A church council, held at Troyes in Champagne in January 1129 (not 1128, as often cited in earlier works), that was a pivotal moment in the early history of the Order of the Temple.
The assembly marked the church’s formal approval of a rule (regulations for the observance of a religious life) for this group of knights, which had formed in the Holy Land in 1120 with the aim of protecting pilgrims to Jerusalem. Although initial recruitment had been slight, King Baldwin II of Jerusalem saw the knights as making an important contribution to the defense of his lands, and in 1125/1126 he wrote to Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, to try to secure his endorsement for the Templars. In 1127 their leader, the Champenois knight Hugh of Payns, toured the West to seek backing for the order and also to recruit men for a planned crusade against Damascus, and he successfully solicited grants of land and money in Champagne, Flanders, and Anjou.
In 1129 the papal legate Matthew of Albano presided over a council where Hugh set out the basic precepts for his men. Hugh proposed a community that attended the offices of the choir (or recited a set number of Paternosters), wore plain clothing, was celibate, but was also active in the outside world and had horses and servants. The order was to be governed by a master, under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Jerusalem. The churchmen present dissected Hugh’s proposals, and, with the guiding hand of Bernard of Clairvaux, a rule of seventy-two clauses was drafted. This approval for the new order enabled it to attract substantial support over the next few years and laid the foundations for its long-term existence.
-Jonathan Phillips
Bibliography
Barber, Malcolm, The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994).
Hiestand, Rudolf, “Kardinalbischof Matthaus von Albano, das Konzil von Troyes und die Entstehung des Templerordens,” Zeitschrift fur Kirchengeschichte 99 (1988), 295-323.
Templar castle of Baghras in Cilician Armenia; it served as the northern Templar headquarters. (Courtesy Alfred Andrea)
Capture of the True Cross by Saladin at the battle of Hattin (1187). Illustration from a manuscript of Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora (c. 1250). (TopFoto. co. uk )
World History
