The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple

The Templars, in addition to their amazing wealth, enjoyed vast privileges and immunities within this realm. In the reign of King John they were freed from all amerciaments in the Exchequer, and obtained the privilege of not being compelled to plead except before the king or his chief justice. King Henry the Third granted them free warren in all their demesne lands; and by his famous charter, dated the 9th of February, in the eleventh year of his reign, he confirmed to them all the donations of his predecessors and of their other benefactors; with soc145 and sac,146 tol147 and theam,148 infangenethef,149 and unfangenethef,150 and hamsoca, and grithbrich, and blodwite, and flictwite, and hengewite, and learwite, and flemenefrith, murder, robbery, forestal, ordel, and oreste; and he acquitted them from the royal and sheriff’s aids, and from hidage, carucage, danegeld and hornegeld, and from military and wapentake services, scutages, tallages, lastages, stallages, from shires and hundreds, pleas and quarrels, from ward and wardpeny, and averpeni, and hundredespeni, and borethalpeni, and thethingepeni, and from the works of parks, castles, bridges, the building of royal houses and all other works; and also from waste regard and view of foresters, and from toll in all markets and fairs, and at all bridges, and upon all highways throughout the kingdom. And he also gave them the chattels of felons and fugitives, and all waifs within their fee.151

In addition to these particular privileges, the Templars enjoyed, under the authority of the Papal bulls, various immunities and advantages, which gave great umbrage to the clergy. They were freed, as before mentioned, from the obligation of paying tithes, and might, with the consent of the bishop, receive them. No brother of the Temple could be excommunicated by any bishop or priest, nor could any of the churches of the order be laid under interdict except by virtue of a special mandate from the holy see. When any brother of the Temple, appointed to make charitable collections for the succour of the Holy Land, should arrive at a city, castle, or village, which had been laid under interdict, the churches, on their welcome coming, were to be thrown open, (once within the year,) and divine service was to be performed in honour of the Temple, and in reverence for the holy soldiers thereof. The privilege of sanctuary was thrown around their dwellings; and by various papal bulls it is solemnly enjoined that no person shall lay violent hands either upon the persons or the property of those flying for refuge to the Temple houses.152

Sir Edward Coke, in the second part of the Institute of the Laws of England, observes, that “the Templars did so overspread throughout Christendome, and so exceedingly increased in possessions, revenues, and wealth, and specially in England, as you will wonder to reade in approved histories, and withall obtained so great and large priviledges, liberties, and immunities for themselves, their tenants, and farmers, &c., as no other order had the like.”153 He further observes, that the Knights Templars were cruce signati, and as the cross was the ensign of their profession, and their tenants enjoyed great privileges, they did erect crosses upon their houses, to the end that those inhabiting them might be known to be the tenants of the order, and thereby be freed from many duties and services which other tenants were subject unto; “and many tenants of other lords, perceiving the state and greatnesse of the knights of the said order, and withall seeing the great priviledges their tenants enjoyed, did set up crosses upon their houses, as their very tenants used to doe, to the prejudice of their lords.”

This abuse led to the passing of the statute of Westminster, the second, chap. 33,154 which recites, that many tenants did set up crosses or cause them to be set up on their lands in prejudice of their lords, that the tenants might defend themselves against the chief lord of the fee by the privileges of Templars and Hospitallers, and enacts that such lands should be forfeited to the chief lords or to the king.

Sir Edward Coke observes, that the Templars were freed from tenths and fifteenths to be paid to the king; that they were discharged of purveyance; that they could not be sued for any ecclesiastical cause before the ordinary, sed coram conservatoribus suorum privilegiorum; and that of ancient time they claimed that a felon might take to their houses, having their crosses for his safety, as well as to any church.155 And concerning these conservers or keepers of their privileges, he remarks, that the Templars and Hospitallers “held an ecclesiasticall court before a canonist, whom they termed conservator privilegiorum suorum, which judge had indeed more authority than was convenient, and did dayly, in respect of the height of these two orders, and at their instance and direction, incroach upon and hold plea of matters determinable by the common law, for cui plus licet quam par est, plus vult quam licet; and this was one great mischiefe. Another mischiefe was, that this judge, likewise at their instance, in cases wherein he had jurisdiction, would make general citations as pro salute animæ, and the like, without expressing the matter whereupon the citation was made, which also was against law, and tended to the grievous vexation of the subject.”156 To remedy these evils, another act of parliament was passed, prohibiting Hospitallers and Templars from bringing any man in plea before the keepers of their privileges, for any matter the knowledge whereof belonged to the king’s court, and commanding such keepers of their privileges thenceforth to grant no citations at the instance of Hospitallers and Templars, before it be expressed upon what matter the citation ought to be made.157

