Templars: The Early Days

Formed about 1120 by Hugues de Payens and eight others—including André de Montbard, the uncle of St. Bernard of Clairvaux—the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, aka Templars, had some trouble getting established. They wanted to be a monastic order of knights to provide protection to pilgrims in the Holy Land, which had been opened up to Western European Travel by the Crusades (begun in 1095).

King Baldwin II of Jerusalem had given them space in the palace complex on the Temple Mount, which had most recently been the captured Al-Aqsa Mosque. They had no funds, however, and so André de Montbard turned to his already famous nephew to write an endorsement of the order, after which they started to thrive. André eventually became the Grand Master, but with his death in 1156 the last of the original nine founders was gone. The next Grand Master took a step back and decided it was time for reform.

Bertrand de Blanchefort (c.1109 - 13 January 1169) was a son of Lord Godfrey of Guyenne. Although raised as a warrior and becoming a member of an order of warrior-monks, he wanted to emphasize facets of the Templars other than their status as soldiers. One step was to ask the pope for permission to use the title "Master by Grace of God" in order to stress the religious nature of the order less than the military nature.

He also wrote a set of clear rules for different positions in the order, and created checks and balances against the Grand Master's role, to ensure that future Grand Masters could not make decisions on the order's purpose or goals without the support of the rest of the knights.

In 1157, he was captured after fighting alongside King Baldwin III of Jerusalem in a battle against Nur ad-Din Zangi, ruler of the Syrian province of the Seljuk Empire. He remained a prisoner for three years until the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenos made a peace treaty with Nur ad-Din and had Bertrand released.

Bertrand also fought with Baldwin's successor, Amalric I, in an unsuccessful expedition against Egypt in 1163. Another expedition was planned in 1168, but Bertrand refused to participate, and was involved instead in drawing up a peace treaty with Egypt later. After Bertrand's death, however, Amalric pressured the Templars to elect Philip of Milly as their next Grand Master, a man with whom Amalric already had a relationship. Because of this choice, Amalric gained Templar support for future fighting forays. Who was this next Grand Master? Where did he come from? I'll talk about him next time.

Uncle and Nephew, Part 2

After Bernard of Clairvaux wrote a long statement endorsing the new order at the request of his uncle André de Montbard, the Knights Templar began to thrive. André was seneschal, second-in-command to the Grand Master.

Even when there was no official Crusade, battles in the Holy Land between Christian forces and Muslims still took place. Between the Second and Third Crusades, at the Siege of Ascalon (pictured here; 25 January to 22 August 1153), the Fatimid defenders set fire to a siege tower set up by the Christians. Unfortunately for the defenders, wind was blowing in the wrong direction and directed the flames back against the defenses, causing part of the wall to collapse.

Templars were first to enter the breach, aiding in the capture of Ascalon, the last coastal city in Palestine that was not yet controlled by the Crusaders. In the fighting, the fourth Templar Grand Master, Bernard de Tremelay, was killed. According to William of Tyre, the Templars—who had a "first in and last out" philosophy of battle that was admirable to civilians but looked like grandstanding to other soldiers—rushed in so as not to share spoils with the rest of the army (Templars were still looking for financial support).

André de Montbard was elected the fifth Grand Master. Despite his increased duties to the order and to activities in the Holy Land, he maintained a relationship with his nephew in Burgundy who had helped him out. They wrote several letters to each other over the years.

While the Siege of Ascalon was going on, Bernard was dying (he was in his early 60s then). He wrote to André, asking that the knight visit him:

…I wish even more strongly to see you. I find the same wish in your letters, but also your fears for the land that Our Lord honoured with His presence and consecrated with His blood…

But let us mount above the sun, and may our conversation continue in the heavens. There, my Andre, will be the fruits of your labours, and there your reward…

By the time André received this, Bernard was gone.

Interestingly, Bernard's death was attended by a Templar Grand Master: the third Grand Master of the Templars, Everard des Barres, had given up war, tonsured his head, and joined Clairvaux to live out his remaining years in contemplation, despite André's entreaties to return to the fray alongside his former comrades.

André himself died on 17 January 1156; he was the last of the original nine founders of the Templars. He was replaced by Bertrand de Blanchefort, whose story we will take up tomorrow

Bernard's Endorsement

When André de Montbard's new order of monks/knights intended to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land was suffering due to lack of donations, he turned to the most famous person he knew personally for help: his nephew, Bernard of Clairvaux. Surely Bernard's reputation for saintliness would give the "Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon" a boost.

The lack of donations might have stemmed from two reasons. They were a new order, formed about 1120, and so far largely unknown in Europe (since they were stationed in the Holy Land). Also, there was some confusion about their existence: was it proper for monks to take up arms? Was a "monk-warrior" a justifiable career?

