The History of the Knights Templar and The Temple Church - Research Paper Example

Knights Templar: Keeper of Souls, Bankers of Men When now that time was at hand which the Lord Jesus daily points out to His faithful, especially in the Gospel, saying, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me,” a mighty agitation was carried on throughout all the region of Gaul. [Its tenor was] that if anyone desired to follow the Lord zealously, with a pure heart and mind, and wished faithfully to bear the cross after Him, he would no longer hesitate to take up the way to the Holy Sepulcher. (Pope Urban II, 1095) Born as a religious and charitable organization in the 12th century [ William of Tyre confirms the date of 1119/20 in his work A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea] (Upton-Ward 1) the Knights Templar, begun as a monastic order of nine individuals, were sworn to poverty and the protection of Christians visiting the Holy Land. It was also the first organized widespread charity supported, promoted and endorsed by the Church throughout Christendom. “The idea of protecting travelers was not new in the West, [but] part of a larger [earlier] peace movement... in France [which] demanded cessation of warfare [among rival landowners] at certain times of year...” protecting certain social groups “including pilgrims and travelers, from attack” (Upton-Ward 1-2). As defenders of the Holy Land from the rising tide of Islam under Saladin--determined to rest Jerusalem from Christian control--the Knights were first in battle. Many, the sons of wealthy families eager to fight for Christendom, were anxious to be associated with their glorious feats, and fifty years after their founding the Templars had grown in number and prestige. William of Tyre writes in 1174: They have now grown so great that there are in this Order today about 300 knights who wear white mantles, in addition to the brothers, who are almost countless. They are said to have immense possessions both here and overseas, so that there is now not a province in the Christian world which has not bestowed upon the aforesaid brothers a portion of its goods. It is said today that their wealth is equal to the treasures of kings. (William of Tyre, Selection 3) The Knights had also grown in creditability and reputation as a safe repository for the wealth and land holdings of noblemen participating in the Crusades, as well as that of pilgrims intent upon visiting the holy sites. Perhaps surprisingly, many women left behind by their fighting husbands handled the family’s finances. (Haas 185)The service they provided represents the beginning of banking as we know it, that which lead to the current Western financial and economic system of saving, investment and credit. Yet despite the Templars as a religious order, and its documented heroics in the wars for Christian supremacy throughout the twelfth century, challenges to their role as keeper and manager of a good deal of Europe’s financial resources was the order’s eventual downfall . In Praise of the New Knighthood: Fighting for Christendom The evolution of monastic orders into military organizations was “…the most important innovation of the twelfth-century [religious] reform movement” (Brodman 383). The initial request for the formation of the Knights Templar came from French knight Hughes de Payens, who would remain its Grand Master for most of his life. The growth of the order from a nine-man monastic group to its eventual prominence as the most influential and wealthy order associated with the Church is credited, to a great extent, to the encouragement and support of Cistercian abbot, Bernard of Clairvaux. A letter to Peyans exhorts the group and its efforts in the fight against Islam: IT SEEMS THAT A NEW KNIGHTHOOD has recently appeared on the earth, and precisely in that part of it which the Orient from on high visited in the flesh. As he then troubled the princes of darkness in the strength of his mighty hand, so there he now wipes out their followers, the children of disbelief, scattering them by the hands of his mighty ones. Even now he brings about the redemption of his people raising up again a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. This is, I say, a new kind of knighthood and one unknown to the ages gone by. It ceaselessly wages a twofold war both against flesh and blood and against a spiritual army of evil in the heavens. When someone strongly resists a foe in the flesh, relying solely on the strength of the flesh, I would hardly remark it, since this is common enough. And when war is waged by spiritual strength against vices or demons, this, too, is nothing remarkable, praiseworthy as it is, for the world is full of monks. But when the one sees a man powerfully girding himself with both swords and nobly marking his belt, who would not consider it worthy of all wonder, the more so since it has been hitherto unknown? He is truly a fearless knight and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armor of faith just as his body is protected by armor of steel. He is thus doubly armed and need fear neither demons nor men. Not that he fears death--no, he desires it. Why should he fear to live or fear to die when for him to live is Christ, and to die is gain? Gladly and faithfully he stands for Christ, but he would prefer to be dissolved and to be with Christ, by far the better thing. (Clairvaux, ch. 1) In supporting the Templars, Clairvaux and Payens were “creating an organization of ‘fighting monks’...a lifestyle for which there was no