Having given an outline of the great territorial possessions of the order of the Temple in Europe, it now remains for us to present a sketch of its organisation and government. The Master of the Temple, the chief of the entire fraternity, ranked as a sovereign prince, and had precedence of all ambassadors and peers in the general councils of the church. He was elected to his high office by the chapter of the kingdom of Jerusalem, which was composed of all the knights of the East and of the West who could manage to attend. The Master had his general and particular chapters. The first were composed of the Grand Priors of the eastern and western provinces, and of all the knights present in the holy territory. The assembling of these general chapters, however, in the distant land of Palestine, was a useless and almost impracticable undertaking, and it is only on the journeys of the Master to Europe, that we hear of the convocation of the Grand Priors of the West to attend upon their chief. The general chapters called together by the Master in Europe were held at Paris, and the Grand Prior of England always received a summons to attend. The ordinary business and the government of the fraternity in secular matters were conducted by the Master with the assistance of his particular chapter of the Latin kingdom, which was composed of such of the Grand Priors and chief dignitaries of the Temple as happened to be present in the East, and such of the knights as were deemed the wisest and most fit to give counsel. In these last chapters visitors-general were appointed to examine into the administration of the western provinces.

The western nations or provinces of the order were presided over by the provincial Masters,158 otherwise Grand Priors or Grand Preceptors, who were originally appointed by the chief Master at Jerusalem, and were in theory mere trustees or bare administrators of the revenues of the fraternity, accountable to the treasurer general at Jerusalem, and removeable at the pleasure of the Chief Master. As the numbers, possessions, and wealth of the Templars, however, increased, various abuses sprang up. The members of the order, after their admittance to the vows, very frequently, instead of proceeding direct to Palestine to war against the infidels, settled down upon their property in Europe, and consumed at home a large proportion of those revenues which ought to have been faithfully and strictly forwarded to the general treasury at the Holy City. They erected numerous convents or preceptories, with churches and chapels, and raised up in each western province a framework of government similar to that of the ruling province of Palestine.

The chief house of the Temple in England, for example, after its removal from Holborn Bars to the banks of the Thames, was regulated and organised after the model of the house of the Temple at Jerusalem. The superior is always styled “Master of the Temple,” and holds his chapters and has his officers corresponding to those of the chief Master in Palestine. The latter, consequently, came to be denominated Magnus Magister

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

1

Elmacin, Hist. Saracen. Eutychius.

2

Ingulphus, the secretary of William the Conqueror, one of the number, states that he sallied forth from Normandy with thirty companions, all stout and well-appointed horsemen, and that they returned twenty miserable palmers, with the staff in their hand and the wallet at their back. —Baronius ad ann. 1064, No. 43, 56.

3

Will. Tyr., lib. i. cap. 10, ed. 1564.

4

Omnibus mundi partibus divites et pauperes, juvenes et virgines, senes cum junioribus, loca sancta visitaturi Hierosolymam pergerent. – Jac. de Vitriaco. Hist. Hierosol. cap. lxv.

5

“To kiss the holy monuments,” says William of Tyre, “came sacred and chaste widows, forgetful of feminine fear, and the multiplicity of dangers that beset their path.” – Lib. xviii. cap. 5.

6

Quidam autem Deo amabiles et devoti milites, charitate ferventes, mundo renuntiantes, et Christi se servitio mancipantes in manu Patriarchæ Hierosolymitani professione et voto solemni sese astrinxerunt, ut a prædictis latronibus, et viris sanguinum, defenderent peregrinos, et stratas publicas custodirent, more canonicorum regularium in obedientia et castitate et sine proprio militaturi summo regi. Jac. de Vitr. Hist. Hierosol. apud Gesta Dei per Francos, cap. lxv. p. 1083. —Will. Tyr. lib. xii. cap. 7. There were three kinds of poverty. The first and strictest (altissima) admitted not of the possession of any description of property whatever. The second (media) forbade the possession of individual property, but sanctioned any amount of wealth when shared by a fraternity in common. The lowest was where a separate property in some few things was allowed, such as food and clothing, whilst everything else was shared in common. The second kind of poverty (media) was adopted by the Templars.

