Master of the Templars (1153-1156). Andrew, a son of Bernard I of Montbard, was born in Burgundy before 1105; his sister Aleth was the mother of Bernard of Clairvaux. He probably joined the Templars in the West before 1129, and between 1130 and 1135 carried out missions between the West and Outremer for Bernard of Clairvaux and the king of Jerusalem (either Baldwin II or Fulk). After the death of Fulk (1143), Bernard recommended Andrew to Queen Melisende, and by 1148 he had been appointed seneschal of the Templars. He was in charge of the central convent of the order while Master Robert Burgundio took part in the Second Crusade (1148) and while Robert’s successor, Everard of Barres, traveled to France (1149-1151). On the death of Master Bernard of Tremelay during the siege of Ascalon (1153), Andrew was elected master. His career illustrates the strong ties between the Templars’ leadership and the royal court of Jerusalem. Andrew died in 1156 and was succeeded by Bertrand of Blancfort.
-Jochen Burgtorf
Bibliography
Barber, Malcolm C., The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994).
Hiestand, Rudolf, “Bernhard von Clairvaux, Norbert von Xanten und der lateinische Osten,” in Vita religiosa im Mittelalter: Festschrift fur Kaspar Elm zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. Franz J. Felten and Nikolas Jaspert (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1999), pp. 301-320.
World History