precedent” (Barber; Bate: Preface x). “The Temple offered twelfth-century knights the opportunity to seek salvation within a monastic order without denying them the life of action of which they were so proud” (Barber; Bate 6). Studying their eventual fame and glory in battle it is hard to comprehend their later downfall. The Knights Templar were surely an elite medieval fighting force of highly trained, well-equipped and highly motivated soldiers forbidden by military ethic and rules to retreat in battle. Not all Knights Templar, however, were warriors. Some, considered support members, played alternate battlefield roles as well as roles as financial administrators charged with acquiring funds for the order—much of which were used to equip the fighting force. A military infrastructure saw that the fighters were well-trained and well-armed; martyrdom in battle, as with Islamic jihad fighters of today, was considered a glorious way to die. Their code required them to stay on in battle almost to the point of recklessness, and they were forbidden to retreat unless outnumbered by 3-to-1, and even then only by order of their commander, or if the Templar flag was captured or dropped on the field by a fallen warrior. They were shrewd tacticians who followed the lead of Saint Bernard, who declared that a small force, under the right conditions, could defeat a much larger enemy. The Knights proved it time and time again as discussed later at the Battle of Montgisard. Another key tactic of the Templars was to have a small group of knightscalled the gather into a tight unit and gallop full force at the enemy. This was a terrifying site and undoubtedly put the enemy in panic, giving the Crusades an advantage and allowing them to break holes in the enemy lines in the face of its fleeing fighters. The Templars would frequently fight with other armies, usually as the frontal force, or protect the army’s rear flank. Special select forces fought with the armies of King Louis VII of France, and King Richard I of England (Addison, 141-149) as well as in Crusades in Palestine and Spain against the invading Moors. However, improprieties by some Templars who were not particularly interested in living the religious life required by the monk/warrior, were to come back to haunt the Templars in their final days, when Rome, the King of France and many others who saw their wealth and power as intimidating used the improprieties as added ammunition in the war against them. A letter from Jacques de Vitry to the order hints at the problems. “And when you fight false religious men who have a bad conscience, [remember that] Isaiah 33 [v.14] says, ‘It is [only] the hypocrite who possesses fear.’ Therefore the knights of Christ should be completely pure and holy, so that they are always ready to die, and not dare to live one day in a state in which they would not dare to die...” (de Vitry, Sermon 37). Templar Role in the Crusades “The emergence of military orders was one facet of the growing diversification which characterized the religious life of western Christendom in the later eleventh and early twelfth centuries. Members of military orders lived according to rules which were similar to, and in part based on existing monastic regulations. The religious way of life was combined with fighting” (Riley-Smith 176) . In large part due to Clairvaux’s support, at around 1129 the Knights, which had been fighting battles in the Crusades since the beginning of the century, were officially sanctioned as a valid religious and military organization. Its charity work expanded and its membership rose substantially. While warrior monks fought, non-combatant members were busily setting about the task of building a huge financial empire through what was then innovative techniques later to become the basis of the current banking system. The Templar identity, existence and purpose are closely tied to the Crusades and the defense of Christianity as the world religion. Their contribution to that cause is well documented. “Innocent III early sought to ensure that both the secular and ecclesiastical leaders of society would provide contingents for the crusade... In practical terms, it meant that the recruitment effort was directed in a particular way to the elites rather than to the masses...” (Powell 67). Testament to this is the fact that with its clear mission to protect and secure the Holy Land, and its many resources and military perks, the Order grew rapidly, and their reputation as fierce fighters for Christianity, with their impressive white tunics with red crosses, grew along with legends of their success in battles with the infamous Islamic leader, Saladin. The most important battle, the Battle of Montgisard in 1177 was fought under the auspices of King Baldwin [the leper]; five-hundred Templar Knights and segments of armies from other sources and orders defeated an army of more than 26,000 Muslims. It is significant to note that after the death of King Baldwin in 1186 his brother-in-law, Guy of Lusignan, was chosen specifically to replace him as an award to the Templars for their support in the battle. The appointment proved highly objectionable to The Hospitallers, a competing monk/warrior group, who were already chaffing under the Templar’s growing power and influence. It was an animosity that would rear its head in the next century. Of particular interest is Templar participation in the Second Crusade. At a chapter meeting held in Paris in April, 1147...they [Templars] mustered 130 professed knights...During the difficult and dangerous march across Asia Minor...the Templars redeployment of the crusading forces into an organized and disciplined formation prevented the army from disintegrating...