I didn't want to be in such a mess, As in honor of Christ, I undertook to carry the cross.
Now I would be glad to fight in Palestine;
But loyalty to the lady got in the way.
I could have saved my soul as it should, When would the desire of the heart cease now.
But all the same to him in his pride, I will have to go to heaven or hell.
Ulrich von Singenberg. Translation by B. Yarkho
But the first "registered", or rather, let's say - the order of warrior-monks approved by the Pope was founded by Hugo de Payne. He came up with the following name for him: "Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon" - that's why in the future they began to call it the Order of the Templars or Templars (in French "Temple" just means "temple"). And it so happened that in 1118, Hugh de Payne, a French knight, together with his eight knight relatives, founded an order with the aim of protecting the pilgrims in Palestine. They set themselves the following task: "To the best of their ability to protect the roads for the benefit of the pilgrims from the treachery of robbers and from the attacks of the steppe nomads." The knights were so poor that they had one horse for two, which is why later on the seal of the order two riders were depicted on top of one horse.
Modern "Knights Templar".
The creation of the order was announced at a council in the city of Troyes in 1128, where it was officially recognized. The priest Bernard of Clairvaux was entrusted with the development of his charter, which should have collected all the rules of the order. Archbishop Wilhelm of Tire, Chancellor of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and one of the most famous historians of the Middle Ages, described the creation of the order as follows: “In the same year, several noble knights, people of true faith and God-fearing, expressed a desire to live in severity and obedience, to abandon their possessions forever, and, having surrendered himself into the hands of the supreme ruler of the church, become members of the monastic order. Among them, the first and most famous were Hugh de Payne and Godefroy de Saint-Omer. Since the brotherhood did not yet have a temple or dwelling of their own, the king granted them temporary refuge in his palace, built on the southern slope of the Temple Mount. The canons of the temple that stood there, under certain conditions, ceded part of the walled courtyard for the needs of the new order. Moreover, King Baldwin I of Jerusalem, his entourage and the patriarch and their prelates immediately provided the order with support, giving it some of their land holdings - some for life, others for temporary use - so that members of the order could receive a livelihood. First of all, they were ordered to atone for their sins and under the leadership of the patriarch "to protect and guard the pilgrims going to Jerusalem from the attacks of thieves and bandits and to take every possible care of their safety." At the same time, the order was given not only a charter, but also permission for knights to wear a white monastic robe and cloak, and black robes for their squires and servants. But at first the Templars did not have a red cross on their shoulder. It was granted to them by Pope Eugene III only after 1145.
Medieval miniature depicting a Knight Templar.
Bernard of Clairvaux himself, later canonized, wrote the following about the knight-monks: “… A new chivalry appeared in the Holy Land. New, I tell you, and not corrupted by the world, in which it wages a double battle - both against enemies in flesh and blood, and against the spirit of evil in heaven. And there is no miracle in the fact that these knights resist the strength of their muscles to their bodily opponents, for I consider this to be quite common. But the real miracle is that by the strength of their spirit they fight against vices and demons, deserving the same praise as the clergy. " This is how the life of the Templars appears before us in Bernard's transmission: “They obey their commander in everything, wear the vestments prescribed for them, without trying to add anything to their clothing and food … They avoid any excess in food and clothing … They live together, without wives and children … They are found under one roof, and nothing belongs to them in this dwelling - even their own will … "And here is another important addition, or rather, an addition that he considered important:" They do not put anyone below themselves. They honor the best, not the noble ones … "" They cut their hair short … They never comb their hair, they rarely wash, their beard is disheveled, they stink of road sweat, their clothes are stained with dust, dirt and stains from the harness …"
Templar seal.
An interesting description, despite the fact that special cleanliness at this time was not at all popular, since the church taught that you cannot wash away your sins with water. And the fact that Bernard noted that they smelled afterwards speaks volumes.
The picture, as you can see, is not the most attractive one - and, nevertheless, the success of attracting people to the order was enormous. True, those entering the order were promised - and in a very exalted form - absolution. However, Bernard allowed the order - with the permission of the local bishop, of course, to recruit even those who were … excommunicated! But it should be emphasized that he himself had absolutely no illusions about people recruited in this way, he did not harbor: “Among them,” he wrote, “there are villains, atheists, perjurers, murderers, robbers, robbers, libertines, and in this I see a double benefit: thanks to the departure of these people, the country will be rid of them, while the East will rejoice at their arrival, expecting important services from them. " This is, of course, a rather cynical approach for a true Christian. "Love is love, but you need to know the measure!"
