year after year, and century after century, hundreds and thousands of
both sexes, of all ranks and every age, the monarch and the peasant,
the noble and the beggar, flocked to the shrines and the altars of
Palestine. They visited, with pious affection, Bethlehem, where the
Saviour first saw the light; they bathed in the waters of the river
Jordan, wherein he was baptized, and wept and prayed upon Mount
Calvary, where he was crucified.
On the conquest of Jerusalem by the Arabians, the security of the
christian population had been provided for in a solemn guarantee
given under the hand and seal of the caliph Omar, to Sophronius the
patriarch. One fourth of the entire city, with the church of the
Resurrection, the Holy Sepulchre, and the great Latin convent, had been
left in the hands of the Christians and the pilgrims were permitted,
on payment of a trifling tribute, freely to visit the various objects
of their regard. When the sceptre was transferred from the family of
the Abassides to the Fatimites, and the caliphs of Egypt obtained
possession of Palestine, the same mild and tolerant government was
continued. In the eleventh century, the zeal of pilgrimage had reached
its height, and the caravans of pilgrims had become so numerous as to
be styled _the armies of the Lord_. 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. The year following, however, Jerusalem was conquered by the
wild Turcomans, three thousand of the citizens were massacred, and
the 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 head 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; a 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 intelligence of these
cruelties 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, and 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. The infidels had indeed been
driven out of Jerusalem, but not out of Palestine. The lofty mountains
bordering the sea coast were infested by 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 they 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, who had greatly
distinguished themselves at the siege and capture of Jerusalem, formed
a holy brotherhood in arms, and entered into a solemn compact to aid
one another in clearing the highways, 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, they speedily acquired a famous reputation.
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.”
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 Ornan 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.
The crescent had been torn down by the crusaders from the summit of
this great Mussulman Temple, and replaced by an immense golden cross,
and the edifice was 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 the building as it existed
in his time during the Latin dominion. He speaks of the splendid mosaic
work on the walls; 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.”[1] 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,
in the adjoining mountains, furnished the edifice with superb marble
columns.[2] 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 enclosure.
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 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.[3] The canons of the Temple
of the Lord conceded to them 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 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.
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, despatched two Knights Templars to St. Bernard,
the holy Abbot of Clairvaux, with a letter, telling him that the
Templars whom the Lord had deigned to raise up, and whom in a wonderful
manner he preserved for the defence of Palestine, desired to obtain
from the Holy See the confirmation of their institution, and a rule
for their particular guidance, and beseeching him “to obtain from the
Pope the approbation of their order, and to induce his holiness to send
succour and subsidies against the enemies of the faith.”[4] Shortly
afterwards Hugh de Payens himself proceeded to Rome, accompanied by
Geoffrey de St. Aldemar, and four other brothers of the order, who
were received with great honour and distinction by Pope Honorius. A
great ecclesiastical council was assembled at Troyes, (A. D. 1128,)
which Hugh de Payens and his brethren were invited to attend, and the
rules to which the Templars had subjected themselves being there
described, the holy Abbot of Clairvaux undertook the task of revising
and correcting them, and of forming a code of statutes fit and proper
for the governance of the great religious and military fraternity of
the Temple.
Regula Pauperum Commilitonum Christi et Templi Salomonis.
“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_. The following extracts
from this rule may 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.
“XI. Two and two ought in general to eat together, that one may have an
eye upon another....
“XVII. After the brothers have once departed from the hall to bed, 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 among you hath uttered a foolish saying, we enjoin him, in all
humility, and with purity of devotion, to repeat the Lord’s Prayer.
“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.
“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.
“XLI. It is in no wise 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. We forbid, 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.
“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 therewith; 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.
“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.
“LXVIII. 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 hardened in his iniquity
by immoderate severity. 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.”
After the confirmation by a Papal bull of the rules and statutes of
the order, 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.”[5] Grants of lands, 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.
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 sovereign princes,
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. St. Bernard, at the request of Hugh de
Payens, took up his powerful pen in their behalf. In a famous discourse
“In praise of the New Chivalry,” the holy abbot sets forth, in eloquent
and enthusiastic terms, the spiritual advantages and blessings enjoyed
by the military friars of the Temple over all other warriors. He draws
a curious picture of the relative situations and circumstances of the
_secular_ soldiery and the soldiery of CHRIST, and shows how different
in the sight of God are the bloodshed and slaughter perpetrated by
the one, from that committed by the other. Addressing himself to the
secular soldiers he says “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? Lastly, as ye yourselves have often
experienced, three things are indispensably necessary to the success
of the soldier; he must 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,
nought 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 causes it is
neither safe to slay nor to be slain.
“And now 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 separate 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 armour 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 honour, they bear one another’s burthens, 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 that ludicrous
catching of birds, (hawking,) which men are wont to indulge in.
Jesters, and soothsayers, and storytellers, 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, and
studying to inspire fear rather than admiration....
“There is 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 behaviour, 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 merchandize.”
St. Bernard then congratulates Jerusalem on the advent of the soldiers
of Christ, “Be joyful, O Jerusalem,” says he, in the words of the
prophet Isaiah, “and know that the time of thy visitation hath
arrived. Arise now, shake thyself from the dust, &c., &c. HAIL, O
holy city, hallowed by the tabernacle of the Most High! HAIL, city of
the great King, wherein so many wonderful and welcome miracles have
been perpetually displayed. HAIL, mistress of the nations, princess
of provinces, possession of patriarchs, mother of the prophets and
apostles, initiatress of the faith, glory of the christian people,
whom God hath on that account always from the beginning permitted to
be visited with affliction, that thou mightest thus be the occasion of
virtue as well as of salvation to brave men. HAIL, land of promise,
which, formerly flowing only with milk and honey for thy possessors,
now stretchest forth the food of life, and the means of salvation
to the entire world. Most excellent and happy land, I say, which,
receiving the celestial grain from the recess of the paternal heart,
in that most fruitful bosom of thine, has produced such rich harvests
of martyrs from the heavenly seed, and whose fertile soil has no less
manifoldly engendered fruit a thirtieth, sixtieth, and a hundredfold
in the remaining race of all the faithful throughout the entire world.
Whence most agreeably satiated, and most abundantly crammed with the
great store of thy pleasantness, those who have seen thee diffuse
around them in every place the remembrance of thy abundant sweetness,
and tell of the magnificence of thy glory to the very end of the earth
to those who have not seen thee, and relate the wonderful things that
are done in thee.
“Glorious things are spoken concerning thee, CITY OF GOD!”