[and becoming vulnerable to attack]...Here was to establish the pattern which was to characterize the Order’s approach to battle...(Barber; Bate 3-4). While criticism of religious/military organizations both were prevalent throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the fact remained that the Templars were greatly responsible for protecting the land and property of states taking part in the Crusades. That the Templar sacrifices during the Crusades were substantial is confirmed by de Vitry, often critical of the Templars, who in 1219 began a history of the Holy Land from the advent of Islam to the crusades in his own time. “[Vitry] recognized that many knights and sergeants [lesser fighters] paid with their lives...:” (Barber; Bate 12) “on Christ’s behalf they exposed their bodies to death precious in the sight of the Lord” (Vitry 1083). Barber and Bate write: Sometimes these losses were spectacular: 230 knights at Hattin...267 knights at La Forbie; 280 knights at Montsourah...Although seldom recorded, the deaths of other personnel [staff and sergeants] must have been on the same scale. William of Beaujeu, the last master to rule the order from the Palestinian mainland, in May 1291, shortly before the city fell to the Mamluks. (Barber; Bate 12) Proprietary Wars at Home In the beginning of the fourteenth century the focus on warfare began to change, and with it the nature and military aspect of the Templars. “In 1095 the First Crusade was launched, establishing a great military endeavour that was a central preoccupation of Europeans until the end of the thirteenth century. The fourteenth century ushered in great changes in war and society under the influence of economic change...” (France 1). Summarizing from Barber and Bate, the Templars' existence was tied closely to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the Order faded. Rumors about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created mistrust, and King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, took advantage of the situation. In 1307, many of the Order's members in France were arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at the stake. (1-3) Under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V disbanded the Order in 1312 after several years of wrangling at the general council of Vienne, where the Pope, in a series of papal Bulls issued over time, made it clear that both the politics of Europe and the church, inevitably intertwined, had turned against the Templars. “This house has aroused my anger and wrath, so that I will remove it from my sight because of the evil of its sons, for they have provoked me to anger... They have built the high places of Baal in order to consecrate their sons to idols and demons...” (Clement V, Papal Bull #1, 1312-1313) The following from Papal Bull #29 appears to seal the fate of the Templars who, in the end, would be accused of usury in their financial dealings, a charge solidified by other charges questioning their religious practices and dedication to the Church. “If indeed someone has fallen into the error of presuming to affirm pertinaciously that the practice of usury is not sinful, we decree that he is to be punished as a heretic; and we strictly enjoin on local ordinaries and inquisitors of heresy to proceed against those they find suspect of such error as they would against those suspected of heresy” (Clement V, Papal Bull #29). While there were undoubtedly many factors working against the Templars certainly the most harmful resulted from Philip IV, who at the time held great sway over the Vatican and Pope Clement V. Both Philip, Clement and many a wealthy nobleman feared the influence and financial power of the Templars, which over the century had grown to enormous proportions, outstripping many kings and nobles and causing consternation in the Vatican who also sought and controlled great financial resources. “The Templars received gifts of estates and money. As their banking role increased...and their landholdings grew, they aroused the hostility, fear, and jealousy of secular rulers and of the secular clergy as well” (Columbia Encyclopedia, 26356) It is interesting to note in this period how the burgeoning financial system was replacing the former acquisition of wealth gained through the booty of war and kept safely castles. The placement of wealth was moving more toward “managers,” including the Templars, to ensure its continuance. But Philip had borrowed heavily from the Templars, and their downfall meant a good deal of debt relief to this infamous spendthrift. His dishonestly was generally acknowledged. “Philip in his quest for more and more money recalled all the coinage and melted it down for his usage. He then replaced it all with coins minted of lesser value” (Defoe, Para. 4) In the first recorded case of devaluing money. His people were furious and ironically he had to seek shelter with the Templars, whom he would later betray. It was at the temple that he became aware of the Templars wealth and formulated future plans to make it his own. That the Templars certainly were more than gracious and charitable to the King is fairly obvious; and the entire historical matter is indicative of the backbiting that went on in those days with the complicity, as we will find later, of the Church and its officials. By the mid-thirteenth century the popularity