However, the Crusades really became for the West getting rid of many "extra mouths", and why not use it further. And then, did Saint Bernard think to make monks out of these people? Far from it - just professional soldiers deprived of their own will, whom the church could oppose to a completely unbridled knightly freeman - that's all! To become one of the monks of the Temple, one had to endure a probationary period - sometimes extremely long. Nevertheless, both fighters and gifts began to flock into the order from literally all sides, and an aura of extraordinary attractive power was created around the monastic knighthood. And this was also widely used by the Order of the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem: whoever feared the strict requirements of the Order of the Templars, found here an atmosphere softer, although no less chivalrous.
Both orders will save the Holy Land twenty times, and the six Grand Master Templars will lay down their heads in battle. And here's what is very important: the order became rich, very rich: in the East by force of arms (since war is always a robbery), and in the West - at the expense of donations and gifts. Because the order was gifted, as the abbeys used to be gifted - that is, by fulfilling a vow, fearing an afterlife, or for the sake of the traditional concern for the salvation of the soul. The order received money, land, and even slaves. Many feudal lords in their will included him in the number of their heirs, or in favor of the order they abandoned wastelands, forests and clay areas, where nothing actually grows, but which were quite suitable to give them to the pious order! The king of Aragon went so far that he even decided to give his own kingdom to the Templars and Hospitallers, and only the strongest discontent of his vassals, and even the peasants, whom the local priests turned against the Templars, forced him to give up this idea. And it's a pity that this did not happen! In Europe, then an entire state could be under the rule of the Order, and - that would then be a social experiment! The order accepted almost everything! Meanwhile, in addition to donations in Champagne and Flanders, the Templars began to receive land in Poitou and Aquitaine, which made it possible to protect almost the entire coast of France from Arab raids. By 1270, in France, for example, they had about a thousand commanderships, and in addition to them there were also numerous "farms" (small farms managed by members of the order). Well, by 1307, their number had doubled.
Reconstruction of the weapons of the Knights Templar, XIII century.
The most interesting thing is that the Templars really sacredly honored their charter, which forbade them to take up arms against their fellow believers. After all, they in the West did not participate in any feudal strife, although in the East, and also in the lands of Spain and Portugal (as well as in the Battle of Legnica in 1241 against the Mongols of Batu Khan) they fought constantly! The regulations of the order were such that they did not allow the knight brothers to move farther from the camp than the command was heard, did not allow them to advance without an order or leave the formation even in case of injury. Moreover, the knights were obliged to fight the heretics with their threefold superiority in numbers.
At the same time, the charter prescribed that if they had to defend their lives from the attack of their fellow believers, then they could take up arms only after they were attacked three times by the latter. And in case of failure to fulfill their duty, they should have been scourged three times, which was not allowed among the secular knights at all! The Templars could eat meat only three times during the week. They had to take Communion three times a year, listen to Mass three times, and give alms three more times a week … They should have fought with their enemies while their banner was fluttering. And only when the banner fell, and all his companions were scattered or died, the Knight Templar, trusting in the Lord, had the right to seek salvation in flight and leave the battlefield.
The number of knight brothers in Outremer was approximately 300 people. The order could also put up several hundred sergeants and lay knights who for a time adjoined the Templars, which was a very impressive force at that time - it was not for nothing that the kings of Jerusalem usually put them in the forefront of their troops. At the same time, the order was also able to defend their castles and fortresses well, as well as to fight in an open field. At the same time, the Templars were tireless builders. In the East, they built castles and paved roads. In the West, the order built, first of all, churches, cathedrals, and of castles too. In Palestine, the Templars owned 18 large castles, and the Templar castles were built very quickly and were truly impregnable fortresses. The distances between them were chosen so that this territory was easy to patrol. Here is a far from complete list of castles built by the order in the Holy Land: Safet (built in just four years), Belvoir and the Pilgrim's Castle in Galilee, Beaufort and Arkas castles in Lebanon, Tortosa, Red and White Castles in Syria. At the same time, large detachments were located in each of these castles, which further enhanced their importance. For example, in the Safad fortress, built to guard the road from Damascus to Akkon in the area of the Jordan River crossing and restored by the order in 1240, there were fifty Templars in peacetime. They also had thirty novices at their disposal as reinforcements. In addition, they had fifty more lightly armed cavalry soldiers, thirty archers, eight hundred and twenty foot soldiers and four hundred slaves.
