It was in the year 1119, the twentieth of the Christian dominion in
Syria, that nine pious and valiant Knights, the greater part of whom
had been the companions of Godfrey de Bouillon, formed themselves into
an association, the object of which was to protect and defend Pilgrims
on their visits to the holy places. These Knights, of whom the two
chief were Hugo de Payens and Godfrey de St. Omer, vowed, in honour
of the _sweet Mother of God_, to unite Monkhood and Knighthood;[4]
their pious design met with the warm approbation of the King and the
Patriarch, and in the hands of the latter they made the three ordinary
vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience; and a fourth, of combating
without ceasing against the heathen, in defence of Pilgrims and of
the Holy Land; and bound themselves to live according to the rule of
the canons of St. Augustine, at Jerusalem. The King assigned them
for their abode a part of his palace, which stood close by where had
stood the Temple of the Lord. He and his barons contributed to their
support, and the abbot and canons of the Temple assigned them for the
keeping of their arms and magazines the street between it and the royal
palace, and hence they took the name of the soldiery of the Temple,
or Templars. When Fulk, Count of Anjou, in the year following the
formation of the society, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the Order
was even then in such repute that he joined it as a married brother,
and on his return home remitted them annually thirty pounds of silver
to aid them in their pious labours, and his example was followed by
several other Christian princes.
For the first nine years after their institution, the Templars lived
in poverty and humility, and no new members joined their society,
which was eclipsed by that of St. John. Their clothing consisted of
such garments as were bestowed on them by the charity of the faithful,
and so rigorously were the gifts of pious princes applied by them to
their destination--the benefit of pilgrims and of the Holy Land in
general--that in consequence of their poverty, Hugo de Payens and
Godfrey de St. Omer had but one war-horse between them. When the Order
had arrived at wealth and splendour, its seal, representing two Knights
mounted on one charger, commemorated this original poverty of its pious
founders.
During the reign of Baldwin II. the kingdom was hard pressed by the
Turks of Damascus, Mossul, and the neighbouring states, and the king
had been a captive in their hands. On his liberation he sought every
means of strengthening his kingdom, and as the Templars had displayed
such eminent valour and devotion wherever they had been engaged, he
resolved to gain them all the influence and consideration in his power.
Accordingly he dispatched two of their members as his envoys to the
Holy See, to lay before the Pope the state of the Holy Land, and also
furnished them with a strong letter of recommendation to the celebrated
Bernard of Clairvaux, the nephew of one of the envoys. Bernard approved
highly of the object and institution of the Order. Hugo de Payens and
five other brethren soon arrived in the west, and appeared before the
fathers, who were assembled in council at Troyes, to whom Hugo detailed
the maxims and the deeds of the Templars. The fathers expressed their
approbation of all he said, the Order was pronounced good and useful,
and same additions, taken from that of the Benedictines, were made to
their rule. By the direction of Pope Honorius, the council appointed
them a white mantle as their peculiar dress, to which Pope Eugenius
some years afterwards added a red cross on the breast--the symbol of
martyrdom. Their banner was of the black and white stripe, called, in
old French, _Bauseant_ (which word became their war-cry,) and bore the
pious inscription, _Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tua da
gloriam_.[5] St. Bernard, if he did not himself draw up the rule of
Order, had at least a considerable participation in it; throughout his
life he cherished the Templars; he rarely wrote a letter to the Holy
Land, in which he did not praise them, and recommend them to the favour
and protection of the great.
Owing to the influence of Bernard, and the sincere piety and noble
qualities of its founders, the Order rapidly increased in wealth and
consequence. Many Knights assumed its habit, and with Hugo de Payens
travelled through France and England, to excite the Christians
to the sacred war. With Henry I. of England they met the highest
consideration. Fulk, of Anjou, re-united himself to Hugo de Payens, and
on the invitation of King Baldwin, prepared, though advanced in years,
to set out for Palestine, to espouse the daughter of the king, and
succeed him on his throne. Gifts in abundance flowed in on the Order,
large possessions were bestowed on it in all countries of the west, and
Hugo de Payens, now its Grand Master, returned to the Holy Land in the
year 1129, at the head of three hundred Knights Templars of the noblest
families in Europe, ready to take the field against the Infidels.
The Templars soon became, in fact, the most distinguished of the
Christian warriors. By a rule of their Order, no brother could be
redeemed for a higher ransom than a girdle or a knife, or some such
trifle;[6] captivity was therefore equivalent to death, and they
always fought with Spartan desperation. The Bauseant was always in the
thick of the battle; the revenue they enjoyed enabled them to draw to
their standard valiant secular knights and stout and hardy footmen.
