The old gateway of St. John's, Clerkenwell, is nearly all that remains of the once princely Priory, the revenues of which, at the time of the Reformation, amounted to the sum of two thousand three hundred and eighty-five pounds twelve shillings and eightpence sterling. Besides the above, the Order possessed subordinate priories or establishments in almost every county of England and Scotland; to which were attached valuable lands, with rights of venison and fishing, and immunities of various kinds.

The other original associates of the Order were the Knights Roral, Gundemar, Godfrey Bisol, Payens de Montidier, Archibald de St. Aman, Andrew de Montbar, and the Count of Provence, according to the German historian, Wilcke.

Bauseant or Bausant, was, in old French, a pie-bald horse. The word is still preserved with its original meaning in the Scotch dialect, in the form Bawsent: —

"His honest, sonsie, baws'nt face,Aye gat him freends in ilka place,"

says Burns, describing the "Ploughman's Collie" in his Tale of the "Twa Dogs;" and in the Glossary, Dr. Currie explains Bawsent as meaning "having a white stripe down the face." Some conceive that the word Beauseant may be merely an old variation of the modern French word Bienséant, as referring to something handsome or attractive.

Expediency afterwards prompted the infraction of this original rule. Gerard de Ridefort, Grand Master of the Order, was liberated by Saladin, along with several other captives, for no less a ransom than the city of Ascalon. In 1244 also, the Templars endeavoured to redeem their brethren from captivity in Egypt.

Mathew Paris charges a certain Templar, named Ferrandus, with having gone over to the Infidels, and betrayed the state of the Christian garrison in Damietta, A. D. 1221. This deserter was reputed to have been a knight "in armis strenuus et consilio circumspectus."

The affiliated were persons of various ranks, and of both sexes, who, without any outward sign of connection, were acknowledged by the Order as entitled to its protection, and admitted to a participation in certain of its privileges, – such as exemption from the effects of ecclesiastical interdicts, which secured to them at least the occasional service of the mass, and Christian burial in consecrated ground. These were advantages of the last importance, for which both men and women, Knights and Burghers, were content to pay considerable sums while alive, and leave to the Treasury of the Temple the residue of their property after death.

The donates and oblates stood in a somewhat different relation to the Order, being personally dedicated or offered, as their titles denote, to the Society. These were either youths whom their parents destined for the service of the Order, when they had attained a proper age, or they were adults who bound themselves gratuitously to aid and assist the Order so long as they lived, solely in admiration of its sanctity and excellence, a portion of which they humbly hoped to share. Among these latter, all classes were to be found, – princes and priests, as well as other persons. (See Secret Societies of the Middle Ages.)

No specific sum appears to have been exacted from entrants, but each was expected to pay according to his means. Thus it is recorded of the Prince Guy Dauphin, that he gave to the Order 1500 pieces (Livr. Tourn.) for his own entry-money, and a contribution of 200 a-year in name of his parents.

Wealthy Squires of the Order, of respectable though not noble parentage, gave sometimes large sums at their reception. Of this class, Bartholomew Bartholet gave property to the amount of 1,000 livres Tournois to be admitted, and William of Liege gave 200 a-year of the same circulation.

Hugo de Payens, the founder of the Order, set a laudable example of rigour in the selection of candidates. When a certain Knight, named Hugo d'Amboise, was desirous of being received into the Order, the Grand Master refused to let him take the vows, because he had oppressed the people of Marmoutier, and disobeyed a judicial sentence of the Count of Anjou; and until he had given satisfaction to all whom he had injured, and otherwise amended his life, he was informed that he could not be admitted into the Temple.

The Rule of St. Bernard prohibited the Templars from even looking at a woman. The translation of the statute, chap. lxxii, is as follows: —

"We hold it to be dangerous to all religion to look too much on the countenance of women, and, therefore, let no Brother presume to kiss either widow or virgin, or mother or sister, or aunt, or any other woman. Let the militia of Christ, therefore, shun feminine kisses, by which men are often exposed to danger, that with a pure conscience and secure life, they may walk continually in the sight of God."

This stronghold of the Order was built about 1217, under the Grand Master, William de Chartres, who employed a number of pilgrims of the masonic class in its erection. Hence the appellation of Pilgrim Castle which it received.