7

Pantaleon, lib. iii. p. 82.

8

D’Herbelot Bib. Orient. p. 270, 687, ed. 1697. William of Tyre, who lived at Jerusalem shortly after the conquest of the city by the Crusaders, tells us that the Caliph Omar required the Patriarch Sophronius to point out to him the site of the temple destroyed by Titus, which being done, the caliph immediately commenced the erection of a fresh temple thereon, “Quo postea infra modicum tempus juxta conceptum mentis suæ feliciter consummato, quale hodie Hierosolymis esse dinoscitur, multis et infinites ditavit possessionibus.” – Will. Tyr. lib. i. cap. 2.

9

Erant porro in eodem Templi ædificio, intus et extra ex opere musaico, Arabici idiomatis literarum vetustissima monimenta, quibus et auctor et impensarum quantitas et quo tempore opus inceptum quodque consummatum fuerit evidenter declaratur… In hujus superioris areæ medio Templum ædificatum est, forma quidem octogonum et laterum totidem, tectum habens sphericum plumbo artificiose copertum… Intus vero in medio Templi, infra interiorem columnarum ordinem rupes est, &c. —Will. Tyr. lib. i. cap 2, lib. viii. cap. 3. In hoc loco, supra rupem quæ adhuc in eodem Templo consistit, dicitur stetisse et apparuisse David exterminator Angelus… Templum Dominicum in tanta veneratione habent Saraceni, ut nullus eorum ipsum audeat aliquibus sordibus maculare; sed a remotis et longinquis regionibus, a temporibus Salomonis usque ad tempora præsentia, veniunt adorare. —Jac. de Vitr. Hist. Hierosol. cap. lxii. p. 1080.

10

Procopius de ædificiis Justiniani, lib. 5.

11

Phocas believes the whole space around these buildings to be the area of the ancient temple. ‘Εν τω ἀρχαίω δαπεδω του περιώνυμου ναου έκείνοὺ του Σὸλομωντος θεωρουμενος … ῎Εξωθεν δὲ του ναου ἐστι περιαύλιον μεγα λιθόστωτον τὸ παλαιὸν, ὼς οιμαι, του μεγαλου ναου δάπεδον. —Phocæ descript. Terr. Sanc. cap. xiv. Colon. 1653.

12

Quibus quoniam neque ecclesia erat, neque certum habebant domicilium, Rex in Palatio suo, quod secus Templum Domini ad australem habet partem, eis concessit habitaculum. —Will. Tyr. lib. xii. cap. 7. And in another place, speaking of the Temple of the Lord, he says, Ab Austro vero domum habet Regiam, quæ vulgari appellatione Templum Salomonis dicitur. —Ib. lib. viii. cap. 3.

13

Qui quoniam juxta Templum Domini, ut prædiximus, in Palatio regio mansionem habent, fratres militiæ Templi dicuntur. —Will. Tyr. lib. xii. cap. 7.

14

Est præterea Hierosolymis Templum aliud immensæ quantitatis et amplitudinis, a quo fratres militiæ Templi, Templarii nominantur, quod Templum Salomonis nuncupatur, forsitan ad distinctionem alterius quod specialiter Templum Domini appellatur. —Jac. de Vitr. cap. 62.

15

In Templo Domini abbas est et canonici regulares, et sciendum est quod aliud est Templum Domini, aliud Templum militiæ. Isti clerici, illi milites. —Hist. Orient. Jac. de Vitr. apud Thesaur. Nov. Anecd. Martene, tom. iii. col. 277.

16

Will. Tyr. lib. xii. cap. 7.

17

Prima autem eorum professio quodque eis a domino Patriarcha et reliquis episcopis in remissionem peccatorum injunctum est, ut vias et itinera, ad salutem peregrinorum contra latronum et incursantium insidias, pro viribus conservarent. —Will. Tyr. lib. xii. cap. 7.

18

Gibbon.

19

Reg. Constit. et Privileg. Ordinis Cisterc. p. 447.

20

Chron. Cisterc. Albertus Miræus. Brux. 1641. Manricus ad ann. 1128, cap. ii. Act. Syn. Trec. tom. x. edit. Labb.

21

Ego Joannes Michaelensis, præsentis paginæ, jussu consilii ac venerabilis abbatis Clarævallensis, cui creditum ac debitum hoc fuit, humilis scriba esse, divinâ gratiâ merui. —Chron. Cisterc. ut sup.