of the Crusades had decreased and the Holy Land virtually lost. Since much of the Templar mystique was tied to the Crusades, the time was right for Philip to diminish that mystique in the eyes of both the Church and Christendom. In complicity with Clement V and other Templar enemies, the Vatican at the Council of Vienne set about issuing accusations that would set the stage for the eventual trial and murder of many Templar leaders. “It is impossible to evaluate fairly the Templars and their fate; the injustices of their final treatment have led some to consider them blameless, yet the charges against them were not entirely unfounded” (Columbia Encyclopedia, 26356) Some historians of the time, with no particular political or religious axes to grind, found Templar arrogance in their wealth a reason for censure. That Philip IV went well beyond censure in his final push to destroy the order, down to burning at the stake for heresy its last leader casts a good deal of suspicion upon both his motives and that of the Church, considering not everyone agreed with Clements view that the financial dealings of the Templars constituted usury, a charge leveled by Clement in his Bull. William of Tyre writes, “Although they maintained their establishment honorably for a long time and fulfilled their vocation with sufficient prudence, later, because of the neglect of humility... they with drew from the Patriarch of Jerusalem...” (William of Tyre, Selection 3). The move was obviously considered arrogant, since they were essentially removing from the Patriarch their obedience. More importantly, however, is reflected in the following complaint. “They have also taken away tithes and first fruits from God's churches, have disturbed their possessions, and have made themselves exceedingly troublesome” (William of Tyre, Selection 3). It might be assumed that “exceedingly troublesome” had much to do with their attempt to distance themselves from the Church and its demands, perhaps on their finances. By “troublesome,” William of Tyre could have meant many things: the alleged sexual improprieties including womanizing and drunkenness; sodomy among the warrior monks, allegedly part of their secret ordination rituals; its seemingly unquenchable thirst for more land and wealth; its credit and lending policies that wrankled kings and nobles alike. Nevertheless, in war there was no doubt their expertise and valor were unquestionable. As part of the war machine of the twelfth and thirteenth century, the Templars were surely an important factor, not only in the Crusades, but as protectors of the land and wealth of many a prominent European nobleman. It should be reinforced that many nobles did not join the Templars as monks. As in the makeup of military troops today, there are a variety of reasons why individuals chose to join, from the need for adventure, to the prestige of rank, to an honest devotion to country cause. As pointed out by Demause regarding history’s reluctance to address this issue, “...you never get one sentence of curiousity as to why they did it over and over again!” (Demause 103). Derbes suggests evangelical prompting by preachers of the day. “...crusading churchmen... exhorted their listeners with tales of the heroic ancestors of the Franks, back to the ancient Israelites” (Derbes 460). “All were [probably] true of the Templars. The one factor that sets them historically apart was the accepted role of stewardship of the wealth of others along with lending practices unheard of until that time. So intense was support for the Crusades that the award of land and treasure to the Templars and other religious military orders presents history with a unique view of war in medieval times as financial opportunity. Much has been written of the Templars as the basis of the Masonic movement that, over time, broke with the Church and transferred its energies to the business of the widespread accrual of capital. Yet it is their dedication to the practice of religious war that generally survives as their grandest historical legacy. Well-equipped and trained Templar knights became one of the most formidable fighting forces in the Holy Land. (Biema. para. 4) The Templars, it would seem, began as favorites of the Church and Christendom but when, through their dedication and cunning financial dealings they came to outshine other orders and indeed, the Church itself to whom it became a financial threat, because it’s days were numbered, Yet, it was the Church itself which had given it a good deal of its power in the form of exemptions from tax laws. The imprimatur of the Church was reason enough for wealthy persons to bestow their largess. But by 1190 The Templars suffered loss after loss in one disastrous battle after the other. With each new loss both the Templars and the Crusades themselves became of little interest to the Europeans, placing, undoubtedly, more and more emphasis on their wealth and financial dealings. After loosing the Battle of Acre in 1291 even the wealthy land-rich Templars were forced to give up their treasured headquarters on the Temple Mount and move to a less auspicious location on the island of Cyprus. Along with their diminishment in image and identity as the glorious defenders of Christendom the Templars it seems logical that they must have seemed an easier target for those interested in stealing their wealth. All of their past glories in battles mattered little to nobles and kings whose interest lay exclusively in storing up treasure and securing as much land as possible. It was easier