The Knights in general seem to have been buried with their swords placed beside the body. Several skeletons are said to have been found in the Templar Cemetery at Mount Hooly, near Edinburgh, lying cross-legged, with swords by their sides. See Maitland's History of Edinburgh.

The first preceptory of the Templars in England was founded at Holborn, then in the suburbs of London, whence they afterwards removed to Fleet Street about 1185. The only remains of the latter place of residence is the beautiful circular edifice still called the Temple Church, supposed to have been built after the model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. This seems to have been a favourite form with the Order. The Church of St. Sepulchre at Cambridge, built by the Templars, is of a circular construction, having the appearance of a fortified tower. In examining this building (says Mr. Britton) we are struck with its ponderous and durable appearance, as if it was intended for a castellated edifice. The masonry of the ancient walls, and also of the pillars and arches, is such as to evince great skill in the building, the stones being all squared and chisselled with the most perfect accuracy to fit their respective places. At Northampton, the same form seems to have been observed. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (says Pennant, speaking of this place,) was supposed to have been built by the Knights Templars on the model of that at Jerusalem. Others of the chapels appertaining to the Order do not, however, present a similar plan.

The principal Bailliwicks of the Order in England were the following, viz. London, Kent, Warwick, Waesdone, Lincoln, Lindsey, Bolingbroke, Widine, Agerstone, York. In these were seventeen preceptories. Most places having the prefix of Temple belonged to the Knights, – such as Temple-Bruer in Lincolnshire, where, Camden says, that in his time there were the ruins of a church or chapel, "not unlike that of the new Temple at London." Probably it was of the circular form above noticed. Some account of the Irish preceptories will be found in the Appendix.

The Pope (Clement V.) committed the glaring absurdity of making a provisional decree to be executed in perpetuity. The Bull which is issued at the Court at Vienne, without asking the judgment of the assembled bishops and others, declares, that although he cannot of right, consistently with the Inquisition and proceedings, pronounce a definite sentence, yet by way of apostolical provision and regulation, he perpetually prohibited people from entering into the Order, and calling themselves Templars. The penalty of the greater excommunication was held out as a punishment for offending.

This seems somewhat countenanced by the great additions made to the buildings of the Temple at Paris previous to the arrival of the Grand Master. In 1306, was erected a large square tower, flanked by four round towers, with an adjacent building on the north side, surmounted by turrets. The principal tower contained four stories, in each of which there was an apartment thirty feet square: three of the inferior towers had also each a hall. The remaining tower contained a fine staircase, which conducted to the different chambers and battlements. The walls of the central keep were nine feet in thickness. This Tower of the Temple has been rendered memorable in modern times by the captivity of the unfortunate Louis XVI. and his family. It is also noted as the place of imprisonment, by Buonaparte, of the celebrated Sir Sidney Smith, now the Head of the Order of the Temple.

Jacques de Molay was elected Grand Master in the year 1297, and was the second elevated to that dignity after the expulsion of the Christians from the Holy Land. He was of an ancient family in Besançon, Franche Compté, and entered the Order in the year 1265.

It is probable that part of this treasure was formed from the spoils of Greece, which the Templars had been invited from their retirement to invade, at the instigation of the King of Sicily. After overrunning great part of that country, they returned loaded with the plunder of its cities, leaving their possession to some allies. —Vide Michaud, Histoire des Croisades.

A French writer gives the following opinion regarding the origin of some of these charges: – "Les Chevaliers supportaient un grand nombre d'épreuves religieuses et morales avant de parvenir aux divers degrés d'initiation; ainsi, par exemple, le récipiendaire pouvait recevoir l'injonction, sous peine de mort, de fouler aux pieds le crucifix, ou d'adorer une idole; mais, s'il cédait à la terreur qu'on cherchait à lui inspirer, il était déclaré indigne d'être admis aux grades élevés de l'Ordre. On conçoit, d'après cela, comment des êtres, trop faibles ou trop immoraux pour supporter les épreuves d'initiation, ont pu accuser les Templiers de se livrer a des practiques et d'avoir des croyances infâmes, superstitieuses." – (Recherches Historiques sur Les Templiers. Paris, 1835.)