The chivalry of St. John vied with them, it is true, in prowess and
valour, but they do not occupy the same space in the History of the
Crusades. The Templars having been from the outset solely devoted to
arms,--the warm interest which St. Bernard, whose influence was so
great, took in their welfare,--and the circumstance that the fourth
King of Jerusalem was a member of their body,--all combined to throw
a splendour about them which the Knights of St. John could not claim,
but which also gave occasion to their more speedy corruption, and
augmented the number of their enemies. Most writers, however, of the
twelfth century speak respectfully of the Knights of the Temple, and
those unsparing satirists, the Troubadours, never mention them but with
honour. The history of the Order, as far as we can recollect, records
only one instance of a Templar abjuring his faith, and that was an
English Knight, Robert of Saint Albans, who deserted to Saladin, who
gave him his sister in marriage on his becoming a Moslem; and in 1185,
the ex-red-cross Knight led a Saracen army to the neighbourhood of
Jerusalem, wasting and destroying the country with fire and sword.[7]
By the Bull, _Omne datum optimum_, granted by Pope Alexander III.
in 1162, the Order of the Templars acquired great importance, and
from this time forth, it may be regarded as totally independent,
acknowledging no authority but that--before which the haughtiest
monarchs bowed--of the supreme pontiff, who protected and favoured
them as his champions against all who might dispute his will. It is
therefore of importance to look at its constitution, and what were its
revenues and possessions.
The Order of the Templars consisted of three distinct _classes_,
not _degrees_--knights, chaplains, and service-brethren, to which
may be added those who were attached to the Order under the name of
_affiliated_, _donates_, and _oblates_.[8] The strength and flower of
the Order were the Knights; all its dignities and superior offices
belonged to them. The candidate for admission among the Knights of the
Temple was required to produce proof of his being the lawful issue
of a Knight, or of one qualified to receive that distinction; and he
must himself have already received the honour-conferring blow from a
Secular Knight, for the Order was Spiritual, and, as members, could
not deign to accept honour from a layman. The only exception was in
the case of a bishop, who might draw his sword among the brethren of
the Temple, without having been a secular Knight. The aspirant must
moreover be free from debt, and, on admission, pay a considerable sum
into the hands of the society.[9] The most unlimited obedience to the
commands of his superiors in the house and in the field of battle;
the total abnegation of all interests but those of the society, (for
the Templar could hold no property, could receive no private letter);
the most unflinching valour, (for so long as a Christian banner waved
in the field, the Templar, however severely wounded, must not abandon
it),--were the duties of the Knights of the Temple. If he fled,
disgrace and punishment awaited him; if he surrendered, he had to
end his life amid the torments inflicted by the enraged Moslems, or
to languish in perpetual captivity, for the Order never redeemed its
members. Hence, then, the Templar was valiant as the fabled heroes of
romance; hence prodigies of prowess, such as almost surpass belief, so
frequently illustrate the name of the soldiers of the Temple. Every
motive that could stimulate to deeds of renown combined to actuate the
soldier-monk A Knight, he obeyed the call of honour and emulation; a
Monk, (but the Templar was not, as some erroneously fancy, a Priest),
he was, according to the ideas of the times, engaged in the service
most acceptable to God.
The mode of reception into the Order corresponded with the dignity and
importance of the character of a Knight Templar. Though a noviciate was
enjoined by the original canons, in practice it was dispensed with;
the candidate was, after all due inquiry had been made, received in
a chapter assembled in the chapel of the Order. All strangers, even
the relatives of the aspirant, were excluded. The preceptor (usually
one of the priors) opened the business with an address to those
present, calling on them to declare if they knew of any just cause and
impediment to the aspirant, whom the majority had agreed to receive,
becoming a member of their body.[10] If all were silent, the candidate
was led into an adjacent chamber, whither two or three of the Knights
came to him, and setting before him the rigour and strictness of the
Order, inquired if he still persisted in his desire to enter it. If he
did persist, they inquired if he was married or betrothed; had made a
vow in any other Order; if he owed more than he could pay; if he was
of sound body, without any secret infirmity, and free? If his answers
proved satisfactory, they left him and returned to the chapter, and
the preceptor again asked if any one had anything to say against his
being received. If all were silent, he asked if they were willing to
admit him. On their assenting, the candidate was led in by the Knights
who had questioned him, and who now instructed him in the mode of
asking admission. He advanced, kneeling, with folded hands, before
the preceptor, and said, "Sir, I am come before God, and before you
and the brethren; and I pray and beseech you, for the sake of God and
our sweet lady, to receive me into your society and the good works
of the Order, as one who, all his life long, will be the servant and
slave of the Order." The preceptor then questioned him, if he had well
considered all the toils and difficulties which awaited him in the
Order, adjured him on the Holy Evangelists to speak the truth, then put
to him the questions already asked by the Knights, farther inquiring
if he was a Knight, the son of a Knight and a gentlewoman, and if he
was a priest. He then asked if he would promise to God and Mary, our
dear lady, obedience, as long as he lived, to the Master of the Temple,
and the prior who should be set over him; chastity of his body;[11]
compliance with the laudable manners and customs of the Order then in
force, and such as the Master and Knights might hereafter add; fight
for and defend, with all his might, the holy land of Jerusalem; never
quit the Order but with consent of the Master and the Chapter; never
see a Christian unjustly deprived of his inheritance, or be aiding in
such deed. The preceptor then said--"In the name, then, of God and of
Mary, our dear lady, 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 you to all the good works of the Order, which have been
performed from the beginning, and will be performed to the end, you,
your father, your mother, and all those of your family whom you let
participate therein. So you, in like manner, receive us to all the
good works which you have performed and will perform. We assure you of
bread and water, the poor clothing of the Order, and labour and toil
enow." The preceptor then took the white mantle, with its ruddy cross,
placed it about his neck, and bound it fast. The chaplain repeated the
one hundred and thirty-second Psalm, _Ecce quam bonum_, and the prayer
of the Holy Spirit, _Deus qui corda fidelium_, each brother said a
_Pater_, the preceptor kissed the new brother, the chaplain did the
same. The Templar then placed himself at the feet of the preceptor, and
was by him exhorted to peace and charity with his brother Christians;
to chastity, obedience, humility, and piety; and thus the ceremony
ended.