The formation of the order was completed in 1139 by the bull of Innocent II, where it was stated that any Templar had the right to cross any borders freely, did not pay any taxes and could not obey anyone except His Holiness the Pope. Well, and after 1145, they began to wear crosses not only on the left shoulder, but also on the chest and back. The banner of the Templars was two-colored: the top was black, the bottom was white. Black robes in the order were for squires and servants. The military rank was held by knights, who had two marching horses and one war horse, and a squire who served for pay or voluntarily. In this case, it was strictly forbidden to subject him to corporal punishment. The knights were followed by sergeants, who wore brown clothes and fought in horse formation. Each of them had their own horse and servant. Being in the castles of the order, they were housed in the same rooms as the knights, and had exactly the same sleeping accessories. But during the campaign they were not supposed to have tents or sheds - they slept right on the ground and ate from the same cauldron. The armed servants, who were with the army, went into battle under the command of the standard-bearer brother, along with others. Finally, in the army of the Templars there could also be mercenaries - Turcopouls, usually recruited from Armenians and representing horse archers, who, however, always had to dismount before firing. In reality, and not as their seal depicted, they went on a campaign, being perfectly equipped. According to the charter of the order, a knight should have: a small tent, a hammer to drive in tent pegs, then more ropes, an ax, certainly two whips, and a bag for sleeping accessories. Then he had to have a cauldron for cooking food, a bowl and a sieve for sifting grain, certainly two cups, then two flasks, and also a ladle, a spoon, and two knives, etc., and this, not counting his weapons and armor, which the Templars always had the best quality. Naturally, all this was carried by pack horses, otherwise the knight would not be able to take a step with such a load!
Here I must say that in addition to military prowess, the Templars showed themselves to be very inventive people from the point of view of the development of … financial affairs! After all, it was the Templars who invented checks, the presence of which allowed people to no longer carry gold and silver with them. Now it was quite possible to make a pilgrimage with just a small piece of skin, but then turn to any of the order commanders and receive money there in the required amount. The money of the owner of such a check became inaccessible to robbers, of whom there were a lot in the Middle Ages. The order gave loans at 10 percent per annum, while the usurers' commission was 40 percent or more. And although the popes freed the crusaders going on a campaign from debts to Jewish usurers, the Templars were always given debts.
Miniature figurines, including those depicting the Knights Templar, are very popular today.
It is known that wealth corrupts, and very soon the templars' mores changed in many ways. For example, although the charter of the order prescribed moderation in their food, they consumed wine in such quantities that even such a saying was born: "He drinks like a Templar" - that is, in the most immoderate way! Naturally, the riches collected by the order throughout its long history aroused the envy of many, so soon after the expulsion of the crusaders from the Holy Land, persecution began against the order. In 1307, the French Philip IV (who, by the way, owed the Templars a large sum of money!) Accused the Templars of witchcraft and ordered them to be arrested and tortured in order to obtain confessions. Then the Pope ordered them to be judged, which, of course, was done. But nowhere, except in France, the Templars' guilt has not been proven. Nevertheless, the pope abolished the order anyway, and his last Grand Master was burned at the stake in the center of Paris on an island in the middle of the Seine in 1314, and, dying, he cursed the king and the pope, and both soon died! Many Templars escaped in England and Scotland. In Germany, they entered the Teutonic Order, and in Portugal they simply changed the name of the order and began to be called the Knights of Christ.
And this is how the famous "Bible of the Crusader" or the Bible of Matsievsky depicts the knights of the XIII century.
But in Italy, the Knights of the Order of San Stefano from Tuscany became the heirs of the Templars. It was founded in 1561 by the Grand Duke Cosimo de Medici of Tuscany to fight pirates. The Order had a Benedictine charter, and the Grand Duke was its patron and master at the same time. The brothers of the order were divided into four classes: knights of noble birth, priests, brother-servants, and female canons. The headquarters of the order was in Pisa. The order's galleys operated in conjunction with the galleys of the Knights of Malta and patrolled the Mediterranean with them. 12 galleys of the order participated in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, where the fleet of the Christian states won a decisive victory over the Turks. The dress of this order was a white cloak with a light red lining and a red Maltese cross on the left chest, trimmed with gold edging. The servant brothers had a white cloak or a simple shirt with a red cross sewn on. The priests were supposed to wear white clothes, and the red cross was with a yellow edging of braid.
Templar Reenactors