"Quod clam consueverunt tenere capitula sua;" and "Quod similem clandestinitatem observant et observare consueverunt ut plurimum in recipiendo fratres," were principal counts in the indictment against them. From this secrecy, some writers have inferred that the Templars practised a species of Freemasonry, of which certainly no direct evidence transpired during the inquest. Signor Rosetti, the celebrated commentator of Dante, has, we understand, a work in the press, in which he seeks to demonstrate that the Templars were a branch of that great secret confederacy which was formed against the papacy, which included the Troubadours and all the literati of the time, and which ultimately produced the Reformation. This information is derived from a letter to Dr. Burnes by Mr. Keightly, the talented reviewer and friend of Rosetti.

In June 1310, Pope Clement wrote to the King of England blaming his lenity, and calling upon him to employ the torture upon the unfortunate Knights. The Council of London, after a long discussion, ordered it to be employed, but so as not to mutilate the limbs, or cause an incurable wound, or violent effusion of blood.

The Knights of Christ have continued to exist as a recognized Order of Knighthood down to the present day. The supremacy is vested in the Sovereign of Portugal, and the greater part of the revenue is understood to accrue to the royal coffers. The sums, however, paid in pensions to Knights of the Order, about the beginning of the present century, are said to have amounted to about £4000 per annum. In 1793 they possessed twenty-one provincial towns and villages, and counted four hundred and fifty-four commanderies, exclusive of colonial acquisitions. The various recent changes, occasioned by war and intestine commotions, probably have reduced their income and possessions. In 1820 the Grand Prior of Portugal was Louis Antonio de Fontado, of the House of Barbasena, and who died in 1832. We are not informed as to his successor. The Cross of the Order of Christ is sometimes bestowed upon foreigners as an honorary distinction. Dr. Bowring, (who was employed on a mission to the Portuguese Government,) and several other Englishmen, have of late years received its Cross; generally, it is believed, that of the third class of Knights.

Mills' Chivalry, Vol. I. Chap. 7.

An extract from the Bull, in the original Latin, will be found in the Appendix.

Besides appropriating to himself all the moveable property of the Order, three hundred thousand livres of France were retained by the King, ostensibly to repay the expense of the prosecution. No doubt the treasure brought by De Molay from Cyprus would be amongst the first booty seized, as well as the rich gold and silver utensils and plate, with which the chapel and palace of the Temple at Paris were furnished.

On the 28th March 1310, no fewer than 546 Templars were assembled under a strong guard, in the gardens of the Bishop of Paris, who had been conveyed thither to make the defence of the Order, and hear read the accusations against them. This shew of justice was, of course, a mere pretence of their persecutors, to save appearances. The number of the Templars in Paris afterwards encreased to nearly 900. Ferrati of Vicenza has reckoned the entire members of the Order throughout Europe at 15,000 persons.

Histoire des Chevaliers Hospitaliers de Saint Jean de Jerusalem, par l'Abbe Vertot, tom. ii. pp. 101, 102.

So dreadful and impressive an event could not fail to be the source of many strange stories with the vulgar. Among these, chroniclers report, that the venerable martyr, ere life was extinct, summoned Pope Clement to answer before the bar of the Almighty Judge, within forty days, and King Philip before the same tribunal, within the space of a year. Certain it is, that the Pope did suddenly die in the night between the 19th and 20th of the following month; and the church in which his body was placed taking fire, one-half of the corpse was consumed, – a circumstance which naturally confirmed the people in the belief that his death was a special judgment of Heaven for the burning of the knights, and which probably also suggested the prediction. In the month of July following, a tumult arose in the town where the half consumed corpse was kept, during which the populace tried to get forcible possession of the remains; but whether from some superstitious motive, or with a view of avenging on the Pope's body the murder of De Molay, is not known. Philip of France expired within the year, in consequence of a fall from his horse, and others of the persecutors of the Order met a violent death.

A copy of this remarkable Charter, the original of which I had an opportunity of examining through the kindness of the Grand Master and Sir Sidney Smith, at Paris, will be found in the Appendix. The Charter was submitted to the inspection of nearly 200 Knights of the Order, at the Convent-General held at Paris in 1810.

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