to confront the weakened organization with all manner of charges from heresy to sodomy to usary. Regarding property owned by the Templars, the long-winded litany of charges by Pope Clement V contains, in a few sentences, almost as an aside information regarding what to do with property owned by the order now that they had fallen from grace. “Templars, for which we had set ourselves a final decision or sentence to be promulgated in the present council, would lead in all probability to the total loss, destruction and dilapidation of the Templars' property” (Clement V, Papal Bull #29), an issue well into the Papal Bull that had not even been mentioned before in favor of focus on a series of alleged charges, none of which could actually be proven and were extremely suspect. Yet, Clement, after insisting Philip, though he had reported the crimes, was “...not moved by greed” (Clement V, Papal Bull #29) goes on to say that the council had “elected to proceed by way of provision and ordinance, [and] in this way scandal will be removed, perils avoided and property saved for the help of the holy Land” (Clement V, Papal Bull #29). In short, the property would not remain the province of the Templars but its worth could only be used for the protection of the Holy Land, in essence, it would revert to the authority of the Church who would use the funds as it saw fit. As Gilmour-Bryson found, “Most criticism leveled at the order revolved around its seeming arrogance and pride, its perceived responsibility for the military failures in the Holy Land, and, most of all, its alleged possession of wealth and power” (155). It is a definitive statement, and one that seems to hold a great deal of credibility in light of the evidence produced. In accruing their vast wealth of treasure and property, the Templars had made many enemies, enemies who would eventually attempt to destroy and relieve them of their wealth. In the end, if one believes the legends surrounding the Templars, the evolved into the Masons with treasure in tact and enormous financial power in Europe. The film National Treasure depicts the treasure of the Templars as eventually coming to United States and buried under a church in New York. This, however, is only legend. Yet the truth is clear. Their enormous acquisition of wealth, while possible to construe as spoils of war, was undoubtedly the most egregious factor in their demise as an order. Works Cited Addison, Charles Greenstreet. The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple.London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, (1842), pp. 141-149. Barber, Malcolm. The Trial of the Templars. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978. Barber, Malcolm and Keith Bate. The Templars: Selected Sources. New York: Manchester University Press, 2002. Brodman, James W. “Rule and Identity: The Case of the Military Orders.” The Catholic Historical Review 87: 3 (2001) 383-400http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/catholic_historical_review/v087/87.3brodman.html Clairvaux, Bernard. In Praise of the New Knighthood: Prologue 5, Trans. Conrad Greenia (1977) http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/religion/monastic/bernard.html Columbia Encyclopedia. “Knights Templar in Medieval History.” Columbia University Press (2004).www.questia.com Defoe, Stephen. (Website) A History and Mythos of the Knights Templar: Templar History. 1997-2009. http://www.templarhistory.com/philip.html Demause, Lloyd. “God's War: a New History of the Crusades.” The Journal of Psychohistory 35:1 (2007) 103+. www.questia.com Derbes, Anne. “Crusading Ideology and the Frescoes of S. Maria in Cosmedin.’ The Art Bulletin 77: 3 (1995) 460+. www.questia.com de Vitry, Jacques. Sermons to a Military Order. Trans. Helen J. Nicholson from Sermones Vulgares, 'Sermons to the People’ (1888). http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/sources/vitry.htm France, John. Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades, 1000-1300. London: UCL Press, 1999. Gilmour-Bryson. “Sodomy and the Knights Templar.” Journal of the History of Sexuality 7: 2 (1996) Page Number: 155.www.questia.com Haas, Louis. “Gendering the Crusades.” The Historian 66:1. (2004) 185+. www.questia.com Pope Clement V. Bulls of Clement V on the Knights Templar. Council of Vienne (1311-1312). Introduction and translation from Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Norman P. Tanner ed. (Papal Bulls 1-31). http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/VIENNE.HTM#01 Pope Urban II. Urban’s Plea for a Crusade, (November 27, 1095) from The First Crusade. The Accounts of Eye-witnesses and Participants, Ed. and Trans. August C. Krey, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1921. http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/sources/firstcrusade.htm Powell, James M. Anatomy of a Crusade, 1213-1221. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986. Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Oxford History of the Crusades. Oxford: Oxford University, 1999. www.questia.com Upton-Ward, Judith. The Rule of the Templars: The French Text of the Rule of the Order of the Templars. Perfect Paperback: 1992. Van Biema, David. “The Vatican and the Knights Templar.” Time http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1674980,00.html William of Tyre. A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea. (1170-74). Medieval Sourcebook (Website): December, 1997. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1old.html#prim Read More