22

See also Hoveden apud X script. page 479. Hen. Hunting. ib. page 384.

23

Annales Benedictini, tom. vi. page 166.

24

Histoire de Languedoc, lib. xvii. p. 407.

25

Hist. de l’eglise de Gandersheim. Mariana de rebus Hispaniæ, lib. x. cap. 15, 17, 18. Zurita anales de la corona de Aragon, tom. i. lib. i. cap. 52. Quarita, tom. i. lib. ii. cap. 4.

26

Semel et secunda, et tertio, ni fallor, petiisti a me. Hugo carrissime, ut tibi tuisque commilitonibus scriberem exhortationis sermonem, et adversus hostilem tyrannidem, quia lanceam non liceret, stilum vibrarem. Exhortatio S. Bernardi ad Milites Templi, ed. Mabillon. Parisiis, 1839, tom. i. col. 1253 to 1278.

27

i. e. Without any separate property.

28

Will. Tyr. lib. xiii. cap. 26; Anselmus, lib. iii. epistolarum. epist. 43, 63, 66, 67; Duchesne in Hist. Burg. lib. iv. cap. 37.

29

Miles eximius et in armis strenuus, nobilis carne et moribus, dominus Robertus cognomine Burgundio Magister militiæ Templi. —Will. Tyr. lib. xv. cap. 6.

30

Vir eximius frater militiæ Templi Otto de Monte Falconis, omnes de morte suâ mœrore et gemitu conficiens, occisus est. —Will. Tyr. lib. xv. cap. 6.

31

Abulfeda, ad ann. Hegir. 534, 539. Will. Tyr. lib. xvi. cap. 4, 5, 7, 15, 16, who terms Zinghis, Sanguin. Abulfaradge Chron. Syr. p. 326, 328. Will. Tyr. lib. xvi. cap. 14.

32

Odo de Diogilo, p. 33. Will. Tyr. lib. xii. cap. 7; Jac. de Vitr. cap. lxv.; Paul. Æmil. p. 254; Monast. Angl. vol. vii. p. 814.

33

In nomine sanctæ et individuæ Trinitatis omnibus dominis et amicis suis, et Sanctæ Dei ecclesiæ filiis, Bernardus de Baliolo Salutem. Volo notum fieri omnibus tam futuris quam præsentibus, quod pro dilectione Dei et pro salute animæ meæ, antecessorumque meorum fratribus militibus de Templo Salomonis dedi et concessi Wedelee, &c. … Hoc donum in capitulo, quod in Octavis Paschæ Parisiis fuit feci, domino apostolico Eugenio præsente, et ipso rege Franciæ et archiepiscopo Seuver, et Bardell et Rothomagi, et Frascumme, et fratribus militibus Templi alba chlamide indutis cxxx præsentibus. —Reg. Cart. S. Joh. Jerus. in Bib. Cotton. Nero E. b. No. xx. fo. 118.

34

Gallia Christiana nova, tom. i. col. 486.

35

Odo de Diogilo de Ludov. vii. profectione in Orientem, p. 67.

36

Rex per aliquot dies in Palatio Templariorum, ubi olim Regia Domus, quæ et Templum Salomonis constructa fuit manens, et sancta ubique loca peragrans, per Samariam ad Galilæam Ptolemaidam rediit… Convenerat enim cum rege militibusque Templi, circa proximum Julium, in Syriam ad expugnationem Damasci exercitum ducere. —Otto Frising, cap. 58.

37

Ludovici regis ad abbatem Sugerium epist. 58. —Duchesne hist. franc. scrip. tom. iv. p. 512; see also epist. 59, ibid.

38

Simeonis Dunelmensis hist. ad ann. 1148, apud X script.

39

Dugdale Baronage, tom. i. p. 122, Dugd. Monast. vol. 7, p. 838.

40

Ex regist. Hosp. S. Joh. Jerusalem in Angli in Bib. Cotton. fol. 289, a-b. Dugd. Monast. Angl. ed. 1830, vol. vii. p. 820.

41

Ex. cod. vet. M. S. penes Anton. Wood, Oxon, fol. 14 a. Ib. p. 843.

42

Liber Johannis Stillingflete, M. S. in officio armorum (L. 17) fol. 141 a, Harleian M. S. No. 4937.

43

Geoffrey of Clairvaux observes, however, that the second crusade could hardly be called unfortunate, since, though it did not at all help the Holy Land, it served to people heaven with martyrs.