At the head of the Order stood the Grand Master, who, like the General
of the Jesuits in modern times, was independent of all authority but
that of the sovereign pontiff. The residence of the Grand Master was
the city of Jerusalem; when the city was lost, he fixed his seat at
Antioch, next at Acre, then at the castle of the Pilgrims,[12] between
Caiphas and Cæsarea, and finally in Cyprus, for his duty required
him to be always in the Holy Land. The Grand Master never resided in
Europe until the time of Jacques de Molay. The power of the Grand
Master was considerable, though he was very much controuled by the
chapter, without whose consent he could not dispose of any of the
higher offices, or undertake any thing of importance. He could not, for
instance, take money out of the treasury, without the consent of the
prior of Jerusalem; he could neither make war or truce, or alter laws,
but with the approbation of the chapter. But the Grand Master had the
right of bestowing the small commands, the governments of houses of
the Order, and of selecting the brethren who should form the chapter,
which power was again controuled by there being always assigned him two
brethren as assistants, who, with the Seneschal, were to form a part of
every chapter. The Order was aristocratic rather than monarchic; the
Grand Master was like a Doge of Venice, and his real power chiefly
depended on his personal qualities; he had, however, many distinctions;
the greater part of the executive power was in his hands--in war he
was the commander-in-chief; he had, as vicar-general of the Pope,
episcopal jurisdiction over the clergy of the Order; he ranked with
princes, and his establishment corresponded thereto; he had for his
service four horses, a chaplain, two secretaries, a squire of noble
birth, a farrier, a Turcopole and cook, with footmen, and a Turcoman
for a guide, who was usually fastened by a cord to prevent his escape.
When the Grand Master died, his funeral was celebrated with great
solemnity by the light of torches and wax tapers,--an honour bestowed
by the Order on no other of its Members. All the Knights and Prelates
were invited to assist. Each Brother who was present was to repeat two
hundred _Pater Nosters_ within the space of seven days, for the repose
of the soul of the deceased; and one hundred poor persons were fed at
home, at the expense of the Order, with the same design.[13]
Each province of the Order had a Grand Prior, who represented in it the
Grand Master; each house had its Prior at its head, who commanded its
Knights in war, and presided over its chapters in peace. In England,
the Grand Prior sat in Parliament as a Peer of the Realm. To complete
this sketch of the Order, we may remark, that except Scandinavia, (for
they had some possessions in Hungary,) there was not a country in
Europe in which the lavish piety of princes and nobles had not bestowed
on the Templars a considerable portion of the wealth of the state;
for in every province the Order had its churches and chapels--the
number of which was in the year 1240, as great as 1050--villages,
farm-houses, mills, corn-lands, pastures, woods, rights of venison,
and fisheries.[14] The revenues of the Templars in England in 1185, as
given by Dugdale, will afford some idea of their wealth. The entire
annual income of the Order has been estimated at not less than six
millions sterling.
It cannot be denied, that this enormous wealth, together with the
luxury and other evils which it engendered, provoked the hatred of
the secular clergy and laity, and paved the way to the spoliation of
the Order. In 1252, the pious pope-ridden Henry III. of England said,
that the prelates and clergy in general, but especially the Templars
and Hospitallers, had so many liberties and privileges, that their
excessive wealth made them mad with pride; he added, that what had
been bestowed imprudently, ought to be prudently resumed, and declared
his intention of revoking the inconsiderate grants of himself and his
predecessors. The Grand Prior of the Templars replied, "What sayest
thou, my Lord the King? Far be it that so discourteous and absurd a
word should be uttered by thy mouth. So long as thou observest justice,
thou mayest be a king, and as soon as thou infringest it, thou wilt
cease to be a king." A bold expression certainly, but the Prior knew
his man well, and he would hardly have spoken so to the son of Henry.
The anecdote of Richard I. bestowing his daughter Pride in marriage on
the Templars, is well known; and numerous traits of their haughtiness,
avarice, luxury, and other of the current vices, may be found in the
writers of the thirteenth century; but till the final attack was made,
no worse charge was brought against them, unless such is implied in a
bull of Pope Clement IV. in 1265, which is, however, easily capable
of a milder interpretation. Mr. Raynouard asserts, too, that the
proverbial expression _bibere Templariter_ is used by no writer of the
thirteenth century. In this he is preceded by Baluze and Roquefort, who
maintain, that, like _bibere Papaliter_, it only signified to live in
abundance and comfort.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: PERSECUTION OF THE TEMPLARS.]
[Illustration]