André visited Clairvaux in 1126, entreating Bernard to lend his voice and reputation to the cause. Bernard approved of his uncle's mission, and wrote (some time prior to 1136) the Liber ad milites templi de laude novae militiae (Latin: "Book to the Knights of the Temple, in praise of the new knighthood"). Bernard praised the new spiritual knights because mundane knights were given to secular violence and vanity, adding precious metals and gems to their shields and saddles. These new knights instead would wage:

...a twofold war both against flesh and blood and against a spiritual army of evil in the heavens. ... 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.

Bernard may have strayed from personal knowledge of the new order and imagined a few details, for instance in describing their Jerusalem headquarters:

...adorned with weapons rather than with jewels, and in place of the ancient golden crowns, its walls are hung round about with shields. In place of candlesticks, censers and ewers, this house is well furnished with saddles, bits and lances.

This letter would have helped not only to spread the word of the valuable and laudable service of the new order, but also would have helped boost their morale.

The letter helped, and the group that also came to be called the Knights of the Temple or Knights Templar grew until they became a very powerful force in Europe as well as the Holy Land.

The relationship between uncle and nephew continued, and I'll talk a little more about the two next time.

Uncle and Nephew, Part 1

André de Montbard (5 November c. 1097 – 17 January 1156) was the other child of Count Bernard I de Montbard (1040–1103) of Burgundy and his wife Humberto de Roucy who survived past childhood. His sister was Alèthe de Montbard. Alèthe had several children who survived to adulthood, and after her death in 1107, eventually all of her sons followed her son Bernard to Cìteaux Abbey (a daughter took up Holy Orders elsewhere). Alèthe's husband, too, retired to Cìteaux.

André's career also veered into a Holy Order, but he took a different turn.

The Cistercians whom his nieces and nephews joined prized discipline and austerity as part of piety. Bernard was very influential in promoting this lifestyle, even to the detriment of his health. He ate simply, and not much. Bernard's piety also was comfortable with the idea that killing in the name of Christ was right and proper.

André, meanwhile, needed help. He and eight others had begun a new (holy and militant) Order in 1120 with the support of Baldwin II of Jerusalem. The Order was designed to provide protection to pilgrims coming to the Holy Land, which had opened up tourism after the Crusades. They called themselves Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici, or The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon.

The name was accurate: they were poor: their symbol was two knights riding the same horse. Admirable, but not sustainable. Baldwin had given them a wing of a former mosque now being used as the royal palace, but donations from pilgrims who had already spent a great deal of money to travel could not support the Order.

But André had a link to his nephew, Bernard, whose fame as a holy man was spreading far and wide. He went to Cìteaux to speak to Bernard, asking for his support. Bernard agreed with their mission, and wrote a letter "In Praise of the New Knighthood." This endorsement from the saintly (and eventually an actual saint) Bernard of Clairvaux changed everything. I'll explain tomorrow.

His Mother Was a Saint

Count Bernard I de Montbard (1040–1103) of Burgundy and his wife Humberto de Roucy had several children. Sadly, most of them died very young—not uncommon at the time—but a son and daughter, André and Alèthe, survived past childhood. Originally intending to enter a convent, Alèthe (1070 - 1107) was married at the age of 15 to a Burgundian knight, Tescelin le Roux (c.1070 - 1117).

Alèthe and Tescelin had several children: Guy, Gerard, Bernard, André, Barthélémy, Nivard, and Ombeline. Tescelin's rank was not as high as his wife's, but (perhaps through her father's influence), the couple lived very well, able to give their several children good educations while living at the Château de Fontaine-lès-Dijon. The couple were considered by later chroniclers to be notably virtuous. (The illustration shows them both in a stained glass window made for Mariawald Abbey; the whole picture shows them above their son, St. Bernard of Clairvaux.)

Alèthe built a chapel in 1102 near their castle dedicated to St. Ambrose. Her piety strongly influenced her children. When she died at the age of 37, we are told her son Bernard was deeply affected (as I am sure the whole family was). Bernard made the decision to become a monk. Looking for a proper venue, he chose the Abbey at Cîteaux. Legend says that he had a vision of his mother, dressed in white, telling him that God had great plans for him and that he should persuade his brothers to join him.

Bernard and all his brothers went to Cîteaux. All became saints, Bernard of Clairvaux (named for the monastery he himself founded a few years after entering Cîteaux) becoming one of the most celebrated of them. Their sister, Ombeline, entered Holy Orders in 1132 and became abbess at Jully Les Nonains after Bernard demanded the building (a 10th-century castle) to become a convent linked to Molesme.

Alèthe's body was originally interred in the chapel she had built, and she was already considered a saint by the locals. In 1250 the abbot of Clairvaux had the remains brought to Cîteaux to be entombed next to her son, Bernard. At the end of his life, Tescelin joined Cîteaux.

Alèthe had a brother, Andre, who also followed Bernard into Holy Orders, but his life took a slightly different direction from the contemplative: a familiar life, in fact, for readers of this blog. We'll tell the story of André de Montbard tomorrow.