44

His head and right hand were cut off by Noureddin, and sent to the caliph at Bagdad. —Abulfarag. Chron. Syr. p. 336.

45

Spicilegii Dacheriani, tom. ii. p. 511; see also Will. Tyr. lib. xvii. cap. 9.

46

Will. Tyr. lib. xvii. cap. 21. L’art de verifier les dates, p. 340. Nobiliaire de Franche-Compté, par Dunod, p. 140.

47

Will. Tyr. lib. xvii. cap. 20, ad ann. 1152.

48

S. Bernardi epistolæ, 288, 289, 392, ed. Mabillon.

49

Anselmi Gemblacensis Chron. ad ann. 1153. Will. Tyr. lib. xvii. cap. 27.

50

Captus est inter cæteros ibi Bertrandus de Blanquefort, Magister Militiæ Templi, vir religiosus ac timens Deum. Will. Tyr. lib. xviii. cap. 14. Registr. epist. apud Martene vet. script. tom. ii. col. 647.

51

Milites Templi circa triginta, ducentos Paganorum euntes ad nuphas verterent in fugam, et divino præsidio comitante, omnes partim ceperunt, partim gladio trucidarunt. Registr. epist. ut sup. col. 647.

52

Will. Tyr. lib. xix. cap. 8.

53

Epist. xvi. S. Remensi archiepiscopo et ejus suffraganeis pro ecclesia Jerosolymitana et militibus Templi, apud Martene vet. script. tom. ii. col. 647.

54

Islam, the name of the Mahometan religion. The word signifies literally, delivering oneself up to God.

55

Keightley’s Crusaders.

56

The virtues of Noureddin are celebrated by the Arabic Historian Ben-Schunah, in his Raoudhat Almenadhir, by Azzeddin Ebn-al-ather, by Khondemir, and in the work entitled, “The flowers of the two gardens,” by Omaddeddin Kateb. See also Will. Tyr. lib. xx. cap. 33.

57

Regula, cap. xlviii.

58

Vexillum bipartitum ex Albo et Nigro quod nominant Beau-seant id est Gallicâ linguâ Bien-seant; eo quod Christi amicis candidi sunt et benigni, inimicis vero terribiles atque nigri, Jac. de Vitr. Hist. Hierosol. apud Gesta Dei, cap. lxv. The idea is quite an oriental one, black and white being always used among the Arabs metaphorically, in the sense above described. Their customary salutation is, May your day be white, i. e. may you be happy.

59

Alwakidi Arab. Hist. translated by Ockley. Hist. Saracen. It refers to a period antecedent to the crusades, but the same religio-military enthusiasm prevailed during the holy war for the recovery of Jerusalem.

60

Cinnamus, lib. iv. num. 22.

61

Gesta Dei, inter regum et principum epistolas, tom. i. p. 1173, 6, 7. Hist. Franc. Script. tom. iv. p. 692, 693.

62

Hist. de Saladin, par M. Marin, tom. i. p. 120, 1. Gibbon, cap. 59.

63

Gesta Dei, epist. xiv. p. 1178, 9.

64

De fratribus nostris ceciderunt LX. milites fortissimi, præter fratres clientes et Turcopulos, nec nisi septem tantum evasêre periculum. Epist. Gauf. Fulcherii procuratoris Templi Ludovico regi Francorum. Gesta Dei, tom. i. p. 1182, 3, 4.

65

Registr. epist. apud Martene, vel script. tom. ii. col. 846, 847, 883.

66

“… præcipue pro fratribus Templi, vestram exoramus Majestatem … qui quotidie moriuntur pro Domino et servitio, et per quos possumus, si quid possumus. In illis enim tota summa post Deum consistit omnium eorum, qui sano fiunt consilio in partibus orientis…” Gesta Dei, tom. i. epist. xxi. p. 1181.

67

Dominus fuit Arabiæ secundæ, quæ est Petracensis, qui locus hodie Crach dicitur, et Syriæ Sobal … factus est Magister Militiæ Templi. —Will. Tyr. lib. xxii. cap. 5.

68

Will. Tyr. lib. xviii. cap. 4, 5.

69

Fratres ejusdem domus non formidantes pro fratribus suis animas ponere; cum servientibus et equitaturis ad hoc officium specialiter deputatis et propriis sumptibus retentis, tam in eundo, quam redeundo ab incursibus Paganorum defensant. —De Vertot. hist. des chev. de Malte, liv. i. preuve 9.

70